Stolen Car

by Patrick Jones

Danielle is drawn to Reid, the quintessential "bad boy." Even though she should learn from her mother's poor taste in men, she can't seem to shake her strong feelings for him. As she gets caught up in Reid's lifestyle, Danielle turns a blind eye to his lies, and is soon in way over her head. But her BFF Ashley is determined not to let Danielle become the road kill on Reid's joy ride through life. Once she forces Dani to see through Reid's deception, they take off on a revenge-injected road trip that starts with a stolen car and ends with some harsh truths. Patrick Jones takes readers for a ride in this dynamic story about good friends, bad boys, and fast cars.

Genres: Young Adult, Teen

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 14, 2008

About the author

Patrick Jones is the author of five realistic teen novels, most recently Stolen Car((Walker / Bloomsbury, 2008). His first young adult novel Things Change (Walker & Company, 2004) was named by the Young Adult Library Services Association as a best book for reluctant readers, and was runner-up in the Teen Buckeye Book Award selected by Ohio teens. His second novel Nailed was published by Walker / Bloomsbury in spring 2006 and was a runner-up for the Great Lake Book Award. His 2007 novel, Chasing Tail Lights, is nominated for the Minnesota Books Awards. His most recent (and last) professional publication is Connecting with Reluctant Readers (Neal-Schuman, 2006). In 2006, he won lifetime achievement awards from both the Catholic Library Association, and the American Library Association. Jones is a frequent speaker at library conferences, having visited all fifty states, as well as in Canada, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. Jones grew up in Flint, Michigan, but now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Read more at his web page www.connectingya.com, including FAQs about Things Change and Nailed (perfect for book reports!). NOTE: After a bruising experience with another author, he's limited his reviews on Good Reads to only raves as not to disturb the "fellowship" of YA writers.

Reviews

[Brandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

[Mine's the SLJ review posted on the Barnes & Noble page for this book.]

[Jake Kane]

When i first started to read this book, i really couldnt follow along. It just didnt grasp my attention at first, but as i read further, it got really interersting. Danielle is a girl whose life consists of a argumentive mother, her boyfriend, and cigarettes. Everyday in her humble trailer consists of arguments between Carl(moms BF) and her mother.

Later on in the story, Danielle starts to get into this boy named Ried's life. He used to be the cause of her torture,but now he is the cause of her affections. This story is packed full of sex, alcohol, and the usual cuss word. If you can get passed the slow beginning, you will be happy that you continued to read this awesome story.

Id reccomend this book to someone around there teenage years of even adult years. It gives you a great view of teenage life for a young girl.
That is my review.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I can say is Wow! I've read all of Patrick Jones' books, and each time I think the current book is better than the last. This one is definitely his best by far. Everyone knows someone like Danielle and he makes it easy for us to see why she falls for "bad boy" Reid and makes the decisions she does. The ending was awesome, I wanted to cheer out loud.

If this isn't on your To Read list, it should be!

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best PJ book yet. His writing has really grown and this book reads like silk. I know this girl. I could have been this girl. The thing about all of Patrick's books is that they have real live people in them. That's what I like about them and that's what all of my students find so attractive about them. I am so glad that Patrick is writing more books for my kids and that they are coming out a little faster than that first one :)

[Kyle Mcgilvery · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Stolen Car is about a girl named Danielle. She is a bit of an out cast. She later falls in love with Reid, an old more popular kid. The best part about this book is that the main characters go to the same school a me, Carman Ainsworth. Therefore the setting is places that I have been in person so it was cool to imagen the book in my head. The author also does a very nice job of making the actions and way the teens talk similar to real life.

[Sana · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh, didn't like any of the characters, HATED the stupid decisions they made, the best friend was a cliche machine, etc etc. didn't finish it.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only thing I didn't like about the book was one character's repeated one-word dialog in conversations with another lead character. Realistic fiction at its best.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has been really good so far. It has great storytelling. It also sets a good picture. The only thing I don’t like is the writing can be confusing at times but that could just be me.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love it

