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Before, After, and Somebody In Between
Martha Kowalski is a quick-witted girl stuck in a bad situation. She's just moved to the slums of Cleveland with an alcoholic mother and Momma's new gun-loving, redneck boyfriend. Yes, there are pockets of goodness in her new life--a friend at school, a boy who lives upstairs, and cello lessons--but every day is filled with abuse from the unrelenting life of the ghetto. One day, Martha finds herself out on the street, and that's when her luck changes. A wealthy family invites her to live with them and within days she is enrolled in private school, is outfitted in the perfect new wardrobe, and is falling for the cutest guy she's ever seen! But life isn't so simple, and soon Martha realizes that she's not the only one with a past.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 26, 2007
42 people are currently reading
601 people want to read
About the author
Jeannine Garsee
5 books203 followersJeannine Garsee is the author of three contemporary YA novels: THE UNQUIET (2011) SAY THE WORD (2009) and BEFORE, AFTER, AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN (2007)(Bloomsbury USA Children's Books.) Her essay "Fearless" appears in the Harper Collins anthology DEAR BULLY: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories, edited by Megan Kelly Hall and Carrie Jones.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
June 3, 2010
Before, after, and SOMEBODY in between is about a girl, Martha Kowalski, she is going through rough times, with her mom on drugs and drinking and her mother’s boyfriend starts to abuse her halfway through the book. (The second half) Also on the first day of tenth grade she becomes the prey of CHARDONNAY aka in Martha’s mind the beast. She has lived all her life moving around because her mother can’t get a stable job. Just when Martha thinks her mom is going clean and gets a job, she finds her mom drunk and passed out with her current boyfriend, shattering her hopes and dreams and seeing her dreams of college and playing the cello drift further and further away. Well this is BEFORE.
Well what happens AFTER? Martha meets Richard Brinkman and that is when everything turns upside down. Her mother is put into rehab and it just so happens that one night when Martha runs away form her foster home she meets him. She remembers him from one night when he took her home, all passed out and drunk from a party at her friend’s house. From then on she lives with the Brinkman’s and is given a “new” life, as Gina. Her hopes and love of playing the cello are back again and she wants to go to college. (This is all when her mother’s in rehab) Weeks and weeks go by and her secrets start pouring out. “Gina” wants to live a new life and forget her old one, so she and Richard made up some lies to cover up her past. When you least expect it Gina’s mother walks back into the picture again and “ruins” as Gina says, everything!
What does she mean by SOMEBODY in between? Well for starters the girl doesn’t know if she’s Martha or Gina anymore. Her (ex) best friend Jerome told her how much she has changed and she’s not the same anymore. The last few chapters of the book she is all confused and doesn’t know what to do anymore. She’s mad and pissed off at Richard saying it’s his entire fault and the last page of the book she calls Richard.
(From the book) “Hello? Hello?” Then, “Gina, is that you?”
I suck in my breath, scared he’ll hang up before I can utter one word- and then finally, finally, I find my voice.
“No,” I say into the mouthpiece, “It’s Martha.”
I think Martha finally found her way at the end of the book, like she knows who she is now and how things aren’t going to change. I think this book is one of those books in where people say “life is hard but you have to deal with it anyways.” It was an interesting book because although I read the same genre (realistic fiction) it was really different from all the other books I have read. It’s really intense and it’s from her perspective and the way she sees things. Throughout the book I would agree to how Martha was feeling, but I was sort of disappointed because during some scenes of the book I would have stood up for myself, but when she did it wasn’t the way I would have done it and that caused her to get in major trouble. On the cover of the book it also says “To find who you are, sometimes you have to find who you’re not.” I think that’s the best way to describe how Martha is throughout the whole book. I can related to Martha sometimes being someone your really not and trying to escape from reality, but no matter how much you try you always have to wake up and deal with it. I would recommend this book if you want to read a book through a girl’s perspective that is living in the ghetto and standing out just because she is white. I give it 4 stars out of 5.
Well what happens AFTER? Martha meets Richard Brinkman and that is when everything turns upside down. Her mother is put into rehab and it just so happens that one night when Martha runs away form her foster home she meets him. She remembers him from one night when he took her home, all passed out and drunk from a party at her friend’s house. From then on she lives with the Brinkman’s and is given a “new” life, as Gina. Her hopes and love of playing the cello are back again and she wants to go to college. (This is all when her mother’s in rehab) Weeks and weeks go by and her secrets start pouring out. “Gina” wants to live a new life and forget her old one, so she and Richard made up some lies to cover up her past. When you least expect it Gina’s mother walks back into the picture again and “ruins” as Gina says, everything!
What does she mean by SOMEBODY in between? Well for starters the girl doesn’t know if she’s Martha or Gina anymore. Her (ex) best friend Jerome told her how much she has changed and she’s not the same anymore. The last few chapters of the book she is all confused and doesn’t know what to do anymore. She’s mad and pissed off at Richard saying it’s his entire fault and the last page of the book she calls Richard.
(From the book) “Hello? Hello?” Then, “Gina, is that you?”
I suck in my breath, scared he’ll hang up before I can utter one word- and then finally, finally, I find my voice.
“No,” I say into the mouthpiece, “It’s Martha.”
I think Martha finally found her way at the end of the book, like she knows who she is now and how things aren’t going to change. I think this book is one of those books in where people say “life is hard but you have to deal with it anyways.” It was an interesting book because although I read the same genre (realistic fiction) it was really different from all the other books I have read. It’s really intense and it’s from her perspective and the way she sees things. Throughout the book I would agree to how Martha was feeling, but I was sort of disappointed because during some scenes of the book I would have stood up for myself, but when she did it wasn’t the way I would have done it and that caused her to get in major trouble. On the cover of the book it also says “To find who you are, sometimes you have to find who you’re not.” I think that’s the best way to describe how Martha is throughout the whole book. I can related to Martha sometimes being someone your really not and trying to escape from reality, but no matter how much you try you always have to wake up and deal with it. I would recommend this book if you want to read a book through a girl’s perspective that is living in the ghetto and standing out just because she is white. I give it 4 stars out of 5.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 10, 2012
Reviewed by Dena Landon for TeensReadToo.com
When Martha's mom gets out of rehab and drags Martha to live with her latest boyfriend it's nothing new. Ever since her father's death, Martha's life has been a string of moving from place to place, constantly watching out for her mom. But this time the new boyfriend lives in a part of town where 'white girls don't belong,' as her classmates at school have no problem telling her. Martha is plunged into a world of gang violence and drugs, metal detectors at school, threats from other students, and violence at home. But she still manages to make a few friends at school and with the family that lives upstairs. And when she signs up for orchestra and discovers the joy of playing the cello, she thinks things might have finally turned around.
