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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
I got this book 20 years ago and I've thought about it often over the years. I decided to reread it recently and it still made me cry at the end. I loved going on this journey of security and insecurity, growing up, getting and not getting what you want and figuring out what you need. Great book all around.
A great accessible read about some relevant and difficult topics.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i would actually rate this a 3.5 bc i liked the story, but some of the events felt too on the nose for the overall theme. also jenna knows way too much about feet
2008:
Joan Bauer has a way of making everything seem interesting, even selling shoes for a living. Jenna is a very likable character who has real problems and great people around her who help her figure things out for herself. There were SO many great characters in this book. The sad shocker wasn't quite as sad to me as the one in Hope Was Here, but it was still hard. Overall it was a great casual read or a great read to help someone deal with alcoholism in the family.
2020:
Enjoyed it again, but not quite as much.
Joan Bauer has a way of making everything seem interesting, even selling shoes for a living. Jenna is a very likable character who has real problems and great people around her who help her figure things out for herself. There were SO many great characters in this book. The sad shocker wasn't quite as sad to me as the one in Hope Was Here, but it was still hard. Overall it was a great casual read or a great read to help someone deal with alcoholism in the family.
2020:
Enjoyed it again, but not quite as much.
I'm still on my nostalgia tour through my middle school reads. I think one of the reasons that I became a librarian is all the books I read in the summers when I was still too young for a summer job, aside from baby sitting. I loved the library, it was my haven and escape.
Anyway, Rules of the Road was a great summer read when I first read it. Sixteen year old Jenna Boller works part-time in the Gladstone shoe store, and is a natural shoe salesperson, with great interpersonal instincts. She loves her job. Her family life is difficult because her father is an alcoholic, who refuses to change. When she is offered the job of driving Gladstone's owner, Madeline Gladstone for the summer, she jumps at the chance to escape her circumstances for a while.
Anyway, Rules of the Road was a great summer read when I first read it. Sixteen year old Jenna Boller works part-time in the Gladstone shoe store, and is a natural shoe salesperson, with great interpersonal instincts. She loves her job. Her family life is difficult because her father is an alcoholic, who refuses to change. When she is offered the job of driving Gladstone's owner, Madeline Gladstone for the summer, she jumps at the chance to escape her circumstances for a while.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Update: Can now confirm that I had excellent taste as a middle-grade reader, because this book is still totally awesome. Other than the heavy prevalence of land lines, this one aged VERY well in the 20 years since it was written. Especially the overtly anti-capitalist narrative featuring the family-owned shoe store taken over by profit-hungry corporate villains while a feisty teen takes the boardroom by storm, reminding them all what a moral compass is and why it belongs in business. Making millennials proud, Jenna.
Loved the independent, quirky, intelligent main character. After I read this book, I passed by a shoe store and realized this book has changed the way I look at shoes!
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated