Coming of Age

by lorri-hewett

Book by Hewett, Lorri

Genres: School, Fiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1996

Reviews

[Movieandbookgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years and years ago while in early high school. I loved it then and to this day think fondly of this coming to age story. I suggest other young readers pick this up.

[Matie *Cat Lady* · Rating 1 out of 5]

Attention! Attention! The following review may contain large amounts of sarcasm and hatred for the book-that-must-not-be-named! So if you want to read a more or less objective review don´t read this one. And while I really didn´t like Coming of Age I don´t mean to offend anyone by my review; it´s just my personal very freely expressed opinion.

I want a medal for managing to finish this poor excuse of a book despite:
- the characters beeing annoying as hell.
- Ruthie beeing an unbelievable, know-it-all, better-than-you character with an old soul. Urgh.
- nothing beeing resolved at the end. I mean, seriously, what was even the point? But of course they all more or less get their HEA. Just screw the fact that NOTHING GOT RESOLVED! I want developement! I want change! And I want it to be shown and not to be told that "I had some kind of epiphany bc of...ah, who cares! well, I had some kind of epiphany and now I´m gonna change my life and everything will be okay and I´ll not end like my stupid bitchy friends that
I all of a sudden don´t like anymore" (I am looking at you, Erika).
- Ruthie´s parents apparently beeing some kind of saints that more or less adopt a child they only met ONCE. And since we´re already talking about this were was the CPS? Doesn´t it exist in this book?
- it beeing racist. It already starts on page one, line fifteen. *stares accusingly at the book-that-must-not-be-named*
- it beeing okay with cheating, even encouraging it.

"So what´s wrong?"
"Everything! He has a girlfriend, what about her?"
I shook my head. "Ruthie, it´s not like they´re married. If everything was so great between you and AJ, then maybe that´s what´s meant to be!"

- all of the main characters having some tragic past/inner conflict. Jesus. Why can´t there be just ONE normal kid in this book-that-must-not-be-named? Ruthie has a crisis of identity (that is solved deux-ex-machina-like as soon as she starts caring about Anthony and as soon as she and Aj become a couple. ). AJ has a mother who didn´t love them and committed suicide and of course he and his little brother had to find her corpse; a father who doesn´t give shit; a brother who is a "dopeman" (although he never really does something "bad". Their near-death-fight therefore was quite unbelievable and over the top.) AND since that´s not enough he has/had to take care of his little brother, Anthony. Erika too has a crisis of identity? I don´t know. She is said to be one of the main characters but throughout most of the book-that-must-not-be-named she was just the "mean bitch". No character development. But whom am I kidding? I don´t even care.
- the slang. Although it was authentic it was annoying as hell and I skimmed through parts of the book-that-must-not-be-named in order to prevent getting a headache.
- it beeing predictable.

Before I end this rage rant review I want to thank my English teacher for making us read this crappy book-that-must-not-be-named. Not. And good luck to my classmates! *winks at Sakura and Unarosa*

[✨️Isi✨️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay this book is a mix of the most basic story, the most boring characters and literally no character arc. I had to read it in my class. Its probably not that bad but I just developed hatred for this book because of Masoum

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book appears to have a lot of detractors but my assumption is that many of those folks are reading this far into their adulthood. I read this book when I was 14 and absolutely loved it. That is the person it was written for. The teenager or pre-teen fascinated by love and relationships and still developing their understanding of that world from their Junior High or High School aged mentality and vantage point.

[Marius · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 / 5 Sternen

It didn't happen much, but it was the everyday happening from 3 black folks, which was quite interesting towards the end!

[Chiara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe es für die Schule lesen müssen und es ist bei weitem das Beste Schulbuch das wir je gelesen haben!
Es ist nicht unbedingt herausragend, aber es lässt sich gut lesen und die Story ist auch recht interessant.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sehr vohersehbar und dass auf diesen ganzen Rassismus nicht eingegangen wurde hatte mich gestört.

[Lana Sor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es ist einfach wie alle Bücher, die man in der Schule liest 😪😑 🙆‍♀️

[Käthe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Musste es für die Schule lesen und es war sehr vorhersehbar

[Helene · Rating 3 out of 5]

War ganz gut aber die Storyline war ziemlich voraussehbar, also man wusste gefühlt von Anfang an, dass AJ und Ruthie zusammen kommen

[SportyDiva AE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this during high school years. One of my favorites!

[Ece · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first school book that actually meant something in my honest opinion, found ruthie a bit annoying but overall a nice book

[Sophia Thewißen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listen it’s great that this book talked about topics like indentity and racism and all of the other things but I personally just thought it was kind of boring. I mean yes it could’ve been worse and I’m probably being harsh but I just could not bring myself to care about anything that was happening to the characters because I cannot connect with them and I’m so sorry that I can’t say more positive stuff about it but it is what it is


I’ve read it again now because we’re writing the class test in two days (I’ve reread it in the span of the last five days that’s what I call locking in for school for real)
And I can only say it’s actually a really good book and it shows that we should never judge people based on appearance or such things and start being more open minded.

[Lina Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

musste das für Schule lesen, ehrlich nicht zu empfehlen

[Sister_ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the three narrators is a bit of a Mary Sue and as a whole I find the book slightly too didactic - clearly aimed at helping some o the readers self-improve. On the other hand, it's, I assume, a very accurate and authentic portrayal of the experience of African-American teenagers just before graduation. The voices of the first-person narrators ring true but that's also what makes it slightly boring: It's basically a not very exciting diary. Yes, there is a love story and some plot, but while some events are earth-shattering for the average teen this doesn't necessarily mean a very entertaining read.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read it as part of my English class and didn't have any high expectations, really. Surprisingly enough, it read alright and it wasn't too cumbersome flipping through the pages, but besides being frickle entertainment it's nothing much more. Plot was just too preditable, character development, while being existent, was pretty obvious and all going along the same pattern and the story was just very happy-go-lucky overall, not creating much of a realistic or moody atmosphere. 3/5, was alright reading but could have bared without.

[Nakesha Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that made me want to become a writer. I read this book as a sophomore in high school. I loved it because it was the first time I read a book set in my city. I could picture setting, every scene. It really hit home to me and I passed it along to my BFF and it became her favorite as well. I re-read this book often. It causes me to be very nostalgic.

[Tyria Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. Love when authors show characters evolving throughout the book.