Life is not fine for Samara Tuttle, but she’s coping. Her overworked mother is distant and cold, and her mother’s boyfriend, Q, attacks...
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Jun 01, 2008
KT
rated it: 
Whittenberg's second novel establishes her as a rising star in young adult literature. Her dialog and characterizations are sharp, and her prose is refreshingly poetic without being self-conscious.
Fifteen-year-old Samara Tuttle has been largely neglected at home and at school. She's never known her father and her mother pretty much ignores her and instead focuses her attention on her loser free-loading boyfriend, Q, who sits around the house all day watching judge shows and eating j More...
Fifteen-year-old Samara Tuttle has been largely neglected at home and at school. She's never known her father and her mother pretty much ignores her and instead focuses her attention on her loser free-loading boyfriend, Q, who sits around the house all day watching judge shows and eating j More...
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Dec 30, 2008
Heather
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Fifteen year old Samara is coping with her life. Her mother goes from one boyfriend to the next and currently has her useless boy toy, Q, living with them. The house is a dump, Mom is never home and Samara spends most of her free time watching the chimps at the zoo. But that was before she had the most amazing substitue teacher - Mr. Halbrook. Sure, he's old (60+ - practically a senior citizen to Samara), but he's deep and he pays attention to Samara and soon she finds she can't stop thinking ab
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Apr 07, 2008
Lacey
rated it:
This book was about a lot of things for being so short (under 200 pages), but it was mostly about how one substitute teacher opens up Samara's life enough for her to let others get close to her as well (at the beginning of the book her one "friend" is an ape at the zoo, by the end she has a few more). While this book touches on some pretty heavy subjects -- child abuse and cancer, for example -- it doesn't examine any of them with a lot of depth. This might sound like a slam, but it's
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Dec 27, 2011
Ms Anderson
rated it: 
The writing is pretty, but the book itself just seems to meander without reaching any sorts of conclusions. The protagonist goes through a "life-changing" transformation--or does she? She doesn't appear to choose any other sort of path from the one she was already on. The plot is mediocre at best. A disappointing read.
Jul 20, 2009
Mekdlawit
rated it: 
i really liked this book....i was kind of hoping that samar will tell her mom that her new boyfrind is cheating on her. I think i have lerned a lot from this book.
Aug 28, 2008
Michelle
rated it:
Whittenberg displays great use of language in this coming of age novel. The ending seemed unnecessarily abrupt, which made it not have the emotional resonance that the author seemed to be aiming for, but a lot of the book was on the abrupt side. Nevertheless, the author communicates a lot of story through description.
Mar 31, 2008
Karin
rated it:
teen samara has it pretty rough growing up in philadelphia, then her life is changed when substitute teacher takes an interest in her and introduces her to poetry. story pretty ordinary, but the writing was definitely above average.
Sep 24, 2008
Kelly
rated it:
A YA book. Short and poignant. The protagonist is a 15-year-old living in Philly.
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