Rating: 
Summary: "The show must go on"
Review: Do you think you can change a 13 year old teenager whose parents are in jail for selling and growing marijuana in their own home? Change him into a hard working student instead of the kid who just burnt down his old school?
Stephanie S. Tolan's book Surviving the Applewhites is a great book that shows that even the worst people have some good in them. Jake Semple is a scary kid. Word has it that he burned down his old school and then was kicked out of every school in his home state. Only a few weeks into September, the middle school in Traybridge, North Carolina, has thrown him out too. Now there's only one place left that will take him: a home school run by the weirdest, most outrageous, quarrelsome family you'll ever meet. Each and every Applewhite is an artist except E.D. the smart, scruffy girl E.D. and Jake, so close in age, are quickly paired in the family's first experiment in "cooperative education." The two clash immediately, of course. The only thing they have in common is the determination to survive the family's expectations. But when the Applewhite Father directs the Sound of Music it brings the family together and shows E.D. and Jake the value of the special gifts they've had all along.
I thought this book was awesome, but I don't think Tolan explained the characters well enough. There were too many people in the story and I couldn't keep them straight. I think Tolan did a great job describing the setting of the story I could imagine what it was like there with Jake and the craziness of living with 4 kids and 3 adults who are all obsessed with being artistic and showing their natural talents. When the family gets crazy about the play (The Sound of Music) you can fell their enthusiasm and excitement. I really like the novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing and has errors of fact
Review: Good idea. Poor execution. The author's knowledge of dogs and butterflies needs polishing. You can only bend the real world so far to suit your needs. This far exceeds the real behavior .... especially of butterflies. Butterflies survive in specific niches in the ecosystem. Most are not generalists. One farm is not likely to have a wide enough variety of habitats to support all the butterflies on her list. Topics for research: how long does a butterfly live? how trainable is a butterfly? what does a butterfly do when it is released? The writing reminded me of Phantom Tollbooth: the first half was engrossing but the second half was a let down. The author set up a situation and then did not cap it off. Scenes were introduced to set up a future event without immediate reason. You shouldn't be able to see the magician's hands hide the card! You shouldn't be able to see that the writer is only telling you this because she'll need it later! The fire marshall would have had a lot to say about that theater in the barn and seating all the extra people .... or do they not exist there?? The premise is interesting: if a rebel is not given anything to rebel against, what do they do?? The book needed several more rewrites before publishing or a better editor.
Rating:
Summary: Book Review for Kutztown University
Review: I highly recommend Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan because of its high literary merit along with its high interest appeal. An intriguing 'dramatic question' develops in the mind of the reader early in the novel: Will the Applewhites' alternative school influence Jake Semple enough to change his intolerable, disruptive behavior and unique appearance. Tolan describes the characters and setting of the alternative school (Wit's End) in a unique, yet believable manner. For instance, the story takes place at the home of the Applewhites, a place that also doubles as the creative school. This school setting is very unique and different from school as readers typically imagine. Yet, the personalities of characters and conflicts within the plot make the Applewhites seem real. E.D. Applewhite reacts as a normal child when she feels jealous towards Jake and other members of her talented family. And, Randolph Applewhite has to deal with real parental pressures after he chooses a multi-cultural cast for The Sound of Music. Readers gain insight into the lives of these characters through dialogue, a natural way to relate facts. A stranger comes to the Applewhites' house for dinner and learns along with the reader about the family. This smooth style along with Talon's use of sentences that vary in length makes the book a quick read. Talon often follows up long sentences with short, four word sentences to emphasize a point. Throughout the book, Talon develops a theme related to the growth of the characters over time; a banner that hangs in the creative school refers to this idea of, "an adventurous quest for the meaning of life, involving the ability to think things through" (215). Read Surviving the Applewhites to experience the excitement of this quest and to learn the fate of Jake Semple.
