Jumping the Scratch
by Sarah Weeks
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Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
JUMPING THE SCRATCH is best described as a story about forgetting. For eleven-year-old Jamie, it's about forgetting an event that has traumatized him. For Sapphy, his aunt, it's about forgetting anything and everything that happens to her on a daily basis. But let's back up just a little bit...
Jamie Reardon has moved to Traverse City, Michigan, from Battle Creek, where he once had a real home, a mom and dad to always fix whatever was wrong, a cat named...more
JUMPING THE SCRATCH is best described as a story about forgetting. For eleven-year-old Jamie, it's about forgetting an event that has traumatized him. For Sapphy, his aunt, it's about forgetting anything and everything that happens to her on a daily basis. But let's back up just a little bit...
Jamie Reardon has moved to Traverse City, Michigan, from Battle Creek, where he once had a real home, a mom and dad to always fix whatever was wrong, a cat named...more
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Read in May, 2008
I like this book.
Jamie and his mother moved to live with his aunt, who had an accident in her workplace, in a cherry factory. This accident had made his aunt unable to remember anything more than 30 minutes, but she could still remember all her past until before the accident. So it's just like a CD that had a scratch on it and whenever being played it will repeat the same part again and again.
His father had left him and his mother for another woman. Since then he never met or heard him a...more
Jamie and his mother moved to live with his aunt, who had an accident in her workplace, in a cherry factory. This accident had made his aunt unable to remember anything more than 30 minutes, but she could still remember all her past until before the accident. So it's just like a CD that had a scratch on it and whenever being played it will repeat the same part again and again.
His father had left him and his mother for another woman. Since then he never met or heard him a...more
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Read in June, 2008
I really enjoyed this book. You can't help but love the protagonist. And his new friend Audrey is just as likable in her own quirky way. Not to mention, my favorite artist "Ol' Blue Eyes" gets a nod.
I have read a lot of reviews that say the book is too predictable. I, for one, was actually surprised at the end. Don't get me wrong, the author really leads you down the path with the foreshadowing, but I kept thinking, "there is no way that this book will go there.&...more
I have read a lot of reviews that say the book is too predictable. I, for one, was actually surprised at the end. Don't get me wrong, the author really leads you down the path with the foreshadowing, but I kept thinking, "there is no way that this book will go there.&...more
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
grades 5 - 8
I am always on the lookout for worthwhile books for jr. high aged kids to read and enjoy. And something about this age group seems to gravitate to "sad" books or problem books. This is a book that deals with a loner young boy who feels picked on and terribly distraught about an incident that he will not acknowledge out loud to himself.
Fortunately a young girl forces him to open up a little to her and eventually we learn his sad secret. But with his acknowledgment of his secret c...more
Fortunately a young girl forces him to open up a little to her and eventually we learn his sad secret. But with his acknowledgment of his secret c...more
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Read in July, 2008
This book deals with forgetting and remembering. Jamie's aunt Sapphy has suffered an accident that has caused her to have amnesia. She can remember the past but has no short or long term memory of the present. She cannot form new memories. Jamie and his mother have come to live with Sapphy to care for her and help her unlock her amnesia. At the same time, Jamie suffers acutely from a memory that he cannot forget and wants desperately to expunge. The story is well written and moves along wit...more
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Read in July, 2008
Definitely not as good as her 2008 award winner, So B. It, this has similar themes surrounding the main character. The young boy in this story has an Aunt that suffers from memory loss. In So B. It, the young female character has a mother struggling with memory loss, but it is more severe and has many other complications.
I cried several times at the end of So B. It, because I was really attached to the characters. I didn't feel the same about this book, although Weeks ...more
I cried several times at the end of So B. It, because I was really attached to the characters. I didn't feel the same about this book, although Weeks ...more
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Read in February, 2007
Do bad things really happen in threes? Jamie Reardon sure thinks so...in the past year, he's watched:
1.) His father leave
2.) His cat die
3.) His aunt suffer from an accident at work.
Aunt Sapphy hasn't been the same since the accident at the cherry factory that caused her memory to skip, much like her Frank Sinatra records. Sapphy cannot make new memories, so it seems as though she goes around and around. Jamie wants to find the trigger that will cause her memory to jump its scr...more
1.) His father leave
2.) His cat die
3.) His aunt suffer from an accident at work.
Aunt Sapphy hasn't been the same since the accident at the cherry factory that caused her memory to skip, much like her Frank Sinatra records. Sapphy cannot make new memories, so it seems as though she goes around and around. Jamie wants to find the trigger that will cause her memory to jump its scr...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone.
The story hit home on many accounts. Jamies felt perfectly normal as he was until having been uprooted and placed in an environment where people treated him as a misfit. After the bullying and abuse from the owner of the trailer park, Jamie simply gave in and gave up. His dreams and best memories were about Battlecreek where he and his family were "normal as cornflakes." Though what he doesn't realize is just because his location changed doesn't mean he did.
Complete review here:...more
Complete review here:
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I was afraid this book might be too young for me, but I was wrong. The author is extremely talented, and knows how to write a young adult book properally; I easily fell in love with the characters, espicially Audrey, a young, quirky girl who claims to have E.S.P. Although the plot was predictable, it was still well handled and extremely touching. My favorite part about this book was that it really affected me, sparking my own memories and emotions as I read. This is a wonderful book that I t...more
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I adored Heidi in her novel So B. It, so I was eager to read this one as well. I think what makes her books so good is that the characters and the way they see the world are so charming, innocent, but still wise. I listened to both of these books on audio, so I'm curious if I would feel differently if I had read them.
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Read in July, 2008
I am not sure I agree with this being a teen book, other than for content. The main character is in 5th grade. 11 years old. The writing is fairly simple, and except for the thing that Jamie wants to forget (which is never described in complete detail), it's an upper elementary or middle school book.
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Read in October, 2007
Wow, what a read! Simultaneously disturbing and inspirational. This young man's journey is heart-wrenching and unforgettable. Love the "jumping the scratch" analogy.
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Read in January, 2008
A great example of the more complex, edgier YA fiction of today, compared to when I was a kid in the 70s. I'd have loved this book back then, and I love it now.
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I LOVE this book. It's by Sarah Weeks, the same author as "So B. It," so of course it's genius. Not as good as So B. It of course, but pretty darn good.
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Read in May, 2008
Nicely written but too predictable story. Falls into the not-really-sure-who-I-would-ever-recommend-it-to category.
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Read in October, 2007
Great buildup of suspense, as the incident that has the main character traumatized is slowly revealed.
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Read in March, 2008
I really appreciated that the bad stuff had already happened and the book was about the getting over it.
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