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9th out of 15 books
—
2 voters
Brutal
by
Michael Harmon (Goodreads Author)
With her martyr-doctor mother gone to save lives in some South American country, Poe Holly suddenly finds herself on the suburban doorstep of the father she never knew, who also happens to be a counselor at her new high school. She misses Los Angeles. She misses the guys in her punk band. Weirdly, she even misses the shouting matches she used to have with her mom.
But Poe m...more
But Poe m...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
March 10th 2009
by Knopf Books for Young Readers
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Nov 11, 2012
Jennifer Wardrip
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
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Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
When sixteen-year-old Poe Holly's doctor mother decides to take her practice to the jungles of South America for a year, Poe finds herself living with the father she has never really known. She was a baby the last time her parents were in the same room together, and now she's moving into his house.
Since her mother is usually busy 24/7, Poe is used to living on her own. It's a welcome relief to find out her father is willing to allo...more
When sixteen-year-old Poe Holly's doctor mother decides to take her practice to the jungles of South America for a year, Poe finds herself living with the father she has never really known. She was a baby the last time her parents were in the same room together, and now she's moving into his house.
Since her mother is usually busy 24/7, Poe is used to living on her own. It's a welcome relief to find out her father is willing to allo...more
Outstanding story line!!
6/10/13
The characters and plot in Brutal by Micheal Harmon was a very relatable novel. The main character Poe Holly had just entered highschool in her fathers town in California after her doctor mother leaves for South America. Shes new to this school, but old to the rules. Her father is the school guidance counsler (which she hates for many obvious reasons). Poe meets many friends that effect the further relationships she makes with her peers. Her new neighbor Velvetta...more
6/10/13
The characters and plot in Brutal by Micheal Harmon was a very relatable novel. The main character Poe Holly had just entered highschool in her fathers town in California after her doctor mother leaves for South America. Shes new to this school, but old to the rules. Her father is the school guidance counsler (which she hates for many obvious reasons). Poe meets many friends that effect the further relationships she makes with her peers. Her new neighbor Velvetta...more
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Poe's mother is out of the country saving the world again, but this time Poe gets sent to live with the father she has never even met. He lives in a small town out in the middle of wine country, a far cry from her home in LA and her goth looks and LA attitude don't really fit in. When she enrolls in the local high school, she becomes fast friends with another outcast known as Velveeta. Poe tries to navigate the complicated social strata of Benders Hollow, but soon discovers that behind the rah-r...more
When her surgeon-mother leaves LA and goes to South America on a charity project, 16 yr. old Poe Holly goes to live with her father in the small town of Bender. Poe has never met her father who also happens to be the school counselor at her new high school. Poe doesn't know why her parents divorced. She is a rebellious teen who doesnt' get along with her mother and blames her father for never being there for her. Poe meets two new friends...Theo, the son of the mayor and "Velveeta", a troubled t...more
Ok, the cover of the paperback edition has a blurb on the cover that makes it sound like the book is simply a case of bully vs. protagonist. Thing is, it's not really about the bully at all. Sure Colby's a complete jerk and definitely the catalyst for action, but the book is really about about fighting the establishment that allows bullying to take place. You see, Poe Holly has just moved to a small, upscale winery town on the California coast. She's been living in LA most of her life, singing i...more
Although less then strong on character development, still an entertaining and in-depth read, addressing the issue of individualism and bullying in High School. Double standards are huge in school; especially in the last four years... we’ve all either experienced it personally or witnessed it at some point during our academic career. BRUTAL focuses greatly on the adult’s role in the harassment of a student by adding to the problem in refusing to protect the weak in the name of “tolerance”, and/or...more
There are some things to really like about this book. Poe Holly is that character who loves the Sex Pistols and shaves her head for fun, and lots of punk-ish kids will like her take-no-prisoners attitude. The surveillance technology that took up much of Little Brother plays a role here as well. The map of bullying played out in the book is - mostly - realistic, escalating from petty to dangerous. If you're looking for a book about the accumulation of small wrongs that lead to evil, this might be...more
After recently reading Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn, I'd say that "Brutal"'s Poe Holly is the po' man's Cyd Charisse. Poe's a self-proclaimed punk rock rebel with combat boots and a mohawk and a spitfire personality, but she often comes off as judgmental and overly-aggressive and inconsiderate. But not nearly as witty or memorable as Cyd.
