Sarah Bridgeton

This was an interesting novel about mother and child relationships and how easy it is to be misunderstood. As a mother you spend so much time seeing them grow from this little baby who already has their own personality and who you have helped develop into a young person that you forget they have become independent of you and no longer need you in the same way. That is what happens to Debra she's done such a good job instilling independence she doesn't need to worry about her daughter. Describing the relationships between the characters is where Ms. Bridgeton excels. I felt much more of a connection to Debra then to Jordyn mostly because there was more description of feeling from Debra. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Bridgeton.… (más)

The Book "Next year in Israel" is a good example of what people face every day in life, bullying. The story is about a girl named Rebecca who has been bullied and tortured for years. After a failed suicide attempt,Rebecca decides to get away from her bullies and spend a semester in Israel. During her stay in Israel, Rebecca re-invents herself to fit in and have friends. She quickly learns that fitting in and having friends is not as wonderful as she thought.Rebecca learns that it takes more than changing your shirt and lying about your past.… (más)

I am Israeli, and I congratulate Sara Bridgeton on her sharply observed (surely she has been here?)depictions of the young and older people in the book. Both the Americans and the Israelis are well rounded 3-dimensional characters whom I could expect to run into at the corner pizza shop. I don't know much abut Boston, but the Israeli background is accurately evoked and totally convincing. The main character, Rebecca, who has been made miserable and beaten down by systematic bullying at her school in Boston, is sent to school in Israel, where she is determined change her life. At first she is self-conscious verging on paranoia, but she learns to trust her new friends and to trust herself. By the end of the book, she is ready to go back to her school and take on the bullies. She know she can beat them.
I understand there is a continuation of Rebecca's story on the horizon. I look forward to the next installment.… (más)

I received this free from Library Thing to read and review. This short story is a follow on to her other story about Rebecca’s time at school in Israel. In this book, emboldened by her time at school in Israel, Rebecca fights back at the merciless bullying she had endured for years. Because the groundwork had been laid, the author really had little to do except continue the tale. Nevertheless, this story shows the reader that it is possible to fight back and how re-inventing oneself can make a big difference. In this story, the author presents a new Rebecca, who no longer takes all the harsh insults her classmates dish out. In today’s world, where we hear some news item about bullying and its effects almost daily, it is refreshing to see someone who was once bullied fight back. It sends a message that one can change from victim to aggressor and finally “win the battle”. I enjoyed seeing how the author developed Rebecca’s character in this final chapter of her school days. I even liked the way the author portrayed her mother, someone who was too tied up in her own problems to care in the first book, as being more supportive and understanding of her daughter’s situation. With all that is going on today in schools and with teenagers, I recommend this book to teenagers everywhere. Taken together, in this story and Next Year in Israel, the author has shown us how individuals can change and fight the odds and win.… (más)