OUTSPOKEN

by James Vachowski

"You will find yourself laughing at his wit, audacity and all-around 'smart alec-ness.'" ~ The Tales CompendiumAbraham Lincoln Jenkins is a teenage vandal, social activist, and aspiring revolutionary, but with only four months left until his high school graduation Abraham's lifelong dream of attending Harvard College is put in jeopardy when he learns that he is still in need of two core credit hours in Physical Education. Unfortunately for Abraham, the only available spaces in a P.E. class are as a cadet in the Army's JROTC program!Told almost exclusively through Abraham's one-sided complaint letters, OUTSPOKEN is the result of the War on Terror colliding with the War on Christmas.

115 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

James Vachowski works in the field of global security and crisis management.

When he’s not traveling, James divides his time between his home states of Massachusetts and South Carolina.

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll prefix this by saying this isn't going to be a normal review because this is a novella and therefore, it needs to be looked at a bit differently.

I can honestly say that I had no idea what I should expect when I opened this file. What awaited me was a slightly sarcastic, very intelligent and driven young character with a voice. Told in letter form through multiple people, Outspoken is truly trying to show us the difference between Abraham''s point of view and the rest of the small town he lives in. Though mainly Abraham's correspondence with everyone else in his small town, the other letters really do work to serve as counterarguments for him and allow us to see how his opinion vary from everyone else.

At times incredibly driven and others arrogant, Abraham isn't what I'd call a likable characters. He's opinionated, disrespectful to authority figures and generally sees himself better than everyone around him, but often times with good reason. He refuses to allow the authority figures stereotype him. Yes, he goes to a really bad school and yes, he works at McDonalds but those aren't the end terms goals and he knows it. He just chooses to see his time there as floater for his real life. Even though his condescending tone could be a bit much, I still rooted for him and the ending, though I was pretty sure i knew what was coming, was intensely satisfying. I enjoyed watching Abraham finally make the break away that he craved and was glad to see him thriving elsewhere.

Outspoken felt like something I might have been assigned to read in school to learn a point and it is one of those things that had I read it, I would have enjoyed and remembered it. The quotes at the beginning of every letter really helped provide the author's voice or thoughts on the next letter. Fun and witty, with an ability to make the pages fly by, Outspoken is an easy and enjoyable read.

[Jessica B · Rating 4 out of 5]

From shutupimreading.blogspot.com

I really enjoyed Outspoken. With an awesome protagonist and a unique, interesting format of writing, how could I not?

Yes, this novel is written in letters, and while at times it bugged me, mostly because I wanted to know what was going on away from the letters. But overall I liked it, and think it will help the novel stand out in my mind. And it helped that between each letter is a quote. Each of them are fantastic, and because of them I think I'll end up keeping this on my computer to use for future Facebook statuses.

The main character, Abraham L. Jenkins, lives up to the title of the book; he always feels free to openly and sarcastically express his left wing opinions in an extremely right wing town. And while I could never fully connect to his character--one of the cons of the writing format--I had the utmost amount of respect for him. I would love to see more YA characters that are not only smart, but also have such strong political views and applaud Vachowski for doing so.

Outspoken was a super fast, funny read that I'd recommend to anyone with .99 cents and a few hours.

Book Report:
Plot: Well-paced.
Characters: We only really get to know Abraham, but he's really cool.
Writing: Abraham's voice was really authentic.
Ending: Wrapped everything up, but I'll still be hoping for a sequel.
Kid friendly? While I doubt tweens will enjoy this, it's perfectly safe.
Should I read it? Sure. I'm glad I did.
Overall: 3 and a half stars

[1000 + · Rating 2 out of 5]

My Blurb:

Abraham Jenkins takes matters into his own hands through letters and superglue. When Abraham finds out he lacks credits in Physical Education that can stop him from graduating and moving on to his esteemed Ivy league school, Mr. Jenkins takes himself on a written campaign aimed to fix the various wrongs and injustices he sees around him. From his dislike of Black Friday to his hatred of the insane P.E. requirements to his love of super glue Mr. Jenkins writes it all.

Lets Talk About It:

The book is in letter format by the main character, Abraham, to various people such as the newspaper editor various school officials and anyone else he feels the need to write to.

The letters themselves are very well written and show an obvious intelligence level well above the urban high school he attends. This is an obvious comedic take of issues that a teenager in High School may find incredibly important.

If you are looking for a quick read that is mildly humorous and some what entertaining then this would be a good pick for you.

Melissa
Reviewer for 1000 + Books to Read

[Jess - The Tales Compendium · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outspoken is a hilarious collection of an obnoxious, articulate and self-serving letters written by Abraham Lincoln Jenkins to a variety of people who hold 'power'. His letters poke fun at snobby rich people, incompetent police, the school system, the craziness of the Black Friday sales (which I discovered last year while holidaying in America) and provides us with a particular social commentary of America.

You will find yourself laughing at his wit, audacity and all-around "smart alec-ness". Abraham Lincoln Jenkins is the kind of person who would have annoyed the stuffing out of you if you had been the one on the receiving end of his rants but on paper, he is hilariously opinionated and believes whole-heatedly in what he is saying. He would make a fantastic lawyer (which is what he hopes to study if he ever makes it to Harvard).

Outspoken is a 'comedy novelette'. A relatively fast read with letters and quotes making up the 112 pages.

[Jane Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the beginning of this novella with the humorous moanings and somewhat satirical complaints of the main protagonist although must admit I tended to look for prose after a while. I think the format is different and there are a lot of successful books written in letter form. Personally after the initial interest I began to tire of the similarity of the letters. Having said that, I read to the end. There is a storyline that follows through and the author’s wit is apparent. I liked the way the letters enabled the reader to get inside Abraham’s head and I had a clear picture of him in my mind by the end of the book. An unusual approach, not brilliant but certainly readable.

[Richard A Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't expect a story told through exchanged letters would hold my attention long, but it did! Gripped and wouldn't let me go. While you could argue that the plot was on the weak side, it is at least unique. The hilarious and biting social commentary is what stands out in my mind.

I'd like to see a whole series or perhaps full length novel is this clever format.

[Karen Metcalf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sounds absolutely hilarious