Quaking

by Kathryn Erskine

Don't call her Matilda. Her name is Matt. And don't even think about getting close to her. She doesn't need anyone. Can't you tell by looking at her, dressed all in black with a spider painted on her face and her ice-cold stare? But most of all, do not bully her. She has been through it all already. But everything changes for fourteen-year-old Matt when she moves in with peaceful Quakers Sam and Jessica Fox, who are active in the movement against the war in the Middle East. Soon, conflict arises in town over the war, and suddenly, no one is safe. Matt fears for her safety and the safety of her new family. Could the boy who terrorizes her at school be behind it all? And how can she save the family she is actually growing to love when her fear always leaves her quaking?

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Middle Grade, Coming Of Age, Religion

240 pages, Hardcover

First published June 27, 2007

About the author

Kathryn Erskine spent many years as a lawyer before realizing that she'd rather write things that people might actually enjoy reading.
She grew up mostly overseas and attended eight different schools, her favorite being the Hogwarts-type castle in Scotland.
The faculty, of course, did not consist of wizards, although... how did the headmistress know that it was the wee redhead who led the campaign to free the mice from the biology lab?
Erskine draws on her childhood and her second childhood through her children for her stories. She still loves to travel but nowadays most trips tend to be local, such as basketball and tennis courts, occasional emergency room visits, and the natural food store for very healthy organic chocolate with life saving flavonoids.

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fourteen-year-old Matt (Matilda) is a Goth, but that's partially a pose to keep the world away. She uses her look, and her humor — a knife-like sarcasm — to avoid making connections and taking action. But she finds at her new home that the parents, in particular the father Sam, are devout Quakers and activists engaged in the anti-Iraq war movement. As she moves closer to Sam, those same beliefs lead to her harassment at school by a big mouth bully and a pro-war civics teacher. As the title suggests, after years of an almost dormant emotional life, Matt begins "quaking" and moving toward action. The ending — which echoes that of Crutcher's Whale Talk — is tragic, and thus befits a book about the Iraq war.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why I picked it up: I'm fairly certain it's the only non-historical YA book with Quaker characters that I have seen.

Matt (don't call her Mattie, and absolutely don't call her Matilda) had a pretty bad home life as a young kid. She's lived with different relatives since then, but none seem to stick for long. She's on her “last chance” with distant relatives Sam & Jessica. Matt just wants to graduate early and move to Canada, but her new family seems to genuinely like her, which has her a bit baffled. She doesn't see attachments to people as worth anything. This takes place I would guess in 2002/2003 and the peace movement being considered anti-American is strong in the plot, especially as Jessica & Sam are Quakers.

I liked it. I especially like how Matt's past was handled. We never got a full disclosure of what she's been through, but there are enough snapshots to get a feel for some of the specifics and get the generalities of the horrors she's lived through. Sam & Jessica seem real and genuine, and Matt does not let herself become part of the family quickly, which seems realistic. The civics teacher is a little too over the top to be believable, but we did get some of his backstory/motivation. I worry that this is too “snapshot in history” to have continued relevance, though I appreciate the viewpoint.

I also felt as though the Quaker aspects were just right, at least based on my own experiences. There are a lot of misconceptions out there, and I like that this didn't include them other than having Matt believe a few in the beginning. Sam & Jessica wear jeans, have a computer, and planned to have biological children. (You would be surprised how many people still mistake Shaker for Quaker.) Meeting for worship, too, was spot-on, down to how loud common noises are in a roomful of people during silent worship, the eclectic clothing of those present, and even the description of the meeting room. The terminology was defined naturally and in a way that pleased me. The book takes place in Pennsylvania and though we don't know if Matt's other homes have been in the same state, I did find it hard to believe that she & others are surprised that Quakers even “still exist” since Pennsylvania 1) is named after a Quaker 2) has a state motto that refers to Quakers and 3) has a pretty large population of Quakers.

Contains: mild language

[Andrea Wall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a simple book. It is not deep. It is maybe not another book someone else would place of their favourite shelf. Yet, I found myself loving this book. I adore Matt. I loved the writing style. I even cried, and I haven't had a tear-worthy book in awhile.

