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235th out of 554 books
—
2,366 voters
Sliding on the Edge
by
C. Lee McKenzie (Goodreads Author)
Shawna Stone, 16, can handle anything from a Las Vegas hustle to skipping out on the rent. Scarred inside and out, she's survived with a tough, hardened attitude. Yet she's thrown when her mother abandons her in Vegas with only a bus ticket and the name and number of a stranger to call. Now this troubled, desperate teen finds herself on a Northern California horse ranch wi...more
268 pages
Published
April 23rd 2009
by Westside Books
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Sliding on the edge by C.Lee McKenzie – Shawna Stone is 16 years-old.
Shawna’s mom, who’s rather flighty, abandons her in Las Vegas. She leaves the child, who’s become a pretty responsible person - money, a bus ticket to Sacramento, and the phone number of her mother in law, Shawna’s grandmother, Kay. Shawna has never met her grandmother and has heard only her mom's side of the story about her father, who's dead. Shawna has had self abuse and social acceptance issues throughout her life. Kay’s c...more
Shawna’s mom, who’s rather flighty, abandons her in Las Vegas. She leaves the child, who’s become a pretty responsible person - money, a bus ticket to Sacramento, and the phone number of her mother in law, Shawna’s grandmother, Kay. Shawna has never met her grandmother and has heard only her mom's side of the story about her father, who's dead. Shawna has had self abuse and social acceptance issues throughout her life. Kay’s c...more
Shawna is a troubled girl who has had to build a tough exterior due to how she grew up. Her Mom left her to fend on her own a lot, but when her Mom clears out their apartment with her boyfriend, a note telling Shawna to go to her Grandmother's house, to a complete stranger.
Under Kay (her Grandmother)'s love and structure, Shawna begins to open up. Kay runs a ranch with horses, who helps to open Shawna's heart as well. There is also a farm "hand" with personality and wise advice.
Shawna's jour...more
Under Kay (her Grandmother)'s love and structure, Shawna begins to open up. Kay runs a ranch with horses, who helps to open Shawna's heart as well. There is also a farm "hand" with personality and wise advice.
Shawna's jour...more
Wow! This book took me by surprise because the flawed main character is trying to fight the Monster. This is the most proactive book on cutting I've read in all my time reading YA. The book wasn't driven by the cutting either which makes it more plausible since the few cutters I've known have kept their secret while living what appear to be normal lives.
Shawna's reluctance to get to know her grandmother in terms of protecting herself from more hurt and in light of the stories her mother told her...more
Shawna's reluctance to get to know her grandmother in terms of protecting herself from more hurt and in light of the stories her mother told her...more
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When her mother abandons her, street hardened teenager, Shawna Stone, is forced to give up her life in Las Vegas and move onto a horse farm with her equally hardened grandmother, Kay Stone. These two have major secrets. A doomed horse, a drifter named Kenny and a handsome farm hand complete the cast. Watching these characters unravel makes for a compelling read, but the real joy comes as they begin to rebuild, proving that even the most battered of humans can find safety and hope through the hea...more
Although this story is fictional, protagonist Shawna Stone’s story is all too familiar to many teen girls. Neglected by her mother, streetwise 16-year-old Shawna lives in poverty in Las Vegas where she and her mother barely survive by scamming others. When her mother abandons her, Shawna goes to live with a grandmother she’s never met and knows nothing about. Not even whether the woman is her mother’s mother or her father’s mother.
Life on a California horse ranch is a drastic change from the hu...more
Life on a California horse ranch is a drastic change from the hu...more
"Shawna Stone, sixteen, has learned to handle anything from a Las Vegas hustle to skipping out on the rent. Scarred inside and out, she's survived with a tough, hardened attitude. When her mother abandons her in Vegas, with only a bus ticket and the name and number of a stranger to call, this troubled, desperate teen finds herself on a California horse ranch with Kay Stone, the steely, youngish grandmother she's never known. Kay overwhelms Shawna with rules and daily barn chores, and Shawna baff...more
Sliding on the Edge is an emotional and edgy story of one girl’s journey to recovery. Shawna is a tough girl, she has to be to survive some of America’s roughest cities. When her mom leaves her alone in Las Vegas with only a hundred bucks to buy a bus ticket and a phone number, Shawna soon finds herself on a Californian horse ranch living with a grandmother she never knew existed. Besides her problematic anger issues and rough exterior, Shawna turns to cutting herself when a she can’t handle the...more
Complete/full review here: http://thebookpixie.blogspot.com/2009...
Author Interview here: http://thebookpixie.blogspot.com/2009...
Review
Sliding on the Edge is the emotional, powerful debut novel of author C. Lee McKenzie.
