Teens can Really Connect to the Story

I read this with a group of teenagers. Most of them really appreciated the narration and preferred it to reading aloud. Many loved the story, and some were so invested in the characters that they cried.

I enjoyed the story but didn’t love it. There were times I found it obvious that the author was a teenager when she wrote this. The characters are mostly male, but sometimes they don’t act like any teenage boys I’ve ever known. She probably rarely saw boys interacting in a group on their own and had to guess what they were like. For example, we learn that three brothers bake chocolate cake almost nightly. They are also very cuddly. That being said, the overall story is great, and the descriptions are, at times, vivid.

Another concern I had was that sometimes the characterization was developed out of nowhere. Past the halfway point we learn that the main character, despite being a heavey smoker, is a track star, “On yeah, I forgot – I’m on the A-squad track team, the youngest one. I’m a good runner.” I’ve never liked it when character development comes out of left field.

If you are planning on reading the book and listening to it at the same the time you should know that the chapter numbers in this edition match the chapter numbers in the printed edition. Chapter 1 includes the letter from S E Hinton that appears before chapter 1 in most editions. I’ve heard that the audio edition with the blue cover does not match the chapter numbers in the print edition.

If you care, please note that the current edition of Can Copy makes it clear that I could share this audiobook in a small group setting.

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