The issues in this book are real to me. I've given some thought to them, so a book that was not long boring or over-complicated about it was great. How do other countries view the U.S.?

She also focuses on the subject of bullying and I think that this book should definitely be read in school Students will enjoy that it is not LAME and PREDICTABLE. (I use caps-lock because this is a concept my teachers did not understand when teaching about bullying.)

What I also want is my American relatives to read this. This last summer, I accidentally brought up the war of 1812 (Canada won) and got myself stuck to listening to a 15 minute rant from my aunt about why Canada sucked, America rocked and was the best country (the most god-fearing country) and FAIR IN WAR country in the entire universe. I have no problems with her patriotism. But, I think if she read this book.... well I just think it would be goood. At the moment I am cooking a master-plan, trying to find a way to get this book under her nose. Maybe I'll ask for it for Christmas?

[Say · Rating 4 out of 5]

for me this book is all about beliefs. not necessarily religious beliefs. but rather believing in something and fighting for it in whichever way you can without hurting or stepping on another human being.

matt is a girl who has been through a lot of hardships in life. being beaten by his dad, seeing her mom die, being from one family to another, one school to another and being bullied in every school that she goes to. but then matt came to live with this family, the foxes who are quakers (people who believes in peace and tries to live by it). the family treated matt as if she was one of their own despite her bitchy and cold attitude towards them. sam and jessica never faltered in treating her kindly and with a lot of love thus in the end making matt's hard armour crash down....making her care and love the family as well, even rory the little boy who has a learning disability.

this is a heartwarming story on family and acceptance. learning to let people come into your life to take care of you, coz as the saying goes "no man's an island." and matt definitely learned that saying the hard way, but in the end she was happy and contented.

[Cassie Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of so many great lessons. Lessons of love, forgiveness, understanding, courage, friendship, acceptance, defining family, and more. Young Matilda (Matt) is sent to live with a family of Quakers--new town, new school, new bullies. From the very beginning of the book Matt settles in to dealing with life the way she always has. Push people away. Don't trust. Don't get too close because people always hurt you. They leave you. They always let you down.

"Quaking" was a great story from beginning to end, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the power of not being bound by one's past.

On a side note, a student emailed me last night with the following message: I just finished "Quaking," and I'm crying. I loved it!

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathryn Erskine has become one of my favorite middle grade/YA authors. It’s pure genius when an author writes a character so beautifully and so perfect that you literally feel you are inside their skin feeling every fear, every sorrow, every emotion they feel. For me, Katherine Erskine is one of those authors who can do that so flawlessly.

Her novel Mockingbird was genius, this book is genius, and if you haven’t read her latest, Seeing Red, well, it’s genius also. Can’t wait to read the one book of hers I haven’t read, The Absolute Value of Mike. I’m sure I will love it too.

Quaking is about Matt (never Matilda), only Matt, a Goth girl who has a few simple rules for her life: Stay under the radar and don’t let anyone get too close. Brought up in a home where her alcoholic and abusive father terrorized both her and her mother, Matt has been constantly shuffled from one foster home to another. At 14 she is given her “last chance” to make it work when she moves in with Sam and Jessica, a peaceful Quaker couple and their disabled foster son in Pennsylvania. While the U.S. wages a war in the Middle East, Matt fights her own personal war, battling bullies of her past and present.

There are a lot of books that have characters like Matt who have been abandoned or abused and have become hardened or withdrawn because of it. We cheer them on and hope for a better life for them, one where one day they will be able to let down their guard and let love in. Sometimes this change happens to the person so quickly that you don’t even see it coming. All of a sudden they’ve become a warm, friendly, and loving person. You’re left wondering how they got from point A to point Z without doing any soul searching or personal growth or any of the work required to get there. Those characters don’t ring true for me at all. Not so with Matt. Every emotion, every feeling, every change, every guard that she slowly lets down, and every bit of Sam and Jessica’s love that she slowly lets in is believable. I love this book!

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Julie M. Prince for TeensReadToo.com

How can you not love a book that starts like this:

"Families come in all varieties but with no warranties. I have lived with first cousins twice removed, second cousins once removed, and now a third cousin who is removing herself. I call her Loopy. Because of her large earrings. And because she is insane.

