Caught Between the Pages

by Marlene Carvell

A slacker student's perspective changes when he gets his hands on his teacher's journal.

PJ Barnes is on the fast track to failing high school, and everyone is riding him about it especially his English teacher, Mrs. Jordan. Then, somehow, her personal journal gets mixed up with his homework papers. Thinking he'll find the answers to the next quiz, he starts reading and quickly discovers it's not what he expected. As insights and family secrets surface, PJ begins to realize that Mrs. Jordan knows more about his past, his present, and his future than he ever imagined. Author Marlene Carvell explores the impact that decisions have on our lives in this exciting, moving novel for young adults.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published July 3, 2008

Reviews

[Ernest · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dust jacket’s blurb gave the impression that a major component of the book was centred around a teacher’s personal diary that the protagonist inadvertently obtains. In reality, the diary plays only a limited part in this book which contained potential but unfortunately lacked, for me, a final sparkle. The characters hovered between on the page names and believable participants in the story. While the setup and gradual build of the story was actually quite well done, the ending was a letdown, seemingly ending too quickly and without a resolution that was meaningful. There was much potential in the story that somehow didn’t translate to a whole that I enjoyed.

[Bentley Reeves]

Caught between the pages is about a P.J Barnes slacking off at school, causing him to fail Mrs. Jordan's class. After school P.J usually go to soccer practice until Mrs.Jordan started to tutoring him. One day, after tutoring, P.J got his journal and Mrs.Jordan mixed up. Later that day P.J was looking his journal until he relies, he haves Mrs.Jordan journal. P.J used Mrs.Jordan'journal as blackmail, 2 of P.J's teammates are his bullies. Then later on P.J feels bad for having Mrs.Jordan's journal. P.J returned the journal back to the rightful owner.

-Did you like the book?
Yes i did, the book seems real also the problem as well.

-which character you did/didn't like?
Honestly i didn't have a character I hate nor liked, I just a eh feeling towards the characters.

-What was your favorite quote or passage?
"Somewhat of a lost soul?".

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Carvell portrays a trouble teen, caught between doing what's right, and doing what would help him out financially. His Mom is present but absent for him as she tries to make ends meet. He could do well in school but doesn't. When a teacher's journal falls into his hands he has yet another decision to make. PJ has a lot of tough decisions to make, in the end he does all right. I never developed a bond with PJ, and if you don't care much for the main character, it follows the rest of the book doesn't have a hold either.

[Liaken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teenage boy won't do homework, is full of anger, keeps a running mental abuse against everyone around him . . . The problem: After the setup, the book has a hard time going anywhere. I read about fifty pages in and then started skimming. I skimmed right to the end. And didn't see a reason to turn back.

[MaKenna Rosales · Rating 2 out of 5]

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD

This is one of the oldest books in my collection, meaning how long I've had it and not necessarily when it was published, and I could not for the life of me remember what this one was about. I remembered reading it for the first time in middle school and at that time, I only kept books that I actually liked. So, I was a little excited! I mean, I'd kept this book for over 10 years, it had to be pretty good right?

Well, as much as I liked it as a kid, I did not enjoy it that much as an adult. I mean I can understand why I liked it so much - it had boys and drugs and sports and issues and a car crash and a boy going through all of this stuff within a very short amount of time. And at the time, I very much wanted to know how the male brain worked, even in book form.

In general, this book is fine and is great for that middle-high school aged person wanting to read a shorter book. It has the drama that kids crave and is a simple enough read so you don't get lost on your way to the end. Unfortunately for me, it was a just a bit too bland to warrant more than 2 stars from me.

With that, it'll still remain on my shelf for years to come in my hopes to have my own full library. And who knows, maybe my future kids will love it!

[Rishitha C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is good in the beginning but, it starts getting boring at the end.

[*Weebles* · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK, but I can't stand an "empty ending".

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is well conceived with fleshed-out characters and a twist (or two). Although realistic fiction is my least favorite YA genre, this is really good. (Local author bias acknowledged)

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised that the main character was all caught up in money and not in is academics and sports. I kind of understand why he did it because his family was poor and he needed money for himself but I say wait till you get your high school degree before you get a job. Also why is the main characters mom still married to his step father who is a lazy pig, I just don´t get that.

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

A slacker student’s perspective changes when he gets his hands on his teacher’s journal.
PJ Barnes is on the fast track to failing high school, and everyone is riding him about it—especially his English teacher, Mrs. Jordan. Then, somehow, her personal journal gets mixed up with his homework papers. Thinking he’ll find the answers to the next quiz, he starts reading and quickly discovers it’s not what he expected. As insights and family secrets surface, PJ begins to realize that Mrs. Jordan knows more about his past, his present, and his future than he ever imagined. Author Marlene Carvell explores the impact that decisions have on our lives in this exciting, moving novel for young adults.

So the synopsis of this book is so different from the book its dumbfounding! Its similar i will give them that but its so different from what goes down in the real story its not similar enough. But i was okay with the overall story line and everything, it progressed well and i really enjoyed how it had highs and lows in it, so there wasn't nonstop action yet wasn't a flat story all the time either, a mix of both. I felt like this was more of a guys book but it was still a decent read. I probably won't read again though. I do recommend it but more for guys then anything.

