Whatever

by Ann Walsh

Young Adult Fiction. Sixteen-year-old Darrah is in trouble. She lost her temper and, as a result, Mrs. Johnson, was hurt. Now the RCMP is demanding Darrah participate in something called "Restorative Justice." Darrah has to face Mrs. Johnson, her parents, a policewoman, and a "facilitator" who all sit in a circle and decide on Darrah's "sanctions." Sanctions aren't punishments, the facilitator tells her. At first Darrah doesn't believe this—helping Mrs. Johnson two afternoons a week feels like punishment. But then Darrah realizes that she likes helping the older woman, especially when Mrs. Johnson teaches Darrah how to cook and bake (her recipes are included in the book). It turns out, however, that Mrs. Johnson is hiding a secret—she is going blind. Along with Robin, Mrs. Johnson's grandson, Darrah discovers this secret, and the two become co-conspirators, hiding the older woman's failing sight from her family. When Mrs. Johnson dies suddenly, it turns out that she was hiding two the second one an aggressive, painful, incurable cancer. Darrah discovers an empty bottle of Mrs. Johnson's pain medication. Did the old woman choose to take her own life to escape the pain and die with dignity? And if she did, what should Darrah do about what she has discovered?

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published July 16, 2013

Reviews

[Norma Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Whatever," is 16-year-old, Darrah's comment about practically everything in her life at the moment. When she gets in trouble for setting off a fire alarm at the hospital and causing an injury to an elderly woman, she's arrested and participates in a 'Restorative Justice' session. One of the 'sanctions' is that she must help the elderly woman twice a week after school. Right from the beginning, this angry teen and the grumpy old woman hit it off. Mrs. Johnson teaches Darrah how to bake biscuits, cook stew and make a proper cup of tea. Also Mrs. Johnson has a devoted grandson who is Greek-god handsome and he and Darrah become co-conspirators in keeping Mrs. Johnson's secrets from the rest of the family who want to move her from her family home into a rest home.
The books is written in a lively manner with lots of believable action and dialogue as Darrah must deal with one crisis after another including her younger brother's frequent epileptic seizures. In the end, readers will be cheering Darrah on as she develops from a self-absorbed teen into a mature young woman who realizes that one must own up to, and accept the consequences of one's actions.
As a bonus, the book includes 11 recipes that Mrs. Johnson shared with Darrah, that may inspired young readers with their own culinary explorations. Highly recommended.

[Desiree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes the consequences of your actions reach farther than you would expect them to. This is a tough life lesson for Darrah after she pulls the fire alarm when at the hospital causing an elderly lady to break her leg. Reluctantly, Darrah agrees to participate in the Restorative Justice program instead of having to go through the formal court proceedings, and is assigned to care for Mrs. Johnson who she harmed. At first Darrah is disgruntled and feels that she didn’t do anything wrong. As she is forced to look at her inner feeling and the reasons behind her actions, Darrah acknowledges the feelings she has been hiding. Feeling scared for her younger brother, who is an epileptic. Feeling left out when the family doesn’t spent time together during dinner. A friendship soon develops between Darrah and Mrs. Johnson and the relationship between Darrah and her family begins to mend as she begins to cook family dinners for everyone. The life lessons that Darrah experiences with Mrs. Johnson will continue on after Mrs. Johnson passes away from a secret illness she was hiding from everyone.
Thought provoking, engaging and emotional, this book would be relatable to many teens. All teenagers, even those in stable homes like Darrah, experience feelings of anger, despair and frustration. Everyone makes mistakes, and then hopefully has to learn how to make amends for those mistakes. The characters in the book are relatable and bring the reader into the story. In addition, a few of the recipes that Darrah learned to cook from Mrs. Johnson are included in the book. A delightful, heart-warming book that would be sure to be a good read for many.

[Silvia80 · Rating 5 out of 5]

E' il grande giorno, la giovane Darrah potrà partecipare all'audizione teatrale per il ruolo principale. Ma a quel provino non parteciperà mai perchè il fratello minore ammalato di epilessia ha avuto un'altra convulsione e la madre l'ha portata con lei all'ospedale. Prova talmente tanta rabbia da non saper bene neanche lei cosa l'ha spinta a premere il pulsante dell'allarme antincendio. Quello che invece sa con certezza, è che una poliziotta la sta trattando come una criminale nel suo salotto. Se non vuole apparire di fronte alla corte del tribunale dovrà presenziare ad un circolo per ammettere la sua colpevolezza ed aiutare nei lavori domestici la signora anziana che si è rotta una gamba a causa sua. Con riluttanza non avendo altre possibilità accetta. Giorno dopo giorno Darrah deve assumersi le sue reponsabilità, affrontare questioni familiari, lottare con le proprie emozioni e scoprirà un importante segreto di Mrs Johnson. In poco diventerà una persona molto più matura in grado di cogliere gli aspetti della vita quotidiana che sembrano scontati.