Poe digs her life in LA, pissing off her prissy doctor mom and doing vocals for a punk band and sticking it to the man and such. But when Poe's mother takes off...more
Poe digs her life in LA, pissing off her prissy doctor mom and doing vocals for a punk band and sticking it to the man and such. But when Poe's mother takes off...more
Brutal came at a great time in my reading life - Poe was like the literary Veronica Mars minus the mystery, but with that same sort of sass. I always had a soft spot for the rebels with a cause, and high school is always full of surprises and drama that somehow never gets too old. Occasionally Poe goes a little overboard in her rampage, pushing away her well-meaning but spineless father, the cute rebel boy, the spoiled but nice-on-the-inside cheerleader, and everyone else on the planet. No one t...more
Very Provocative And Good Stinging Wit
Brutal
By Michael Harmon
Pub. Date: March 2009
4 out of 5 stars
PG-13 - Vulgar Profanity, Violence, and Sexual Humor
Recommended
Poe has both an absent mother and a once long gone father pushing equality and “be-like-everyone-else” indoctrination upon her. Everywhere she turns, school, home, choir, and politics, are full of candy-coated creativity and uniqueness crushers… unless you are one of the rich, beautiful, atheletic elite. Poe is tired of the “equality” sy...more
Brutal
By Michael Harmon
Pub. Date: March 2009
4 out of 5 stars
PG-13 - Vulgar Profanity, Violence, and Sexual Humor
Recommended
Poe has both an absent mother and a once long gone father pushing equality and “be-like-everyone-else” indoctrination upon her. Everywhere she turns, school, home, choir, and politics, are full of candy-coated creativity and uniqueness crushers… unless you are one of the rich, beautiful, atheletic elite. Poe is tired of the “equality” sy...more
Poe Holly is a punk kid with an absent mom and a dad she's never met. She's got some serious unresolved anger issues and seems to have been kicked out of more schools than she could count on 2 hands. When Poe's mom, a surgeon who seems to care about little in the world outside of appearances, decides to go off to South America to work, Poe gets shipped off to live with her dad--a guy she's talked to on the phone only a handful of times. And if adjusting to a new school and a new town aren't hard...more
Hmm, with Brutal, I couldn't decide between two or three stars. The topic of bullying and a main character who tries to do something to reform the educational system that not only doesn't prevent it but may actually encourage it are worthwhile. But the execution is didactic in many spots, and Harmon seems to sacrifice narrative, character, and writing style to message.
Nonconformist Poe Holly's doctor-mother has shipped her off to a father she doesn't know so that she can go play humanitarian in...more
Nonconformist Poe Holly's doctor-mother has shipped her off to a father she doesn't know so that she can go play humanitarian in...more
Poe Holly is definitely the spunkiest protagonist I have ever seen in a YA book (okay, maybe aside from Jane in Imaginary Enemy and). I simply loved and disliked her at the same time. She had really great opinions and a lot of attitude towards the social hierarchy of school (and the teacher's prominent roles in those settings, which I believe in strongly. Come one, I think everyone has had those experiences. There are just some teachers who tend to show favoritism for the "golden boys" despite e...more
I had picked this book out on a hunt to find a good father/daughter relationship story that was either central or very important to the overall novel. There is a father/daughter relationship in this story, however I have a lot to say about this book.
I had high hopes about this book because it sounded right up my alley with the plot and characters, however Poe Holly is actually rather an uninspiring character and hard to be empathetic too. Her mother is away in South America, leaving her with her...more
I had high hopes about this book because it sounded right up my alley with the plot and characters, however Poe Holly is actually rather an uninspiring character and hard to be empathetic too. Her mother is away in South America, leaving her with her...more
Harmon tells a story of Poe – a 16 year old girl. Her parents are divorced: mum throws herself into humanitarian work in a jungle on other side of the planet, and dad works as a high school counsellor. Poe, after moving in with dad, starts a new school. She’s got already a luggage of challenging behaviour from previous schools: punk clothes, in-your-face attitude and speaking out loud what she thinks. She is a rebellious girl and is not always right – through the story she learns to tame herself...more
Brutal is a book worth reading!! The title may be misleading. This title is about the theme of the book; it is not about violence per se. In this contrmporary novel, the characters are well-developed, the plot is moving, the pacing is wonderful. The protagonist, Poe (such a great name for a female), is sent to be with her father since her mother, a doctor, is off to heal people in South America. Poe's father is a psychologist at the high school Poe will attend.
The brutality in this book is emoti...more
The brutality in this book is emoti...more
In Brutal by Micahel Harmon, an assertive teenager by the name of Poe is forced into the house of a father that she has never met. She is enrolled in a school full of justified chaos and discrimination. Poe Holly is determined to shine a light on all the bullying and favoritism in Benders High, even if that means upsetting the school counselor, AKA her dad.
Brutal is by far my new favorite book; I feel as if I could read it over and over and still be entertained. What's not to love about a book...more
Brutal is by far my new favorite book; I feel as if I could read it over and over and still be entertained. What's not to love about a book...more
Poe feels spurned when her mother sets her on a plane to go live with the dad she's never met. Poe is sarcastic and witty, cutting and strong. She sees the wrongness in the school- that the school preaches equality, but that's never true. Teachers and adults turn a blind eye on the bullying, the fact that the athletes etc. have more rights and privileges than the other students. Poe sees all that- and she strives to change it. She fights, verbally, for a lot of different things. She fights just...more
I've been on a young adult reading binge lately and I've picked some winners and losers along the way. I would consider Brutal one of the better picks. At first I thought it was going to be very similar to an earlier book I read titled Secrets Of My Suburban Life as the main characters were coming off very similar but that ended soon after the first chapter and I actually liked the character of Poe. There were points in the book where she began to question herself and her motives I always felt s...more
In this book, Poe , a young independent teenager has to move in with her dad because her mom goes to a different country for her job. At first she does not like her dad, his lifestyle, and especially where he lives. Everyone and everything all seems the same. To her everything is so boring and dull. The kids she goes to school with also all try to be the same. But, Poe meets some people that can relate to her. She tries everything to stand out and change the school. I really enjoyed this book b...more
This is one of the best books I've read in quite awhile. The characters are well-drawn, realistic, and flawed but still likable. Poe Holly, our narrator, is brave and stubborn and self-destructive in very believable ways. Her righteous rage is energizing, even when she's raging in a way that does not help her cause.
