Home Invasion

by Monique Polak

Josh is less than thrilled that he has a new stepfather, and finds his personal habits—and his personality—irritating. When his mother leaves town, Josh is left to spend a week alone with Clay. Resenting his new living arrangements and his unorthodox home life, Josh finds himself drawn to the idea of a "regular" family and, on a whim, sneaks into a neighbor's house to see how others live. When another opportunity arises to be a fly on the wall, Josh takes it and finds himself becoming bolder. Considering it a harmless pastime, Josh continues entering people's houses, until he is witness to a violent home invasion. Josh must use all his courage to save himself and bring the home invader to justice.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Suspense

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Mauoijenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read. Very disturbing in some spots, but then again I like those in my books!!

[Ryan Garrity · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would say that Annette had a big role in the story even though she and her family wasn't even in the story half of the time. The characters in the Levesque family moved in around the middle of the story, but they weren't really mentioned. The only reason that they were so important was because of Annette. She was the only reason why Josh wanted to invade there home. He wanted to know more about this Annette girl, and if she actually liked him. Then right at the end of the story he was just planning on invading there home one last time, but in the process so did the real home invader. It ended up for both of those two kids went out in the end, but broke up in the way of life.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting. Disappointing.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

didn't make a lot of sense. Wasnt very good

[Preston Mackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Home Invasion was a very good book and shows a lot about how much you should pay attention to things or it can be taken like that. The main character Josh is a teenager and is very into basketball and he lives with his mom and step-dad Clay. Well his mom goes out of town for about a week and Josh gets caught up in somethings. He himself is not the home invader but he got accused of being a home invader because he was caught snooping around in a couples apartment they just moved into. He says hes not in it for anything he just likes to know about other peoples lives and he also likes the thrill it gives him when hes trying to hide from people. Well one night he was hiding in a closet of this girls house he knew that just moved in the street and fell asleep and when he woke up he heard something. It was the home invader in the kitchen interrogating the girls parents.

[Larissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Josh's mother has a new husband Clay, an artist. Josh does not approve of him whatsoever. Clay tries to get threw to him but fails. The only reason Josh doesn't like him is simply because he's not his father.
When Josh's mother is away due to her father's heart attack, Josh and Clay are forced to spend time together. During that time a neighbor moves in. A husband, wife and daughter, Patsy. Josh hopes they will hang out and become even more than friends. There have also been reports of nearby home invasions, Clay is stuck on the case. Josh finds himself being tempted to invade houses himself. He sneaks in two houses without being caught. The third one he sneaks into he is caught and arrested. He later admits that he gets a thrill of being in a place where people don't know you are there. When he sneaks into his neighbor's house, the real home invader appears and he doesn't look nice. He is covered in a black mask and holds a sharp knife. He ties up Patsy's entire family. When the home invader turns his back on the family Josh takes a pan and with it he hits the invaders head, and he falls to the ground. Josh becomes a hero and he and Patsy have dinner and catch a movie.
Josh's main internal conflict was dealing with Clay.

Throughout reading this book I made a text-to-world connection. Many children resort to mischief when dealing with a problem such as a stepfather. Josh had a difficult time adjusting to a new father that was not a bad man, just not his father. In the end Josh doesn't mind him so much. Clay didn't tell his mother about the arrest and gave him some slack. Many children do not want another man in the house with whom they do not know or do not get along with.

I would rate this book 3 stars. It was good, a quick read, and entertaining. It held my attention the whole way through. It was well written and lots of fun. If you liked this book you may enjoy reading more books by: Monique Polak and/or Orca Soundings.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book also my favorite

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting psychological story that even quotes Poe's line about the 'imp of the perverse' on page 14. Josh is none-too-happy about his weird step father and his irresponsible biological dad, so when mom goes off to take care of granny, he slips into houses for the closeness to normality it brings. As with all Orca books, the plot moves quickly, the characters are a touch thin, and while the topic is geared to older teens, middle school libraries could safely have this in their collection.