[Tonner B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just got done reading the book Stolen Car by Patrick Jones. There were alot of events that took place in this story and there was one main plot line. At the beginning of the story things are just going normal for the main character Danielle. Then conflicts start to happen and the rising action starts to build. She meets a guy named Reid who is a druggy but she just sees the world of him. Danielle's friends and family don't feel the same for Reid though and that is where the main conflict is in the story. Things go good between Danielle and Reid until Reid does something to ruin their relationship. The main theme of the story to is just because someone looks and acts good on the outside, doesn't mean that they are good on the inside.
I thought that this book over all was fairly good book but it wasn't what I expected it to be. I thought it was going to be more of a guy book from the title of it. It turned out to actually be more about a girl and her problems with family and friends over a guy that she was dating. If you put that aside though, you could get alot of good points out of this books. It had alot of good points of what not to do in life and who not to be in life. So if you look at it from that stand point and put the characters aside, I would say that people should read it just for that reason.
Stolen Car takes place in the town of Flint Michigan and at the end of the book it takes place in Tawas Michigan. This connects to the real world because these are real towns and places. I would say that it also connects to the real world because drugs do exist in this world and situations that happened to Danielle in the book happen in real life. Danielle comes from a poor family too so that doesn't help with the drug issue either. If I had to pick an age group of people who should read this book I would probably pick teenagers because of the lessons in the book. If I had to, I would probably read the book again but it wouldn't be my first choice of a book again.

[Kathlyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing is normal in Flint, Michigan anymore. Danielle Griffinis fifteen, almost turned sixteen and is trying to survive the summer before her junior year. Everything is the usual, especially her mom who goes from one abusive relationship to anoth abusive relationship to another and so on. Her summer is turned upiside-down when Danielle meets Reid, the bad boy that she once had a crush on a couple years ago. When Danielle falls into his arms, she finally thinks her life is perfect and safe, but she is too naive. Danielle just wants to know what love is and wants to find someone who loves her more than her family and her best friend Ashley does. Danielle needs to learn which group is wiser to choose: Reid and his "potential" friends or Ashley and her family.

In some way, anyone who reads "Stolen Car" can relate to a character at one point or another. The book is well-written and has very good details. This book seemed like a fast read to me. I could picture every character the way he described them. I thought that it was a good story-line since some families go through the "we don't have the best life, but we still have a lot of love to go around and we can't leave anyone outside during the storm" type of scenario. "Stolen Car" shares a story of love, loss, hate, and friendship, and hooks you into the book.

This book overall was very good and I can't wait to read another book by Patrick Jones.

[Krista Aman-widgren · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book really bothered me. First of all, the cover art is all wrong. The red car that was featured in this novel was a Dodge Viper, not a Ferrari like the cover shows. And Danielle rails on her mom for having a "loser" boyfriend, when she ends up with Reid, who is exactly like Carl. She says does not want to be like her mom, but she acts just like her. And why did she get away with getting rid of the Viper by giving it to Vic? There is no moral lesson in this book, other than "If you do bad stuff, don't get caught." There is also way too much profanity. I only finished this book because I wanted to see how it ends, and wish I had not wasted my time.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must read for my students. I saw so many of my students that have low self esteem in the main character. I loved the fact that the book doesn't really come together until the last couple of chapters. AS a teacher, I often wonder why some of my students choose the special someones that they do. I understand after reading this book. Patrick Jones doesn't sugar coat anything and I think that is why students identify with his books so easily.

[Johniskevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rated X! This books swears almost twice a page and it has a lot of sex in it and drugs and beer. But it has a very good moral and story line. It is very entertaining.

The main character is having problems with boys and when she finds a guy that she likes that is "BA" then her friends start getting mad at her. But later she will find out more things about her friends that she never could have predicted.

7.5/10

[Christian Giardina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the book "Stolen Car" written by Patrick Jones.I think "Stolen Car" may be a adventure novel. Daniel is a teen who has been taken over her crush Reid and Ashley and Evan must bring her back. Daniel must be stopped before she gets into even more trouble then what she is already in. I have rated this book two stars because of its false language.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the most amazing book i have read. The beginning kept ahold of me while i was reading. I could not put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone. It shows that sometimes you need to see someone for who they are, not just who you want them to be.

[Cole Eckholm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stolen Car is a great book involving a girl that likes a guy and she thinks they're in love but the guy just fakes it. This book is a great book to read, especially for those slow readers because it goes by so fast. All in all, it is an awesome book.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good YA title. Written by a coworker in ACL.

[Hunter H · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is good but not great i like the book but if your a little kid just saying there's a lot of swearing