Reaching Dustin

by Vicki Grove

When Carly Cameron picks Dustin Groat's name for a class interview assignment, she feels like screaming. Almost everyone in her community fears the Groats--a gun-toting, lawbreaking clan that lives on the edge of town. Sure enough, the first few interviews confirm Carly's suspicions: like the rest of his family, Dustin is surly and unresponsive. But as time goes by, Carly uncovers the tragic truth about Dustin's home life, and realizes that behind the tough exterior is a scared and unhappy boy who desperately needs a friend."Very human. Brimming with compassion." --Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Friendship, Childrens

199 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Vicki Grove lives in a 100-year-old farmhouse on a few acres of land outside of Ionia, Missouri (pop. 118). Her son and daughter, Michael and J.D., attend college, and her husband Mike is a music teacher and directs a bell choir. They have lots of cats and a goldfish pond teeming with bossy, headstrong goldfish. Sharing the pond with that rambunctious crew is one gentle red-eared turtle, Yertle. Behind the house grow three cherry trees, three apple trees, a corn patch, grape vines, and, on a good year, enough strawberries for Vicki to make a dozen jars of jam.

Vicki has written for magazines ranging from Twilight Zone to Reader’s Digest. She received the 1996 SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for a story in American Girl. Altogether, she’s published about 300 articles and short stories. “Because it’s not such a huge time and energy commitment, writing a short story is kind of like eating popcorn,” she says. “Writing a book, on the other hand, is a big deal, sort of like Thanksgiving dinner. You’d get tired of snacking or feasting if you did it all the time, so I alternate!”

Eight of Vicki’s eleven books are middle grade or young adult novels for Putnam. Her most recent are Rimwalkers, Crystal Garden, Reaching Dustin, The Starplace, and Destiny. Reaching Dustin and The Starplace were School Library Journal Best Books of 1998 and 1999.

Vicki writes every day in a tiny white office her dad built in her hayfield. He modeled it on her childhood playhouse, and it has its own birdhouse (where a tree frog named Joop is living). A purple clematis vine snakes up the side of the office, and beneath it grows a white peony bush Vicki transplanted from her grandmother’s farmhouse in Illinois, the setting for Rimwalkers.

Reviews

[sam proctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was heartbreaking and endearing. I will never forget this story.
While at times the writing seemed less than skillful, the story never faltered. The author made me care and worry about a character whom no one else loved. I couldn't put it down until I found out what happened to Dustin Groat and his frog.
Although there were harsh elements of abuse and neglect, they were only shown in glimpses that were brief yet encompassing.
I bumped my rating down by one star because the writing wasn't up to par. For instance, better word choices would have helped and the dialogue often seemed very unrealistic and awkward. But altogether, this was a wonderful little story.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was a wonderful story with a beautiful message of tolerance that every young adult should read. I'm not a young adult but I'm very happy to have read it and been touched by it.

[Jill Dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful fiction work encouraging compassion and understanding in a situation of social hostility

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carly is given the assignment of interviewing Dustin, the kid who's never clean, has tattoos and a safety pin stuck through the skin on his knuckle. She's not looking forward to it because it was Dustin who was the third grade bully and nearly drove her crazy. But as she begins to learn more about him, she begins to understand the wall that he has built around himself for protection. He tells Carly about the death of his mother (by suicide). And when he describes his family's life in the compound , Carly begins to suspect something illegal might be going on. But most surprising is Dustin's sensitive nature underneath that he expresses through his music. When Carly finds out about Noah (her brother) and Dustin's older sister, Julie, the mystery and her empathy deepens. And now, in the process of this whole thing, Carly could lose her life-long friends, Randy and Alicia.

What starts out as an annoying school assignment becomes a journey toward compassion and understanding.

[P.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is copyrighted 1998, it sounds like it is right out of today's headlines. 6th grader Dustin belongs to a family heavily involved in meth labs and militia groups. Classmate Carly is assigned to interview him for a school project. She considers him her nemesis because of things that he did in 3rd grade. As the story progresses, Carly begins to see Dustin through a different lens and realizes she must correct the wrong she did to him. I liked this more than I thought I would. Carly definitely was a character who showed much growth in her class essay depicting what she was most proud of about herself. I was sorry about Dustin's frog.

[P.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is copyrighted 1998, it sounds like it is right out of today's headlines. 6th grader Dustin belongs to a family heavily involved in meth labs and militia groups. Classmate Carly is assigned to interview him for a school project. She considers him her nemesis because of things that he did in 3rd grade. As the story progresses, Carly begins to see Dustin through a different lens and realizes she must correct the wrong she did to him. I liked this more than I thought I would. Carly definitely was a character who showed much growth in her class essay depicting what she was most proud of about herself. I was sorry about Dustin's frog.

