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suzannedix's review
4.0
What a completely interesting format! Chase has recently moved from city-life in Columbus, OH to the countryside with his parents and two dogs. Chase is struggling with this sudden change and reaches out to friends through email messages. This epistolary format is a perfect platform for Chase's great sense of humor and his hilarious use of emoticons to mock country life (the cicada emoticons were a particular favorite!). Starting at a new middle school is a painful adjustment as is Chase's first experience with hunting season. One of Chase's dogs is shot (thankfully just a small flesh wound) and this solidifies Chase's anti-hunting beliefs. This is a difficult stance to take in this area of Ohio and Chase begins to feel further and further out of his element. His emails become darker and more paranoid though he continues to try to use humor to cope. His emails work as an opportunity to vent about his frustrations and fears and readers can see that Chase feels that his life is out of his control. Eventually Chase's one-man crusade against hunting comes to a (non-violent) end as he gains a better understanding of who some of his neighbors are and how meagerly they live.
This is a great "historical" look at life before wi-fi and cell phones and text messaging! Grades 7 and up (some mild swearing and a few questionable emoticons).
This is a great "historical" look at life before wi-fi and cell phones and text messaging! Grades 7 and up (some mild swearing and a few questionable emoticons).
margaretann84's review
3.0
I liked the non-traditional format and I think my kidlings would get a kick out of it (though, some of the faces were difficult to parse). That being said, I feel like this novel tried to do too much--the moving subplot along with the hunting subplot and the poverty subplot all seemed very rushed and not fully explored. Still, I think it would be a good conversation starter.
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