Taking It: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: SERIOUS GAME
Review: Anna, the main character of the novel is a chronic pretend shoplifter. This behavior escalates to a more serious problem of her actually shoplifting. Anna is a child of divorced parents who Cadnum points out, do not relaize the serious extent of Anna's problem. Once again, Michael Cadnum brilliantly accentuates the conflict between the adolescent and themselves, and the adolescent's relationship with the adults in the novel. The story is very detailed and realistic, an excellent choice for the reader.

Rating:
Summary: SERIOUS GAME
Review: Anna, the main character of the novel is a chronic pretend shoplifter. This behavior escalates to a more serious problem of her actually shoplifting. Anna is a child of divorced parents who Cadnum points out, do not relaize the serious extent of Anna's problem. Once again, Michael Cadnum brilliantly accentuates the conflict between the adolescent and themselves, and the adolescent's relationship with the adults in the novel. The story is very detailed and realistic, an excellent choice for the reader.

Rating:
Summary: A strong and beautifully written novel with many layers
Review: Michael Cadnum, a master at subtle and complex stories of coming-of-age, has here written an engrossing story about a thoroughly unlikeable seventeen-year-old who cannot control her own impulses to steal--until she hits bottom and begins to realize there are some people she can trust. Not a book for young or unsophisticated teens, this takes some literary smarts on the part of the reader.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not a quick read
Review: The novel caught my interest in the beginning with the story of a young teen pretending to steel. The author's use of such explicit detail slowed down the pace of the story line and made it hard for the reader to stick to the book. Granted the tale itself is intreaging, but the way it is writen made the book a chore to enjoy.