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allmadhere106's review
4.0
Filled with _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_ references. Harry Sue is a child whose father and mother are both in jail for various crimes. It is Harry Sue’s life goal to someday go to prison herself so that she may be reunited with her family. For now, she lives with her grandmother, an evil, self-centered woman who runs a day care and neglects everyone in her care. Over the course of the book, Harry Sue meets new characters and learns to trust people, even though she wants instead to harden herself for her future life in prison. Part of the joy that comes from reading the novel is finding all of the points that match with Baum’s text and Harry Sue is quick to point of some of them for the reader. Oz was the one book that her mother read to her before she was sent to prison so it becomes a connection that she is ready to highlight. However, not all of the allusions are made by the narrator and it is up to the reader to find them. Issues of ethics, identity, and abuse, though the tone makes the book extremely fun to read.
fastandcurious's review
3.0
A cute book. Took me alittle while to get into the prision lingo (thank goodness for the glossray in the front of the book) but I really liked it. I will most likely reread this with my son when he is older. IMO this is a good family book.
brucefarrar's review
4.0
You may have heard about a boy named Sue. Now meet a girl named Harry. Just before her mother went to the joint for making crystal meth in the kitchen, she told her daughter, “You aren’t the kind to invite trouble, so I had to do it for you. You need practice to stand up for yourself properly. No girl named Harry Sue gets pushed around. She’s the kind that goes down fighting.”
Harry figures that the only way she’ll see her mother again is to become a juvenile delinquent and get sent up. But she has a problem, and she knows it.
“Unfortunately, I had a heart condition that needed fixing before I could begin a serious crime spree.
Yes, Fish, my heart was as lumpy and soft as a rotten tomato. I couldn’t stand to see things hurt, especially anything weak and defenseless.”
Harry figures that the only way she’ll see her mother again is to become a juvenile delinquent and get sent up. But she has a problem, and she knows it.
“Unfortunately, I had a heart condition that needed fixing before I could begin a serious crime spree.
Yes, Fish, my heart was as lumpy and soft as a rotten tomato. I couldn’t stand to see things hurt, especially anything weak and defenseless.”
julieputty's review
5.0
I found this book heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. It's not an easy book with easy solutions, but it's not nihilistic either. Things matter. I won't suggest this one for my niece yet.
sarahbethbrown's review
5.0
This book wrecked me. WRECKED me. I picked it up, thinking I'd read it leisurely over the weekend, and quickly found that I couldn't put it down. It's really, really good for about 2/3 of the book, and then it gets REALLY, REALLY GOOD. I read it at a coffee shop and started crying but couldn't put it down long enough to leave and go someplace quiet.
The only word I can think of to describe this book is miraculous, and I don't mean that in a cheesy way. More like how I felt after reading Owen Meany, which was, of course that was supposed to happen.
Don't be fooled by those nerds who call it a children's book. It's an everyone book, and especially a people who have a heart book.
The only word I can think of to describe this book is miraculous, and I don't mean that in a cheesy way. More like how I felt after reading Owen Meany, which was, of course that was supposed to happen.
Don't be fooled by those nerds who call it a children's book. It's an everyone book, and especially a people who have a heart book.
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