To say that Shawna is troubled would be a serious understatement. She is haunted and struggles daily with the demons inside her caused from a disastrous home life. To make matters worse, there is Monster. The voice inside her head cutting her down, reminding her of all the bad t...more
Author Interview here: http://thebookpixie.blogspot.com/2009...
Review
Sliding on the Edge is the emotional, powerful debut novel of author C. Lee McKenzie.
To say that Shawna is troubled would be a serious understatement. She is haunted and struggles daily with the demons inside her caused from a disastrous home life. To make matters worse, there is Monster. The voice inside her head cutting her down, reminding her of all the bad t...more
Characters:
The characters in this book described in one word were: somewhat weird. I felt like at times, they were all as normal as they could be for their character, but then at other parts, it was just... too weird, even for the character. There were only a few main characters, especially towards the beginning, and to be honest, I got bored of them towards the beginning of the book. If the characters hadn't been so boring towards the beginning, I think I would've finished the book quicker tha...more
The characters in this book described in one word were: somewhat weird. I felt like at times, they were all as normal as they could be for their character, but then at other parts, it was just... too weird, even for the character. There were only a few main characters, especially towards the beginning, and to be honest, I got bored of them towards the beginning of the book. If the characters hadn't been so boring towards the beginning, I think I would've finished the book quicker tha...more
This was a really good book. I didn't want to put it down once I started reading it. Shawna is damaged by her mothers life style, she
has no home life. Doesn't even now what its like to be loved and cared for. Her mother dumps her and she goes to live with a grandmother she never knew. Shawna is tormented by her demons and doesn't trust anyone. Don't want to say anymore. Just pick up this book and read it.
has no home life. Doesn't even now what its like to be loved and cared for. Her mother dumps her and she goes to live with a grandmother she never knew. Shawna is tormented by her demons and doesn't trust anyone. Don't want to say anymore. Just pick up this book and read it.
I don't usually read contemporary books that deal with tough girls like Shawna (I'm more of a fantasy-type reader), but this book was very well-written. I don't want to give too much away, but I especially enjoyed reading about the relationship with Shawna's (newly discovered) grandmother, Kay, and their struggles to get past their issues to a point where, after years of suffering, they could find a measure of peace. I also really liked the use of animals to help Shawna with the healing process...more
It was okay ... but I'm not a big fan of having one POV in first person present tense and then the next POV in third person past tense. It throws me out of the story. Also, we'd be moving forward in the storyline chapter after chapter, and then there'd be a change in POV that yanked us backward in the story. That felt disjointed. I would have rathered had a continuous movement forward in the story.
I absolutely looovve this book. It has drama, love, and excitment. This girl has mom that moved away with her boyfriend. Then she went to her not so old grandmas fell in love with a hooott boy that works on her grandmothers frm and then of course "monster" comes and talks Shawna into cutting her ankles to stop him from annoying her every night ( this girl is not lezbo) now her grandma thinks her last relative (shawna) wants to kill herself. What will happen? I know but you dont ha ha!
I highly recommend this book for anyone
FTC: I received a free copy of this book and was not reimbursed in any other way.
FTC: I received a free copy of this book and was not reimbursed in any other way.
Fascinating book about how teens "cut" themselves to help deal with issues. A sweet, sweet ending!
I really enjoyed this book and was a little sad to close the cover and say good-bye to Shawna and Kay. I found the dual perspective between the grandma and the granddaughter was insightful and showed how the two characters were more similar than not...but neither could see it. It was their mutual love for horses that helps them bridge their gaps.
May 21, 2009
Sydney
added it
I really enjoyed this story about a damaged girl finding herself and a sense of family by moving in with the grandmother she doesn't know. Older fans of horse stories will love the setting and the relationships between the characters and their horses.
I really liked this book! It was very engaging and a great, quick read.
So glad I won this book through Good Reads and WestSide Books. Thank you.
This is a deep, meaningful and moving story for young or older adults. Shawna has been lied to, taught to steal and treated badly by someone who should have loved, protected and nurtured her. It has left her with an attitude, etc. You really feel for this young girl and what she has and is going through. An eye opening story for sure.
A real to life story and characters. Well written, fast read. Recommended.
This is a deep, meaningful and moving story for young or older adults. Shawna has been lied to, taught to steal and treated badly by someone who should have loved, protected and nurtured her. It has left her with an attitude, etc. You really feel for this young girl and what she has and is going through. An eye opening story for sure.
A real to life story and characters. Well written, fast read. Recommended.
Apr 13, 2013
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In her other life--the one before she began writing for teens and younger readers--C. Lee was a teacher and administrator at California State University, San Jose. Her field of Linguistics and Inter-cultural Communication has carried her to a lot of places in the world to explore different cultures and languages. She can say, “Where’s the toilet?” and “I’m lost!” in at least five languages and two...more
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