Hated this. Angry it was given to my 3rd grader. For all of the questionable youth activity: Repeated Shoplifting and Vandalism, Defying all teacher, adult and parenting relationships, quitting/skipping school, cutting, hijacking and hitchhiking to name only a few! All with no real consequences...
Poorly strung together, it is more of a handbook for delinquency than shining example of how books can save people. Forget about any sense of morals or authority figures helping troubled kids!
This book was so-so. Overall it has a positive message about the value of books/the library - however that positive message is only inferred so the reader must be mature enough to recognize it. This book also has some mature themes - it infers that one of the characters may be suicidal, a couple other characters shoplift and vandalize. Another character is homeless and lives in a car with his uncle. These dark themes tend to overshadow the positive message. Additionally, the imagery and figurative language used by the author is somewhat complex and the reader would need to have the maturity level to comprehend it.
Better books written regarding the value of library cards.
The book was chosen for our Mother/Daughter Book Group (ages 8-12). It was a disappointment. As a librarian I think stories could have been written in a more positive way regarding library cards.
Great for 9 and up kids: not really for 9 and down children.
I have to mention that this book is a great book for kids older then 9 years of age. I love this book very much and want every child to read this book. Maybe even tomorrow. Kids you might not and might like this book very much like i do right now at this moment.