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this book much at all.
I felt like the story never went anywhere. The focus seemed to be all over the place, like the author couldn't decide what the true point would be.
The ending was really abrupt, and just felt like it was out of place. It tied up the loose ends, but did so in a really messy, unsatisfactory way.

I was never drawn to the main character. He didn't seem to learn anything, and I don't feel that I got a very good glimpse at what he was really like. There were little bits of information about him tossed in randomly, but it all just seemed like filler. He got a call early on in the story from his dad cancelling a planned trip, but it just seemed out of place, and like we could have established the broken relationship in a different way.
I also felt like mentioning his ex-girlfriend throughout the story was pointless. It was just distracting from where the actual story was going, and to throw in a sort of resolution for that at the end just seemed awkward, because I wasn't thinking about it as an important aspect of the story, but then it seemed to be a huge part of the ending.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really great book, that will likely appeal to boys. PJ Barnes is a typical underachiever who suddenly finds himself tangled up in all kinds of secrets during his sophomore year. His girl has dumped him for a nerd, he's getting flack from the soccer team captain, his English teacher has mistakenly given him her private journal, and his dad can't be bothered with him. That's all before he gets sucked into "doing a little favor" for the local criminal element. By reading his teacher's journal, he learns a little bit about those around him and how he is perceived, which eventually makes him more self-aware and possibly more receptive to friendship. He doesn't really "reform" his lackadaisical ways, but he starts to see some value in his life.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

PJ is a loner without much going on in his life. His father rarely sees him, he isn't close to his step father and his mother works a lot though they don't seem to have money. While staying after school to make up English homework, his teacher's journal gets mixed in with his assignments and he can't help but read it. Meanwhile, a bad element in the school wants PJ to "help" with a little blackmail. I found the strength of people around the main character interesting and refreshing to read about especially in a book centered around boys. We all have to make our way in this world, but it does help to have folks around you that believe in you even when you aren't so sure of yourself. Some language and drug situations.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good story of a young man who has nothing going for him at home. He really does not care about the future and makes no attempt to be successful. He learns that there are consequences to the choices we make, good and bad, and the value of true friends. He also learns about peer pressure and the importance of staying away from the wrong people. His struggle with honesty and good and bad choices is well written and will appeal to teen-agers on a non-preachy level.

[Colleen Graves · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited about the premise of this book. It's about an apathetic student who doesn't care about doing his English teacher's work when he accidentally gets his hands on her private journal. He's tempted to use what's in it to blackmail his teacher, but he also feels incredibly guilty for reading her private thoughts.

I think this would be a great read for teen boys. All the athletic stuff in it got boring to me, but I'm sure it would keep them reading!

[Demi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book a while back, but never got to read it until recently. Honestly, I found the synopsis interesting. Problem is, it's misleading! So here I was, expecting something to happen that could affect P.J.'s life because he was "caught between the pages". Instead, I followed him around school and soccer practice and it just got.. boring. But not SO much that I completely disregarded reading it. It's an easy read, if that's what you're looking for.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was quite a disappointment, mostly because Carvell's book "Sweetgrass Basket" was deep, true to life, and beautiful. I kept waiting for the plotline to deepen, to start caring about the characters, to feel like I really knew them and their motivations, but it never happened. It presents a good picture of a high school boy with a dilemma, but it never gets much deeper than that. It didn't come close to feeling as genuine as Carvell's other titles.

[Marilyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to read this but couldn't get myself to finish it. It felt contrived, as if it were written by someone who thinks they know what troubled teen boys are thinking about, but doesn't really. I felt like it condescended to the reader. The cover is awesome, though, so teens may pick it up. We'll see if they read it...

[Charleeene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it enought to keep me reading. :) Cool cover!:))

He's a passive boy who doesn't care about things much. He's got lots of problems and made lots of mistakes. But in the end, he did the right thing.

I just wish that there'd be somekind of epilogue or something... I want to know what happened at the dance with Amanda.

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I wonder if I should start to write a notebook about my students, I don't think I have that much to say. While I enjoyed portions of this book, it did not really hold , or fascinate me. The talk of gangs, drugs, and crime was not overly obnoxious...it was okay.

[Candielouhoo]

This is one I intend to go back and finish later. I have to know what happened at the end. But with so many to read, ages of teens being too old and language I just had to put it down and go to the next on the list.
What I read was great however!

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot is very contrived and there is not enough character development or change. Some mild swear words used.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some cussing. Which was surprising. it was ok. The boy reads a notebook that was his teacher and he thinks about the things in the notebook. He's doesn't like homework.

[Luna Lancey]

i havent finished it yet but it seems awesome

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it! It was good enough that I read the entire book, and the lessons learned were nice. The characters were likable. Though there was only: The Good, The Bad, and P.J.

[bex clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly what I was expecting from the teenage gang member that recommended it.

[Sophia]

dnf at like, chapter 4. main character is bleh. it’s gonna put me in a slump. not in the mood lol