Rating: 
Summary: disturbing behavior rehashed
Review: Ever see the movie "Disturbing Behavior" starring James Madsen and Katie Holmes, in which unruly teens were brainwashed by an Evil Doctor, so that peace would reign on the little island they lived on? A poor soul Speaks the Truth, but he is ignored and given a lobotomy. It ends with the protagonist, his girlfriend and kid sister fleeing in the dead of night, pursued by Evil Brainwashed Teens and Doctor.
Well, skip it and skip this very similar book. Unless you're on a long car trip and need something to pass the time. Here are some reasons why. The plot is holey - in the Swiss Cheese sense. The author doesn't bother to explain the most basic stuff, as other reviewers have noted. Teens don't live in a bubble - orbiting solely between school and home. They travel, have relatives, friends, bosses, co-workers, mentors, etc. who see them as more than just students or kids. I find it hard to believe that at least one of the students who was "sent away" didn't have at least one non-brainwashed adult seriously concerned as to their whereabouts. What about their siblings, for heavens sake?
If you are going to make the major brainwashing tool e-mail, you'd better do your readers the courtesy of offering at least a partial explanation. Readers are smart enough to connect the dots, but there has to be some whole picture for them to reach.
Also, the Internet is just too vast for all sites on a single subject (teen re-education camps) to be shut down. I'm not an Net expert, but I'm pretty sure that's still impossible these days. While the paranoia after a school shooting is a timely and intriguing topic for a novel, this one fails to do it justice.
Rating:
Summary: left dangling
Review: Ever see the movie "Disturbing Behavior" starring James Marsden and Katie Holmes, in which unruly teens were brainwashed by an Evil Doctor, so that peace would reign on the little island they lived on? A poor soul Speaks the Truth, but he is ignored and given a lobotomy. It ends with the protagonist, his girlfriend and kid sister fleeing in the dead of night, pursued by Evil Brainwashed Teens and Doctor.
Well, skip it and skip this very similar book. Unless you're on a long car trip and need something to pass the time. Here are some reasons why. The plot is holey - in the Swiss Cheese sense. The author doesn't bother to explain the most basic stuff, as other reviewers have noted. Teens don't live in a bubble - orbiting solely between school and home. They travel, have relatives, friends, bosses, co-workers, mentors, etc. who see them as more than just students or kids. I find it hard to believe that at least one of the students who was "sent away" didn't have at least one non-brainwashed adult seriously concerned as to their whereabouts. What about their siblings, for heavens sake?
If you are going to make the major brainwashing tool e-mail, you'd better do your readers the courtesy of offering at least a partial explanation. Readers are smart enough to connect the dots, but there has to be some whole picture for them to reach.
Also, the Internet is just too vast for all sites on a single subject (teen re-education camps) to be shut down. I'm not an Net expert, but I'm pretty sure that's still impossible these days. While the paranoia after a school shooting is a timely and intriguing topic for a novel, this one fails to do it justice.
Rating: 
Summary: Untitled
Review: I adored this book. It is very touching, and also very creepy. The relationships in this book are very deep. That's one of the reasons that the book was so wonderful. I would recommend this book for someone over 10. Almost anyone under 10 wouldn't understand it. A great book, I give it 4 and a half stars. It lost the half because of the ending. The ending didn't really end. There wasn't an ending. Ms. Prose better make a second book.
Rating: 
Summary: Be very afraid...
Review: I became so nervous while reading this book. After a shooting at a neighboring school, Pleasant Valley High, the students at Central High are feeling the effects. Every day a new rule is put into effect...metal detectors, no cell phones, checking backpacks, and then reporting on your classmates. The principal takes a back seat to the counsellor. Grief counsellor runs a daily morning assembly. And then students begin to disappear... then a teacher who failed to report a student with a cell phone...and then even the principal! I kept hoping that the grief counsellor would have his demise. Yet his hold on the community kept getting stronger through his daily e-mails.
This is a scary book that demonstrates what happens when we challenge a young person's right to free speech and expression.
