Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 9780060760915]

Jumped

by Rita Williams-Garcia

Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 9780060760915]

Book Review

Publishers Weekly :

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Starred Review. Alternating among the perspectives of three girls at an urban high school, Williams-Garcia (Like Sisters on the Homefront) shows once again her uncanny ability to project unique voices. Benched by the basketball coach for her low grades, Dominique is trying to bite back her rage when some stupid little flit comes skipping down B corridor like the Easter Bunny.... Skipping. In all that pink and walks between Dominique and her girls, like she don't see I'm here and all the space around me is mines. That's it—Dominique vows to kick her ass at exactly 2:45. Her intended victim, Trina—already full of herself over her looks, and pumped up because she's about to hang her latest masterpiece of art in a hallway)—does not hear, but Leticia does, and she can't wait to tell her best friend (That would be something to see.... Trina getting stomped on school grounds). And when Leticia's friend argues that Leticia ought to warn Trina, the plot quickens rather than taking a simple path around should-she/shouldn't-she. So well observed that the characters seem to leap off the page, the novel leaves a strong and lingering impact. Ages 12–up. (Mar.)

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School Library Journal :

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Gr 8–10—All Leticia wants to do is to mind her own business. She's too busy stewing about being assigned to early-morning math tutoring to worry about anyone else's problems. Sure, she's intrigued when she overhears bad-girl basketball player Dominique threaten to beat up bubbly, self-obsessed Trina for bumping her in the hallway—who wouldn't be excited to get the inside scoop on juicy gossip like a girl-on-girl fight after school? But she doesn't feel the need to get involved, even after she realizes that Trina didn't hear Dominique's threats and thus has no idea that she's going to get jumped. Will she follow best friend Bea's advice and warn Trina of the danger she faces, before a potential tragedy can unfold? In alternating chapters narrated by Leticia, Trina, and Dominique, Williams-Garcia has given her characters strong, individual voices that ring true to teenage speech, and she lets them make their choices without judgment or moralizing. Even the hostile, defensive Dominique is drawn in an evenhanded way that leaves this thought-provoking tale without a clear-cut villain. Teens will relate to Leticia's dilemma even as they may criticize her motives, and the ethical decision she faces will get readers thinking about the larger issues surrounding community, personal responsibility, and the concept of "snitching."—Meredith Robbins, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, New York City

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Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 0060760915] Book Review
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*Starred Review* Leticia, a gossipy high-school student, knows that "Girl fights are ugly. Girl fights are personal." She says this after overhearing that Dominique, the tough-as-nails basketball player, is planning to beat up pink-clad fashion-plate Trina at 2:45. The infraction was minor-the oblivious Trina cut off Dominique in the hallway-but for Dominique it was the last of a series of insults, the worst of which was being benched by Coach for failing to improve her grades. Bouncing between the three first-person accounts within the span of a single school day, Williams-Garcia makes the drama feel not only immediate but suffocatingly tense, as each tick of the clock speeds the three girls toward collision. Dominique's anger and frustration is tangible; Leticia's hemming over whether or not to get involved feels frighteningly authentic; and only Trina's relentless snobbery seems a bit simplified. Most impressive is how the use of voice allows readers to fully experience the complicated politics of high school; you can sense the thousand mini-dramas percolating within each crowded classroom. Along the way, the characters' disregard of such high-school stalwarts as A Separate Peace and Of Mice and Men subtly prepares the reader for the messy and gut-wrenching conclusion. Kraus, Daniel.

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