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21st out of 50 books
—
26 voters
Jars of Glass
Teenage sisters Chloe and Shana recall fondly the days when their mother wove stories about kingdoms under the sea. Now that Mom is away, Chloe does not allow herself to believe in fairy tales. She is too busy caring for her adopted brother, Micah, because Dad has become withdrawn. Shana copes by escaping every night under the cover of Goth garb. The day the family visits...more
Hardcover, 246 pages
Published
October 16th 2008
by Dutton Juvenile
(first published October 4th 2008)
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Chloe and Shana remember the days when their mother wove stories about kingdoms under the sea, but now that their mother is "away", Chloe does not allow herself to believe in fairy tales and Shana blocks everything out and sneaks out every night in under cover Goth grab. Chloe is too busy taking care of their adopted brother, Micah, because their dad is withdrawn and doesn't know how to move on. The day the family visits their mother on the 5th floor of the Hospital, Chloe learns why Shana will...more
My copy is a 246p. ARC of the book with the isbn listed for this edition under the 13 digit isbn
I don't very often dip into YA reading though I have recommendations of YA frequently from the younger daughter bookster. This one she had on her shelves when we did the bookcase switch over the hoildays last Novemeber and I brought it home as it looked interesting. I think I might enjoy revisiting it in its polished, finished form as the story still had a few rough spots I feel in this advance proof....more
I don't very often dip into YA reading though I have recommendations of YA frequently from the younger daughter bookster. This one she had on her shelves when we did the bookcase switch over the hoildays last Novemeber and I brought it home as it looked interesting. I think I might enjoy revisiting it in its polished, finished form as the story still had a few rough spots I feel in this advance proof....more
This was one of those books that's really good for a pleasant (though the character's lives aren't in most of the book) afternoon read. It's got parts that'll make you laugh, cringe, maybe even cry. Vernon's signature "bad" jokes made me laugh out loud every time - I'm a sucker for stuff like that.
The writing was some of the best I've seen in a while, pulling me in right away and keeping me turning the pages. The characters were mostly developed, though I would have liked to learn more about al...more
The writing was some of the best I've seen in a while, pulling me in right away and keeping me turning the pages. The characters were mostly developed, though I would have liked to learn more about al...more
Jars of Glass is the story of a family trying to deal with tragedy. The story is told in alternating chapters by the two main characters, Shana and Chloe, who are sisters, 15 and 14 years old respectively. Each sister has their own way of handling what has happened to their family while also trying to deal with their father and 4 year old adopted brother.
The girls approach life very differently but both are determined to keep their family together. Their struggle includes a father who has "chec...more
The girls approach life very differently but both are determined to keep their family together. Their struggle includes a father who has "chec...more
Book Review for Jars of Glass
Chloe and Shana are two sisters, each with very different personalities, that have to find a way to cope with their new lifestyle. Jars of Glass by Brad Barkley is a book about family and friendship and is for young adults. The family recently adopted a boy from Russia that has now become the girl's new little brother. Sadly, their mother began losing her mind and became hospitalized. Their father moved the family into an apartment where he works in a mortuary in t...more
Chloe and Shana are two sisters, each with very different personalities, that have to find a way to cope with their new lifestyle. Jars of Glass by Brad Barkley is a book about family and friendship and is for young adults. The family recently adopted a boy from Russia that has now become the girl's new little brother. Sadly, their mother began losing her mind and became hospitalized. Their father moved the family into an apartment where he works in a mortuary in t...more
Feb 10, 2010
Coralie
added it
Chloe and Shana are two sisters whose mother has been hospitalized with major mental illness. They have to pick up the pieces and move on as their world caves in around them. They live in Portland, Maine, and the authors do a good job of incorporating the setting into the story. The story portrays the dilemmas around having a mentally ill person in the family - how to pick up and move on without abandoning the person. Is it possible? This was a sad book. It really brought home the fact that ther...more
Contemporary Fiction
