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Club Meds
JACK-IN-THE-BOX Jack Sutton has been on meds since third grade, when his mother came to his classroom and discovered his teacher had put him in a washing machine box. Jack and his friends refer to the nurse's office, where they line up daily for their medications, as Club Meds. But Club Meds is no vacation spot -- it's what enables Jack and Mary, who have ADHD, and Sam, who suffers from epilepsy, to navigate the treacherous waters of Busby Memorial High School. So when major-league bully and Jack's longtime nemesis Chuck forces Jack to turn over his Ritalin, Jack is once again in a box, one that's far more frightening than a discarded packing carton. The kids from Club Meds come to Jack's defense with a plan that's outrageous and dangerous, and a long shot at best. It will test their determination and their courage -- and it will change their lives forever.
- GenresAdhdYoung AdultFiction
176 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2006
2 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Hall Page
54 books465 followersKatherine Hall Page is the author of twenty-five previous Faith Fairchild mysteries, the first of which received the Agatha Award for best first mystery. The Body in the Snowdrift was honored with the Agatha Award for best novel of 2006. Page also won an Agatha for her short story “The Would-Be Widower.” The recipient of the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement, she has been nominated for the Edgar, the Mary Higgins Clark, the Maine Literary, and the Macavity Awards. She lives in Massachusetts and Maine with her husband.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 20, 2017
Page, Katherine Hall Club Meds, 166 p. Simon Schuster –
Jack, Mary and Sam call themselves and other kids who troop to the nurse’s office each day “Club Med”, as they get the medication they need to survive another day of school. Now they are in high school and Jack’s old tormentor has decided to use Jack as his personal supplier for his drug deals around campus – forcing Jack to turn over half of his medication for each day. Since Jack needs that medication to make it through each school day, he and his friends hit upon a plan to thwart Chuck and assert themselves against the school bullies.
I have to wonder if someone told the author that the book would never sell unless she included some swearing, so she went back and add a swear word about every other page. I kid you not – that’s just about how often they are. They add absolutely nothing to the narrative and instead feel like great big clunker sin the middle of the story flow. It’s too bad – the story is very goos, but the sheer amount and variety of swear words, with no purpose, make this off limits for public schools.
NO
Jack, Mary and Sam call themselves and other kids who troop to the nurse’s office each day “Club Med”, as they get the medication they need to survive another day of school. Now they are in high school and Jack’s old tormentor has decided to use Jack as his personal supplier for his drug deals around campus – forcing Jack to turn over half of his medication for each day. Since Jack needs that medication to make it through each school day, he and his friends hit upon a plan to thwart Chuck and assert themselves against the school bullies.
I have to wonder if someone told the author that the book would never sell unless she included some swearing, so she went back and add a swear word about every other page. I kid you not – that’s just about how often they are. They add absolutely nothing to the narrative and instead feel like great big clunker sin the middle of the story flow. It’s too bad – the story is very goos, but the sheer amount and variety of swear words, with no purpose, make this off limits for public schools.
NO
September 4, 2021
I love this book. It's supposed to be for 12 year olds, but it is insightful, entertaining, and amusing for anyone who was ever a teenager. I love Katherine Hall Page's mysteries and this is even better. She seems to write as ninth graders would talk and think. It's been a long time, but I do remember what good friends I made and what enemies, too.
If you want a short back-to-school read that will maybe explain what AHDH students and others with unseen disabilities may be going through and how their parents are dealing with it, read this. Besides, it's fun and fast and has a happy ending.
If you want a short back-to-school read that will maybe explain what AHDH students and others with unseen disabilities may be going through and how their parents are dealing with it, read this. Besides, it's fun and fast and has a happy ending.
January 17, 2018
Honestly, I couldn’t even finish it. I’m usually the type of person who finishes a book in a few days tops, especially if it’s a good one. But after struggling through 66 pages, I still knew next to nothing about what the hell was going on. And there was ALMOST NO DIALOGUE because most of it was just him talking about stuff or reflecting on things! I don’t know if it was a good plot- because I never got there, but the writing style was far from great and frankly does the opposite of pulling a reader in.
October 24, 2017
It was a well writen book. Also since I have ADHD I can conect to the characters in the book.
January 7, 2022
Idk I read this when I was 12 and liked it ok, but was slow at times.
November 26, 2012
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
For John "Jack" Sutton, life is made up of two things--when the meds he takes for ADHD are streaming through his system, and when they're wearing off. For as long as he can remember, he's taken medication at regular intervals throughout the day to help with his ADHD, otherwise known as Attention Deficit hyperactivity Disorder. Although there are still plenty of times when his mind wanders, or when he can't answer a direct question, or when he's in his own world and doesn't even realize that someone is speaking to him, these times are fewer and farther between when he's taking his Ritalin.
