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A Certain October

Angela Johnson

3.53 · Rating details · 506 ratings · 91 reviews

Three-time Coretta Scott King Award–winner Angela Johnson writes a wrenching, honest book about surviving the unimaginable and finding a way to go on.

Scotty compares herself to tofu: no flavor unless you add something. And it’s true that Scotty’s friends, Misha and Falcone, and her brother, Keone, make life delicious. But when a terrible accident occurs, Scotty feels respo ...more

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Hardcover, 176 pages

Published August 28th 2012 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

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Average rating 3.53 ·

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· 506 ratings · 91 reviews

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Mar 03, 2013 Suzanne rated it liked it

Shelves: peach-consideration

First Part Last was also a slim volume, but it packed so much more of a punch than A Certain October. As a main character, Scotty doesn't make much of an impression, compared to her gorgeous and confident best friends. Misha always gets attention but is determined to stay true to herself even when chosen for the Homecoming Court, tattoos and dreads and all. Falcone is out to his father and a sympathetic sounding board. Scotty is primarily defined by her misery and grief in the face of tragedy. A ...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Teresa Bunner rated it really liked it

My book has the title A Certain October. Goodreads has it listed under this title. Either way, it's a beautifully written very poignant book about life. Thank you Angela for offering us teen characters who are silly, strong, loving and kind. And thank you for making the teen boys gentlemen. Our teens need to see more characters like these. ...more

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Mar 08, 2020 Amy Layton rated it really liked it

Shelves: authors-of-color, realism, ya-fiction, death-fiction

When a train accident occurs involving Scotty, her younger autistic brother, and a new friend, she's the only one left unscathed. There's funerals to attend, hospital rooms to visit, and the knowledge that it was ultimately her decision to ride the train that day was all hers. For Scotty, a high schooler, all of this is almost too much to bear. She mourns, she hopes, she hurts, and it seems like nothing will ever be the same again. And she's right in that it won't be.

Angela Johnson does a f ...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Annette rated it liked it

While I found A Certain October entertaining enough as I read it, I don't think it is a memorable book.

Scotty stays busy with her friends and family and taking care of Keone, her autistic little brother. A terrible accident kills a new friend of Scotty's and puts her brother in a coma. Scotty blames herself.

That's pretty much it. We get to know Scotty and her friends, then we experience the terrible accident and go through Scotty's turmoil afterwards.

The book is very short and quickly read, howe ...more

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Sep 09, 2013 Ms. Ramsborg rated it really liked it

Shelves: realistic-fiction

Book Title: A Certain October
Lexile: 870

In a nutshell: Scotty gets into an accident that puts her little brother in a coma. She’s trying to deal with getting back to normal teenager life and her brother’s injuries with him being in the hospital.

I liked this book because the emotions felt so real. For example, when Scotty visited her brother Keone in the hospital, it was so sad. I could also understand how Scotty felt around Jason because she really likes him and he makes her a little nervous.

W ...more

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Dec 07, 2015 Sharon rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Had A Certain October been written in a more linear fashion, I would have easily given it four stars. The author takes too long to get to the heart of the story, namely a tragedy that shakes Scotty to her very core. Although this book is very short, the character of Scotty is exceedingly well developed. Her anguish, then jubilation, comes through very clearly and the small snapshot into her life definitely had me interested. The author uses the flashback method, as well as the "it was just a dre ...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Phoebe rated it it was ok

Shelves: yareads

What I enjoy about Angela Johnson's books withstanding (integrated community, eloquence and art to her narrative style, ambiguous "gray space" themes and topics), A Certain October fell short for me as a novel. For one, the central plot isn't revealed until around page 40, and even then I'm not sure what has happened or what the protagonist -Scotty- is planning to do about it. Scotty's autistic younger brother is important to the book, but for some reason reads kind of like an afterthought. Fina ...more

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Jul 31, 2013 Annie rated it liked it

Confession: I didn't finish this. It's not a bad book--I just got bored. Angela Johnson is fabulous and amazing, but I just feel like I've read this book a million times before and there wasn't enough originality to make me want to read it again: Awesome girl with fabulous, hilarious pseudo-misfit friends and an autistic younger brother gets caught in the middle of a freak accident that completely rips her world apart and makes her feel like every bad thing is her fault. It's a coming-of-age rit ...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Beth Dailey Kenneth rated it liked it

I found it hard to connect with the main character. I liked her but I wasn't drawn in to her story. I liked how she truly grieved with a support system of friends and family but hated that the book magically ended in a limo after prom--the perfect night with the perfect couples.