Until an act of violence sends everything spiraling out of control.
BEFORE, AFTER, AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN is a gritty and realistic tale of a girl trying to escape her parent's poor choices and make a life for herself. Told unflinchingly in the first person, Garsee doesn't hesitate from portraying teen violence, sex, and drug and alcohol use as the traps that they can be, but she does so with gentle humor and a compassionate eye. Martha is a flawed heroine, coming to terms with her own faults and the addictive tendencies she may have inherited from her mother, but readers will root for her to succeed. This book is not a light-hearted tale, and at times the string of bad events can feel unrelenting, but Garsee shows the bright spots to be found in even the deepest tragedies.
Recommended for older readers only. Contains drug and alcohol use, sex, and profanity.
When Martha's mom gets out of rehab and drags Martha to live with her latest boyfriend it's nothing new. Ever since her father's death, Martha's life has been a string of moving from place to place, constantly watching out for her mom. But this time the new boyfriend lives in a part of town where 'white girls don't belong,' as her classmates at school have no problem telling her. Martha is plunged into a world of gang violence and drugs, metal detectors at school, threats from other students, and violence at home. But she still manages to make a few friends at school and with the family that lives upstairs. And when she signs up for orchestra and discovers the joy of playing the cello, she thinks things might have finally turned around.
Until an act of violence sends everything spiraling out of control.
BEFORE, AFTER, AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN is a gritty and realistic tale of a girl trying to escape her parent's poor choices and make a life for herself. Told unflinchingly in the first person, Garsee doesn't hesitate from portraying teen violence, sex, and drug and alcohol use as the traps that they can be, but she does so with gentle humor and a compassionate eye. Martha is a flawed heroine, coming to terms with her own faults and the addictive tendencies she may have inherited from her mother, but readers will root for her to succeed. This book is not a light-hearted tale, and at times the string of bad events can feel unrelenting, but Garsee shows the bright spots to be found in even the deepest tragedies.
Recommended for older readers only. Contains drug and alcohol use, sex, and profanity.
February 22, 2017
1.5 stars. Oh god, I feel so bad about hating this book, but I kind of hated it?
THE WORST OF THIS BOOK
#1: This was just total tragedy porn. The situation never changes and the main character never changes either. Constant tragedies and terrible characters doesn't make for a great book. This book is just tragedy porn. To be fair, I abjectly hate this genre, which may have played into my hatred of this book.
#2: The terrible main character. Martha is such a complete ass. I want to hit her in the face. I NEVER hate characters like this. Flawed characters and rude characters work for me. But Martha hits my sore spot; she treats her friends and all the people she cares about like crap. And her development is half-assed. I might've been able to handle the depressing nature of this book if not for the total lack of character development before the end.
Shoutout to side characters Shavonne and Jerome for winning this book two stars. You two were the spots of light in a terrible book. I'm sorry your friend Martha was so terrible to both of you, and I'm sorry you both had to be in this tragedy porn disguised as a book.
THE WORST OF THIS BOOK
#1: This was just total tragedy porn. The situation never changes and the main character never changes either. Constant tragedies and terrible characters doesn't make for a great book. This book is just tragedy porn. To be fair, I abjectly hate this genre, which may have played into my hatred of this book.
#2: The terrible main character. Martha is such a complete ass. I want to hit her in the face. I NEVER hate characters like this. Flawed characters and rude characters work for me. But Martha hits my sore spot; she treats her friends and all the people she cares about like crap. And her development is half-assed. I might've been able to handle the depressing nature of this book if not for the total lack of character development before the end.
Shoutout to side characters Shavonne and Jerome for winning this book two stars. You two were the spots of light in a terrible book. I'm sorry your friend Martha was so terrible to both of you, and I'm sorry you both had to be in this tragedy porn disguised as a book.
December 3, 2008
Brutal at times, but worth the shudders. Martha has had a rough life with an alcoholic mother who shacks up with a parade of losers. This time, instead of changing to a new school in the boonies, she finds herself in an inner-city school in Cleveland, where is a rare white face and immediately draws the unwanted attention of a bully named Chardonnay, who quickly makes school hell--really. That said, Martha finds a few good friends, picks up the cello, and begins to stand up for herself more at home. A confluence of tragic events leads her to be fostered in the home of a wealthy attorney, where she blossoms but draws the ire of the couple's spoiled rotten daugther and chokes on the secrecy of hiding her true low-rent identity from new friends.
Does where you are determine who you are? Who is Martha? A loser in Goodwill clothes or Gina in designer togs? Or are those just the trappings?
Does where you are determine who you are? Who is Martha? A loser in Goodwill clothes or Gina in designer togs? Or are those just the trappings?
June 5, 2012
Ah, the post-modern story, where no one is right, no one is wrong, nothing is resolved, and there is no point; yet it's somehow still entertaining and thought-provoking. In this case it tackles the children of addicts, class and race relations, drug violence, the frayed social safety net, and just general teenaged angst; all from the first-person narrative of a sometimes-typical, sometimes-not fourteen-year-old girl.
As an aside: although this is YA, just a warning it's mature YA. There is an abundance of sex, drugs, and classical cello.
As an aside: although this is YA, just a warning it's mature YA. There is an abundance of sex, drugs, and classical cello.
April 28, 2024
Beautifully but brutally written. This poor girl goes through SO much that despite barely covering one school year, it feels like a saga. As long as this rambling review turned out to be, there are STILL entire parts, characters, plot points I didn't touch on.
The details of poverty in part 1 are particularly vivid: though academically gifted enough to have skipped a year, she gets little chance to shine while living in shabby housing courtesy of her alcoholic mother's scuzzy boyfriend, going to public school in a low-income, high-crime area of Ohio. Just making it through the day without ditching out or getting in trouble for defending herself is a victory sometimes.
It doesn't help that her mother scorns the importance of education, sneering at the very idea of college. You think you're better than me? You were born white trash and you'll stay white trash, she more or less outright says, weirdly proud of their lot in life. (I guess because anything else reminds her of Martha's father, who came from a more well-off family but ultimately abandoned them.)
There are highlights, both in the form of friends she manages to make -- Jerome, a boy in the family who rents the upstairs level of her house, as studious as she is and equally ostracized by most of his relatives about it; a girl in her classes who takes pity on her for becoming the immediate target of an aggressive and violent bully and offers protection to the new girl who obviously has no idea how to survive in this area -- and in music lessons, as she manages to wrangle a precious $20 a week to rent a cello for the school orchestra, where she proves to have inherited her father's musical talent.
But the misery grind is real, with regular setbacks -- this is the most I've ever understood a smart girl rationalizing alcohol, pills, and losing her virginity WAY too young and fast with a guy whose interest in her is clearly based in regular access to her body (would have hated reading that as an actual teen, so good thing I didn't read this until my 30s) -- and builds to shocking circumstances that land her in foster care.
The actual foster home is suffocating and strict, so within a week, she runs away. But she ends up catching the attention of a lawyer -- someone she knows as the employer of her friend's mother, a housecleaner -- who offers to both advocate for and let her stay with his family instead. It is mostly very fairytale (complete with a wicked step -- er, foster -- sister), starting when his wife takes her shopping for a proper wardrobe and spends more on her in a day than her mother has probably spent in two years. She gets to go to a normal high school, where people care about grades and don't threaten to stab you on a regular basis. She also gets to experience Mean Girls: Subtle Rich Girl version, but she doesn't recognize that yet.
This is also the first time in her life she's gotten to feel what it's like to have a family, what it must be like to have parents who actually...care...about your feelings and well being?? Go away, Mrs. Social Worker. Don't talk to me about how my mom is getting better and hopefully I can "go home soon." (I know she's only 14, but she's nursing a pretty intense "maybe the beautiful king & queen will adopt me!" style fantasy, so you know it's gonna hurt pretty bad at some point.)
While waiting for the other shoe to drop, I loved seeing Martha finally get good things in life, but it's also painful -- if realistic -- when her immaturity shines through, so excited to have these good things that she does her very best to pretend her other life never existed. To the point of adopting a new name, asking the family to play along with the lie that she's the daughter of a family friend who needed a place to stay for a bit, and accidentally-on-purpose cutting all contact with her old friends, lest they reveal The Truth to her new friends/boyfriend (side note: her friend's mom has AIDS. Actual late-stage AIDS! It's bad, to the point that she can't work anymore! and STILL Martha a.k.a. ~Gina~ dodges her calls, and never asks how she's doing when they do connect).
And when things DO go wrong in her new life...once again, This Poor Kid.
I said at the beginning that this feels like a saga, and it does, except that it also doesn't end with quite the sense of closure or resolution you might expect.
On the one hand, that's how life is I guess, but on the other hand, there is a wiiiiide open field for a sequel here, which was not written (or at least not published, but I don't really get the sense that she intended to write one in the first place).
P.S. I don't usually care let alone talk about trigger warnings, but I feel like this book deserves a couple:
The details of poverty in part 1 are particularly vivid: though academically gifted enough to have skipped a year, she gets little chance to shine while living in shabby housing courtesy of her alcoholic mother's scuzzy boyfriend, going to public school in a low-income, high-crime area of Ohio. Just making it through the day without ditching out or getting in trouble for defending herself is a victory sometimes.
It doesn't help that her mother scorns the importance of education, sneering at the very idea of college. You think you're better than me? You were born white trash and you'll stay white trash, she more or less outright says, weirdly proud of their lot in life. (I guess because anything else reminds her of Martha's father, who came from a more well-off family but ultimately abandoned them.)
There are highlights, both in the form of friends she manages to make -- Jerome, a boy in the family who rents the upstairs level of her house, as studious as she is and equally ostracized by most of his relatives about it; a girl in her classes who takes pity on her for becoming the immediate target of an aggressive and violent bully and offers protection to the new girl who obviously has no idea how to survive in this area -- and in music lessons, as she manages to wrangle a precious $20 a week to rent a cello for the school orchestra, where she proves to have inherited her father's musical talent.
But the misery grind is real, with regular setbacks -- this is the most I've ever understood a smart girl rationalizing alcohol, pills, and losing her virginity WAY too young and fast with a guy whose interest in her is clearly based in regular access to her body (would have hated reading that as an actual teen, so good thing I didn't read this until my 30s) -- and builds to shocking circumstances that land her in foster care.
The actual foster home is suffocating and strict, so within a week, she runs away. But she ends up catching the attention of a lawyer -- someone she knows as the employer of her friend's mother, a housecleaner -- who offers to both advocate for and let her stay with his family instead. It is mostly very fairytale (complete with a wicked step -- er, foster -- sister), starting when his wife takes her shopping for a proper wardrobe and spends more on her in a day than her mother has probably spent in two years. She gets to go to a normal high school, where people care about grades and don't threaten to stab you on a regular basis. She also gets to experience Mean Girls: Subtle Rich Girl version, but she doesn't recognize that yet.
This is also the first time in her life she's gotten to feel what it's like to have a family, what it must be like to have parents who actually...care...about your feelings and well being?? Go away, Mrs. Social Worker. Don't talk to me about how my mom is getting better and hopefully I can "go home soon." (I know she's only 14, but she's nursing a pretty intense "maybe the beautiful king & queen will adopt me!" style fantasy, so you know it's gonna hurt pretty bad at some point.)
While waiting for the other shoe to drop, I loved seeing Martha finally get good things in life, but it's also painful -- if realistic -- when her immaturity shines through, so excited to have these good things that she does her very best to pretend her other life never existed. To the point of adopting a new name, asking the family to play along with the lie that she's the daughter of a family friend who needed a place to stay for a bit, and accidentally-on-purpose cutting all contact with her old friends, lest they reveal The Truth to her new friends/boyfriend (side note: her friend's mom has AIDS. Actual late-stage AIDS! It's bad, to the point that she can't work anymore! and STILL Martha a.k.a. ~Gina~ dodges her calls, and never asks how she's doing when they do connect).
And when things DO go wrong in her new life...once again, This Poor Kid.
I said at the beginning that this feels like a saga, and it does, except that it also doesn't end with quite the sense of closure or resolution you might expect.