Loopy drives like a ten-year-old car thief on a sugar high."

From the very beginning, Matt (not Mattie, and certainly not Matilda) has a chip on her shoulder. She's angry and cynical, and she has good reason to be. Loopy is about to dump her off at "the next hostile takeover."

"I finally found a second cousin of mine, but you need to make it work, Matt. This is the end of the line for you."

The end of the line is the home of Sam and Jessica Fox and their disabled foster son, the Blob. These aren't Matt's kind of people. For one thing, they're Quakers. They believe so strongly in peace that they don't even have the good sense to run and hide when bullies challenge them. They just stand there. That's what Sam calls it--taking a stand. As far as Matt can tell, it's just being plain stupid. Everyone knows you're supposed to run from bullies, and that's just what she intends to do if the Rat decides to make her the next Victim of bullying at her new school.

Kathryn Erskine never underestimates her readers as she allows this story to push the limits and tackle issues that most sweep under the rug when company is coming. I love Matt's sarcastic commentary on the state of the world as she faces the challenge of her own life. There is no doubt that this character is strong and capable--much like the writer who created her.

This is a book I'll keep on my shelf and come back to again and again.

[John Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

At fourteen, Matt (don’t call her Matilda), has learned that trust is a treacherous thing. It cost her people she cared about as well as biting her whenever she opened herself to others her own age. Those bitter lessons have left her trying to be tough and sarcastic, but feeling like a quivering mess of terrified inside. She’s just been handed off by her religious zealot cousin Loopy on another cousin and his wife.
Sam and Jessica are Quakers who are raising a developmentally disabled toddler. Matt’s initial reaction to their warmth and welcoming is to harden her shell, but as time goes on, that becomes a bigger and bigger challenge for her. Sam, in particular, has an air of disarming honesty that starts to melt her pseudo-toughness as he listens without judgment and shares much of his own life with her.
Meanwhile, she’s being bullied at school, not only by a male student, but by a teacher whose ultra-patriotism makes her life worse because she’s smart and beginning to absorb some of the Quaker philosophy. Her biggest challenge comes after a series of violent acts of vandalism against houses of worship in their town.
As the story comes to a climax, Matt must look deeply within and decide whether she’s had enough to break free and act. This may be an older book, but the themes are highly relevant in today’s fragmented society and the bullying she and other teens endure, continues in schools as well. An excellent book about loss, trust, courage and the importance of caring adults in the lives of emotionally wounded kids.

[Mary Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for young adults, and for the adults who come across it. The story of a troubled teenage girl who has been bounced from one foster home to another, it's also about love and learning to trust. The book rises above the average due to its setting and theme- a Quaker family dealing with the "war fever" that swept over many Americans post-911. It raises questions about what it means to be patriotic, and what it means to stand up for one's beliefs. My only regret is that it came out years too late for me to give it to my own daughter when she was a teen. I also recommend Ibhubesi, by the same author, although published under the nameD.K.Erskine

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quaking hits one of the most important topics in adolescent life—bullying—from all sides. Bullies are not only teenage boys (although there is one of those) and their followers but can be teachers, parents, and adults who bully each other, misusing their power over others. And bullies are bullies for a variety of reasons. Quaking can serve as a map, illustrating ways to deal with bullies. The reader cares about Matt—possibly more than she does about herself—and her new family who helps her value herself and find her voice. BTW, this is the first contemporary book I have read to feature Quaker characters.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Withdrawn girl sent to live with foster family who happen to be Quakers, she learns much about standing up for one's beliefs without being a bully. Learns to overcome bullying at her school where everyone is very scarily militant over how we should stay in Iraq and keep fighting this pointless war, and she learns to love her foster family too.

[Ava · Rating 1 out of 5]

To sum it up, this book is not good. You can tell the author was payed by word, or had to achieve a certain word count. It was anti-climactic and boring. I would not recommend this book. Don’t waste your time reading it.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I care about the main character right away. The story shows that people don't just arrive in the world a certain way. Something happens to mold them. The story shows sympathy without excusing bad behavior.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received the paperback edition of this book for free through the FirstReads program, and the cover is absolutely gorgeous - different from what's currently shown on the book's page here. The paperback cover is so eye-catching and beautiful, the sort of artwork that'd catch my eye if I were browsing in a bookstore.

