Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com
Kelleigh never meant to become a car thief. She just happened to see a guy drop his keys without noticing one day at the mall, and thought it'd be a thrill to grab them.
With a best friend who's always telling her how boring she is, a defense attorney dad who cares more about getting a serial rapist off the hook than what's going on in his daughter's life, and a "boyfriend" who never makes a move on her, maybe it's not a surprise that Kell decides to take that thrill a little further.
But once she's started, Kell finds that the rush of car-stealing is hard to give up. She starts out small, taking her dad's car for a spin in the middle of the night, sneaking into her neighbor's house with an emergency spare key to borrow their ride. But as her parents seem to grow even more distant - from her and from each other - and her friends stay oblivious to the changes taking place inside her, she pushes the risk further and further. And there's no way of knowing how this chase scene will end.
Kell has a distinctive, engaging voice that will pull the reader into the story from the start. Though her behavior may seem bizarre, her reasons are clear enough to be believable and sympathetic. Her sense of humor will bring laughs even as readers cringe at the situations she gets herself into. Her growing disillusionment with her parents and friends is poignant and realistic.
This is a relatively short read, and difficult to put down as you wonder how much trouble Kell will get herself into, and how she'll get out of it. The conclusion is open-ended, which may frustrate some readers, but it feels fitting to her story. A great contemporary read for anyone who loves quirky narrators!
Kelleigh never meant to become a car thief. She just happened to see a guy drop his keys without noticing one day at the mall, and thought it'd be a thrill to grab them.
With a best friend who's always telling her how boring she is, a defense attorney dad who cares more about getting a serial rapist off the hook than what's going on in his daughter's life, and a "boyfriend" who never makes a move on her, maybe it's not a surprise that Kell decides to take that thrill a little further.
But once she's started, Kell finds that the rush of car-stealing is hard to give up. She starts out small, taking her dad's car for a spin in the middle of the night, sneaking into her neighbor's house with an emergency spare key to borrow their ride. But as her parents seem to grow even more distant - from her and from each other - and her friends stay oblivious to the changes taking place inside her, she pushes the risk further and further. And there's no way of knowing how this chase scene will end.
Kell has a distinctive, engaging voice that will pull the reader into the story from the start. Though her behavior may seem bizarre, her reasons are clear enough to be believable and sympathetic. Her sense of humor will bring laughs even as readers cringe at the situations she gets herself into. Her growing disillusionment with her parents and friends is poignant and realistic.
This is a relatively short read, and difficult to put down as you wonder how much trouble Kell will get herself into, and how she'll get out of it. The conclusion is open-ended, which may frustrate some readers, but it feels fitting to her story. A great contemporary read for anyone who loves quirky narrators!
My Thoughts: I went into this book not really knowing what to expect. But I actually enjoyed it and enjoyed Kalleigh's relationship with her friends. This book made me laugh and want to know what was going to happen next. My boyfriend would look over at me and wonder if I was reading a book on How To Steal A Car. He would ask if I was learning anything interesting! HEHE!
Overall: This was a fun little interesting read. It was a little under 200 pages so easy to read it in one night. It is a short short book. Buy it, borrow it, mooch it. Its a fun read.
Overall: This was a fun little interesting read. It was a little under 200 pages so easy to read it in one night. It is a short short book. Buy it, borrow it, mooch it. Its a fun read.
I was intrigued that such a book would be published although I have read and taken notes from 200-300 YA books on every situation imanginable for use in reading circles. If I was not afraid of angry parents and there was student interest, I would have a group of one or two guys and three or four gals to read and discuss it.
I find it well enough written and quite factual, but see little 'socially redeeming value' in this book. My friend Dennis was devastated when his wheels were stolen, the transport he needed to earn a living for his family.
A few years ago a dumbass LA County Deputy beat with his flashlight on a car thief he had captured after a freeway chase, while a TV station helicopter was present. But my friend Louis said that was 'good' because the thief deserved it, the bad publicity for the LACSD notwithstanding.
On the suggestion of a PBS comrade, I read the reviews for the book on Goodreads. They are all over the place and almost none are concerned with the moral implications of people's kids reading about how to steal cars. So I am certainly in the minority in having that concern. Apparently parents do not care if their kids are reading righteous books or not.
Hopefully, some readers might be deterred or refuse to ride along, given the consequences today if arrested (which aren't really mentioned). The last paragraph says that car thieves know the end ;but they just don't care (170).'
The protagonists is a 15 years old gal in Minnesota and it takes place in their brief summertime, rather than a protagonist who is a gang-banging drug dealer, a wise decision on the part of the author and the publisher. There are quite a few subplots.
Given that we will soon have robot drivers and ever more tracking devices, this book that takes place in 2008 (texting) will soon be of historical interest only.
I find it well enough written and quite factual, but see little 'socially redeeming value' in this book. My friend Dennis was devastated when his wheels were stolen, the transport he needed to earn a living for his family.
A few years ago a dumbass LA County Deputy beat with his flashlight on a car thief he had captured after a freeway chase, while a TV station helicopter was present. But my friend Louis said that was 'good' because the thief deserved it, the bad publicity for the LACSD notwithstanding.
On the suggestion of a PBS comrade, I read the reviews for the book on Goodreads. They are all over the place and almost none are concerned with the moral implications of people's kids reading about how to steal cars. So I am certainly in the minority in having that concern. Apparently parents do not care if their kids are reading righteous books or not.
Hopefully, some readers might be deterred or refuse to ride along, given the consequences today if arrested (which aren't really mentioned). The last paragraph says that car thieves know the end ;but they just don't care (170).'
The protagonists is a 15 years old gal in Minnesota and it takes place in their brief summertime, rather than a protagonist who is a gang-banging drug dealer, a wise decision on the part of the author and the publisher. There are quite a few subplots.
Given that we will soon have robot drivers and ever more tracking devices, this book that takes place in 2008 (texting) will soon be of historical interest only.