This book could be used at multiple grade levels. Yet, the book corresponds best with the skill levels of 5th and 6th graders. The sentence structure and vocabulary choice makes the novel a relatively easy read and appropriate for 10-12 year old children. This pre-teenage group could also relate to Jake's behavior and benefit most from the idea of each child as a carrier of a special talent. A teacher could read the book with students and then have the students write about a time in their own lives when they rebelled, or when they discovered a special talent. Teachers should then evaluate student writings based on the standards that relate to quality of writing. Music teachers could also bring this book to life by signing songs from The Sound of Music, or working together in class to act out parts of this musical. In addition, this book could also be used by older students, even those in college studying alternative school and home school. Ideas could be taken from this book that relate to creative learning and problem solving as opposed to the more traditional lecture style of teaching.
Rating:
Summary: Surviving the Applewhites: A Great Book
Review: I read Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan. I would definately give this book 5 stars. This book was funny, heartwarming, and interesting. This book had many fun and crazy characters. Each of the characters have their own artistic talents, except for E.D. She wanted to be organized and prepared for the world, while the Applewhites practiced their own artistic skills. Jake Semple, a delinquet from Rhode Island, hates living with the Applewhites at the Creative Academy. Winston, the dog, and Destiny, the youngest Applewhite, love Jake and eventually Jake starts to love living at the Creative Academy. Jake even finds an artistic talent of his own, singing. The Creative Academy is a crazy home school. You choose what you want to do. You can practice a form of art or, like E.D, do regular schoolwork like you would do in a public school. This book makes you feel good inside. Jake changes from a delinquet to a normal teenager. He cut his spiky, red hair and took out his earrings. When Randolf Applewhite is hired to direct The Sound of Music, Jake finds his artistic talent. Randolf has Jake play Rolf, a main character in the play. The play is going well until the entire technical staff quits. The Applewhite family fills in for the entire technical staff. They did the choreography, costumes, and even E.D. steps up to be the stage manager. The play faces another obstacle when Mrs. Montrose, the president of the board, cancels the show. E.D. believes that they can have the show in their barn. The Applewhites bring in lighting, audio equipment, and hired help to help turn their barn into a theatre. Opening night comes and the theatre is only big enough to hold camera crews and the family of the cast. When disaster strikes during the middle of the play, an unlikely person saves the day. You have to read this book to find out the ending, but you should read this book anyway because it's a great book. I would recommend reading the book Hoot by Carl Hiassen. I would also recommend two great science-fiction books: The House of the Scorpion and The Hitchhiker's Trilogy. I am a GREAT baseball player from North Carolina.
Rating:
Summary: Surviving the Applewhites: A Great Book!
Review: I read Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan. I would definitely give this book 5 stars. This book was funny, heartwarming, and interesting.
This book had many fun and crazy characters. Each of the characters had their own artistic talents, except for E.D. She wanted to be organized and be prepared to enter the world, while the other Applewhites practiced their own artistic skills. Jake Semple, a delinquent from Rhode Island, hates living with the Applewhites at the Creative Academy. Winston, the dog, and Destiny, the youngest Applewhite, love Jake and eventually Jake starts to love living at the Creative Academy. Jake even finds an artistic talent of his own, singing. The Creative Academy is a crazy home school. You choose what you want to do. You can practice art or, like E.D., do regular schoolwork like you would do in a public school.
This book makes you feel good inside. Jake changes from a delinquent to a normal teenager. He cut his spiky, red hair and he took out his earrings. When Randolf Applewhite was hired to direct The Sound of Music Jake finds his artistic talent. Randolf has Jake play Rolf, a main character in the play. The play is going good until the entire technical staff quit. The Applewhite family fills in for the entire technical staff. They did the choreography, costumes, and even E.D. steps up to be the stage manager. The play faces another obstacle when Mrs. Montrose, the president of the board, cancels the show. E.D. believes that they can have the play in their barn. The Applewhites bring in lighting, audio equipment, and people to help turn their barn into a theatre. Opening night comes and the theatre is only big enough to hold camera crews and the parents of the cast. When disaster strikes during the middle of the play, an unlikely person saves the day. You have to read this book to find out the ending, but you should read it just because it's a great book. I would recommend reading the book Hoot by Carl Hiassen. I would also recommend two great science-fiction books: The House of the Scorpion and The Hitchhiker's Trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Surviving the Applewhites: A Great Book!
Review: I read Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan. I would definitely give this book 5 stars. This book was funny, heartwarming, and interesting.