Contains: African-Americans, autism, gay couple ...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Kathie rated it really liked it

While initially confusing because of non-linear format, this short but powerful book was very readable. Johnson packs a lot into a very short book about love, loss, coming of age teen experience. Scotty as first person narriator was so honest about everything. Good to pass on to a teen with an autistic sibling, loss of a sibling.

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Feb 23, 2013 Richelle rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya, tayshas-2013

This book didn't strike me as typical Angela Johnson fare. It was told in a very straightforward manner at a very slow pace. The climax of the book, and the events leading up to it, were not very....well....climactic. I felt like there was too much history behind all of these characters for it to be such a short book. I left it feeling very unsatisfied. ...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Mary rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fiction

An heartfelt YA book about life after grief. Fine writing and engaging narrative voice with a realistically hurting and confused main character. An especially nice portrayal of genuine teen friendship.

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Jan 11, 2011 Rebecca marked it as to-read

Shelves: age-high-school, age-middle-school

New Angela Johnson!

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Mar 10, 2019 QueenAmidala28 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Contemporary Fiction Lovers, YA, Adults, Teachers

Recommended to QueenAmidala28 by: Library

Shelves: ya, african-american-literature, contemporary-lit, award-winning

So I finished this book about two weeks ago and I was so FLOORED by it that I couldn't even write about it. First of all, note that this was a "traffic pick" meaning I randomly selected it from my library's free audio books so that I could endure the hour traffic home. Therefore, I was not expecting the very emotional, solid writing that I encountered.

Very rarely do I encounter novels about African-American families with children on the Autistic Spectrum. I won't say WHO it is but it is very im ...more

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Jul 22, 2020 Alex Black rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary

I don't have much to say about this one. It's under 200 pages, but took me two months to read because I couldn't get into it. As such, I don't think any review coming from me is super reliable since I didn't experience it the way I'd prefer.

I kept waiting for something about this to grab me and it never did. I don't mind short books. Honestly, I kind of prefer them to longer books because I'd rather a story be told as succinctly as possible. But it felt like Johnson was cramming a 300 page story ...more

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Jan 29, 2020 Gashanda added it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 23, 2017 Manuela rated it really liked it

Shelves: adolescence, adolescent, american-writer, autism, death, afro-american, train-accidents

Important topics with a funny and light tone; a journey of grief and recovery

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Oct 10, 2017 Terri rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobooks

AUDIOBOOK:

loved the voice selected for the main character, drew you right in! so short though! so the ending felt abrupt! I wanted more!

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Jul 26, 2018 Wendy Morlan rated it really liked it

Just re-read this coming of age story about finding yourself while trying to overcome tragedy.

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Jul 30, 2018 Dorothy rated it really liked it

This book was a little confusing at first because the story wasn't in sequential order, but overall it was a good book. ...more

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Jun 25, 2019 Laura Oliver rated it liked it

Shelves: book-club, audiobooks

Not bad, but not memorable. 2.5 stars.

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Sep 30, 2012 Imani ♥ ☮ rated it really liked it

Shelves: itwasjustalrightshrug, abittoalotofromance, depressing, africanamerican-black, 2012, almost-3-stars

One thing you cannot say about Angela Johnson is that her writing is convoluted. Despite the contrast in their writing, in terms of style, this author is a bit like Ernest Hemingway.

I don't necessarily like this type of writing. I guess that's why I struggled when I read Old Man and the Sea and all of Angela Johnson's other novellas (because, let's face it. Most of her books are really short).

But perhaps tolerance to a form of writing different from long, winding, descriptive paragraphs, comes w One thing you cannot say about Angela Johnson is that her writing is convoluted. Despite the contrast in their writing, in terms of style, this author is a bit like Ernest Hemingway.

I don't necessarily like this type of writing. I guess that's why I struggled when I read Old Man and the Sea and all of Angela Johnson's other novellas (because, let's face it. Most of her books are really short).

But perhaps tolerance to a form of writing different from long, winding, descriptive paragraphs, comes with age. And, when I read this novella, unlike with her other books, I actually understood what was going on. That's saying quite a bit because all through out The First Part Last, Heaven and Sweet, Hereafter I barely knew what the heck anyone was even talking about. Like I said, the writing is so simple and so short, that if you're not paying attention you'll miss the whole book.

But that didn't happen this time. Which is why I gave this book four stars.

