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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Notes From The Midnight Driver is hilarious, compassionate, and emotional tale that will have you sucked in. This is the story of a sixteen year old boy named Alex Gregory who tries to destroy his father's house by becoming drunk and driving straight into his dad's house. I mean what could go wrong right? It is a perfectly good plan for having nothing better to do on a Friday night right? Wrong. Alex ended up destroying a lawn gnome and getting caught by a local police officer who sends him to court. In his hearing he being forced to do 100 hours of service work as part of his probation in a senior citizen home. His citizen that has been chosen for him is the waviness man in the home and is mean to pretty much everyone. Alex is wondering if he will ever be happy with this new life he has. Join Alex, his best gal pal Laurie, and his maybe new old friend Solomon on a wild adventure through love, compassion, new developing friendships, and cheesy jokes all because of one car crash.
Sometimes its good to step back into the teenage perspective. This book made me laugh & cry. Written by a teacher, inspired by his students and love of music.
I really really liked this book. It was so hard to put down (I read it in a little over 24 hours and would have finished it earlier if I hadn't of had to go to work). Even though pretty early on I guessed part of what was going to happen in the end, the way things turned out and unfolded was still very good. I would definitely recommend this book. If you've read Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie (another book I highly recommend), there will even be something extra in this book for you!
A very quick and fun read. I found myself reading passages out loud to people near me so that they could also enjoy the whit.
This book is both funny and sad. THere are parts I just wanted to read aloud.
This book is bad and the author should feel bad.
Ok, that's probably a bit strong, but I really do not like this book. It took me three months to read when it should have taken me at most about two days because I needed to take a break from how irritating it was (ok, that's an exaggeration because I just didn't have time with school, but I wasn't exactly compelled to keep on reading). Admittedly, I am older than the apparent target audience, who I would put as about 7 - 8 years old, but then I see some reviews list this book as 'teen humour'. Why? What makes the most sense to me is if this has some nostalgic value for readers my age that somehow made reading this book an enjoyable experience when you're older than 11.
In summary, the book is in not funny, despite its many blurbs claiming to be so, the characters are boring at best and irritating at worst, but always unsurprising and overly simple, and the message is incredibly patronising. I'm not really convinced the author has ever met an old person, let alone a sick person, but I will commend him for not turning this into a "Children's Introduction to the Holocaust" book, which is seemed to be heading towards sometimes. There are many and much better children's books with far more complicated messages than this one, so please choose them instead of this.
Ok, that's probably a bit strong, but I really do not like this book. It took me three months to read when it should have taken me at most about two days because I needed to take a break from how irritating it was (ok, that's an exaggeration because I just didn't have time with school, but I wasn't exactly compelled to keep on reading). Admittedly, I am older than the apparent target audience, who I would put as about 7 - 8 years old, but then I see some reviews list this book as 'teen humour'. Why? What makes the most sense to me is if this has some nostalgic value for readers my age that somehow made reading this book an enjoyable experience when you're older than 11.
In summary, the book is in not funny, despite its many blurbs claiming to be so, the characters are boring at best and irritating at worst, but always unsurprising and overly simple, and the message is incredibly patronising. I'm not really convinced the author has ever met an old person, let alone a sick person, but I will commend him for not turning this into a "Children's Introduction to the Holocaust" book, which is seemed to be heading towards sometimes. There are many and much better children's books with far more complicated messages than this one, so please choose them instead of this.
Another book from Sonnenblick, the master of emotional roller coasters. I laughed and cried at the same time while reading this offering about a teenager convicted of drunk driving who is sentenced to serve community service at an elderly care facility.
It is nice to see that band geeks finally have a champion in Sonnenblick, too.
It is nice to see that band geeks finally have a champion in Sonnenblick, too.
This book was fantastic! I laughed out loud many times as I read this book. It also had a touching side to end the book happily, which is good most of the time. Great read!!
Alex is upset over his parents' divorce, so one night he raids the liquor cabinet and steals his mom's car keys in an attempt to drive to his dad's place. His attempt fails miserably, though, when his car bumper meets his neighbor's garden gnome. Alex is assigned community service to pay for his crimes, and his mother chooses for him to volunteer as an assistant in the hospital. Alex is assigned to an older man who is slowly dying of emphysema, and it looks like this will be the longest 100 hours of Alex's life, until he starts looking beyond himself and sees how he can use his time of service to truly serve others.
I chose this book for two reasons: I have enjoyed other books by the same author, and this book has a really funny cover. And I was not disappointed. Sonnenblick has a very engaging writing style and hooks the reader into his stories quite quickly. Not only that, but his characters do good work while enduring incredible hardships. I have been very impressed with Sonnenblick's novels, and if I had a classroom still, his books would be on my shelf
I chose this book for two reasons: I have enjoyed other books by the same author, and this book has a really funny cover. And I was not disappointed. Sonnenblick has a very engaging writing style and hooks the reader into his stories quite quickly. Not only that, but his characters do good work while enduring incredible hardships. I have been very impressed with Sonnenblick's novels, and if I had a classroom still, his books would be on my shelf