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A Certain Strain Of Peculiar (2009)

by Gigi Amateau(Favorite Author)

3.53 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0763630098 (ISBN13: 9780763630096)

languge

English

genre

Young Adult Fiction

publisher

Candlewick

review 1: Cricket is a 13 year old who thinks nothing of stealing her Mom's credit card and truck and driving almost 700 miles to her grandmother's home. She has been verbally abused by her classmates and feels that she cannot continue living in Virginia and would prefer to give up living with her Mom, a single parent, and live in Alabama with her grandmother in a very small town where everyone knows everything about you.Cricket suffers from anxiety attacks and at times of high stress cannot breathe, however as she introduces herself in a new social setting she repeats the mantra her Mom said, "You are starting new, you can be anyone you want to be."Cricket befriends a young girl who does not speak but acts like a horse -- for some reason her Mom says she needs to protect Daisy and... more she does. Cricket uses her new found voice and muscles from working on her grandmother's farm to protect her friend both verbally and physically.I like this book and think that it should be read by anyone who has suffered through bullying. Learning to find your voice is essential in life and this book helps you to see how one girl found hers...
review 2: I was drawn to this YA because of the setting - Lawrence County, AL is close to where I grew up and where I lived when I married. The places and attiudes were spot on in that regard - folks there were often a "certain strain of peculiar". Amateau has created a heroine that the reader can really get behind with Cricket - you're rooting for her from the first pages, and you really feel for her, Dixie, and the rest of the characters. A really quick, enjoyable read- I'm definitely going to read more by Amateau. less

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