Catherine AtkinsReseñas

Disappointing. There's no depth to the story or the characters.

A real mix of feelings reading this book. Jeff's emotions are expressed beautifully throughout and I was left in no doubt of the incredible journey he would undertake in order to recover from his ordeal. On the other hand I found his home life and background characters completely unrealistic. I could understand if it was set in the 1960s/70s but it was written in 1999! I cannot believe he could come home, destroy vital evidence and refuse to engage with the police. No physical exam? no therapist straight away? His stepmother fades away into the background almost entirely and it's never explained why his father doesn't seem to like his other two children very much, it's all a bit frustrating. As a novel about PTSD, recovery and sexual abuse it's very successful but the lack of believable characters (apart from Jeff) and situations really let it down.

Crappy YA novel about the coming-of-age of a fat chick. Boring and by the numbers, although some attempt is made.

Susan is overweight, self-conscious and the butt of jokes. She is caught vandalizing a classmate's truck and ordered to participate in a weekly counseling class. Also in the class is a popular jock, a cheerleader, a gay, a punker and Susan's primary tormentor, Kale. Counselor Mr. Duffy generates discussion to get the kids to know each other and talk about things. Susan develops a friendship with gay Brendan and a tenuous but growing understanding of the others. She also is dealing with her mother's death from cancer and the distance that's grown between her, her father and brother Tom. She finds more confidence to stand up for herself in and out of the counseling class.

Given the news in the past couple of years of missing children escaping their kidnappers, this book is strongly insightful of the impact such situations have on the victim, their families and friends. Intense, disturbing and thought-provoking; not for the super-sensitive or squeamish. Scenes with the abuser are unsettling and disturbing but not gratuitously graphic.

Susan is fat, Brendan is gay. Together with four other students, they attend an afterschool class with the guidance counselor. Each student has done something that could result in expulsion unless they attend the pilot project “Alternative Education.” Susan and Brendan develop a friendship through unpleasant shared experience: they are both victims of bullying and harassment. Each week, they have to face one of their most vicious tormentors (Cale,) a perfect and popular student (Tracy) whose goals for college eclipse any notice she would normally take of such outsiders as Susan and Brendan. Then there is football star Randy (Susan has a secret and hopeless crush) and the sluttish (name is a blank. Mandy?)
This is a very plausible portrayal of the cruelties of adolescent “dissing”, sexual and alcohol abuse (gang rape) and of how seeking peer group approval often overrides compassion. The story explores the concept that encounter groups can be effective and helpful without entirely solving the underlying problems. Susan is also struggling with a father and brother who have yet to come to terms with the death of Susan & Tom’s mother. The story brings in the important themes of silence about loss and parental blindness to teenage problems. This could definitely be a good read for junior high students as they are at the highest risk of initially perpetrating or being victims of bullying and, as witnesses, often feel ill equipped to do anything but "run with the pack".

The File on Angelyn Stark

By: Catherine Atkins


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780375869068
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Publication date: 11/8/2011
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 657,908
Age range: 14 – 17 Years
Product dimensions: 5.82 (w) x 8.52 (h) x 0.91 (d)

Summary: Angelyn Stark is in high school. She has a small group of friends and a popular boyfriend. She does okay in school, but does not feel like she is intelligent. We first meet Angelyn in the bathroom. She is smoking with her friends, when a girl comes in to use the restroom. This is off-limits. Angelyn and her friends make sure the girl knows that from now on, she is not allowed to go into that restroom during that break. As the girls leave, the girl tells Angelyn that she knows someone who knows her. The girl tells Angelyn about Mrs. Daly, a former neighbor and tutor of Angelyn’s, and how she sees Mrs. Daly when she volunteers at the old folks home. From there, Angelyn is late to class, but her teacher gives her a break, and then at lunch she goes to drink beers with her friends and boyfriend. She is caught by her teacher again while she is fooling around with her boyfriend in the truck. Her teacher talks to her and tells her to not give herself away. We then follow Angelyn around and learn that her home life is not that great. I could go on, but I don’t want to do a play by play of the story. The basics are that Angelyn is finding out about herself and dealing with a lot of things that other teenagers are also dealing with. Her boyfriend is pressuring her to do things she doesn’t want to do, her friends leave her when she breaks up with him, and the abuse that has happened in her life seems to linger throughout everything. It’s very candid and realistic.

