Happenings

Rating:
Summary: Hope the paperback has better cover art
Review: Another novel in the vein of The Gospel According to Larry and God of Beer, Happenings explores what happens when teens rebel in a civilized manner. When the believed AP teacher Mrs. Delaney stops leading philosophical class discussions and passes out busywork handouts, the class, angry at the change of method and content, agrees to practice civil disobediance. They sit with hands folded during class and refuse to do their work but college track students Kelsey and JJ worry over the zero's they are accumulating in class. Kelsey has the additional stress of her overbearing state trooper brother and legal guardian Russell who keeps her on a tight leash and issues more punishment with each passing non-participant day. Horrified at the threat of expulsion for disruption to the educational procedure, Kelsey stuggles to find a way out of the stonewall that will allow her to keep her grade point average and not lose face with her peers. Can the kids get the teacher to change back to her old ways? Do they have any right to try?
Kelsey has more than her share of problems, and the author offers only snippets of Kelset's background. The untimely death of her father and the fact that her mother is in a mental institutiongive this novel the feel of a sequel. Kelsey seems much younger than her 17 years in spite of the fact that she drives and is a senior in high school, and the girl pictured on the cover looks younger as well. The writing is good and the pacing a bit slow, and the romance subplot is predictable but takes a long time to unravel. The plot is strong, but the not completely finished or quite believeable characterization don't quite carry the story.

Rating:
Summary: Hope the paperback has better cover art
Review: Another novel in the vein of The Gospel According to Larry and God of Beer, Happenings explores what happens when teens rebel in a civilized manner. When the believed AP teacher Mrs. Delaney stops leading philosophical class discussions and passes out busywork handouts, the class, angry at the change of method and content, agrees to practice civil disobediance. They sit with hands folded during class and refuse to do their work but college track students Kelsey and JJ worry over the zero's they are accumulating in class. Kelsey has the additional stress of her overbearing state trooper brother and legal guardian Russell who keeps her on a tight leash and issues more punishment with each passing non-participant day. Horrified at the threat of expulsion for disruption to the educational procedure, Kelsey stuggles to find a way out of the stonewall that will allow her to keep her grade point average and not lose face with her peers. Can the kids get the teacher to change back to her old ways? Do they have any right to try?
Kelsey has more than her share of problems, and the author offers only snippets of Kelset's background. The untimely death of her father and the fact that her mother is in a mental institutiongive this novel the feel of a sequel. Kelsey seems much younger than her 17 years in spite of the fact that she drives and is a senior in high school, and the girl pictured on the cover looks younger as well. The writing is good and the pacing a bit slow, and the romance subplot is predictable but takes a long time to unravel. The plot is strong, but the not completely finished or quite believeable characterization don't quite carry the story.

Rating:
Summary: Just a good book!
Review: I am very fond of this book. I can't put my finger on why, exactly, I like it so much. The only think I've been able to come up with is that it's just a good book. A really good book. What more can you ask for?

Rating:
Summary: Not the Best
Review: I found this book dissapointing and boring. The older brother Russ, was unreasonable, annoying, and upseting to me, and there was no solid reason for that behavior at the end of the book. In addition, the main character, Kelsy Gene whines about it and does nothing until the situation spirals out of control. The whole book is just description of procrastination. And of course, everything worked out perfectly at the end. In addition, the short romance scences (and they were short) seemingly had no meaning and nothing to do with the plot. In addition, i had the feeling that teenagers weren't being represented accuratly. Perhaps it was the descriptions or something, or maybe I'm just overanalyzing. But i didnt not find this book an enjoyable ready and was upset at myself over wasting time finishing the book. There are better books out there....

Rating:
Summary: At last a book about good kids
Review: This was a really good book about real kids. Kids that don't have to get drunk or have sex. I liked it a lot. The strike was cool, but it made me realize, how hard it would be to stand up to everyone and miss out on your senior year. More like this one please.

Rating:
Summary: At last a book about good kids
Review: This was a really good book about real kids. Kids that don't have to get drunk or have sex. I liked it a lot. The strike was cool, but it made me realize, how hard it would be to stand up to everyone and miss out on your senior year. More like this one please.