After being bounced around from one foster family to another, Matt (short for Matilda) lands with her distant relatives, Jessica and Sam, who happen to be Quakers. Though there's nowhere for Matt to go after this, she is still scared to let her guard down and believe she'll stay here for good, since that hasn't happened anywhere else. Matt keeps to herself and doesn't want to involve herself with anything Quaker-related, but she slowly begins learning about it and opening up to her new family. Meanwhile, Matt is being bullied at school, and there is a lot of tension in the town, with a war going on overseas and everyone divided about whether the country is doing the right thing or not; the Quakers are being targeted for their beliefs, and the threat of violence - both at school and at the Quaker's place of worship - is putting everyone on edge.

I liked the way this book dealt with Quakers, as I really didn't know much about them and this broke everything down in a way that was easy to understand and helped the story flow along. There was nice character development for all the main characters, and I enjoyed seeing how Matt slowly came out of her shell. Her reluctance to get close to anyone was believable, if a bit frustrating at times to read about, and it was sweet to see how her new foster family dealt with it.

One thing that bothered me about the book, however, is the fact that the bullies seemed a bit too one-dimensional, without much background to give their actions more meaning. I would have loved to see a bit more complexity to these characters, since everything seemed very black and white instead of shades of gray. A little bit of balance would have greatly strengthened it a lot and show that it's not just one side versus another but everyone has varying degrees of opinions. I'm also not sure I fully believed the story of just how high tensions ran in the town over war and peace, since it seemed to grow out of control very quickly.

This book had some great messages about freedom of religion and freedom of speech, and I think this would be a great book for students to read in school, since it's the sort of book that would inspire a lot of discussions. Although, as mentioned above, I wish some aspects had been a little more complex, I did enjoy the book overall and think it did a good job tackling some delicate issues without being too heavy handed.

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fourteen-year-old Matt has made a few wrong turns in her life. For years Matt, whose real name is Matilda but don’t you ever call her that, has been bouncing around from distant family member to distant family member while pushing her limits every time. Now Matt is at her final stop. Her cousin, Loopy, has found a distant cousin of her own who will take Matt in. Sam and Jessica Fox are a little different than who Matt was expecting. Sam and Jessica are practicing Quakers. Matt looks like your average rebellious teenager with her black clothes and black makeup, but she is not as tough as she looks. Sam and Jessica, along with Rory, the special needs boy who also lives with them, try to find out what’s really going on in Matt’s head.

There’s a war going on and Matt has just landed in a very pro-war area. Matt realizes that she has a lot in common with Sam and his fellow Quakers, especially when the war is involved. Matt must endure oppression for her peaceful beliefs from the Social Studies teacher and the school bully and his posse. At the same time, there are reports of violent protests against churches and groups in the area that promote peace and Sam is right in the middle of them.

Matt must learn to fight the bullies of today while trying to overcome her devastating past. Quaking contains a topic not found in many books today even though it is a part of everyday life. Quakers are still present in society today and Quaking does a wonderful job of explaining their beliefs. The timeliness of the war and its controversy creates a strong connection to Matt and her family that is easy to relate to. At first, Matt is strong on the outside but weak and frail on the inside. Throughout the growth of Matt’s relationship with the Foxes, Matt finds her voice and makes her true self known.

[Josephine Sorrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Orphaned Matt (do not call her Matilda!) has reached the end of living with distant relatives. She's now finds herself in a completely different living situation in the home of a Quaker couple in a small Pennsylvania town, Sam and Jessica. They have previously adopted a special-needs boy, who is five years old but doesn't yet talk, instead he makes annoying noises in Matt's eyes. It doesn’t pay to get attached, Matt has learned, so she keeps every potential family at arm’s length. But Sam and Jessica aren’t put off so easily. As Matt slowly, very slowly, warms to them, she learns they are in danger from the same violent forces bullying her at school in the name of “patriotism.”
This is clearly meant to evoke the first post-9/11 years, after we’d gone to war, though the setting is never made explicit. Matt’s history teacher bullies her but her chief bully is a boy she has dubbed The Rat. Both are drastically opposed to peace for completely different reasons. The anti-peace “patriots” in town are methodically vandalizing houses of worship that promote peace vigils. The teacher Matt calls “Mr. Warhead” assigns papers like, “The Role of Our Great Nation in the Middle Eastern Theater” — with points taken off for “wrong” answers, or actually views he opposes.
Sam and Jessica aren’t perfect, but they are determined to do right by their difficult children. It’s a lovely exploration of the Quaker faith and how it comes to fill a hole in Matt that she didn’t want to believe she had.
To me this was a powerful book that dealt with bulling and discrimination in a way that both angers the reader, but also offers some satisfaction. I was sad when the book ended. I felt I needed to know more about what would happen next, but that probably was my wanting to get revenge on the bullies.