My thoughts: I think one of my favorite parts about this book is the fact that you see Angelyn struggling with decisions. When her boyfriend is trying to get her to have sex with him, she keeps passively pushing him off. As a high school teacher, I’m afraid to say that I see this happening and read accounts from my students about similar things as well. It is very hard to say no. Even as an adult, I believe we have a hard time saying no. Angelyn says no, but there are consequences to that action. It’s interesting how she weighs pros and cons within her head and how she views the world around her. The reason I go so into this book is because of the complete honesty involved. It does not sugar coat issues, skirt around issues, or exaggerate. The File on Angelyn Stark is just like reading the diary of a teenage girl. I appreciated it and know that my female high school students will enjoy it as well. I’m always being asked for books that are more realistic and “more like me.” It’s nice to give them one that is well written and still appropriate for their age group.
(5 stars)

Susan Callaway, whose dad is a well respected football coach, gets bullied about her weight. Due to a misunderstanding involving some spray paint, she ends up in an alternative ed class with five other students, including her biggest tormentor. Susan must learn to speak up or be insulted forever. The language is more suited to a high school, and that is the target audience for this fast but engaging book for reluctant readers.

Alt Ed is about an over weight girl who has to go to an afternoon therapy class after she was caught spray painting a students car. Only she didn't do. Her soon to be best friend does, but she takes the blame. In the afternoon class she meets different people. Her best friend is one of them. They all have problems concernig school. Like her best friend is gay. Going to the classes help her better herself and her personality towards the people around her. I like this book because it shows that everyone has problems no matter how big or small they are.

A kidnapped boy returns home and must readjust to normal life and deal with what has happened to him.

Highschool Students learn how to deal with life and how they effect others. People are not all they appear to be on the Outside. Really well written.

3 years after he was kidnapped at a rest stop Jeff is coming home. Now he faces questions he doesn't want to answer, and face who he was as well as who he has become.

Harrowing, hard-to-read topic, but one of those books you can't tear yourself away from. Author evokes a strong connectedness with the main character, Jeff.

The book Alt. Ed is a about a teenage girl. She got put into a special class, created by her school for the students that deserve to be expelled; it is kind of like a second chance. The girls name is Susan and she is scared to live her life after being bulled for being overweight. In this class she learns to speak her mind. This is an excellent book for teens that need some inspiration in their life’s.

Susan is an overweight girl who fears being ridiculed at school. She has no friends and she spends most of her time trying to make herself invisible and being suspicious of anyone who talks to her.. waiting for the "fattie" punchline. Susan is accused of vandalizing her main abuser's truck. She is due to be expelled but is sent to "Alt Ed" instead. She and 5 other kids sit in a room together after school and talk about their feelings and each other. It plays out exactly like a rated PG version of Breakfast Club, except well supervised and far less edgy.½

13-year-old Jeff was kidnapped from a roadside rest stop, and spent two and a half years locked in a dark basement. He was physically and sexually abused and forced to have sex with Ray if he wanted to eat.

Reminded me of The Breakfast Club: a diverse group of teens learns about themselves and each other in an after-school counseling group. But less endearing and affecting, somehow.½

A modern day Breafast Club. This book should not have worked, but it did, due to Atkins fabulous writing and an unforgettable character.½

overweight girl in high school attends an after school program and learns about life.

Susan is fat and the bullies at school never miss a chance to remind her. After nearly getting expelled for something she did, Susan joins a special class for other students who are also in danger of being kicked out of school. The group includes one of the bullies, a popular guy, a popular girl, a girl with a bad reputation, and a guy she who is becoming her friend. It's rough at first, but slowly the group starts to talk and figure each other out. Great book about becoming aware of your own strengths and learning to ignore stereotypes, rumors, and bullies.½