I could only shudder at the end...being a middle school teacher.
Rating:
Summary: Very good, a little creepy, but overall very good
Review: I don't know why I decided to pick up this book but once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. The plot was a page turner. As a student myself I could see myself in so many of the characters. None of them were one dimensional all had their share of good and bad. The story itself is similar to everything we here on the TV and see in our own schools, random locker searches, drug testing, metal detectors, etc. this book however took it to a new level questioning if those who are given the authority to push for these new interventions are based out of fear for safety or other motives. A well done book, the ending however was a little bit of a let down.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I thought the book "After" by Francine Prose, was a great book. I read some of the other reviews and I thought to myself 'what are these people talking about?'. If you did'nt understand the plot then thats your fault and you didnt read the book carefully enough. One thing I didnt get was, Why did they name the book After. I personally think there should be another book to it.
Rating:
Summary: suspenseful yet weak ending
Review: I thought this book was very suspenseful. I could not put it down. Through the entir ebook, I thought it was going to end with a bang. At that, I was disappointed. The book ended leaving me with an empty void. The end does not tie up any of the plot. Is there a sequel? I hope so.
Rating: 
Summary: Eh...
Review: I'll admit, it was an okay book, but it WAS confusing. First of all, I didn't get the plot. As others before me said, it's a 'swiss cheese' plot. It's rather messy and puzzling. I sort of liked it. I liked how it gave a perspective from a jock (a SMART jock) and the fact how it related to how others felt losing their friends and blah blah blah....I thought the book at least deserved 3 stars. The action was good, there was just no plot sums up this review.
Rating:
Summary: Freedom Extinguished
Review: In this book about school violence, Francine Prose does an excellent job of making the reader just paranoid enough to look over their shoulder when they're walking around alone. While the book does have rather large text, it has 330 pages and is as mature as any book I've read. The book dives into the many topics of teenaged dilemas. The main character has to learn how to balance sports, social, and academic studies while exploring his feelings for one of his classmates. His mother's death (before the beginning of the book) creates a sort of wall between his father and his father's girlfriend, Clara, which makes it hard to talk to them about the problems that he's having at school. Purchase this book for a delightfully scary "what if" reality where the schools of America will do whatever it takes to keep their kids safe -- even if that means silencing those who don't cooperate.
Rating:
Summary: My Review of "After" (Warning: POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
Review: Okay, first here's the plot: A Columbine-like incident happens 50 miles away from the hometown of a teenage boy, Tom, whose perspective we follow. It seems to shock everyone, and just when the local school's students begin to calm down, a "greif and crisis counselor" is appointed. The counselor, Dr. Willner, seems to be a little psychopathic when he starts setting strange laws and rules, for example, no wearing the colour red, and no hats of any kind. At first, no-one pays too much attention, but when a young girl breaks a simple rule, she seems to suddenly disappear. At first, we're told that she's moved away. However, Tom and his friends, Silas, Avery, and Brian are suspicious. Then, emails are sent out to all of the parents citing new laws, of which most of the students are unimformed about. The laws become stranger and stranger, and the punishments become stricter, until a law-breaking student is sent to a sort of detention camp, which we know nothing about. More students are whisked away, and never heard from again. I wont give away the whole plot, but many dark things pop up, like implied murder and concentration camps.
Now, the review: I can't complain about the writing, which I think was fine for my age level (I'm 13). The plot was fine until about two thirds of the way through, but after that it starts to drop, and to get a little boring. And the ending -- unless there will be a sequel -- is dreadful. It was as if the writer just came to a dead end and took the easy way out, leaving us confused; what happened to those who got whisked away? Why did all this happen? How could emails brainwash people? What's happening in other countries? How come the government wasn't doing anything? I could go on. However, if a sequel is in the works, this book could definitely be saved, if it began where this one left off. Most of the aspects, however, were good; I always prefer a first-person perspective, and I liked how the story was nice and straightforward.
In conclusion, this book would be good for any twelve-to-fifteen-year-old who is looking for something interesting and slightly suspenseful to read.
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