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20th out of 87 books
—
53 voters
The Last Chance Texaco
by
Brent Hartinger (Goodreads Author)
The guy looked at me with a stare that would have frozen antifreeze.
"You the new groupie, huh?"
"Yeah," I said. "So?"
"So no one wants you here. Why don't you go back where you came from?"
I can't go back, I wanted to say. That was the thing about living in a group home. There was nowhere for me to go but forward.
Brent Hartinger's second novel, a portrait of a subculture of t...more
"You the new groupie, huh?"
"Yeah," I said. "So?"
"So no one wants you here. Why don't you go back where you came from?"
I can't go back, I wanted to say. That was the thing about living in a group home. There was nowhere for me to go but forward.
Brent Hartinger's second novel, a portrait of a subculture of t...more
Paperback, 225 pages
Published
March 15th 2005
by HarperTeen
(first published February 17th 2004)
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Lucy has spent her whole life in the System. Losing her parents at an early age took its toll, and an angry girl can wreack much havoc…especially upon herself. So when she winds up at Kindle Home, what the kids in the system consider the last chance before the dire move to Rabbit Island, from which most don’t return, she figures her time is short.
When she starts off at her new school by inadvertently pissing off a couple of the local rich kids, then follows it up by getting into a fist fight wit...more
When she starts off at her new school by inadvertently pissing off a couple of the local rich kids, then follows it up by getting into a fist fight wit...more
Lucy has been in the foster care system for eight years, since she was seven. She's a pro at the unfair politics, bullies, and adult BS of group home living, as well as a pro at fighting and getting addicted to oxycontin. She knows very well that Kindle Home is her last chance before she's essentially incarcerated on 'Eat-Their-Young Island' (not its real name), where the incorrigible delinquents are sent, but she's pretty much accepted that that's where she'll be very soon. At first, Kindle see...more
Lucy has been moved to the last stop before the equivalent of jail— she’s at the Kindle Home, a group home that takes care of kids without families. The counselors and house parents here give the teens who live here one more chance to shape up before they are sent to a high security facility. Lucy’s been shuttled around from group home to group home ever since her parents died, and she’s sure this house won’t survive her as well. But then she meets Leon, one of the counselors, and finds that lif...more
I read this book mostly for the title! It was pretty good, though--it's about Lucy, a "high-risk" foster care kid who has moved from group home to group home until she ends up at Kindall House, which the kids call "Last Chance Texaco" because if you don't fit in there, you're heading for Rabbit Island, known to all in the system as "Eat-Their-Young" Island. That's for the really incorrigible kids who can't fit in anywhere else, and believe me, you DON'T want to go there! Anyway, Lucy believes sh...more
Lucy is a troubled orphan now living in a group home called Kindle, which is nicknamed The Last Chance Texaco since it’s the last stop before Rabbit Island. The island is for teens who are beyond help. Kindle Home is actually pretty neat with the counselors and other caretakers, but Lucy encounters the group home bully, Joy, and classmates at school who look down on “groupies.” These antagonists place Lucy in quite a few compromising positions. When a rash of car fires happens in the area, peopl...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this YA tale. It was a fairly quick read, as most YA novels tend to be, but was packed with a powerful punch. I could never imagine what it would be like to live in a group home. Especially in one that was specifically for wayward teens. Wayward orphaned teens. When I was a teen, my mum worked in group homes for the mentally and physically handicapped. I learned a lot through her and remember fondly the time we took all the housemates to the zoo. But that was something compl...more
I think I got this one free on Amazon. Usually that sentence means it sucked. Not this one, though. I rather enjoyed it. It was very short and didn't take long at all to read. There wasn't a whole lot to the story, but despite that, the characters felt rather fleshed out. I liked how Lucy had all these expectations about how the counselors were going to be and most of them turned out to completely wrong. In a lot of YA and Juvenile fiction, the adults are all absurd caricatures of real people, b...more
This book is about Lucy, a teenager that has been growing up bouncing around the foster care system because both her parents died in a car accident. Readers meet Lucy when she is entering the Kindle Home, known as The Last Chance Texaco to kids in the foster care system. If Lucy messes up again, she is off to juvenile lock-up until she is 18. While at Kindle Home, Lucy starts to learn a thing or two about herself. Lucy also learns a couple things about trust and relationships. Find out if Lucy m...more
Ahh, what a great book.