[Aim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes. I'm a teacher. Yes. I read quickly. As I searched my shelves for the right book to recommend to my student, I came across this gem. The cover had been torn off. Pages bent and soiled. And i remembered sitting on the floor reading this story with my students.

I reread it during my plan period and after school today. This is one of those books with tough steps toward adulthood for both the protagonist, and the troubled boy everyone labels an antagonist.

If you have a student who fights for every cause, and can reflect and face truth, this story is for them.

[ChloeV_8Rdg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carly wants to win the class research assignment because she wants to become a writer/ journalist. She has to research Dustin, a weird quiet kid who lives in a scary part of town. She eventually likes him the more she interviews him. I like the book because it never got boring and was mysterious.

[books x me=4eva]

this book is really interesting , i just love this book,sometimes people aren't who you think they are. Dustin was viewed as gross and all.From the start u can tell that carly is interested in knowing more about dustin even though she grew up with the image of him as someone gross.

[Mary Emma Sivils · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated a lot of the themes in this book! However, I wish it could have shown a more balanced representation of people who exercise their 2nd Amendment rights instead of just a negative example.

[Imogen Juneau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish there was a second book. I loved the characters and their story's. I read the book in one day. I loved how Dustin's home life was hard and how the arthur told his story.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poignant story of a girl wiser than her years.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book we meet Carly, a young girl who wants to become a write and Dustin, a young boy who is thought by many around him to be nothing more than a bully. They are assigned to interview each other in class and have the opportunity to get to know each other better. Slowly Carly learns more about Dustin's home life, and the way in which his family is looked down on. She also begins to see new sides of him a shy boy who doesn't want attention from others, someone kind who carries and cares for his pet frog each day, a musical talent. Carly also grows up and realizes what is most important to her and what she can do to help her new friend. I thought this was a sweet and enjoyable story.

[Hailee M · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the book Reaching Dustin by Vicki Grove, Carly Cameron is a sixth-grader who is very bright and loves to write. Her parents own a farm next to Koshkanong Woods. The Groats live in Koshkanong Woods, and everyone who ever knew the Groats says that they are trouble, trouble, and more trouble. No one wants to help them, and everyone says that they have a huge methamphetamines lab in the woods tucked away. The Groats practice their army skills in the woods on each other because they believe that another civil war is going to happen and the government is going to overrule the people so they must fight back to protect their rights. They have all the stuff to start another one all by themselves. They have over 300 different guns and over enough to supply an army for 2 years worth of ammunition. They also have 2 Civil War uniforms, one of which is all torn up and bloodstained. Does that seem to scare you even a little bit? Combining drugs with fire arms, doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.
When the class decides to have a classroom paper, and the person who has the best writing gets to be editor, will it end up being Carly? Carly has to interview Dustin Groat. The most hated kid in all of the school. He headbutted the kids who were coming down the slide in the third grade. He was the bully. Until the fourth grade, one day he just stopped talking to everyone, isolated himself, and became the loner no one notices. Carly notices that Dustin always has a golden safety pin sticking out of his middle finger knuckle. He has an albino pocket frog, as Carly calls it, and he hides behind the bleachers after lunch so he doesn’t get picked on by the other kids.
The students get recorders for music class. Dustin can play the best out of anyone, when he plays. In class he doesn’t play at all. When he is alone in the woods next to his little cave and his pocket frog is listening, he plays like the angels from above.
When Dustin’s dad pulls him out of school, and Dustin has to give his recorder back, will he get another instrument to play like an angel? Will Carly’s little brother bring it to him?
“Dont wory. They wont see me. Im kamuhflajed. Im invisibul.” - Luke Cameron’s note


I recommend this book for grades 4th through 7th. It is a realistic fiction, so if you’re into that stuff, this is the book for you. I honestly really didn’t think I could have liked it better than I liked it to begin with.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about 6th graders Dustin Groat and Carly. Their class is to do interviews of each other. They chose their partners and Carly is supposed to interview Dustin and Dustin is interviewing Carly.

Dustin is the one student that no one really likes at the school. He seems lazy, annoying, dirty and just plain childish. Carly has complained about Dustin to her parents and her father said to walk in his shoes and maybe you will feel different.

I enjoyed the story because Carly grew up in the book and realized that some things she did when she was younger to Dustin were wrong and apologized to him. This is a nice easy weekend read.

[Annie Houska · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this book was a pretty good book. It is about a girl who "helps" a boy in her class read but she tells him the wrong words. A few years later she decides to right her wrong because she found out something that the rest of the class didn't know.

[Partridge Public]

Grove, Vicki

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because the main character sounded kind of like a kid I went to high school with. Also because I was bored at work, I think.

[Adnrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was a little confusing but it was good

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a bit lackluster book about a girl who is assigned to work on a class project with a boy that no one likes. Her assignment will help her learn more about herself and him.

[Kat Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that got me to start reading