Surviving the Applewhites
Surviving the Applewhites, by Stephanie S. Tolan
I recently was able to reread a copy of this - I remember loving it as a 6th-grader, but when I reread the darn thing I was thoroughly unimpressed, even for a work of teen fiction.
I could not have read a less realistic portrayal of a teenage foster child. Jake Semple supposedly burned down his old school and was abandoned by both his parents and his grandfather, yet he seemingly has no trust or abandonment issues and turns out fine (and apparently cleaned up) by the end of the book due to a production of The Sound of Music (no, really).
Meanwhile, nearly all the Applewhites seemed tremendously selfish - Randolph, especially. His play ended up making him act like a complete and utter jerk to everyone in his family, and when he came back crying to them for help, they were still more than happy to turn right back around and help him - every single one!
All in all, this just seemed like another attempt to portray a dysfunctional family as ~wacky~ and ~unique~. I found myself liking Wolfie (the family goat) and Paulie the swearing parrot more than a lot of the main characters...
So, my question to y'all is - what issues do/did you have with this book? I'm interested in hearing some different opinions!!
I recently was able to reread a copy of this - I remember loving it as a 6th-grader, but when I reread the darn thing I was thoroughly unimpressed, even for a work of teen fiction.
I could not have read a less realistic portrayal of a teenage foster child. Jake Semple supposedly burned down his old school and was abandoned by both his parents and his grandfather, yet he seemingly has no trust or abandonment issues and turns out fine (and apparently cleaned up) by the end of the book due to a production of The Sound of Music (no, really).
Meanwhile, nearly all the Applewhites seemed tremendously selfish - Randolph, especially. His play ended up making him act like a complete and utter jerk to everyone in his family, and when he came back crying to them for help, they were still more than happy to turn right back around and help him - every single one!
All in all, this just seemed like another attempt to portray a dysfunctional family as ~wacky~ and ~unique~. I found myself liking Wolfie (the family goat) and Paulie the swearing parrot more than a lot of the main characters...
So, my question to y'all is - what issues do/did you have with this book? I'm interested in hearing some different opinions!!