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Summary: A BRAVE ATTEMPT
Review: I really wanted to love this book. The fact that any mother would be totally honest about her mistakes child rearing is amazingly brave. Perhaps my reasons for not loving it, lies in that bravery. As an over protective mother, I cringed, squirmed, and screamed at the way Jason was treated. I feared for his safety throughout, finding none of the episodes amusing that put his life in peril. I kept rooting for Donofrio to wake up and get it somewhat right, but it never happened. I give her credit for going back to school and writing this tale. I say bravo to her raw truth. I look forward to something esle she might write, hoping it will not stir me to ire as this one did. Sorry, but the humor was lost to me.
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Summary: AWESOME BOOK!
Review: I started it on Friday afternoon...and was finished, less than 24 hours later, by Saturday morning! What an awesome book!! It's so real, and it all makes sense.
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Summary: Great true life story.
Review: This is a book that I grabbed while coming home a few weeks ago on the plane. I was going to start it then but decided against it. When I saw it was going to be a movie I was more determined to read it before I saw the movie. I started this book on Sunday night and was finished by Tuesday afternoon. This was a quick read but a good read. It was tough at times to belive this was a true story. Some of the things that happen in the book didn't seem real to me but a lot of it. Beverley told the story with as much heart and soul as she could and I admired that.
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Summary: Good Quick Read
Review: Good Book. Not a lot of detail. Nothing like the movie.
Rating:
Summary: one of the best books out there!!
Review: this books takes us on a journey into a young woman's life....this is real writing....getting to know someone inside and out....a very fast read!! Not looking forward to the movie! Read this book!! You will not be disappointed!
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Summary: Riding in cars gets an average rating
Review: To be fair this book was very readable and I did get a couple of laughs or maybe just smiles, but how could anyone be so bad and still survive. I had planned on seeing the upcoming movie with my 16 year old daughter and now I'm worried she may think this really really bad girl behavior is cool. This girl was pretty bad even for the 60's. If you can read between the lines or maybe if you just want to see the bright side then you may enjoy this story. She was a stickler for writing details. The book is a mere 204 pages but probably could have been told in 100. I wouldn't say don't read it but don't say you weren't warned.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wild Ride...
Review: My curiosity was piqued while watching previews for the movie version of Riding In Cars With Boys. I remember thinking it would make a great book. Well, imagine my surprise.... Reading this book started off like a trip down High School Lane. The further I read, however, I realized I was just a mere goody-two-shoes in comparison. Beverly Donofrio, raised in a typical family home, was a smart girl. But something happened along the way, and before we know it, Beverly is a rebellious boy-crazy teenager getting felt up in the back seats of cars and drinking. With no hopes of going to college in sight, Beverly stops trying in school, trying to please her parents, trying in general. Ending up pregnant, married and divorced by 19, Beverly begins a journey of drugs, sex, alcohol and parties, all with her son in tow. Riding In Cars With Boys is the story of a girl who craves attention while eluding responsibilities, about growing up while raising a child, about innocence lost too early. May be a triumphant novel in some aspects by book's end, and the long row to hoe in order to get there holds many lessons. Would be an excellent read for a teen on the brink of adulthood -- what better way to tell them how NOT to live than with this book. Excellent writing by Beverly Donofrio, and what guts to tell it like it is.
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Summary: "Riding in Cars With Boys..."
Review: "Riding in Cars With Boys..." is the well versed biography of Beverly Donofrio, a teenaged mother in a time when teen pregnancy was not accepted with open arms. She speaks lovingly of her son and details the many mistakes she made along the way in trying to raise herself as well as a family. She subtitles her book "Confessions of a Bad Girl Who Makes Good," and truly it seems that she has. I read this book for the first time while pregnant with my first child, at the age of 16. I was newly married and incredibly scared. While Donofrio's life was not picturesque, it did give me hope.
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Summary: Sweet Not Deep
Review: Let's face it, this isn't deep reading here. It's a feel good book. And though I liked the idea of the storyline: Single mother raising herself and her child, (particularly because I related to it)I was left wanting more. I don't feel the author submerged herself into this book. I think she stated facts and added humor to keep it from getting too mundane. But there is no real depth to it. She barely describes anything,and there is hardly visual stimulation in her writing.
For instance, what does she look like? What does Jason look like? She touched on it slightly near the end, but as I said, she really never totally brought you into her world. Like her character and relationships, she keeps her reader at arms length. It's too bad, because it could've been a great book as opposed to just a good book.
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Summary: A touching memoir of growing up.
Review: What a great memoir of becoming an adult! Beverly tells of growing up in a lower middle-class family and her rebellion against the traditional beliefs of her family and community. Obviously highly intelligent, Beverly constantly seeks excitement and stimulation, at one point, finding herself a pregnant teen. As the traditions of the day dictated, she marries her teenage lover seeing it as a way to escape the binds of her family. The rest of the book deals with a child and HER child growing up during the turbulent times of the 60s and 70s. She is constantly in search of finding herself and improving her situation. Often, she falls into the instant traps of gratification, like a succession of nameless lovers, drugs and "friends". In these, she seems to be seeking salvation and self-esteem. The book is full of humor and wrought with emotion. It was very difficult to put down most times. I think we can all relate to the changes we go through as we reach adulthood. As for teenagers, what a great way to relate to the trials and tribulations of reaching maturity.
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