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How To Steal A Car (2009)

by Pete Hautman(Favorite Author)

3.31 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0545113180 (ISBN13: 9780545113182)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Scholastic Press

review 1: The concept behind this book is interesting, but it didn't feel fully developed. The backbone of the book is the story of a 15-year-old who decides to steal cars. She does this for the thrills and so she doesn't have to think about her real life - parental strife, the sexual abuse of a friend, crushes on boys, an awkward love triangle...This book started slowly and the dialogue didn't seem authentic to me at first. But it gained speed (no pun intended) and was an entertaining short read. The book presents a girl tackling the emotional issues of growing up, while she seeks outlets for escapism that pose a big risk. The author tries to weave in peeks at the bad "habits" and different thrill seeking behaviors of humans, explaining why our main character chooses to steal cars ... morewhile other choose drinking, smoking or drugs. Yet, the risk here is just as big and the story ends without a satisfactory resolution that shows how the main character comes to terms with her escapades and the possible consequences. Still, for a quick thrill, it is worth the ride.
review 2: Occasionally I like to browse the Young Adult section in the library and pick books that look interesting. This is the first in 4 books from my latest browse. The way I pick the books is if the cover and title look interesting (yes I do judge books by their cover, but I find with young adult books it's a very good way of working out what type of novel it is) and then I read the blurb and if that piques my interest, I read the first page. Generally if I like the narrative voice I'll keep reading, and it was that that made this book enjoyable. The first person narrative of the protagonist Kelleigh is amusing, descriptive and succinct. The novel has a fairly nice structure around the idea of stealing cars, an odd premise but in the context seemed to work. It also works as an ongoing metaphor for the period of life Kelleigh is going through as a 15 turning 16 year old, the beginning of becoming independent from her parents both physically with being able to drive and emotionally. The other characters are also quite individual and felt real enough. It's a short enjoyable read, the only real problem I had was with the ending, it was very abrupt and having become relatively attached to Kelleigh I wanted to be sure that everything would turn out well for her. less

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