Poe's ability to face down her own flaws as well as the larger injustices that infuriate her is admirable, and I liked that she wasn't always right and that she was willing to be pro...more
Poe's ability to face down her own flaws as well as the larger injustices that infuriate her is admirable, and I liked that she wasn't always right and that she was willing to be pro...more
Poe is sent to live with a father she doesn't know, her mother is off to save the world. Poe loves the punk look, music and life style of L. A., she's street smart and pretty much takes care of herself. She's used to standing up for what she believes, whether it's right or wrong, and she's pretty sure that some of the things that go on at the high school in Bender's hollow, need to change. The school is proud of its intolerance for bullying and professes fairness and equality. It soon becomes ev...more
Jun 07, 2013
Meghan
added it
I absolutely loved this book! It shows what teenagers actually go through that adults just push aside! I love how Poe wasn't against to say her opinion about anything that came in her way! When she move in with her dad I could she that she was hesitant about talking to him about anything because he was so quiet an kept to himself. As time went on in the book she started to warm up to her dad which I never thought she'd do! When she tried out for choir the teacher thought that she couldn't fill i...more
I normally don't go in for the teen-angst-high-school-drama genre, but Brutal was a book that I could read and actually enjoy. I loved Poe's ability to stand up for what she believes in.
We all know that high school isn't fair- the teachers have favorites, and popular kids with powerful parents can get away with anything. I think this book is important because it shows just how unfair high school life can be to the unpopular or uncool kids, or just to kids whose parents have no influence over wha...more
We all know that high school isn't fair- the teachers have favorites, and popular kids with powerful parents can get away with anything. I think this book is important because it shows just how unfair high school life can be to the unpopular or uncool kids, or just to kids whose parents have no influence over wha...more
Brutal is an "issue" novel and the issue at hand is bullying. It's an important and timely issue and one that schools in particular and society in general has a sorry track record at dealing with, so whilst I applaud Harmon for writing about it, there was much that I found problematic: characters that felt like caricatures; a lack of nuance and subtlety in the writing that left me feeling patronised; a pace that had me thinking "Slow down!" too many times... As a teenager who was really into cou...more
Only got 13 pages into this. Stopped shortly after the appearance of the overly clownish hick (complete with detailed announcements of his defecation plans). I found the protagonist overly-aware of her otherness (she describes herself as a "counterculture being") and thus, not believable. The snark was too contrived. I was thinking it might be a fun remix of Beige by Cecil Castelucci, but just read that instead.
2 likes · like · see review
First off I love this character name! Props to her parents yo. Poe Holly. Sounds like the name of a rock star which is lucky since that's what she wants to be.
Secondly, this was an alright book. Nothing groundbreaking. It had it's moments. But the main character was a little obnoxious.
Poe Holly is sent to live with her father when her mother decides to go save lives in South America. Poe has never really met or spoken with her father before this so they both have to learn to make some adjustme...more
Secondly, this was an alright book. Nothing groundbreaking. It had it's moments. But the main character was a little obnoxious.
Poe Holly is sent to live with her father when her mother decides to go save lives in South America. Poe has never really met or spoken with her father before this so they both have to learn to make some adjustme...more
This book is brutal. Tough issues, tough kids, tough town, and it's small-town America. Poe Holly is shipped to her father's because her mom is heading to South America to save lives. Poe's never seen her dad, and let's just say that she is a little bitter. She's the typical teenage angst girl--wears black, strange hairstyles, tests the rules, and very outspoken. Sure, her mom has money and Poe has a great voice, but Poe isn't happy. She's crying out for attention from her mother.
Poe's next-door...more
Poe's next-door...more
Brutal is a brutal story. Brutal starts off almost lightly, with a little bit of seriousness. There was just something about Brutal that drew me into the story and made me love it. I didn’t really know much about Brutal when I started reading it and thought it would have been a light, contemporary story. It wasn’t though. Brutal was quite a heavy story in the end and I loved every part of it.
I liked Brutal, it was realistic even if Poe wasn’t and I think that was the point. Poe is supposed to be...more
I liked Brutal, it was realistic even if Poe wasn’t and I think that was the point. Poe is supposed to be...more
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Jun 17, 2013 07:40pm