On the one hand, that's how life is I guess, but on the other hand, there is a wiiiiide open field for a sequel here, which was not written (or at least not published, but I don't really get the sense that she intended to write one in the first place).
P.S. I don't usually care let alone talk about trigger warnings, but I feel like this book deserves a couple:
February 2, 2009
A truly moving book that takes a hard look at the not so perfect teenage life. Jeannine Garsee has you rooting for Martha right from the beginning, hoping she can overcome the odds against her. From a mother in rehab and a bully at school, to an overbearing and questionable stepfather, Martha just might has well throw all her dreams into the wishing well along with her last penny.
Then the unimaginable happens, Martha's wildest dreams may be coming true when a wealthy lawyer takes her in. Now Martha's life is filled with cello lessons, fancy clothes, parties, and boys she only dreamed about. Just when you think Martha is finally getting to a point in her life where she can relax, the plot twists and turns. Torn between her old life and the new life, Martha uncovers dark secrets, deception, and what it means to lose those closest to you.
The question remains, is having it all is worse than not having anything at all?
Then the unimaginable happens, Martha's wildest dreams may be coming true when a wealthy lawyer takes her in. Now Martha's life is filled with cello lessons, fancy clothes, parties, and boys she only dreamed about. Just when you think Martha is finally getting to a point in her life where she can relax, the plot twists and turns. Torn between her old life and the new life, Martha uncovers dark secrets, deception, and what it means to lose those closest to you.
The question remains, is having it all is worse than not having anything at all?
January 13, 2016
Got this through Learning Ally. I have since been kicking myself for deleting it to save space, remembering everything about the story, including some character names, but unable to remember the title to download it again. This is an excellent book -- a realistic YA novel that isn't preachy, doesn't shy away from tough subjects or sugar coat them, has a tough vulnerable main character -- and in the case of Learning Ally, a narrator who can handle the story. The ending really works for me -- it's a nice open ending, but leaves you satisfied and secure in leaving the character. A great book. I would love to see if there is an actual professionally recorded version of this. It has such great characters, it would be fantastic to hear it done with voices. Highly recommended, however you choose to read it.
June 24, 2018
I KNOW I have read this book before. I can't find evidence of it. I never really knew what was going to happen next (though it wasn't too hard to guess sometimes). But from the first page, and every page after, I KNEW I had read it before. There were no surprises. Regardless, I couldn't put it down and found myself thinking about it and the characters even when I wasn't reading. I can't explain why it got so deep into me. It's well written and the plot engaging and the characters believable (actually, as a teenager, I think the main character was surprisingly accurate). But there is definitely something more to it for me that I just can't put my finger on at all. I can only say, well worth a read.
November 5, 2020
This book was so problematic... racism, slurs, and more. I don't know how I stuck with it until Chapter 38, but I guess I was hoping for any sort of improvement. I can see where the author wanted the story to go plot wise, but they just reinforced a bunch of racist ideologies instead. I could barely focus on the plot because of the problematic painting of the characters and Martha herself... it was pretty disgusting. Also, the writing isn't so great. Martha is a very annoying character.
February 8, 2015
Martha lives the life that she wish was different. Everyday Martha has to face her drunk mother and her mothers abusive boyfriend. All Martha wants to do is play the cello which allows her to escape from her suckish world for a few hours a day. This book was amazing! It was never boring and I literally felt so many emotions. I'd definetly recommend it to everyone because it was really good!
November 8, 2011
I am Not the One to read very often, but i honestly love this books. I have to say that this is one of my favorite books. Im not sure what makes it so intresting book I love it alot.
June 27, 2014
blackface though. seriously???
November 7, 2017
3.5*
So here's the thing about this book. It does not lack tragedy. In fact, tragedy is literally on every page. Over and over again. At some point, this becomes just too repetitive and predictable. After about a fourth of the way into the book, I could guess nearly exactly what was going to happen next. For this reason, I started to dread reading the book because I was just ready to get it over with. It was extremely clear where the book was headed.
However, after a lot of consideration, I am still choosing to give the book a fairly good rating. Why? Because the story line is actually good, and well thought out, despite it being predictable and full of never ending sadness. This book follows Martha-or Gina- throughout about a year of her life as a teenager. Martha has an alcoholic mother who comes with a constant swinging door of crappy, addicted, and sometimes abusive boyfriends. The book starts out with Martha's mother haven just returned from a new rehab where she meets her newest boyfriend, Wayne. Martha and her mother move into Wayne's home, which is sectioned off upstairs for another family who rents from Wayne. Martha's mother is clean in the beginning, but it does not take too terribly long for this to change. Let's just say that Martha ends up back in the foster system. She hates the home she is placed in, and runs away, but comes across a lawyer whom she had met through one of her friends. This lawyer takes her in.
This is where Martha becomes Gina. As I was reading, it became very evident that Martha was dealing with mental illness, as she does not just blur the lines between reality and the fake version of herself, she completely disintegrates them. Mental illness is never discussed, but a lot of other characters hint to Martha (Gina) that she has to learn to realize that she is still Martha, no matter how hard she tries to be this completely different person. She makes up lies and fools nearly everyone around her, with the exception of the lawyer and his wife who know who "Gina" really is, and she gets away with it for quite some time. She is finally living the life she has always wanted. She's living in a mansion, has all the allowance she could hope for, goes to a private all girls school, and she's finally begun lessons to improve her cello playing.
Things go south, as they always do. Gina turns back to Martha faster than Cinderella turns back to a lowly maid at the stroke of midnight. She's forced to go home to her mother, who has straightened up for the time being. She's back to being poor and living on the west side, and she's just as unhappy as ever.
**************************************************************************
Martha was not an easy character to like. In fact, I didn't like her at all. Her situation was almost always very unfortunate, but she seemed to somehow always make it worse for herself. She refuses to be truthful with anyone, nearly ever. She sabotages some of the very few good things she has in her life.
However, to hate the book because it was tragic would be like hating a fourteen year old girl because her life is exactly that- tragic. This book was predictable, but it was REAL life. Some people are really stuck in this constant cycle of awfulness. I cannot discredit the book because it portrays the reality that a lot of children with addicted parents face. This was one of the things I liked about the book. It was honest even when it seemed touche to be. This paired with how well Martha's own budding addiction and mental issues are handled and written caused me to keep chugging on through the book. While it was not one of my favorite books about such a taboo topic, I do think it handled it all really well in such an honest light. It deserves recognition for that, at the least.
