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ruaaa's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
iymain's review against another edition
5.0
Drugs, sex, violence, alcoholism, death, abandonment, racism. All of that. And yet…
A self-aware, realistic girl just going through her life and making sense of the things everyone deals with. Who writes poetry. Beautiful poetry. (And generally, I don't like poetry.)
What I love about this book is that it takes sensational issues and puts them in a real-life perspective. No one's life is changed by One Dramatic Incident. Instead, it is a collection of struggles that are as familiar as the air Jazmine breathes that power this book. Naw, not really. It's Jazmine's unique spirit and awareness of the little miracles (that so many take for granted) that power this book.
It's an interesting flip-flop, really. The ultimate effect is that we meet a character who gives us strength while facing the incredible obstacles that she refuses to allow to dim her dream.
My 12 y.o. is reading this book and said she found it depressing. I was absolutely flummoxed by that.
I felt that Jazmine's commitment to her art and faith in who she is in spite of these depressing elements that surround her actually made the whole book that much more uplifting.
(She writes poetry on garbage because she has to. It's not the garbage that bothers us, it's the relief of her capturing her ideas on ANY kind of paper that makes us grateful. That being said, we recognize the ugliness that surrounds her. She sees it, too. The racism, the poverty. The irony of such beauty having to be crafted from garbage is legit. Still, ultimately it is BEAUTY that triumphs. It is expression and writing that happens and NOTHING can stop it. Jazmine leaves not with a sense of resentment or defeat, but of release and appreciation, resilience and even a little pride at her resourcefulness that powers that scene.)
I guess an example of that is how all the characters that you would expect to support J, but don't: mother, dead father, creepy adults, racist guidance counselors are such small drags on this character who talks about her daily life with her strong, supportive sister; her good friend; her positive teacher; her "guardian angel" (Crew)… On balance this is a story of--I wouldn't even say "hope"--I don't feel hope for Jazmine. I feel confidence. I feel faith. I know she will make it. That's the final message of this book, and her "depressing" environment is dwarfed by the size of her spirit.
A self-aware, realistic girl just going through her life and making sense of the things everyone deals with. Who writes poetry. Beautiful poetry. (And generally, I don't like poetry.)
What I love about this book is that it takes sensational issues and puts them in a real-life perspective. No one's life is changed by One Dramatic Incident. Instead, it is a collection of struggles that are as familiar as the air Jazmine breathes that power this book. Naw, not really. It's Jazmine's unique spirit and awareness of the little miracles (that so many take for granted) that power this book.
It's an interesting flip-flop, really. The ultimate effect is that we meet a character who gives us strength while facing the incredible obstacles that she refuses to allow to dim her dream.
My 12 y.o. is reading this book and said she found it depressing. I was absolutely flummoxed by that.
I felt that Jazmine's commitment to her art and faith in who she is in spite of these depressing elements that surround her actually made the whole book that much more uplifting.
(She writes poetry on garbage because she has to. It's not the garbage that bothers us, it's the relief of her capturing her ideas on ANY kind of paper that makes us grateful. That being said, we recognize the ugliness that surrounds her. She sees it, too. The racism, the poverty. The irony of such beauty having to be crafted from garbage is legit. Still, ultimately it is BEAUTY that triumphs. It is expression and writing that happens and NOTHING can stop it. Jazmine leaves not with a sense of resentment or defeat, but of release and appreciation, resilience and even a little pride at her resourcefulness that powers that scene.)
I guess an example of that is how all the characters that you would expect to support J, but don't: mother, dead father, creepy adults, racist guidance counselors are such small drags on this character who talks about her daily life with her strong, supportive sister; her good friend; her positive teacher; her "guardian angel" (Crew)… On balance this is a story of--I wouldn't even say "hope"--I don't feel hope for Jazmine. I feel confidence. I feel faith. I know she will make it. That's the final message of this book, and her "depressing" environment is dwarfed by the size of her spirit.
awesome514's review against another edition
4.0
Short but poignant. It is amazing to me that the author could craft such an emotionally complex story in 100 pages. I'll be thinking about this one for some time.
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