Okay, enough. Here's the synopsis:
Scotty-a self proclaimed vegetarian- has an autistic brother, her (yes, she is a girl. why wouldn't she be?) mother is dead (I don't really know why) and her father has remarried (or has started dating again. One of those). Anyway, she's held a grudge against this guy named Kris for a long time now (she's a junior in high school) because he put gum in her hair when they were little kids and she had to cut it all off.
However, one day, on the train, Scotty begins to change her mind about this Kris guy. He's actually a nice guy who even stays on the train with her past his stop to help watch out for her little brother.
And then everything changes.

I had to get a little dramatic there because I didn't want to sound anti-climatic. But that's basically it. I enjoyed all of the characters in the story. It's just that...well, by the end of the book I didn't even feel like I knew much of anything about Scotty's family and friends or even Scotty herself. I guess that's because this book was so short. I also liked some of the metaphors Scotty (the author) used. They weren't overly complex and ostentatious the way some authors tend to make them. At times I was a bit annoyed by the way Scotty said things like 'burbs' and 'mad real' (or something like that). If it wasn't for the reference to iPhones, this book could have been placed in the nineties or early 2000s.

I don't feel like I got much out of the whole story and I don't think Scotty or any of the characters did, either. It was like (view spoiler) and that's just it. There was no lesson; no nothing really. Things just seemed to happen to the characters whether it had anything to do with the core plot or not.

However, I did enjoy this novella for the most part. I recommend it to fans of Hemingway or people who do not enjoy convoluted, long stories. It's definitely not for everyone. ...more

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Jan 26, 2015 Kimberly rated it liked it

Shelves: realistic, young-adult, project-1, multicultural

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Subject: Special Needs, Death/Grief, Relationships, LGBT
Grade Levels: 9-12

Curriculum Connections:
This novel is a study in character motivations and the effects of character choices on the plot of the novel. Students can create in depth studies of Scotty and the choices she makes when she is faced with the tragedy that placed her brother in a coma and resulted in the death of a friend.

Brief Summary:
Scotty is a teenage girl making her way through high school with her tw Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Subject: Special Needs, Death/Grief, Relationships, LGBT
Grade Levels: 9-12

Curriculum Connections:
This novel is a study in character motivations and the effects of character choices on the plot of the novel. Students can create in depth studies of Scotty and the choices she makes when she is faced with the tragedy that placed her brother in a coma and resulted in the death of a friend.

Brief Summary:
Scotty is a teenage girl making her way through high school with her two best friends when things go horribly wrong. A tragic train accident places her autistic brother in a coma and kills her friend Kris. Faced with her brother's uncertain future and the guilt that she feels due to Kris only being on the train to help her, she struggles under the weight of the guilt she feels for things that are out of her control.

Kirkus Review:

Scotty’s world is turned upside down when an accident leaves her brother severely injured, an acquaintance dead and Scotty feeling responsible.

In the fall of Scotty’s junior year of high school, it appears all she has to worry about is reading Anna Karenina and the homecoming dance. Scotty, who has been a vegetarian since last year’s visit to a dairy farm, describes her reality: “My life is like tofu—it’s what gets added that makes it interesting.” The most unusual thing about Scotty is her autistic, 7-year-old brother, Keone, who likes to steal cookies and run naked through the neighborhood. Her father and stepmother handle her brother without fanfare, as does Scotty, so it was normal for her to take him to the doctor and return home on the train. It is there that a tragic accident leaves Scotty injured, Keone in a coma and two students dead. Suddenly, levelheaded Scotty, healing from the physical injuries, cannot let go of the guilt she feels about the loss of one student in particular. It is only when she finds a way to reconcile two of her friends and open herself to the attention of another that she takes tentative steps toward emotional peace. Printz Award winner Johnson (The First Part Last, 2004) tells this moving story of grief and guilt with clarity and unsentimental honesty. Scotty, with her rich interior life, is realistically drawn and surrounded by a cast of well-rounded secondary characters.

A wonderfully crafted and deeply satisfying novel, full of detail that provides texture and meaning.