So here's the thing about this book. It does not lack tragedy. In fact, tragedy is literally on every page. Over and over again. At some point, this becomes just too repetitive and predictable. After about a fourth of the way into the book, I could guess nearly exactly what was going to happen next. For this reason, I started to dread reading the book because I was just ready to get it over with. It was extremely clear where the book was headed.
However, after a lot of consideration, I am still choosing to give the book a fairly good rating. Why? Because the story line is actually good, and well thought out, despite it being predictable and full of never ending sadness. This book follows Martha-or Gina- throughout about a year of her life as a teenager. Martha has an alcoholic mother who comes with a constant swinging door of crappy, addicted, and sometimes abusive boyfriends. The book starts out with Martha's mother haven just returned from a new rehab where she meets her newest boyfriend, Wayne. Martha and her mother move into Wayne's home, which is sectioned off upstairs for another family who rents from Wayne. Martha's mother is clean in the beginning, but it does not take too terribly long for this to change. Let's just say that Martha ends up back in the foster system. She hates the home she is placed in, and runs away, but comes across a lawyer whom she had met through one of her friends. This lawyer takes her in.
This is where Martha becomes Gina. As I was reading, it became very evident that Martha was dealing with mental illness, as she does not just blur the lines between reality and the fake version of herself, she completely disintegrates them. Mental illness is never discussed, but a lot of other characters hint to Martha (Gina) that she has to learn to realize that she is still Martha, no matter how hard she tries to be this completely different person. She makes up lies and fools nearly everyone around her, with the exception of the lawyer and his wife who know who "Gina" really is, and she gets away with it for quite some time. She is finally living the life she has always wanted. She's living in a mansion, has all the allowance she could hope for, goes to a private all girls school, and she's finally begun lessons to improve her cello playing.
Things go south, as they always do. Gina turns back to Martha faster than Cinderella turns back to a lowly maid at the stroke of midnight. She's forced to go home to her mother, who has straightened up for the time being. She's back to being poor and living on the west side, and she's just as unhappy as ever.
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Martha was not an easy character to like. In fact, I didn't like her at all. Her situation was almost always very unfortunate, but she seemed to somehow always make it worse for herself. She refuses to be truthful with anyone, nearly ever. She sabotages some of the very few good things she has in her life.
However, to hate the book because it was tragic would be like hating a fourteen year old girl because her life is exactly that- tragic. This book was predictable, but it was REAL life. Some people are really stuck in this constant cycle of awfulness. I cannot discredit the book because it portrays the reality that a lot of children with addicted parents face. This was one of the things I liked about the book. It was honest even when it seemed touche to be. This paired with how well Martha's own budding addiction and mental issues are handled and written caused me to keep chugging on through the book. While it was not one of my favorite books about such a taboo topic, I do think it handled it all really well in such an honest light. It deserves recognition for that, at the least.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2017
To be honest, I hated the main character. She didn't learn anything from what happened with her friends after she treated them so horribly. She is so spoiled and obsessed with herself. The whole thing of "I'm in a bad situation, so you should feel bad for me" just makes me hate her more. She doesn't seem to actually care about anyone besides herself and I think that's . It would've been fine if she had grown out of it and all, but she didn't. She stayed the same and she expects everyone else to change to suit her instead of her being a better person.
September 6, 2021
This was a really good book. The only thing I didn't like about this book was how Martha's mother treated her. She cared more about getting drunk, being on drugs, and being with men that only cared about her mother and would abuse Martha. There were some things in this book that just made me shake my head. It's still a good book.
September 6, 2018
It was slow to get into, but ended up very personal for me. Good read, nothing to jump rope over though.
January 19, 2024
trauma porn
November 20, 2024
I read thing book as a teenager and reread it as an adult, still love it!
July 15, 2013
19 December 2006 BEFORE, AFTER AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN by Jeannine Garsee, Bloomsbury, July 2007, ISBN: 1-59990-022-X, Publisher recommendation: 14 and up
"And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle."
--Gil Scott Heron
"When I can't stand it another second, I go crawling to Momma.
"Big mistake. She hasn't been sober one minute since the day she quit her job. 'How many times I gotta tell you? Nobody's working! We ain't got the money!'
" 'But Momma, if I keep playing, I can get a scholarship to Great Lakes. I wave my rumpled brochure. 'Mr. Hopewell says I got a real good chance. And look -- ninety percent of their graduates end up at Juillard. Don't you get it? I could --'
"Momma laughs, but not like she's amused. 'Martha, I hate to burst that bubble of yours, but people like us don't get into no Joo-lee-yard.'
" 'What? What people?' Perfectly frozen, I wait for her to say it.
" 'Jesus Christ, do I gotta spell it out? Poor people, Martha. Hillbillies. White trash.'
" 'I am not white trash!' I kick the closest chair. 'And if we're so damn poor, how come you can buy all that beer?' "
Fourteen year-old Martha has moved from funky rural rental to funky rural rental with Momma, but now she finds herself living in, "the bottom half of a roach-infested dump in one of the worst neighborhoods on the east side of Cleveland." They have moved in with Wayne, a "bigoted redneck" alcoholic whom Momma met and fell in love with during her (and Wayne's) most recent stint in detox and rehab. Wayne, who inherited the building they're occupying, rents out the upstairs to the Lindseys, a black family which includes the volatile Aunt Gloria, Aunt Gloria's elderly mother, the teen gangster son Anthony, Anthony's baby brother, Bubby, and Aunt Gloria's nephew, Jerome. Jerome is Martha's age and, as was also the case with Martha, skipped a grade when he was younger. Fourteen years earlier, Jerome's mother gave birth to him while in prison and then dumped him on Aunt Gloria before disappearing back into a life of addiction.
From the start, Martha is a sympathetic character. She is a bright, hardworking teenager who ignores Momma's and Wayne's (and Aunt Gloria's) racist-based demands to keep away from the smart and kindhearted Jerome. She forms an instant attachment with Bubby, a seriously neglected infant who is pretty much only being cared for by Jerome, and opens her mouth when she witnesses Aunt Gloria abusing the child. As a matter of fact, Martha is not often shy about opening her mouth, arguably a positive yet dangerous course of action when practiced by a young girl in an inner city public high school.
Martha is deeply into classical music. Her dead father taught her to play his violin when she was very young, and she exhibited natural talent until one day, years ago, when Momma torched the instrument during a drunk and angry outburst. Now the music teacher at Martha's new school offers her a chance to learn cello and dream big dreams if only she can come up with the twenty-five bucks per month to rent a cello...and if she can stay alive despite what is constantly happening to her at school, in Wayne's World, and in the treacherous neighborhood.
BEFORE, AFTER, AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN is an amazing action- and danger-filled plot-driven contemporary YA urban tale in which we find that alcoholic parents -- whether rich or poor -- can thoroughly poison their kids' lives, that it is not always easy to just say no, and that in the face of really bad stuff going down, some teens will make it to a better day while others are swallowed by the cracks.
"I've changed my face, I've changed my name
But no one wants you when you lose"
--Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, "Don't Give Up"
For me, this was one of those one-day 350-page marathon reading sessions: there was no way I could stop until I knew what was to become of Martha and a couple of dozen memorable characters surrounding her during the three -- before, after, and in between -- parts of her story.
Jeannine Garsee, who is an RN in an inner city hospital, is a member of the Classof2K7, an online collective of first-time YA and children's authors whose books are being released in the new year. BEFORE, AFTER, AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN sets quite a high standard for her classmates to follow.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_... http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/facult...
"And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle."
--Gil Scott Heron
"When I can't stand it another second, I go crawling to Momma.
"Big mistake. She hasn't been sober one minute since the day she quit her job. 'How many times I gotta tell you? Nobody's working! We ain't got the money!'
" 'But Momma, if I keep playing, I can get a scholarship to Great Lakes. I wave my rumpled brochure. 'Mr. Hopewell says I got a real good chance. And look -- ninety percent of their graduates end up at Juillard. Don't you get it? I could --'
"Momma laughs, but not like she's amused. 'Martha, I hate to burst that bubble of yours, but people like us don't get into no Joo-lee-yard.'
" 'What? What people?' Perfectly frozen, I wait for her to say it.
" 'Jesus Christ, do I gotta spell it out? Poor people, Martha. Hillbillies. White trash.'
" 'I am not white trash!' I kick the closest chair. 'And if we're so damn poor, how come you can buy all that beer?' "
Fourteen year-old Martha has moved from funky rural rental to funky rural rental with Momma, but now she finds herself living in, "the bottom half of a roach-infested dump in one of the worst neighborhoods on the east side of Cleveland." They have moved in with Wayne, a "bigoted redneck" alcoholic whom Momma met and fell in love with during her (and Wayne's) most recent stint in detox and rehab. Wayne, who inherited the building they're occupying, rents out the upstairs to the Lindseys, a black family which includes the volatile Aunt Gloria, Aunt Gloria's elderly mother, the teen gangster son Anthony, Anthony's baby brother, Bubby, and Aunt Gloria's nephew, Jerome. Jerome is Martha's age and, as was also the case with Martha, skipped a grade when he was younger. Fourteen years earlier, Jerome's mother gave birth to him while in prison and then dumped him on Aunt Gloria before disappearing back into a life of addiction.
From the start, Martha is a sympathetic character. She is a bright, hardworking teenager who ignores Momma's and Wayne's (and Aunt Gloria's) racist-based demands to keep away from the smart and kindhearted Jerome. She forms an instant attachment with Bubby, a seriously neglected infant who is pretty much only being cared for by Jerome, and opens her mouth when she witnesses Aunt Gloria abusing the child. As a matter of fact, Martha is not often shy about opening her mouth, arguably a positive yet dangerous course of action when practiced by a young girl in an inner city public high school.
Martha is deeply into classical music. Her dead father taught her to play his violin when she was very young, and she exhibited natural talent until one day, years ago, when Momma torched the instrument during a drunk and angry outburst. Now the music teacher at Martha's new school offers her a chance to learn cello and dream big dreams if only she can come up with the twenty-five bucks per month to rent a cello...and if she can stay alive despite what is constantly happening to her at school, in Wayne's World, and in the treacherous neighborhood.
BEFORE, AFTER, AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN is an amazing action- and danger-filled plot-driven contemporary YA urban tale in which we find that alcoholic parents -- whether rich or poor -- can thoroughly poison their kids' lives, that it is not always easy to just say no, and that in the face of really bad stuff going down, some teens will make it to a better day while others are swallowed by the cracks.
"I've changed my face, I've changed my name
But no one wants you when you lose"
--Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, "Don't Give Up"
For me, this was one of those one-day 350-page marathon reading sessions: there was no way I could stop until I knew what was to become of Martha and a couple of dozen memorable characters surrounding her during the three -- before, after, and in between -- parts of her story.
Jeannine Garsee, who is an RN in an inner city hospital, is a member of the Classof2K7, an online collective of first-time YA and children's authors whose books are being released in the new year. BEFORE, AFTER, AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN sets quite a high standard for her classmates to follow.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_... http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/facult...
November 7, 2011
Please read this for more input/discussion. Could be a top 20 contender.
I would place this higher than many "problem" novels on the TU scale. Better than The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance, but with similar themes, drunken mother, young teen fending for herself, adults not coming through, adults who do come through for Martha, poverty, a struggle for survival, (misplaced?) loyalty to neglecting parent.
Sometimes Martha won't let herself follow her passion of playing the cello. She fights against and at the same time internalizes her mother's messages of worthlessness and hopelessness.
Martha's transformation has some echoes akin to Twisted. It is a tough book, not a light read, but certainly a high "B" list contender for the top 20.
A few things niggled in my brain - is a cello light enough for a 14 year old to lug with her backpack 30 blocks ti school? So I looked it up. A weighs roughly 5 pounds + case (7-15 pounds). So not super heavy, but bulky. Some people won't walk 1/4 mile, so 30 blocks to a suburbanite/small town person seems a far distance even without the weight and bulk of a cello in a case.
Jerome's transformation at the end seemed really abrupt, but I suppose that was Martha's experience of it, so we had the same experience. I didn't see how he abandoned her like she felt from that brief interchange.
I was angry/irritated with Martha covering for her mom and Wayne and some of the ugly things that went on, but the Alanon meetings identified and addressed that behavior as "normal" and gave some alternatives to break the destructive cycle. I was glad Garsee had Martha start taking matters into her own hands (sort of round-a-bout)
A child's craving for attention, love, survival, reactions from fear, and the power of reaching out to someone else make this a powerful debut novel.
YAY (KDL)
http://thumbsupaward.blogspot.com/sea...
I would place this higher than many "problem" novels on the TU scale. Better than The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance, but with similar themes, drunken mother, young teen fending for herself, adults not coming through, adults who do come through for Martha, poverty, a struggle for survival, (misplaced?) loyalty to neglecting parent.
Sometimes Martha won't let herself follow her passion of playing the cello. She fights against and at the same time internalizes her mother's messages of worthlessness and hopelessness.
Martha's transformation has some echoes akin to Twisted. It is a tough book, not a light read, but certainly a high "B" list contender for the top 20.
A few things niggled in my brain - is a cello light enough for a 14 year old to lug with her backpack 30 blocks ti school? So I looked it up. A weighs roughly 5 pounds + case (7-15 pounds). So not super heavy, but bulky. Some people won't walk 1/4 mile, so 30 blocks to a suburbanite/small town person seems a far distance even without the weight and bulk of a cello in a case.
Jerome's transformation at the end seemed really abrupt, but I suppose that was Martha's experience of it, so we had the same experience. I didn't see how he abandoned her like she felt from that brief interchange.
I was angry/irritated with Martha covering for her mom and Wayne and some of the ugly things that went on, but the Alanon meetings identified and addressed that behavior as "normal" and gave some alternatives to break the destructive cycle. I was glad Garsee had Martha start taking matters into her own hands (sort of round-a-bout)
A child's craving for attention, love, survival, reactions from fear, and the power of reaching out to someone else make this a powerful debut novel.
YAY (KDL)
http://thumbsupaward.blogspot.com/sea...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2008
This book is a heart-lurching, breath-stealing look into the gritty life of Martha Kowalski, whose recently rehabbed mother has dragged her to live with Mama's latest boyfriend in a new urban neighborhood. By the end of Martha's first day at the tough Cleveland school, she has already made one blood enemy and one good friend.
Before long tragedy strikes, and Martha is thrown into the foster care system. By a combination of luck and determination, she lands on her feet, finding a home with the well-to-do Brinkman family. Suddenly her life is nearly perfect; she has all the material possessions she could want, attends an upscale school, and she is encouraged to pursue her dream of becoming a concert cellist. She leaves everything, her friends, even her name, behind.
Everything but her guilt, that is.
Will her new life last? Should it last? Martha is smart, cynical, funny, talented, and sometimes a go-getter, but can she stay afloat, never mind succeed, in spite of the many strikes against her? If you give Martha a chance, she ll take you by the neck and drag you in. I finished all 352 pages of her story in one night. And maybe, like me, you'll find your thoughts returning to Martha again and again. She's just that kind of haunting character.
This tale is rich in detail, surprisingly so, considering its breakneck pace. By story's end, Jeannine Garsee brings all the myriad threads together in fresh and surprising ways. Garsee wastes nothing and spares the reader even less. I expect to read many more marvelous stories from this author in the future. In fact, I can hardly wait.
Before long tragedy strikes, and Martha is thrown into the foster care system. By a combination of luck and determination, she lands on her feet, finding a home with the well-to-do Brinkman family. Suddenly her life is nearly perfect; she has all the material possessions she could want, attends an upscale school, and she is encouraged to pursue her dream of becoming a concert cellist. She leaves everything, her friends, even her name, behind.
Everything but her guilt, that is.
Will her new life last? Should it last? Martha is smart, cynical, funny, talented, and sometimes a go-getter, but can she stay afloat, never mind succeed, in spite of the many strikes against her? If you give Martha a chance, she ll take you by the neck and drag you in. I finished all 352 pages of her story in one night. And maybe, like me, you'll find your thoughts returning to Martha again and again. She's just that kind of haunting character.
This tale is rich in detail, surprisingly so, considering its breakneck pace. By story's end, Jeannine Garsee brings all the myriad threads together in fresh and surprising ways. Garsee wastes nothing and spares the reader even less. I expect to read many more marvelous stories from this author in the future. In fact, I can hardly wait.
July 10, 2008
I loved this book, and not just because I am priviledged enough to know the author (hee hee!) I had the feeling it wasn't originally intended to be YA: just because the protagonist is young doesn't mean it's a juvenile book. It tackled a lot of hard subjects right away, and unflinchingly--racism, abandonment, abuse, neglect, alcohol and drug use, drug dealing, poverty, a near-lethal bully, friendships, drifting, a tragic death, guilt, seeking a "normal" life that maybe isn't so normal, and perhaps most frighteningly of all, being pushed to the edge where at last you become violent yourself in order to react to the madness around you. I identified with a lot about Martha. But it's all done with such charm, so intriguingly, and with an odd spark of humor, that you get Martha's voice stuck in your head and you just want to keep reading till you find out what happens next. I devoured this book. I haven't read anything this avidly in a long time, and moments from it keep coming back to me.
Here was the only thing I wasn't fully satisfied with: the ending. I was way too invested in Martha to leave her hanging. I wanted to see SOME resolution--what happened to her mom, what about her school, was there ever a conclusion to her love for the cello? I also had expected a wrap-up to the "cloud factory" metaphor (which, by the way, was the original title)--that perhaps the cello is her own cloud factory, making beautiful things in an ugly, dirty world.
Here was the only thing I wasn't fully satisfied with: the ending. I was way too invested in Martha to leave her hanging. I wanted to see SOME resolution--what happened to her mom, what about her school, was there ever a conclusion to her love for the cello? I also had expected a wrap-up to the "cloud factory" metaphor (which, by the way, was the original title)--that perhaps the cello is her own cloud factory, making beautiful things in an ugly, dirty world.
January 18, 2010
the plot in this book is that Martha moves with her mom to a whole new life. Her mom mets a guy and now there dating. Martha has to go to a school full of black kids. So she is the outcast and everyone makes fun of her. They live in a building with a black family, but her mom's boyfriend doesn't want her hanging out with them. But Martha and Jeremiah have become good friends.(Jeremiah is the middle child of the back family.)
I can connect to this book becuase when Martha moved. And started going to a new school it's the same with me. When i got out of elemartary school and the first day. Of middle school i was really scared becuase i wasn't sure if i knew anybody. Who was going to that school but then when i went to school. I reliazed that i knew most of the people who were going to that school.
i gave this book 3 out of 5 stars becuase it was good. At some sence's it was really boring. I recommed this book to any one who likes reading books about people. Who are new to school's, or are outcast's in school. If you like those kids of books this would be a good book for you.
I can connect to this book becuase when Martha moved. And started going to a new school it's the same with me. When i got out of elemartary school and the first day. Of middle school i was really scared becuase i wasn't sure if i knew anybody. Who was going to that school but then when i went to school. I reliazed that i knew most of the people who were going to that school.
i gave this book 3 out of 5 stars becuase it was good. At some sence's it was really boring. I recommed this book to any one who likes reading books about people. Who are new to school's, or are outcast's in school. If you like those kids of books this would be a good book for you.
October 27, 2009
This is about a girl first named Martha living with her alcoholic mother and her boyfriend who abused her. Martha had so much of anger built up she decided she couldn't take it anymore and did some dangerous things at school to a girl who made her upset that weren't a good idea to do. She got caught and had to go to a foster home with her mom being in the hospital for overdose of drugs. she moved in with a family that she loves and refuges to go back to things before, she likes being in a normal family.
I can make a text to self connection to when she got mad and did somethings she shouldn't have done. She got to carried away and didn't know what else to do, she didn't think things over. Similar to a time I was frustrated and I didn't know what to do, I did it so fast I didn't know it would end up so wrong.
I rate this book a 4.5 because it was really good. It was jammed packed with things constantly happening. You never got bored and you always want to continue reading until you see what happens next.
I can make a text to self connection to when she got mad and did somethings she shouldn't have done. She got to carried away and didn't know what else to do, she didn't think things over. Similar to a time I was frustrated and I didn't know what to do, I did it so fast I didn't know it would end up so wrong.
I rate this book a 4.5 because it was really good. It was jammed packed with things constantly happening. You never got bored and you always want to continue reading until you see what happens next.
February 26, 2008
This one is a modern day Cinderella story - a girl from the wrong side of the tracks moves into a rich family's house on the other side of town and discovers that money doesn't necessarily equal happiness. Martha's alcoholic, drug addicted mom can barely care for herself - much less a strong willed teenager. Martha just wishes her mom would stop shacking up with deadbeat men and act like a real mother. The only thing good in Martha's life is her cello - she is a talented player despite the fact that she has to play on a rented instrument. She starts to think that music will be her way to a better life, until her cello is stolen. When a classmate threatens her life and Martha finally retaliates, she is sent to a foster home. But much as she would love to stay with the Brinkmans forever, that's not going to happen. Great book!
This is a first time author. Keep an eye out for more by her.
This is a first time author. Keep an eye out for more by her.
June 24, 2009
I read this while I was feeling really out of it and, well, I cried. Twice. In the morning while I was reading. It felt so real—Martha's voice, her troubles, her not wanting to reach out for help. So instead of letting her cry, I cried for her. I think that would have been okay with her. She's younger than I, 14, and has to hold the weight of her family, rather than supporting and being supported. It sucks, and she doesn't even get that it sucks. I mean... who would've believed? It was so sad. But in the end, so happy. Martha figured out how to reach out for help, something I personally struggle with all the time as well. And realized that she couldn't help her mother. Her mother couldn't help her. These are all things that she had to figure out in her own time, and I'm amazed that she was able to just survive. Flourish. And find something that she wanted to do with her life, something she was good at. It was heart-breaking and it was beautiful. A great book.
December 27, 2007
Martha Kowalski is beat down. Beat down by her mother's substance abuse and lousy choice of boyfriends, and beat down by the bullying of a girl at her new school, where Martha is one of the few white students. She lives in a run down apartment in a run down part of town, and her chances of escaping a life of poverty seem to have run out. But a series of events, including a drive-by shooting, actually creates a chance for Martha to remake herself in a new home and school. She changes her name, makes new friends, and connects with a boyfriend. But her past — and the lies she's told to cover it up and the lies told about her — catch up with Martha and beat her down again. This is a shattering look at girl living in poverty, surrounded by a swarm of violence and selfishness, who is resilient enough to rise up again and again after the beat downs.
September 23, 2009
This book is so well done. Jeannine Garsee has done a wonderful job of putting you in the mind of a troubled character. You are in Martha's mind so strongly that you understand the choices she makes and why she makes them.
You understand her outbursts, as mean as they are. Because Garsee has done such a terrific job of putting you into her mind, you understand them as defense mechanisms and only pain for her and hope that Martha will find a way to work through her pain.
There's just one thing wrong with this book - there's not enough of the story! I want more! I want to know what happens to Martha now! What do the Brinkmans do? Does she go to that school? I so want to know because Garsee made me care about this character!
Fantastic job!
This is another must read book for anyone! It has all the ups and downs of a real-life roller coaster! Just fabulous!
You understand her outbursts, as mean as they are. Because Garsee has done such a terrific job of putting you into her mind, you understand them as defense mechanisms and only pain for her and hope that Martha will find a way to work through her pain.
There's just one thing wrong with this book - there's not enough of the story! I want more! I want to know what happens to Martha now! What do the Brinkmans do? Does she go to that school? I so want to know because Garsee made me care about this character!
Fantastic job!
This is another must read book for anyone! It has all the ups and downs of a real-life roller coaster! Just fabulous!
January 18, 2010
This book is about a girl named Martha who has a troubled life. Her mom doesn't really care for her and has a no good boyfriend that they have to live with. Martha becomes friends with a boy next door and a girl in her school. But Martha gets into the wrong kind of trouble and she needs help. A wealthy lawyer allows her into his home and martha is really determined to play the cello. She doesn't know if this good life is going to last long.
A text-to-world connection with Martha is that a lot of girls get into really messed up situations and they don't know what to do. And they have so much built up anger like Martha and want to take it out on somebody.
I rate this book a five because it was really good and I liked it. It left me wanting to read more and more. I recommend this book to people who like stories about troubled teenaged girls.
A text-to-world connection with Martha is that a lot of girls get into really messed up situations and they don't know what to do. And they have so much built up anger like Martha and want to take it out on somebody.
I rate this book a five because it was really good and I liked it. It left me wanting to read more and more. I recommend this book to people who like stories about troubled teenaged girls.
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