[Emily S.]

It seemed kind of interesting at first because I thought they could have written a really good story from looking at the plot. As I continued reading it got less and less interesting and it was like a chore to read it. I think the only reason I continued reading this book was because I thought that the writer would have something happen so it got more interesting. That never happened. I guess she tried to make it interesting at the end, because something kind of big did happen there (i’m not gonna give it away though), but right after it happened everything was fine again.
I don’t think I’m going to read anymore books by this author, because of the bad experience I had with this one. I’m not just saying that because I didn’t like the story of this book, I also didn’t really like her writing style. Sometimes she was very popper and used very good grammar, but in other parts she used words that aren’t real words.
I don’t think I really connected with this book because I’m not at all like the girl in the book and I’m not a quaker either. The quaker thing was one of the things that really made me want to read this book tho. I’ve always been pretty interested in different religions and I thought this would be a good and easy way to learn stuff about quakers. By reading this book a did learn a lot about quakers because before reading this I only knew a few things about them. I learn that they don’t really have any real rules, they just do what they think is right and they just really want peace for everyone. I think that if you’re a really patient reader and you like learning about different religions then you would like this book a lot.

[Shaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this straight through on a day when I had a cold and just wanted to curl up on the couch. There are many books in the realistic fiction genre that are similar to this one but I really liked Matt's (short for Matilda) voice and the Quaker aspects. Quaking reminds me of Speak, but personally I think Quaking is more intersting.

The book is set in the near future when the US is fighting against terrorism in the Middle East and in towns all over many people are taking up the "you're with us or against us" rhetoric and vandalizing peace protesters and organizations that support peace.

Matt is recovering from an abusive father, being a victim of bullying and being switched from home to home. She comes to live with Jessica and Sam who are Quakers and already have a developmentally challenged adopted child. They intend to make her a part of the family and are extremely kind and accepting of her. Matt has learned that it's easier not to care for people.

Most parts of the book felt quite real. The descriptions of the Quakers did not romanticize them, in any way.

In a not so subtle way the story addressed if it is better to save yourself from the bullies of the world or to keep speaking out even if you may get hurt.

The ending worked for me, reasonably happy but it didn't tie things up too neatly.

Overall, the book was a bit rawer than I like but well worth it.

[West Region,]

Quaking by Kathryn Erskine

In Southern California we all know about quaking.
When everything starts to shake we might pause for a second or two to see if it is going to last, and then dive under a table or desk and ride it out. You probably started preparing for this kind of quake when you were just little kids.

But for 14-year-old Matt, (don’t ever call her Matilda), quaking has nothing to do with the earth shaking.
For Matt, there are the seemingly minor quakes, like the ones that happen when you are faced with new foster parents, a new foster home, a new school, and new classmates. Then, there are the quakes that happen at 3:40 p.m. when Matt goes to her locker. Those quakes come when she opens up her locker, looks up, and sees him, the Rat. The Bully.

You see, Matt started learning about quaking when she was little. The first quaking started when she was four years old, and she had to take cover under her bed and hide from her father’s boots. And then again at six years, when the ambulance took her mother away.

But now, it is this new quaking she feels that has her scared. This new quaking is in her heart and it comes from the idea that maybe this time her new foster parents are different. Maybe with them she can find a place that is safe, a place that doesn’t quake.

High School, Realistic Fiction, AHH-5469
Submitted by Kelly Hulbert, 4/15/08

[Brooke R. Busse · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, the voice in this book is amazing. The POV character, Matt, has a rather dry humor and is brutally honest. Her life has been hard and she accepts that. She knows there is no easy way out. The author portrays this by never using a contraction.