It started off kind of slow, and it reminded me a lot of THE SUMMONING (Kelley Armstrong) at first, with the whole group home setting (but without necromancers). The further along it went, the more I began to realize how good the writing and plot structure actually was. Brent Hartinger really knows how to write a good story.
The conclusion was pretty surprising to me--finding out who was really setting the car fires and the logic behind it. Where Lucy ended up really shocke...more
It started off kind of slow, and it reminded me a lot of THE SUMMONING (Kelley Armstrong) at first, with the whole group home setting (but without necromancers). The further along it went, the more I began to realize how good the writing and plot structure actually was. Brent Hartinger really knows how to write a good story.
The conclusion was pretty surprising to me--finding out who was really setting the car fires and the logic behind it. Where Lucy ended up really shocke...more
My librarian asked me to read this book to find out if it should be marked "Eighth graders only". And I say it should.
Basically it's about this girl named Lucy, who's been an orphan since she was seven when her parents died in a car crash. Well, she's fifteen now and seen more than her share of group homes. Finally she's reached it: The last stop before you're shipped off to Rabbit Island, known amoung the group-home-kids as Eat-Thier-Young Island. It's her last chance; One more screwup and she'...more
Basically it's about this girl named Lucy, who's been an orphan since she was seven when her parents died in a car crash. Well, she's fifteen now and seen more than her share of group homes. Finally she's reached it: The last stop before you're shipped off to Rabbit Island, known amoung the group-home-kids as Eat-Thier-Young Island. It's her last chance; One more screwup and she'...more
Nov 12, 2012
Jennifer Wardrip
marked it as to-read-i-own-it
Reviewed by Mark Frye, author and reviewer for TeensReadToo.com
Brent Hartinger has crafted a touching and suspenseful novel sure to capture and hold any teen reader's attention. He knows his craft well, having created an edgy novel about the foster care system with a tasteful, deft touch, ensuring it a wide readership. He has proven that tough issues and hard situations teens face can be portrayed with minimal violence and profanity.
Like his earlier novel, GEOGRAPHY CLUB, Hartinger has crafted...more
Brent Hartinger has crafted a touching and suspenseful novel sure to capture and hold any teen reader's attention. He knows his craft well, having created an edgy novel about the foster care system with a tasteful, deft touch, ensuring it a wide readership. He has proven that tough issues and hard situations teens face can be portrayed with minimal violence and profanity.
Like his earlier novel, GEOGRAPHY CLUB, Hartinger has crafted...more
Author: Brent Hartinger
Title: The Last Chance Texaco
Genre: romance, mystery, coming-of-age novel
Publication Info: Harper Collins. New York. 2004.
Recommended Age: 12 and older
Plot Summary: Lucy is a 15-year-old girl who lost her family to a car accident when she was only seven years old. Ever since then, she has been passed around to foster parents and group homes. She eventually ends up at Kindle Home, a run-down mansion in an upscale neighborhood. This is her last chance at a semi-normal life....more
Title: The Last Chance Texaco
Genre: romance, mystery, coming-of-age novel
Publication Info: Harper Collins. New York. 2004.
Recommended Age: 12 and older
Plot Summary: Lucy is a 15-year-old girl who lost her family to a car accident when she was only seven years old. Ever since then, she has been passed around to foster parents and group homes. She eventually ends up at Kindle Home, a run-down mansion in an upscale neighborhood. This is her last chance at a semi-normal life....more
Nov 19, 2007
Christian
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Christian by:
Ben
As I've mentioned previously, I love me some Brent Hartinger. So it surprised me when Ben pointed out that there is one that I haven't read. Egads! So I proceeded directly to the Devil's Den and ordered a copy. In hardcover. Because that's how I read my Hartinger.
The Last Chance Texaco is a novel about kids in a group home named Kindle House, nicknamed Last Chance Texaco. This is the last stop for troubled kids in The System before they get sent off to juvenile detention at Rabbit Island, a.k.a....more
The Last Chance Texaco is a novel about kids in a group home named Kindle House, nicknamed Last Chance Texaco. This is the last stop for troubled kids in The System before they get sent off to juvenile detention at Rabbit Island, a.k.a....more
The fact that Hartinger had the experience of living in a group home made his story about Lucy's experience feel more important to me. The story has a great message about how your entire outlook on life can change when you find just one person who cares about you. I love Lucy's strength and her will to change her circumstances. The love story was a little rushed and therefore unrealistic, but it's still definitely a book I would recommend, especially to reluctant readers.