This book had many fun and crazy characters. Each of the characters had their own artistic talents, except for E.D. She wanted to be organized and be prepared to enter the world, while the other Applewhites practiced their own artistic skills. Jake Semple, a delinquent from Rhode Island, hates living with the Applewhites at the Creative Academy. Winston, the dog, and Destiny, the youngest Applewhite, love Jake and eventually Jake starts to love living at the Creative Academy. Jake even finds an artistic talent of his own, singing. The Creative Academy is a crazy home school. You choose what you want to do. You can practice art or, like E.D., do regular schoolwork like you would do in a public school.
This book makes you feel good inside. Jake changes from a delinquent to a normal teenager. He cut his spiky, red hair and he took out his earrings. When Randolf Applewhite was hired to direct The Sound of Music Jake finds his artistic talent. Randolf has Jake play Rolf, a main character in the play. The play is going good until the entire technical staff quit. The Applewhite family fills in for the entire technical staff. They did the choreography, costumes, and even E.D. steps up to be the stage manager. The play faces another obstacle when Mrs. Montrose, the president of the board, cancels the show. E.D. believes that they can have the play in their barn. The Applewhites bring in lighting, audio equipment, and people to help turn their barn into a theatre. Opening night comes and the theatre is only big enough to hold camera crews and the parents of the cast. When disaster strikes during the middle of the play, an unlikely person saves the day. You have to read this book to find out the ending, but you should read it just because it's a great book. I would recommend reading the book Hoot by Carl Hiassen. I would also recommend two great science-fiction books: The House of the Scorpion and The Hitchhiker's Trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterful Book
Review: I read the book Surviving the Applewhites. I gave it five stars. This was a great book. The one thing I would change is the beginning. I thought it should have been more dramatic.
Jake, the main character is a juvenile delinquent. He has gotten kicked out of a lot of schools. Now a girl by the name of E.D has to put up with him. She didn't like him from the time she set eyes on him. She has good reason to think he is a big jerk.
If you liked Stargirl you will love this book.It tells of a person that sticks out in the crowd.
Rating:
Summary: I really liked this book by Ashley M.
Review: I think that the book was super good and I think that jake was a really big bully but then he started to be really nice and really helpfull. the reason why i chose this book was i thought the cover looked really good and i also thought that maybe my life could relate and it did alot because e.d. and jake fought alot in the book and my brother and i.Igive this book five stars is because it is the best book that i have red . and i do not think that there would be anything that i would change about this book. the most funniest part that i thoght was when destiny thought that he could be just like jake and his spikie hair.
Rating: 
Summary: S...L...O...W
Review: In surviving the apple whites a creepy guy, Jake, is sent to this home school instead of juvi hall. But to him its prison. Same with E.D. A daughter of the Apple Whites. Jake is your average bad boy whos in denial of the real world. Then theres Destiny: the cute little kid whos ALWAYS in everybody's way and always bugging Jake. The adults are pretty much all the same. And theres a goat thrown in there with the whole motly crew. and a dog. And of course a suposedly "Beutiful" dancer. And a parrot that curses. Talk about random. The auther can do WAY better than this. It takes no time at all to get into this book, but still...no ones that slow. The book takes it's time catching on to the main idea of the story. Books are supposed to grasp your attention and make the reader WANT to read on, not put the reader to sleep! You can go on ahead and read this book, but its pointless! There is no real plot and its almost predictable. Its just random and stupid with 1 or 2 funny parts thrown in. I was only attracted to this book because of the cover, but after a few chapters i had to stop reading it....
Rating:
Summary: A Crazy Family and School
Review: In the book Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan, a bad city kid, Jake Semple, has been kicked out of every school he's been to. He was taken to a school called the Creative Academy, where you study what you want to, when you want to. A family called the Applewhites owns the school and they both are crazy, chaotic, and creative. During his stay, Jake learns new things and his life starts to change. He becomes part of a production of The Sound of Music along with other Applewhites. Through this school Jake finds deep inside himself who he really is, without being a bad boy.
We personally thought the book Surviving the Applewhites was a great book. We really liked it because it was funny, especially when a four year old named Destiny tried to dye and spike his hair. Many times we could relate to the characters because their interests and personalities were a lot like our own. It was very fun to read because of these things. We would recommend it to sixth - eighth graders or anyone who wants to read a really great book.
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