Second, the character growth in this story is remarkable, as it should be, this being the main focus and goal of the book. It is wonderful to follow Matt's transformation, both through her inner strength and her relationship with her makeshift family. -tiny spoiler- The latter is subtly shown by Matt going from calling Rory the Blob to the kid to using his actual name. -end tiny spoiler-

Another thing I enjoyed about this book was learning more about Quakers. It is not a religion that is often explored or taught about. Of course, in the US, we all learn that the man who founded Pennsylvania, William Penn, was a Quaker, but that's as far as our education goes. I appreciated getting an insight into such a life through this book.

The only complaint I have is about the last page or so. It was a bit too "wrapped up with a bow" for me. I understand many people like these sorts of endings, but, to me, it didn't seem to go with the tone of the rest of the book.

[Lindi · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was so much I loved about Quaking -- Matt's voice, Quakers, the questions like what is patriotism -- but somehow I didn't believe Matt. She's tough and tries to be unfeeling, but can't stand up to bullies. Over and over she describes her M.O. for survival, which is to not draw attention to herself. Really, with a spider drawn on her face? I see how the Goth look works to keep people at arm's length, but it IS going to draw attention.

Many of the details were pitch perfect, for example when her new foster father Sam is knocking on her bedroom door and she snaps because she can't stop the memory of being a preschooler and hiding with her mom as her drunk and violent dad beats on the door.

I get the retreating, I get the reluctance to let people in, the sarcasm, the rudeness. I get that she slowly does let people in, that Jessica and Sam's unflinching acceptance disarms her. But Matt seems like two different people to me -- the caustic and belligerent Goth and the shrinking violet. Is that intentional? Is that typical for victims of abuse? I don't know. It didn't ring true though.

[Luan Rezende Eduardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is good, I really like the way that the author changed from a story about Matt (the main character) to a fight between pro-war and anti-war and this last subject, which came along with Quaker religion, were a really new thing to me in books, being extremely out of cliché.
The plot is really incredible but something is missing... I found myself inside two stories, two plots, the Matt's life and troubled childhood and the now Matt which is passing through all this and creating the courage to stand for her opinion about the war and the Quaker religion and I felt that neither of them were actually well explained.
The worst thing though is the building of the characters and the writing itself. It's absolutely awful, I couldn't bold with any of the characters because they are nor complete human being, each one is defined by one characteristic, they are so flat, and this includes even the main character Matt, I really think there are thousands of ways Kathryn could make this history even a classic if the writing were better, because it has so much potential. It's a shame it's lacking something.

[Hallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few things about this book, in no particularly coherent order. It is written in first person, present tense narrative, but for once it isn't distracting - the only thing about her writing I didn't care for was an odd aversion to contractions, which may have been meant to reflect something about the character narrating, but if so I didn't get it. Other than that, it's very well-written and the author does a solid job of character development. The protagonist is a cynical 14-year-old with a rough past, but she's self-aware enough that the angst doesn't become overwhelming or irritating, and she changes/grows in believable ways (there's no mushy, sentimental epiphanic moment, which I appreciated). The political agenda of the book isn't particularly subtle, but it's woven into the story well enough that I didn't find it offensively in-your-face or preachy. Overall enjoyable and well-written, and I'd recommend it to high schoolers in particular, but really anyone who wants a good quick read.

[E.A. West · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quaking is a great story told from the perspective of Matt, a troubled fourteen-year-old girl. Ms. Erskine did a marvelous job of capturing the emotions and reasoning of a foster child. The story also gives a true look at the Quaker religion and how the silent meeting is viewed by a non-Quaker kid.

As the small Pennsylvania town is torn apart by the war in Iraq, Matt quietly stands up to a warmongering teacher and promotes peace. Her silent stance doesn’t improve her predicament with a bully referred to as the Rat. Quaking follows Matt as she struggles to deal with problems at school, trying to fit into yet another home (this time with Quakers), and the turmoil tearing the town apart. To survive, she must face her many fears and learn to love. Can she do it? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

I recommend Quaking to anyone looking for a good read that deals with relevant issues in a realistic way.