I have recently read another of Polak's books, All in, and it was interesting to see how she overlaps her writing expertise in each book. "All In" focuses on gambling addiction, in "Home Invasion" it plays a minor role; "All In" has some basketball betting, in "H.I" Jason plays hoop. While the books are quite different - and 'Home Invasion' is the better - the author's research shows in both.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly this is more a 3.5 on the star rating scale.

It's about a guy who has a messed up family life and starts sneaking into houses so he can watch real families interact. I saw it coming a mile away when he heard on the news that a home invader was breaking into houses in his neighborhood and terrorizing the families there. But I liked the conclusion anyway though I still wonder a bit about the plot. Like it makes it ok to sneak into houses if you're there just to watch the families. Creepy.

For a Hi-Lo book, this one was pretty decent. Overall I'd recommend it.

[Jaybandz]

What I Thought Of The Book Is That It Is Pretty Good,The Book Home Invasion Is Really Interesting To Me.The Main Character Is Josh.&& He Is Going Threw Some Things Like His Dad , Mother Out Of Town , New Stepfather , Getting In Trouble With The Police .The Problem Is That There Is A Home Invader In They Town && He Is Breaking Into Family Houses.&& Tapping Them Up && Killing Them.&& Josh Ends Up At The End Of Story Catching The Home Invader .

[Michael Butts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: I like this book because it was pretty exciting and I would read it again or if there was a similar book. I love when josh invaded his crushes home and the real Home Invader came into the house with a knife and he threatened to kill them but then he tied them all up and josh was in the closet waiting for the right moment then he jumped out and hit the Home Invader in the head with a broom. Then they brought him in the hospital then he went in prison for 15 years.

[Sarah]

The book Home Invasion by Monique Polak is an excellent short read for anyone looking for a quick book on the go. The book takes place from a middle school aged boys point of view. Throughout the book you will uncover a weird passion of the boys besides basketball. While the boy is stuck at home with his stepdad they soon decided to help the police in finding the home invader. This book is all about struggles and trials that all families might go through.

[Ava · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good. I first picked this book because I was already reading a different book but it was a smaller book and the excerpt on the back was very interesting. As I read into
the book you could understand what was happening, this book was also easy to read. This helped because then there wasn't much that was too hard to understand. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and would like to read a shorter book with lots of detail.

[Krisly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about this kid name Josh who is struggling to accept his mother’s new husband. He dislikes his mother new boyfriend for not being his dad, and they have nothing in common .He sneakily observing neighbors to find the happiness he thinks everyone else has. Which turns out he finds a burglar is breaking into neighborhood homes and terrorizing families.

[Vonte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Josh was a little crazy for sneaking into people's homes even though he didn't do anything else besides listen to what was going on. In the end, it helped him catch the real home invader who was a theif. Overall this book was okay. I had a feeling that Josh would be the one to stop the real criminal.

[Owen Wehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book it's suspenseful also funny in a way and it's pretty cool at the end when he catches the home invader that the kid (josh) he is also kinda a home invader minus the stealing stuff fact more the kind of just listening to people and observing what they say and what's going on in there family.

[Paris Finley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I personally didn't like this book, the pace of the book went to fast and i feel there should have been more detail or more happen in this book for such little events to happen then for the book to end.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: https://hiplibrariansbookblog.com/200...

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked the book but it wwasnt the best book out ther, it was a good one though.

[Leah Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very suspenseful filled with crime and mystery.

[Sade C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever walked pass a house and seen that it had keys in it and you wanted to take a look inside? This is a good book for you.

[Yuliya B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how the book gets more and more tense, it makes you want to keep reading. But it all gets ruined by the ending. The book overall could have had more potential if it wasn't for the lame ending.

[Tweller83 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good hi/low book. I enjoyed it.

[Kenneth taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

[Anastasia Aragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

-This book is really go so far. :]

[Lucretia]

i thought that it was a very good book

[Payton]

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