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Summary: Tenderness-Robert Cormier
Review: Lori Cranston is fifteen years old and has run away from home again. Lori is looking for Tenderness in her life. She finds this tenderness in an eighteen year old boy named Eric Poole. Eric has just been released from Juvenile detention after three years of time due to the murder of his mother and father. Eric is also looking for tenderness, only he finds this tenderness in loving and killing beautiful girls. Lori meets Eric and becomes fixated on him while getting more involved in his life. I highly recomend this book to readers of an appropriate age. Robert Cormier is an author who writes novels for young adults but I think that this one in particular could pass for adult material. Lori is as emotional as most teenagers would be at her age. Unfortunately she has encountered some really horrible experiences that no teenager should have to. Lori feels that she needs someone to hold on to, someone to be her tenderness and give her tenderness. This is where Eric Poole comes into play. She meets him and recognizes him strangely from her past. There is an ironic trust between the two of them and they seem to form a bond. This novel should definitely serve as a warning to young teenagers who are into hitch-hiking and who are undoubtly naive. Many young girls are looking for a little tenderness in their lives and would welcome the invitation. Lori welcomes Eric's invitation without knowing the truth about his dark secrets and this hidden truth serves as a thrilling end to the tenderness relationship...or does it? Will Eric and Lori meet tenderness together or will this thriller end in a twist of fate that will not easily be forgotten?
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Summary: BEST BOOK EVER!
Review: i read this book because it was there at the library and it looked intresting..so i took it home and i loooooove it! it has been the best book i have ever read. you just step right into the book and it flows so well. it is unpredictable and fun. its got adventure and romance. its everything a book should have. ive read it many times. the first time i read it in a few hours because i was unable to put it down. i am sick right now so i got it again from the library. its always there and i often wonder how people can bypass such a wonderful book. read it! you wont regret it!
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Summary: Tenderness
Review: This book is about two teenagers who are both searching for something in their lives. Lori Cranston is a runaway looking to satisfy certain fixations that she has in her life. Eric Poole is a psychopathic murderer who is also searching to satisfy needs of a different kind. These two meet and Lori never forgets. Years later she sees Eric again and become fixated on him. She has to satisfy her urge to kiss him. They meet back up and go on a journey of their own. This journey ends up with a weird twist that neither of them expects. Cormier does a great job with keeping you on the edge of your seats with this book. It is a somewhat spooky tale of a murderous teen. I was really engaged in the reading but I am unsure if I would recommend this to just any teenaager to read.
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Summary: Hauntingly bittersweet....
Review: I read this book on a recomendation, almost a dare because I don't trust the guy who suggested it :). Sorry anyway, I became immediately immersed in this tale of Eric Poole and Lori Cranston. I was intruged by the two characters. Lori's fixations, her ability to be streetwise yet childish at the same time. Eric's coolness and detachment from emotion and yet their longing for tenderness somehow connects them both. I enjoyed each twist and loop of this story, and just when things looked like they were going to end on a high note, it abruptly and suddenly becomes tragic, something I was not prepared for. I sat looking at the text for a full three minutes reading and re-reading it over not believing the ending. I almost cried when I realized Eric had lost Lori, his one attachment to the world and his one hope for true tenderness with out death. I still am shocked at the ending and truly feel sorry for Eric at the end. A beautiful story, with some how a tragically realistic ending, with the idea, there are no happy endings, just realistic ones."Later, in the deepest heart of the night, the monster also cried."
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Summary: Tenderness
Review: Tenderness explores the possible outcome that could occur if a young girl fascinated with a teen serial killer ends up meeting him. Lori Cranston is somehow able to penetrate the heart of a monster and yet her fate is as disasterous as the girls he killed before. Eric Poole does not want to kill Lori but death has a way of following him around. The story was gripping as it described the thoughts of a serial killer and yet persuaded the reader to like him. The ending was both climatic and ironic; a perfect fit for a great novel.
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Summary: I think Robert Cormier is probably the best 'teen' writer
Review: living. This is another example of his genius. This book is un-put-downable once you get into it and pretty much a 1 day read. Cormier manages to make both of the lead characters (a serial killer and a morally bereft girl) immensly interesting and scarily likeable. Cormier doesn't patronise his readers and can still shock.
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Summary: a thrilling but strange book
Review: I thought this book was good, it had a very different spin to it. I like novels about murderers and suspense and that is probably way I was into the book and thought that it was good. The main character definitely was not right in the head. Because it's not normal for a person to enjoy taking somebody's life. But at the same time it's interesting to rea* his thoughts and feelings of what is going on at the same time. The girl, I think, had problems for one because she and her mom were moving around all of the time and also because she would get obsessions about this one certain person and have to do something about it. I think that her family life was also dysfunctional. Maybe that is why that she was obsessed with the killer. But I think that the book was good. You would probably only enjoy it if you like suspense and stories of murderers with a twist.