Jack has a pretty close-knit group of friends: Mary, who also has ADHD, and Sam, who takes medication to keep him from having seizures due to epilepsy. Along with a few other students at Busby Memorial High School, they make up Club Meds--the students who arrive at the nurse's office daily for their mid-day dose of medication.
Jack's life isn't only made up of Club Meds, though. There's also his mother, a stay-at-home mom who has the art of worrying down to an exact science. For someone who is a freshman in high school, Jack has very little freedom. He's not allowed to talk on the phone after eight p.m., especially to Mary, who for some reason is persona non grata to his mother. He doesn't go out to parties, or stay out late, or date. And when and if he does get in trouble, which happens a lot when he deals with his father, his punishment is to have his computer taken away. Since Jack's idea of light reading is a Mac manual, this is torture. For his father, a former jock who doesn't even truly believe in either ADHD or the need for medication, dealing with Jack is something he tries to avoid at all costs.
And then there's Chuck Williams, the bully of all bullies, who gets off on tormenting the members of Club Meds. For Jack, things get even worse when Chuck starts demanding he turn over some of his weekly medication for his own purposes. How is Jack supposed to deal with everyday life without his medicine? As things go from bad to worse, it's up to the members of Club Meds to come up with a plan to end Chuck's assault.
CLUB MEDS is a great, entertaining, quick read. I've been fortunate to read some of Ms. Page's previous releases in the adult mystery market, and have to say that the same fast-paced style is in play here. A great read about being different, tolerating cruelty, and having what's mentioned in the book as "a disability that no one can see."
For John "Jack" Sutton, life is made up of two things--when the meds he takes for ADHD are streaming through his system, and when they're wearing off. For as long as he can remember, he's taken medication at regular intervals throughout the day to help with his ADHD, otherwise known as Attention Deficit hyperactivity Disorder. Although there are still plenty of times when his mind wanders, or when he can't answer a direct question, or when he's in his own world and doesn't even realize that someone is speaking to him, these times are fewer and farther between when he's taking his Ritalin.
Jack has a pretty close-knit group of friends: Mary, who also has ADHD, and Sam, who takes medication to keep him from having seizures due to epilepsy. Along with a few other students at Busby Memorial High School, they make up Club Meds--the students who arrive at the nurse's office daily for their mid-day dose of medication.
Jack's life isn't only made up of Club Meds, though. There's also his mother, a stay-at-home mom who has the art of worrying down to an exact science. For someone who is a freshman in high school, Jack has very little freedom. He's not allowed to talk on the phone after eight p.m., especially to Mary, who for some reason is persona non grata to his mother. He doesn't go out to parties, or stay out late, or date. And when and if he does get in trouble, which happens a lot when he deals with his father, his punishment is to have his computer taken away. Since Jack's idea of light reading is a Mac manual, this is torture. For his father, a former jock who doesn't even truly believe in either ADHD or the need for medication, dealing with Jack is something he tries to avoid at all costs.
And then there's Chuck Williams, the bully of all bullies, who gets off on tormenting the members of Club Meds. For Jack, things get even worse when Chuck starts demanding he turn over some of his weekly medication for his own purposes. How is Jack supposed to deal with everyday life without his medicine? As things go from bad to worse, it's up to the members of Club Meds to come up with a plan to end Chuck's assault.
CLUB MEDS is a great, entertaining, quick read. I've been fortunate to read some of Ms. Page's previous releases in the adult mystery market, and have to say that the same fast-paced style is in play here. A great read about being different, tolerating cruelty, and having what's mentioned in the book as "a disability that no one can see."
November 13, 2012
Jack and his friends all get meds from the school nurse in the middle of the day, a trip that they affectionately call "Club Meds." Jack is just reaching high school and though he's excited about the new experiences and classes, he's not excited about being nearer to an old bully of his named Chuck. Sure enough, Chuck corners him and demands 20 pills per week so that Chuck can both take and sell them and Jack doesn't know what to do. Jack needs his pills to help with his ADHD and a lesser dose will be hugely problematic.
I liked the voice in the book and how Jack's thoughts were more erratic when he wasn't on the correct dosage. The plot, however, wasn't very strong. The book is short but the major plot doesn't show up until about halfway in and then the solution is kind of thrown in. I liked the characters when we got to see them, but there wasn't a great deal of development. The book earned some points for discussing the problems of having a disability that "people can't see" because Jack faced many people who thought he was lying or that tried to change him. As a serious problem, this plot point was appreciated.
