Book Review- Getting Somewhere

21 Feb, 2012 by in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Getting Somewhere
by Beth Neff
Paperback, 411 pages
Published January 19th 2012
by Viking Children’s Books
ISBN 0670012556
Book Source: Publisher
5 Stars
Book Summary from Goodreads: Sarah, Jenna, Lauren, and Cassie may look like ordinary girls, but they’re not. They’re delinquents whose lives collide when they’re sent to an experimental juvenile detention program on a farm in the middle of nowhere. As the girls face up to the crimes they committed, three of them will heal the wounds of their pasts and discover strengths they never dreamed they had. And one, driven by a deep secret of her own, will seek to destroy everything they’ve all worked so hard for.

Crystal’s Review: In this gritty teen story four girls, who all have secrets and haunting pasts, are put together when they all choose to go to an alternative detention center instead of jail. This alternative center is actually a farm run by three women, while there the girls are expected to work in the garden and help around the house as well as attend sessions with Ellie, the head of the program. I really enjoyed reading this book. The book address hard but realistic issues that many people will be able to relate to. Parts of the book are graphic and raw, however, I appreciated the author not running from these issues or talking about them in a way that would make them sound less serious. The character building in this story is great, I quickly found myself rooting for different characters. Through out the book the girls learn to accept themselves and not let their pasts define them, all but one that is. While the other girls work to get better one of them is determined to get away, and bring everyone down on her way out.

Content: Heavy Cursing, References to Sexual Assault, Drug Use, Sexuality, Theft, Prostitution, Self mutilation/Cutting, Teen Pregnancy and Suicide.

About the Author: Beth Neff is a former organic vegetable farmer who lives in southwestern Michigan and enjoys setting her novels in the rural and small town environment in which she lives. When she’s not writing, she likes to garden, read, play the guitar and piano, quilt, cook and especially catch up with the busy lives of her four kids (ages 18 to 27.)

Leave a Reply

CommentLuv badge