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Summary: Tenderness - Well Done
Review: Robert Cormier, acclaimed author of The Chocolate War, has once again produced a young adult fiction novel that is both interesting and engaging to the reader. In Cormier's 1997 novel, Tenderness, we are introduced to the two parallel lives of fifteen-year old Lori and ex-convict Eric Poole. Lori and Eric are young and have in common histories of criminal and anti-social behavior. Also, both are driven by the need for affection and, as the book's title tells us, "tenderness". Cormier indulges the reader by plunging into the minds of both characters in their obsessive search for life's meaning and the ability to give and accept love. As the story unfolds we meet Eric Poole, a seemingly clean-cut, eighteen-year old with a twisted past. Eric has just recently been released from the juvenile detention center where he spent three years for killing his mother and step-father. Eric, we find out, is also the chief suspect to the sexual assault and killing of three young girls. Although Eric was never convicted of this crime due to lack of evidence, the suspicion created by the author's style leads us to the unsaid guilty verdict. While the truth is known only to Eric, Jake Proctor, the local veteran police officer, is convinced that Eric committed the crimes. When Proctor's endeavors to obstruct Eric's release fail, the killer freely walks out of the facility, glorying in his cleverness and flaunting his new found freedom. Eric is now physically free to pursue his quest for "tenderness." Time will tell if Eric is really free from the shackles of his emotional problems. At this point in the story we are introduced to a fifteen year old girl named Lori. Lori is a runaway and we learn that she has attempted suicide. Although young, Lori possesses the body of a full grown woman. Unfortunately, her mind and maturity have not kept pace. Lori left home to pursue her obsessive passion for Throb, the lead singer of a heavy metal band whose voice and face consume her. She tells us, "I got fixated on him, staring at the black cave and knowing that I had to press my lips against his lips and put my tongue through that hole in his mouth." Soon, however, Lori satisfies this obsession at a Throb concert. Her fascination next focuses on Eric Poole, whose charm and rebellious character are to Lori, irresistable. Lori desperately stalks Eric. Daily she waits outside his grandmother's house watching and fantasizing about Eric at her side. When they finally meet, Eric flees with Lori, in an attempt to escape from Jake Proctor and his past. In spite of her obsessive behavior, Lori is able to show "tenderness" by being compassionate and gentle with Eric. On the other hand, Eric's "tenderness" is predictably nothing more than physical and emotional control of Lori. Cormier paints a picture of two pathetic souls desperately seeking love, but completely unable to give it. We are left with little doubt about Eric's guilt in the murder of the three girls and we suspect that Lori is in danger. Eric tells all of his girls that he loves and cares for them, but overcome by the emptiness of his words, is only able to destroy them. Lori's tenderness for Eric soon leads to her demise. Cormier's writing leads with twists and turns, overwhelming the reader with opposing emotions. I felt sympathy for the characters yet was repelled by them for their lack or moral awareness and common sense. Cormier's vivid descriptions helped me understand the story better, and made it much more interesting for me. This story is a little disturbing. It is an accomplished thriller, both suspenseful and chilling. I enjoyed this book very much and would suggest it to anyone looking for just the right dark tale.
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Summary: Tenderness: Unique and Fun
Review: I would definitely call this one of the most unusual books I have ever read. Tenderness is about a girl, Lori, who get this fixations of people, fixation meaning that she must kiss them. One day Lori sees Eric, a serial killer who was just released from prison, on TV and he becomes her new fixation. In this book I noticed how the author makes one feel about a character so evil as Eric. We do not want to like Eric, considering he represents the epitome of a bad person and does horrible things to innocent people, but for some reason the author makes us feel sympathy for him. I liked this book. I would not refer to myself as an avid reader, but this book caught my attention and managed to keep me interested, which is not an easy task. As soon as it looked like the action would calm down something new occurred. One of my only concerns about the book is that they tend to glorify the murdering, making it seem like it was not really wrong. One feels so attached to the killer that they become desensitized by his destructive deeds, they do not seem wrong. Because of this I would not recommend this book to anyone who may have mental problems or anyone who has violent tendencies. I would definitely recommend Tenderness to young readers who like to hear about people who differ from themselves. I do not think that it is common for a fifteen year old girl to have an obsession with a murderer and seek him out. The writing style and uniqueness of this book I commend and that displays what made it all worth my time.
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Summary: Tenderness
Review: I'm 13, and I often read. I have read many books that are recommended for 16, 17, and 18 year olds, and I found this book amazing, and well written. I have read We All Fall Down, but did not find it near as interesting as this book. I enjoyed it so much that I lent it to all of my friends hoping they would find the same joy in reading it. They did, Tenderness is a favorite among many, including myself.
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