[Ella Boleynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but felt that Erskine's characters were a little too simple. It seemed like all the good guys were always good, and all the bad guys were always bad - throughout the entire book. I would have liked to have seen some more internal conflict in the characters. Even Matt is on the "right" side of the issue at the beginning. I think it would have been more interesting if she had struggled with her opinion a little bit more rather than just struggling with her ability to express her opinion.

Still, the writing was interesting, and the plot was unique. I liked the good characters even if they were a little too predictable. I felt like this was a pretty good "feel-good" book that dealt with bigger issues than most other "feel-good" books I have read.

Sex - none
Language - none
Violence - there are quite a few acts of vandalism, violence, and remembered childhood traumas
Drugs/Alcohol - I don't remember any.

[Catrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another all time favorite book of mine, I think I have re read it three or five times. I think Matt was a very, very, well done character and, narrator. She is definitely a biased narrator, for example the way she sees, and reacts to her history teacher, she clearly does not feel comfortable around him so when she describes him as a narrator we see him the way she does, not the exact way he is.

She also is a very dynamic character. She comes from an absolutely terrifying past and she has learned her own method of survival from it. When she is brought to a new life were she is shown care, love, and how to wash her laundry she has to learn a new way of life that is in the end, for the better.

This book also has many other amazing aspects to it but I am to tired to elaborate further for now. It is definitely a good read that is well worth anyone's time no matter what age you are.

[Lydia LaPutka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Kathryn Erskine's style. I can't really put it into words, but her sense of humor and writing style suit me. Character development is done well through behavior, conversation, and snippets, not one big paragraph of explanation. I like that. The characters in Quaking are memorable and strong. It's easy to root for the good guys and hope for the worst for the bad guys.

I think most people can relate to this story because everyone has experienced that fear that a bully provokes. Everyone has had a teacher like Mr. Warhead. Maybe not in that extreme, but certainly one who was unreasonable or just plain weird.

I'm not sure that all teenagers who dress outlandishly have issues, but this book makes you wonder when you see someone in gothwear if they are a lost soul like Matt. Too bad more people do not have the patience of Sam and Jessica. Then more children like Matt and the "Blob" would have a chance.

[Theresa Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathryn Erskine is one of my new favorite YA authors- her books hit so hard, and I can't put them down. She knows her characters so well, and that's really amazing- there aren't caricatures of people here. Even the history teacher could have been, but he had depth to him too. Matt's story is not one of some troubled girl with a troubled past who is put through the foster care system. That would have been a story to tell about her, and it would have been cliche. But KE brings all of Matt's history to what is happening in her life now, and it's amazingly solid. I love the glimpses of Matt's growth, I value the PTSD references of her life, I adore the Blob, and I appreciate all these characters in her life and family. They're good people, and they seem real to me. Plus, I like the Quaker stuff.

[Jenni Frencham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt's been shuttled from relative to relative ever since she was a kid. When she's sent to her last possible stop - a Quaker couple who are distant relatives - she's not sure she wants to open up or commit to this family. But when the nonviolent ways of her new family conflict with her uber-patriotic civics teacher, Matt has to decide what's most important - staying invisible or standing up for what you believe in.

I enjoyed this book, especially for its discussion of Quakers, but I was a bit surprised by Matt's description in the synopsis - she's called a Goth and said to have an icy-cold stare. But she didn't seem that way at all in the book. She seemed more like a wounded animal, and wasn't even putting on much of a facade of being a Goth. Nonetheless, this was an interesting book and a quick read.

[Thorn MotherIssues · Rating 3 out of 5]

A YA novel about an abused teen who bounces from home to home before ending up in kinship care with two young Quaker peace activists should have been right up my alley, but parts of the story were too pat to be convincing. Maybe if this had come out before November's election when change of a sort seemed possible I'd have been more willing to go along with the rash of hate crimes and the corrupt school system groupthink, but that along with the conveniently unspecified developmental delay of the little boy in the family left me a little too distracted to immerse myself. I still cheered for protagonist Matt as she learned to trust herself and find her way, but I'm also still on the lookout for the best novel ever about non-violence as a means of overcoming being a victim of violence.