Get a Life

Clearwater Crossing #1

by Laura Peyton Roberts

When a classmate is diagnosed with leukemia, the students at Clearwater Crossing High School organize a fund-raising carnival. But after they’ve formed teams to work the booths, the members of one group find they couldn’t be more different. There’s aloof Melanie, the girl who has it all, and wannabe Nicole, who only wishes she did. Best friends Peter and Jenna jump at the chance to make a difference, while football jock Jesse sees a perfect opportunity to impress. Brooding Miguel keeps to himself, to the frustration of confident Leah. And tagalong Ben? He just wants to make some friends.

Soon the carnival is over, and the surprisingly close-knit team members drift back to their regular lives. But when an unexpected tragedy strikes, will the eight friends come together again? Or is it time to say good-bye?


Book 1 of the Clearwater Crossing Series

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks, Christian, Teen

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

About the author

Laura Peyton Roberts is the author of numerous books for teens and tweens, including the Clearwater Crossing series, Ghost of a Chance, The Queen of Second Place, Queen B, Green, and Walk on Water. Visit her at www.LauraPeytonRoberts.com

Reviews

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've decided it's finally time to start re-reading my favourite books/series, and what's a better place to start than Clearwater Crossing? It's been three years since I read it for the first time, and I still love it just as much. I wish religion played a bigger part in the YA I read now because it fascinates me how much it influences a character's decision. Also, notes need to be taken from LPR on how to manage eight characters at once and make their story lines all equally enjoyable and important. Can't wait read the other 20 books, hopefully a few every month!

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

UPDATE: This book will never get old.

Maddie and I needed something to listen to on our long car journey to book signings, so we picked Get A Life, one of our joint all-time favourites and it was the. best. possible. choice. I forgot how much I loved these characters and everything from their differing backgrounds, religions and relationships! Thank goodness there are 19 more books to re-read!

[LAWonder10 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great YA book! There were places in the story, however, where one felt he/she
had slipped into a different story. The author attempted to set the stage of several individuals and his/her family's separate interchanges. In doing so, there wasn't a smooth transition between scenes and, at times, one felt a little lost. However, the author was able to bring the reader back into the story.

This novel is the first of a new YA series. It portrays eight different individuals in, mostly, separate social groups, with little in common, come together at school for a worthy cause.

The tale depicts how this group implausibly became friends. Plus, in this first book of the series, it alludes to how each individual's dreams rarely turns out as he/she wants them to. Often what one truly desires is in conflict with what another desires at the same time.


High School is such a crazy time of life, filled with turmoil, new emotions, and self discovery. As shown in these writings, all youth mature in a different ways, in different stages.
It is cleanly written and parents can comfortably know what their youth is reading is totally good material.


Key Points I derived: Adolescent interaction, Individual beliefs,
Grief, Vanity, Peer Pressure, Functional/Dysfunctional families.

If it were not for the lack of smooth transition between situations I would give this five stars but it was at times distracting. Therefore, this book review gives this novel a strong Four Stars rating and I especially recommend it for Middle School and High School libraries'.

[Rachel Brand · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a teen, 90s, Christian version of Dawson's Creek, this book was surprisingly entertaining. I was feeling ill one night and decided that I needed to read something that wouldn't need a lot of concentration, and this definitely fit the bill. Although some situations were contrived and there were some clichéd characters, this book was also quite touching in places and some of the characters contained a good dose of realism. I'm sure that I would have loved these books when I was a young teen, and they would have been a whole lot healthier than Sweet Valley High. I'm quite tempted to read the next book in the series, since it's only £0.77 on Kindle... 3.5*

[Anabella Shay Xo(RomanceBookWormXoXo) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book! The characters are all so different, but all have so much heart. I loved how they worked together for a common goal. I like that they each have different personalities as well, it showed very well through out the story. I will definitely be continuing the series :). I want to read all the books!

[Samantha Ania · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a totally random series that I was obsessed with for a hot minute when I was, like, 12 or 13. I just downloaded the free ebook off of Amazon and plan on checking it out again.

[Donna Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

good YA book

I first read this book years ago but never finished the series.
It is a nice and good YA read and highly recommend to anyone wanting to read something that is not full of sex (even through I do love those books)

[Hope Vollm]

What a throwback

[Daniela Chamorro · Rating 4 out of 5]

For what it is (YA Christian) it’s well-written and not preachy or annoying. I liked the diversity of the characters and the portrayal of many different views. (Read in high school)

[Lindsay Wilcox]

DNF at 17%. I used to love books like these with big casts and detailed descriptions, but I’m not in that mood anymore.