Darien Munden
"Jars of Glass" is about two sisters whose mother has been committed to an insane asylum for attempted suicide. As the story progresses the chapters alternate between the two sisters, each one telling the events of the "day" from her own perspective. Both sisters, Chloe and Shana, are teenagers struggling to cope with the condition of their family, each in their own way. Shana turns to drugs and the Goth scene, distancing herself from her family. Chloe wants to b...more
Darien Munden
"Jars of Glass" is about two sisters whose mother has been committed to an insane asylum for attempted suicide. As the story progresses the chapters alternate between the two sisters, each one telling the events of the "day" from her own perspective. Both sisters, Chloe and Shana, are teenagers struggling to cope with the condition of their family, each in their own way. Shana turns to drugs and the Goth scene, distancing herself from her family. Chloe wants to b...more
Not my most favorite book, but it was still decent. Two teenage sisters, Chloe and Shana always believed in the fairy tales their mother used to make up. They loved having their mother around because she reminded them to have fun and enjoy life. But when she went "away" to a mental hospital, Chole and Shana must forget all those stories and try to keep their family together. However, no one knows how to handle the situation. Shana decides to hide behind the dark make-up and dark clothes, becomes...more
Beautifully written from 2 perspectives/2 authors. Voice is very strong and authentic. Two teenage sisters are trying to stay afloat after their artist mother is committed to a mental hospital, their father's alcoholism increases, and their adopted brother from Russia remains mostly noncommunicative. The family lives above a funeral home, to further the maudlin tone. Not much happiness and may not appeal to all YA readers, but beautiful prose and moments of hope here and there make it a worthwhi...more
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This book was hard to follow. I had to read it for school and I was pretty disappointed. the book is all over the place and is extremely confusing. not only would I never recommend it in this millennium, but I also would throw it in a fire if one of my friends or relatives bought it so they wouldn't have to read it. yeah I would pay them back, but not letting them read it would be reimbursement enough! FIND A BETTER BOOK! THERE ARE PLENTY OUT THERE!!!!
Oct 30, 2008
Myra
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of YA lit
Recommended to Myra by:
Heather Hepler (author)
This book was all that I thought it would be and more. Barkley and Hepler always impress me with their novels, and their story of Shana and Cloe is brilliantly developed and written.
The plot is easy to follow, yet there is a twist - an "ah-hah" moment, if you will - near the end that solves the question of "Really, what happened?" that readers have until that point. This novel was a quick-read for me, but that could be because I'm such a fan of Barkley's and Hepler's YA lit.
The characters of Sha...more
The plot is easy to follow, yet there is a twist - an "ah-hah" moment, if you will - near the end that solves the question of "Really, what happened?" that readers have until that point. This novel was a quick-read for me, but that could be because I'm such a fan of Barkley's and Hepler's YA lit.
The characters of Sha...more
The book is really well-written. Told in 2 voices of 2 young teen girls who are trying to cope when their mother is diagnosed with a mental disease, has been committed. Their father is withdrawing from their lives, and they end up with the responsibility of keeping the family, which includes a young, adopted brother, together.
This book, again, makes me think perhaps I should be teaching older students who can dive into a little bit more complex literature. A torn family, healed by its wounds eventually...what a great scenario. A great look at identity and what exactly people are showing us with their outer apprearances!
HM. I'm not sure there was an entire book here? It never quite connected for me.
But I like that it was about sisters! I could relate to Shana and that feeling of being protective of a little sister who's so close to you in age that maybe it shouldn't make a difference except for it does, you're still the big sister.
However, I'm not sure there was enough of a payoff and most of the relationships weren't as well developed as I would have liked.
And, random complaint, but I didn't have a very good s...more
But I like that it was about sisters! I could relate to Shana and that feeling of being protective of a little sister who's so close to you in age that maybe it shouldn't make a difference except for it does, you're still the big sister.
However, I'm not sure there was enough of a payoff and most of the relationships weren't as well developed as I would have liked.
