E-book
Whatever doesn't kill you
Record details
- ISBN: 9781459800847 (electronic bk.)
- ISBN: 1459800842 (electronic bk.)
- ISBN: 9781459800854 (electronic bk.)
- ISBN: 1459800850 (electronic bk.)
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Physical Description:
electronic resource
remote
1 online resource. - Publisher: Victoria, B.C. : Orca Book Publishers, 2013.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Fathers -- Death -- Fiction Fathers and daughters -- Fiction Emotions -- Fiction Fathers and daughters -- Fiction JUVENILE FICTION / General Emotions Fathers and daughters Fathers -- Death |
| Genre: | Electronic books. Fiction. |
Electronic resources
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2013 May #1
Jenna only knows her father from the family photograph above the television. When she was just an infant, he was killed in a convenience store robbery, and now Travis Bingham, the killer, is out of jail and back in town. With her family unwilling or unable to discuss the crime or its aftermath, and her friends alienated by her inability to move beyond her past, Jenna is left to deal with Travis on her own. But when she finally finds him, Jenna is unprepared for what she learns, and it puts her world on edge. This brief, taut novel is thick with Jenna's legitimate angst and understandable longing for answers. The juicy long-held family secrets and Jenna's absorbing obsession with the life she never got to live tend to make the side characters feel a bit one dimensional for much of the book, and the epilogue describes a sunnier solution than might be realistic. Still, though, this is a believable portrait of a family destroyed, destroyed again, and finally rebuilt. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2013 March #2
A girl struggles to understand the lasting effects of her father's murder on her family. Growing up in Ontario, social misfit Jenna has hated Travis Bingham all her life. Travis shot and killed her father when she was a baby. She blames him for her mother's mental illness and her family's poverty. When she learns that Travis has been released from prison, her friends urge her to confront him. Breaking with her longtime friends over the issue, Jenna finds herself befriended by a popular girl, who drags Jenna to the mall and uses her shopping sense to get Jenna a whole new wardrobe and haircut, jolting Jenna into a new perspective on herself. She begins to uncover unsettling clues about her family's past. When Jenna finally does meet Travis and gets him to talk about the past, an entirely new history opens up, calling into question many of her former beliefs. Wennick keeps her prose flowing nicely, and her characters come across as real people with strengths and flaws. Jenna's confusion and her determination to sort out her understanding of both herself and her history come through clearly and sympathetically. A solid, affecting coming-of-age tale. (Fiction. 12-16) Copyright Kirkus 2013 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - Library Media Connection : Library Media Connection Reviews 2013 October
Fifteen-year-old Jenna Cooper's teenage angst includes dealing with a dysfunctional home life. When she was a baby, her father was murdered. Due to her mother's debilitating illness, Jenna lives with her older brother, sister, and her sister's five-year-old son. She often escapes to a friend's house to watch 1980s sitcoms, fantasizing about what her life could have been like. When Jenna discovers that her father's killer has been released from prison, she becomes obsessed with learning more about Bingham and his relationship with her dad. She stalks Bingham to find answers and discovers family secrets that provide closure for them all. Wennick provides a sympathetic main character, readers will relate to Jenna's struggles for a better life and a desire to learn more about the father she never knew. While the plot twist is slightly far-fetched, it provides readers a vehicle to examine issues of redemption, forgiveness, and family loyalty. Barbara Zinkovich, Librarian, Derby Academy, H ngham, Massachusetts [Editor's Note: Available in e-book format.] RECOMMENDED Copyright 2012 Linworth Publishing, Inc. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2013 July
Gr 7â10âJenna was just days old when teenager Travis Bingham killed her father, an event that she believes set her family's breakdown in motion. Now, 15 years later, the murder still consumes her life, so much so that she loses her best friends. When Bingham is released on parole, Jenna becomes even more convinced that he is the key to her unanswered questions and feels that she must get the information to finally put the past behind her. What she doesn't expect to find out is that the murderer once lived with her family and that her brother, who has practically raised her, knows more about that fateful night than she could ever have imagined. Readers will be hooked from the first sentence and kept on the line by the quick-paced plot and easy-to-follow language. The story of Jenna, an outcast at school, with a not so normal family life is intriguing enough to hold the interest of even the most reluctant readers. Though the story seems to abruptly wrap up in a page or two, it is an overall good selection for those looking for a quick, heartening read.âBetsy Davidson, Cortland Free Library, NY
[Page 102]. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews : VOYA Reviews 2013 April
Fifteen years ago, Jenna's father was murdered in a convenience store robbery. Later, her mother became disabled after a botched suicide attempt. Now, Jenna and her siblings are scraping out a life one step above poverty. Jenna's outcast friends make life bearable, so when she learns that Travis has been released from prison, the crew convinces her that she must confront the man who destroyed her family. Jenna's investigation reveals more than she had been led to believe and her obsession causes a rift with her family and friends. Jenna discovers that Travis had actually been her big brother Simon's best friend, and when she finally squeezes the truth out of him, she learns that the murder had been a horrible accident Smart, quirky characters struggle with bullying, homelessness, and abuse in a cold and gritty Canadian steel town. Yet Wennick does not overdramatize the issues; she merely describes the realities of life in the inner-city as a backdrop for the story of a girl searching for the truth. Readers will empathize with Jenna, who daydreams about perfect TV sitcom families and knits tacky sweaters as if she is stitching her home and family life back together. Jenna and Simon rely on frequent, off-color but affectionate name-calling, not unlike typical siblings. Despite touching on heavy issues, the story holds surprising twists and light humor. Younger teens will appreciate the fast, easy read.âAnn McDuffie 4Q 3P M J Copyright 2011 Voya Reviews.