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
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May 03, 2015 Rocio Martin added it

Shelves: project-1

Johnson, A. (2012) A certain october. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Review (Posted by Kirkus Review – www.kirkusreview.com): Scotty's world is turned upside down when an accident leaves her brother severely injured, an acquaintance dead and Scotty feeling responsible. In the fall of Scotty's junior year of high school, it appears all she has to worry about is reading Anna Karenina and the Homecoming dance. Scotty, who has been a vegetarian since last year's visit to a dairy farm, describes her real Johnson, A. (2012) A certain october. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Review (Posted by Kirkus Review – www.kirkusreview.com): Scotty's world is turned upside down when an accident leaves her brother severely injured, an acquaintance dead and Scotty feeling responsible. In the fall of Scotty's junior year of high school, it appears all she has to worry about is reading Anna Karenina and the Homecoming dance. Scotty, who has been a vegetarian since last year's visit to a dairy farm, describes her reality: "My life is like tofu--it's what gets added that makes it interesting." The most unusual thing about Scotty is her autistic, 7-year-old brother, Keone, who likes to steal cookies and run naked through the neighborhood. Her father and stepmother handle her brother without fanfare, as does Scotty, so it was normal for her to take him to the doctor and return home on the train. It is there that a tragic accident leaves Scotty injured, Keone in a coma and two students dead. Suddenly, levelheaded Scotty, healing from the physical injuries, cannot let go of the guilt she feels about the loss of one student in particular. It is only when she finds a way to reconcile two of her friends and open herself to the attention of another that she takes tentative steps toward emotional peace. Printz Award winner Johnson (The First Part Last, 2004) tells this moving story of grief and guilt with clarity and unsentimental honesty. Scotty, with her rich interior life, is realistically drawn and surrounded by a cast of well-rounded secondary characters. A wonderfully crafted and deeply satisfying novel, full of detail that provides texture and meaning. (Fiction. 14 & up)

Grade Level: 9th – 12th

Recommendation: This book will keep teens wanting more, so I highly recommend it for all high school classrooms. It could easily be used to teach about choices. How character choices affect the plot. This novel can also be used to teach about character development and how people deal with the tough situations in their lives.

Awards: YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2013 American Library Association
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Mar 17, 2014 Jez Layman rated it liked it

Shelves: lis-required-reading, ya, lgbtq, contemporary

Johnson does it again! Her exact prose provides a wide variety of problems (and solutions) in a very short amount of pages. This doesn't quite live up to The First Part Last because even though there is a tragic event in this one as well, there's not as much of an emotional punch. Additionally, having recently read See You at Harry's, which tackles a very similar situation (a younger brother being involved in an accident), this book fell a little flat for me compared to the far more emotional Kn ...more

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May 02, 2015 Kristle Steele rated it it was amazing

Shelves: project-1, llls5532, contemporary-realistic-fiction

Johnson, A. (2012) A Certain October. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster BFYR.

Original Review:
Sometimes, what makes us unique is not our hair color, our clothes or our family structure, but our unique perspective and method of coping in the face of loss. Just like love is unique, so is the hole we must find a way to fill up. Scotty feels like it is all her fault, the train wreck, the presence of her nemesis-cum-potentially-more friend, the inability to handle the real world and her brother’s coma. ...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Tasha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: teen

Johnson continues to write powerful books in a short format. Here we meet Scotty, a teenage girl who thinks of herself as rather bland, like tofu. The people around her seem more vibrant and complex like her little brother who has autism and enjoys trains, being naked, and eating cookies. Her best friends too seem to be more interesting to Scotty. Then in October everything changes because of a train accident. Scotty’s little brother is injured severely and another boy is killed. Scotty feels re ...more

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Aug 06, 2014 Marsha rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: preteens, young adults

Recommended to Marsha by: daughter

Ever had a book you couldn't put down? This was one of them. I'm a huge fan of Angela Johnson's books and wish they were available to me during my preteen-young adolescent years. But a good book is good for any age.
There are many things I like about "A Certain October" particularly the backdrop. It is not often I read a book with familiar places—East Cleveland, Coventry, Fairmount, the Metroparks, the "Rapid" transit system... are all places from my own upbringing. And October is also my favori ...more

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Mar 15, 2016 McKenna Kelly rated it liked it

***SPOILER ALERT***
“A Certain October” by Angela Johnson is about a teenage girl named Scotty. On the train ride home after taking her autistic brother, Keone, to the doctor the train crashes. Someone Scotty was just starting to know died in the crash along with other people. Scotty blames herself for this because he wouldn’t have been on the train when it crashed if it weren’t for her. Keone ends up being in a coma. Scotty accepts the fact that it happened and it wasn’t her fault, and Keone wak ...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Kelly rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya-fiction, read-in-2012

This tightly written and subtle novel explores grief and loss. It's a quieter story that follows Scotty as she deals with losing a guy who was once her friend due to a small choice she believes she forced him into. Likewise, Scotty deals with her autistic brother's long-term hospital stay as a result of the same accident.

It's a sad story, but the way Scotty deals with death is through appreciating the little things going on in her life. She takes steps forward, but once in a while is knocked ba ...more

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