Last Chance Texaco is a solid read that’s both sympathetic and eye-opening, and that moves along at a pace that will have readers turning the pages. I found it an interesting complement to two similarly themed books I’ve read recently: The Language of Flowers and Zelah Green.
Click here for my full review
Click here for my full review
The adventure that Lucy's life has been (ups and downs) as well as her wit are refreshing and easy to read as she tries to stay afloat after finding love in a foster home and trying to do good and stay away from an island called "Eat Their Young Island."
I can't go back, I wanted to stay. That was the thing about living in a group home. There was nowhere for me to go but forward.
I can't go back, I wanted to stay. That was the thing about living in a group home. There was nowhere for me to go but forward.
I was able to get through this book very quickly, but it was a joke. It was so predictable and poorly written. Sometimes I just found myself getting angry and saying "Are you kidding me?" over how stupid certain parts of it were. It had the quality of a story written by a middle school student for an English project grade. The idea of it seemed good, but it had much more potentional.
Eat their Young Island, Kindle House, Last Chance Texaco (last change to get gas for 100 miles). Her parents are dead, too many foster homes to count. Life as been an endless round of learning how to survive that system. New sxhools, not trusting new friends, new suervisors, new roomates, will Kindle House be 16 yr old Lucy's Last Chance Texaco? Great
Disappointing. Simplistically written and the romance is completely unbelievable. One moment they hate each other,and then all of a sudden they like each other. This would make sense if something occurred that would have led them to discover some commanalities, but it seems to just happen. I suspect this was written for the pre-teen crowd.
Four Stars Because I Picked It Up On A Whim and It Was Well Written, Though Nothing Soul Bending. I Read This Awhile Back, Like In Middle School...and Enjoyed It.
It's Full of Teenage Angst and Troubled Souls, Yet Holds More Depth Than Thought Of At First Glance.
It's Full of Teenage Angst and Troubled Souls, Yet Holds More Depth Than Thought Of At First Glance.
The story was really good, but I'm not sure the book was edited properly. There were misspellings and gramatical errors that pulled me out of the story several times. I got it as a free Friday Nook book so it was still worth it.
Good story, interesting plot, some good twists and turns. A little disappointed in the language. Thought some of the extreme was unnecessary to get the point across. Because of that I would not recommend to my twelve year old to read, though she would greatly enjoy the plot.
This book gives a fantastic view of how life may not be as easy going and grand as people think. The charectors had very different backgrounds. This book was even better the second time around. Overall, 4.5 out of 5 stars :)
The last chance texaco isn't anything new that i've read. But it was still a quick read that didn't lose my attention. The only flaw about this book is that some parts get really cheesy, and the ending seems rather rushed.
The writing wasn't very good and the story seemed to just drag on about nothing important. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. It was just "ok" at best. Read it since it was on my Kindle from a free download from Amazon.
An interesting tale. The voice was probably the strongest factor for this book, though the plot wasn't bad. A fairly enjoyable read, though a little too much swearing for my tastes.
No one should have to live in a group home but this book gives a quick glimpse into that life. Common teen themes of love, friendship and bullies are included with realistic style.
Love Hartinger's work, but this started off as quite a good bit of social realism and halfway through turned into an OTT Nancy Drew adventure with an overly sappy ending that seemed at contrast with the rest of the book.
Simple, easy reading book which I've been needing lately. It is clean and for all ages. It did give me a peek into foster life which I should comprehend more fully.
Sometimes, I start to read a book and realize that I already read it. Such is the case with Last Chance Texaco, the story of a girl in a group foster home. I liked it both times...
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I am Brent Hartinger, and I live to write.
For the last twenty years, I have made my living writing just about everything that involves words.
My most famous book is probably my 2003 novel, Geography Club, which has been adapted into a feature film starring Scott Bakula, Marin Hinkle, Ana Gasteyer, Cameron Deane Stewart, Justin Deeley, Ally Maki, Andrew Caldwell, and Nikki Blonsky. It'll be released...more
More about Brent Hartinger...
For the last twenty years, I have made my living writing just about everything that involves words.
My most famous book is probably my 2003 novel, Geography Club, which has been adapted into a feature film starring Scott Bakula, Marin Hinkle, Ana Gasteyer, Cameron Deane Stewart, Justin Deeley, Ally Maki, Andrew Caldwell, and Nikki Blonsky. It'll be released...more
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Feb 10, 2013 11:37am