[Yue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually it is a 3 star and a half rating. Despite being a teen book, it is a little dramatic. The story happens is high school, where all classmates from a sick boy with leuchemia, Kurt, organized a carnival to raise money to help him. In one of the group, the main characters reunited to sell burguers and hot dogs: Melanie, the cheerleader; Jesse, the football player; Nicole, who is in love with Jesse; Miguel del Rios, one of the cool boys; Leah, an intelligent girl; Jenna and Peter, best friends, and Ben, the nerd and clumsy boy. Each one of them has his/her own issues, as all teenagers do. The only issue that kept me rolling my eyes was Nicole´s. All she ever did was to whine about her weight and Jesse, who didn´t notice her. Except her story, everything was interesting. Oh, and except something that happens that I think was totally unfair. I see the point, why it did had to happen, but even so, it was not fair at all.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually 3.5 stars - I just re-read this, having bought it ages and ages ago when it first came out. I'm no longer anything resembling a young adult (or religious, for that matter) but this is still a sweet little book. It isn't quite as Sweet Valley-esque as it looks, but it does remind me fondly of the days when teen fiction didn't have to revolve around vampires, werewolves or other overused supernatural tropes. It tackles some important issues I dealt with in my teens, and which teenagers today are certainly still wrestling with. As other reviewers noted, the seques are a little choppy in places but the standard of writing is by far better than anything by the Cassandra Clares and Stephenie Meyers of this world, and the story doesn't require constant suspension of disbelief. I'd happily recommend it to any YA readers looking for something more grounded in reality. Overall, a nice little trip down memory lane; I'll probably re-read the rest of them while I'm at it.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is more true to life than most books I've read. In Get a Life people don't always get what they want and sometimes what they want isn't what's best.

I'm willing to bet Peter likes Jenna as more than friends while Jenna likes Miguel. Leah is intrigued by him - by Miguel. Nicole has had a crush on Jesse for the last two years. Jesse likes Melanie but she isn't impressed by him. These teens seem to have different reasons for volunteering in the fund-raiser to help a fellow student undergoing cancer treatment. Then there's geeky Ben who trips over his own two feet but is also volunteering to help out.

Ya. I'm really impressed by this story.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a difficult book to finish. There were too many characters, and their places in the plot were not clear enough to help me keep them straight. Additionally, the shallow nature of the characters (I understand, that's one of the lessons the author has them learning) was simply overwhelming. Finally, the lesson learned was also too simplistic, and I simply didn't enjoy the storyline or the characters. This is unfortunate, since my own daughter battled Leukemia in high school. I really thought I would be able to personalize more of the story than I did. There are much better stories out there, and much better authors.

[Tanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay. I think my biggest gripe was it just suddenly ended. No transition that is it. Just end with a questionable cliff hanger. I don't think it needed to do that. For youth reading this if they liked it well enough they would pick it up. It is a typical teenage story, full of angst, some that didn't need to be there. I'm not sure what teenagers would think, for me I'm not sure I would have loved it.

[Polly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bed book

I read this to see if I liked it for my daughter, soon to be 15. My only issue with it is the boy and girl, high school drama. Is there drama in high school? Yes! Do I think my daughter would like this book? Probably, but I would prefer she read books that were more fantasy than reality. Just a personal preference. I don't want my daughter trying live a life of a teenager in a book, although, I'm certain she already does.

[Treasure · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!!!!!!!!

It was sooooooooooooooooooooo easy to relate to all these characters even though I am part of the God squad. This book helps me see how tough it is to trust in something or someone you've never seen or had a normal conversation with. But if you decide to truly trust God no matter what like Job you will see the results and never regret it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book introducing the characters of a series. The teens are relatable, and their issues are real for teens today. The Christian message surprised me. Thinking about reading the others in the series

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the beginning, I was a little skeptical about how I would remember all the characters since it skipped around a lot but I ended up enjoying how they all connected together. Def a Christian novel...

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is intended for teenagers and I highly recommend it for them. Great characters and story line. Even at my older age, I found it interesting. It did end abruptly, encouraging you to continue with the next novel.

[Cali · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was great. I had it for 2 years and just now read it and realized its a great book to read. its true on what they say don't judge a book by its cover because who knows it might actually be a great book you are missing out on

[Katrina G · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a lot of characters to keep track of, and not a lot of character development. I liked the book just fine, but I probably won't read the next one until I've tackled most of the other books on my TBR

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking back it reminds me of Dawson's Creek (even though I've never seen that show) but I still remember loving it!

[Tiffany Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the entire twenty book series as a tween... highly recommended. The characters deal with some tough, realistic situations and often times make good decisions.

[Nikki Kalinowski]

It was a good book they were some moments I thought that were boring but right after it got very interesting.

[Ali Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite series that I read in high school. I wish she would write about the characters being in college.

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

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