[Clementine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darrah gets in trouble when she pulls the fire alarm at the hospital and an old lady got hurt. As punishment, Darrah is asked to sit through a restorative justice circle and accept the consequences of her actions. Those consequences end up meaning Darrah has to help Mrs. Johnson around the house two afternoons a week for the foreseeable future. It doesn’t take long for Darrah to realize she actually likes helping Mrs. Johnson, especially when it comes to what she’s learning about cooking and baking. The fact that Mrs. Johnson has a super cute grandson doesn’t hurt, either. But Mrs. Johnson is worse off than she first appears, and when she dies, Darrah is left to deal with the loss.

Ann Walsh’s well-meaning but ultimately heavy-handed novel has some interesting things going for it.

Read my full review here: http://earlynerdspecial.wordpress.com...

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t thrilled about the title or cover this book so I was skeptical about the quality when I started it. As it turns out there was more to the story than first appearances may have revealed. Being stressed about her brother’s illness and the impact that it has had on her life (including a lack of attention from her parents) Darrah makes an irresponsible mistake and must suffer the consequences of community service. She makes a friend and learns she has hidden talent. This is a sweet feel-good book about redemption and priorities. I’m not entirely sure I find the dialogue convincing, I feel like “whatever” is what adults hear as teen lingo but not really the way most teens actually communicate.

[Karyn Huenemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't say much here except that I liked WHATEVER so much when I reviewed it for Resource Links magazine, that I had to also review it separately for my own blog. It really expresses well the effectiveness of the Restorative Justice program for teens who are essentially good kids, but who may be angry, or hurt, or confused, and just slip up... The characters are well-constructed examples of the people who live around us. We really come to care for Darrah and empathize with the dilemmas life throws her way. In the end, we applaud (well, I at least applauded) the maturity of her decisions.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I didn't really care for this book, but as the book progressed I got really into the whole plot. I loved the bond Mrs. Johnson and Darrah formed. The cooking scenes really got me going, because I myself love cooking and can remember when I first learned how to, just like Darrah is. I am also an actor like Darrah is, and could really relate to the auditioning. I also have a fiend with epilepsy and know how horrible a condition is it. I just really enjoyed this book. Thanks VOYA!

[Rhiannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a quick and heartwarming book. If you're looking for something cozy and feel-good, this is the book for you! For anyone who likes action and suspense, this may not interest you. I enjoyed this book, and it was a nice break from some of the more intense and complicated books that I read before this. It may be more directed to younger teens or preteens as it's not very difficult literature-wise. However, an enjoyable read nonetheless.

[Sylvia McNicoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great testimony to the value of older people and younger people interacting. Darrah grows from her Restorative Justice consequence. So does her entire family. And so does the reader. Love the recipes in the back too.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this - it is a wonderful book for teens - sensitive and empowering!

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically the plot they show here on good reads tells then entire story. It's also a major spoiler

[Cristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for showing the healing power of Restorative Circles. I even have a basket with slippers for friends who come to visit, now!

[Amalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it! the relationship that develops between Darrah and Mrs. J. is deep and life changing. it allows us to explore some of the consequences of our societal lifestyle choices.

[Kate Howat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to think of this book in the beginning but I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it by the end. Very short but easy read.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have rated this 4 or 5 stars if it weren't for the ending. Mrs. Johnson commits suicide by taking too many pills because she has cancer. Nobody notices. Darrah finds out, thinks it's okay and doesn't tell anyone.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 - The writing often felt quite shallow, but I did become invested! Definitely liked it more as I went along.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ticked off at her mother while visiting someone in the hospital, Darrah pulls a fire alarm and runs away. Caught on security cameras, she's put in the restorative justice program, which means her punishment is helping out the elderly lady who was injured when Darrah pushed past her after setting off the alarm.

I quite liked this one, though I found it somewhat predictable--elderly mentors are the redshirts of YA angst fiction, after all. I liked the characters and the relationships, however, and the details of the settings and activities. I did question a couple of things; Darrah was apparently so gung ho for acting that she set off a fire alarm when her mother was against it (as I recall--been a while since I read this one), but it never gets mentioned again, even though her punishment meant giving up something she apparently cared for passionately. Second, I couldn't believe that Darrah had no contact with her friends at school or even mentioned them at all for the duration of the story--even if she didn't have a phone, she would have seen them at school and talked to them, no? Seemed odd, especially in this hyper-connected world. But overall, I enjoyed the book.