I liked the voice in the book and how Jack's thoughts were more erratic when he wasn't on the correct dosage. The plot, however, wasn't very strong. The book is short but the major plot doesn't show up until about halfway in and then the solution is kind of thrown in. I liked the characters when we got to see them, but there wasn't a great deal of development. The book earned some points for discussing the problems of having a disability that "people can't see" because Jack faced many people who thought he was lying or that tried to change him. As a serious problem, this plot point was appreciated.
September 17, 2012
Usually if I encounter people with problems such as these, I am overcome with the feeling of sympathy. Or pity. Or sadness. Or anger for the unfairness for their sake. Everything perhaps, save for the insane urge to smack them on the wall and stomp on them.
Because that's what I felt with Jack and his friends.
I have a friend with ADHD and yes, he annoys me sometimes but NEVER to the point that I'd actually want to smack him on the wall. And yet Jack managed to invoke these feelings from within me. I don't know what is it about him that irritates me so much. But it just does.
I hate this book. And I hate the characters. Probably the only one I don't hate is the older girl who helped them with the plan. She didn't piss me off like the rest.
But all in all, Club Meds sucks.
Because that's what I felt with Jack and his friends.
I have a friend with ADHD and yes, he annoys me sometimes but NEVER to the point that I'd actually want to smack him on the wall. And yet Jack managed to invoke these feelings from within me. I don't know what is it about him that irritates me so much. But it just does.
I hate this book. And I hate the characters. Probably the only one I don't hate is the older girl who helped them with the plan. She didn't piss me off like the rest.
But all in all, Club Meds sucks.
February 1, 2008
I was really disappointed with this book. We spend most of the time in the protagonist's head with very little action occurring.
The main plot point is not entirely believable -- why is Chuck still so antagonistic toward him?
Also, their solution to the problem is somewhat unrealistic -- what kids are actually going to be able to pull something like that off? It just seemed like a cop-out.
The only positive point is that you get to see a little of what it's like to be ADD. It was almost like that was Page's purpose in writing the book -- simply show what it's like to be ADD -- and then she tried to wrap a story around it.
I don't recommend this book.
The main plot point is not entirely believable -- why is Chuck still so antagonistic toward him?
Also, their solution to the problem is somewhat unrealistic -- what kids are actually going to be able to pull something like that off? It just seemed like a cop-out.
The only positive point is that you get to see a little of what it's like to be ADD. It was almost like that was Page's purpose in writing the book -- simply show what it's like to be ADD -- and then she tried to wrap a story around it.
I don't recommend this book.
February 27, 2010
A great book about the underdog striking back. Jack Sutton is a member of "Club Meds," the kids who line up at the nurse's office to get their medication at lunch. Though he's a social outcast, he still had friends -- fellow ADD sufferer Mary and his best friend, Sam. They exist in uneasy balance until the school bully, Chuck, starts demanding Jack's Ritalin, or else.
The kids of Club Meds put their minds together and come up with a daring plan that just might work -- if they can keep their cool.
Great discussion book for tweens and teens.
The kids of Club Meds put their minds together and come up with a daring plan that just might work -- if they can keep their cool.
Great discussion book for tweens and teens.
November 4, 2014
I did not like this book at all. Although, it displayed bullying, I did not think that is was portrayed in a relatable or even realistic way. In addition, as i was reading i was hoping for a great ending to top off the book, but it never came. The ending was boring and it did not make much sense with regard to the rest of the book. I would not recommend this book to anyone because it ultimately was disappointing.
December 8, 2008
Eh. Don't really know what to say. It's a pretty forgettable little book that's easy to read, and the protagonist has a unique voice, but his condition doesn't come through in his first-person narration, and their whole solution to the bully situation is overly contrived.
Not a complete waste of time, I guess.
Not a complete waste of time, I guess.
May 19, 2009
Okay, this book is just bad. So cheesy. Totally improbable, ridiculous ending. I only give it two stars cuz i have a soft spot in my heart for books where disabled folks band together to fight back against assholes.
October 31, 2014
I think that this book is very odd but relatable. It talks about bullying and how it affects people and people around them. Also It talks about how ADHD and how it affects people and what they go through. It talks about the struggle and how you should be thankful. All in all this book was okay
March 24, 2008
this book was terrible. i don't recommend it to anyone.
October 16, 2008
A not so bad book about standing up to bullies and figuring out how to make your way. Unrealistic at points, it is nonetheless a good read about a bunch of misfits sticking together.
May 2, 2009
It was o.k.
January 4, 2013
A light, quick and simple read, featuring a less-than-memorable but refreshingly not-irritating male protagonist at the center.
Read
December 16, 2013IT WAS GOOD
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews