 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings, and Flew Away
- By Joyce Carol Oates
- Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Common Sense Media says
Raw look at loss & addiction best for older teens.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know this book deals with heavy issues: a parent's death, addiction, depression, gang rape, and recovery. A description of a car wreck is particularly graphic and various drugs are abused, bought, and sold by teens.
What's the story?
Once popular, athletic, and "normal," Jenna Abbott isn't the same after a near-fatal car crash. Now she feels totally alone and sickly and fights to forget the accident in a number of self-destructive ways. Two friends come into her life, one who can help her recover and another who offers even more dangerous forms of self-punishment.
Is it any good?
Moving. Groundbreaking. Raw. Joyce Carol Oates finds a way to reach inside the soul of a teen and bring out every painful, joyful, and confused feeling, laying them out for readers to digest. Jenna Abbott is in a horrible car crash with her mother. After the crash, she is a completely different person and finds herself trying hard to cope and forget everything that happened.
Oates takes readers "into the blue" -- the drug-induced haze Jenna finds herself in after the crash -- and then pushes us "into the raw" -- real life, up close without drugs as Jenna experiences it. It's a heartbreaking, painful, encouraging, and ultimately beautifully crafted story of loss and recovery.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about any of the biggie topics presented here: dealing with the loss of a loved one, the dangers of prescription medication, dangerous friends, rape, and recovery. In what ways did Jenna punish herself for her mother's death? What do you know about the dangers of prescription medicine abuse? What deaths in the news can be attributed to prescription medicines?
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Adult
April 9, 2008
AGE
Loved it!
Great book, I couldn't put it down! I suggest this book!
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Teen, 14 years old
November 8, 2009
AGE
Being Exposed Can Be GOOD!
I really liked it and it shows kids and teens what really can go on in the world. Although you dont want to expose your kids to some of the things in this book such as alcohol, sex, violence, rape, and gangs, being exposed to these things can help teens know to stay away from people like this. It also shows them the negative consequences that came out of the situation.
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Adult
December 6, 2010
AGE
this book is a very good book i had just picked it for a project and i would like to say that this book is good for kids who have abused drugs to take away pain or someone that has lost a parent and has issues or withdraws from drugs. This book also has alot to do with drugs and violence and sexually content. I had seen my dad uzse drugs and i never had done anything because i have seen my dad go threw it and this book has supported me in so many ways
What other families should know:
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Adult
May 2, 2010
AGE
It was greta and contained a great message.
For some younger teens it may not be apprpiate but the majority are reading much worse stuff and are mature enough to get the lesson out of this book. And compared to what we see everyday it was not grapic at all. Plus at any regular high school there are drugs and drinking, not that every kid is involved but they know all about it. Plus the majority off book swe read contain worse things about love and stuff and very bad messages. this is from a teenagers point of view by the way. This book had a intense topic but the rest was less than normal. No one gets what we get faced with evry day sooo. And it was an incrdibly well written book.
What other families should know:
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Teen, 15 years old
April 7, 2010
AGE
a good compliment for teens and gives educational values especially in life aspects of a teenager life
What other families should know:
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| Author: | Joyce Carol Oates |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Contemporary Fiction |
| Publisher: | HarperTeen |
| Publication date: | August 22, 2006 |
| Number of pages: | 304 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 14 - 14 |
| Read aloud: | 14 - 14 |
| Read alone: | 14 - 14 |
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