And, random complaint, but I didn't have a very good s...more
Another winner by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler. This time the alternating chapters are 2 sisters. A lot to think about--varying viewpoints, judgments we make, how much choice do we have to shape our circumstances. A lot of warmth in a difficult situation.
A rather bittersweet story of a family adjusting to a difficult situation. I was impressed with the way the author doled out the information slowly and skillfully. I've read several books recently where the same thing was not very well done.
Three and a half, but this is one I'd round up for. Maybe three and three quarters. A really great portrayal of the impacts of mental illness and how a family functions as it falls apart.
So far in this book, I've read that this family has been growing apart because the mother has gone crazy. Each day the family tries to act like nothing has happened, but they fail at it miserably.
The book contains too many descriptive passages with run-on sentences that dragged on and on and I couldn't wait for the sentence to end because I got bored reading it until the end.
I think this book was pretty good but its not one of my favorites. Some parts were sad. Its about a family trying to deal with tragedy. Chloe and Shana have to deal cope with there mom going to a mental hospital. Overall I would recommand this book but it's not one of my favorites.
I could not finish this book. It was so boring and so STUPID!!Everyone bugged me except Micah and Raven. Honestly did the author think this would be a good book? I hated it
so far I love it but the issues that the characters deal with are ard to hear sometimes and I have to put the book down before I start crying, but nevertheless its awesome so far!
Really Really Really very good. A bit depressing. I only gave it 4 stars because I thought the ending was lacking.
This book is about how people hide what they are really are feeling, and what is really happening in their lives. I liked this book a lot because it makes you realize what you have, because others have so much less.
Mar 27, 2009
Rebecca
marked it as to-read
I read the blurb and the first two pages and it looks really interesting.
A sad and touching look at family and the way mental disorders affect a family.
SO GOOD!!!! Loved it! Not what I expected but amazing anyway!
This was startlingly sad, which I wasn't expecting, and deftly done.
I won this book from a writing contests too. I LOVED IT.
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BRAD BARKLEY, a native of North Carolina, is the author of the novel, Money, Love, a Barnes and Noble "Discover Great New Writers" selection and a "BookSense 76" choice. Money, Love was named one of the best books of 2000 by the Washington Post and the Library Journal. His novel Alison's Automotive Repair Manual was also a "BookSense 76" selection. His short fiction has appeared in over two dozen...more
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“You can tell all of us are morphing into full-blown adults, wingtip adults, because all the time now the Big Question is, What are you going to do? After the summer, about your scholarship, about choosing a college, after graduation, with the rest of your life. When you are thirteen, the question is, Smooth or crunchy? That's it. Later, at the onset of full-blown adulthood, the Big Question changes a little bit - instead of, What are you going to do? it turns into, What do you do? I hear it all the time when my parents have parties, all the men standing around. After they talk sports, they always ask, What do you do? It's just part of the code that they mean "for a living" because no one ever answers it by saying, I go for walks and listen to music full-blast and don't care about my hearing thirty years from now, and I drink milk out of the carton, and I cough when someone lights up a cigarette, and I dig rainy days because they make me sad in a way I like, and I read books until I fall asleep holding them, and I put on sock-shoe, sock-shoe instead of sock-sock, shoe-shoe because I think it's better luck. Never that. People are always in something. I'm in advertising. I'm in real estate. I'm in sales and marketing. ”
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17 people liked it
“I know the mall is just a lot of fake plants and fake food and people buying crap for too much money, and at Christmas people pay for their kids to talk to Santa, learning greed the way some kids learn piano. I know all that. I can hear the Muzak, smell the waffle fries. Like everybody else, I walk around stuck inside a cliche, like we're stars of some TV show we plan to watch later, if nothing else is on. But still, there's something hopeful about this place, too, and maybe it takes having a crazy mother to get that. People buy stuff, because they think they are going to need it, because they think their lives are going to keep skipping down the same old path, and I want so much for that to be true for them that it nearly makes me cry. The mall says, Nothing is terrible. The mall says, Life is small and adequate.”
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5 people liked it
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