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When I Was Joe (2011)

by Keren David(Favorite Author)

4 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1847801005 (ISBN13: 9781847801005)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Frances Lincoln Children's Books

series

When I Was Joe

review 1: "When I was Joe" , although a great book was a little unclear to start off with. Of coarse I knew a little bit about the book from reading a short summary on the back cover but overall I thought the concept was difficult to follow. One part that was especially difficult we're the flashbacks. Joe would talk about life as Ty or more importantly what happened the night of the murder. I never felt that there was a pattern to these flashbacks at all they came randomly and we're never easy to put together. One thing that was a little harder to follow but also interesting was the way Keren David used Ty and Joe and two different people living in one body. This feature is evident in the way Joe wrote to Claire in an email towards the end of the book saying "I know you think of me ... moreas Joe but it was Tyler who did this and that's who I want you to love, hate, or forget" (David 364). Claire is a girl Joe meets in the new town he is put in as a part of the Witness Protection Program. Ty is the boy who was involved with a murder linked to an extremely wealthy family of criminals, Joe is the boy who lives in a small town and is the cool guy around. Joe discovers he has a talent for running and through running he meets Claire, the shy sister of his trainer. Joe is thrilled that he is popular and although he knows he can't get too comfortable, he does. Joe spills the secret to Claire and although Claire at first seems like a minor character she quickly turns into a major one now having the control of joes entire life. Joe and Claire do develop an immense amount of trust between one another and Claire never abuses the power she has with Joe. But Joe knows she has it and even says "She'll either go to the police or she'll trust me. My fate is in her hands. It's a better place than anywhere else I can think of" (David 364). This quote displays the trust that the two characters have but also the power that Claire has over him. The relationship between Claire and Joe is easiest for readers to understand because most people can relate to trusting people and having them trust you back because Joe also know a dark secret about Claire. For example I found many examples of situations in the book that I could relate my life to, the situation I found most relatable was towards the begging of Joe and Claire's relationship where Joe is afraid that Claire will spill the secret about Joe to everyone when she notices a change in eye color saying "what happened to your eyes, they were brown before?" (David 106) Joe replies but violently grabbing her wrists and saying "you best be keepin yo mouth shut or else" ( David 107). This is the only time Joe ever gets that angry with Claire and immediately afterwards regrets it, this is a turning point in Joe and Claire's relationship where he realizes he can trust her. Most of the book is not only about Ty adjusting to his new life as Joe but also Ty's entire family adjusting to life as Joe. Joes gran whom he cares a lot about was beaten by the criminals after Joe which scared Joe and made him feel guilty for putting his family through this. Although the book is mostly covering the new life of Joe and how he copes, there is always an underlying tension due to the fact that Joe is never safe and anyone around him is in danger. The tension is a good thing for the reader because it keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time making it interesting which was one favorite things about the book. But this tension finally peaks when Ty is removed from his life as Joe and sent to a smaller town and an all boys school with a new look as well. This happens when Doug, the police officer in charge of Joe's safety, finds out about what he told Claire and immediately moves him away. This causes the relationship between he and Claire to also end abruptly although they still try to communicate via email. Despite the fact that most readers can not relate to being in the witness protection program they can most likely relate to stress which Joe feels a lot of also making this a fantastic book to read because of the way people can relate to it.
review 2: The book When I Was Joe is about a boy named Ty who had to go into the witness protection program because he watched his best friend arron stab and kill a young man named Rio Williams. the book is called when i was joe because it is talikng about the time when ty had the name joe because he couldn't use his real name ty so the gang that was with arron couldn't find out where he was and hurt him. the people you meet in the book are Ty's mom niki,his grandmother,doug,DI Morris,Maureen,Ellie,claire, Ashley,ashleys friends,his principal,his gym teacher,carl,Carls mates, and Claire and Ellie's parents. less

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