The Thing You're Good At

by Lesley Choyce

Jake's friend Maria is the daughter of undocumented immigrants who have been living and working in the country for a long time. But the new government has implemented a crackdown. Maria's parents are detained and quickly sent out of the country. Maria, who was born here, decides to hide out in Jake's basement rather than risk becoming a ward of the state. But when she returns to her old apartment to retrieve her hidden birth certificate, Maria is abducted by young men on the lookout for teenage girls who have lost their parents to deportation. Jake is determined to rescue Maria before she's turned over to the authorities. Or worse.

Genres: Young Adult, Teen

192 pages, Paperback

Published August 28, 2018

About the author

Lesley Choyce is a novelist and poet living at Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia. He is the author of more than 80 books for adults, teens and children. He teaches in the English Department and Transition Year Program at Dalhousie University. He is a year-round surfer and founding member of the 1990s spoken word rock band, The SurfPoets. Choyce also runs Pottersfield Press, a small literary publishing house and hosted the national TV show, Off The Page, for many years. His books have been translated into Spanish, French, German and Danish and he has been awarded the Dartmouth Book Award and the Ann Connor Brimer Award.

Lesley Choyce was born in New Jersey in 1951 and moved to Canada in 1978 and became a citizen.

His YA novels concern things like skateboarding, surfing, racism, environmental issues, organ transplants, and rock bands.

Reviews

[Cassi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I personally found this book very boring, it seemed too fast passed at times yet I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

[Malik Salaam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three words I would use to describe my book would be adventure-filled, scary, and interesting.
I say adventure-filled becausee there was a lot of adventure in the book, from the beginning till the end. The reason I say scary was because it had moments were you thought something bad was about to happened. And the reason I say interesting is because the plot of the story was very well explained and wrote well.

[Jennifer Shanahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a super short book but it really packed a punch especially with all the immigration policies that have changed with our new president. Jake is a high school and lives with his younger brother and dad. They are poor and their life is not that great. He has a friend Maria whose parents are illegal even though she is not and was born in the US. Maria's parents get deported and Jake tries to help her as much as he can by seeking out a new teacher at school for advice and taking her into his home, until she suddenly disappears. He asks around and consults his brother in prison about where she might be and he discovers a human trafficking ring nearby. His dad and brother surprisingly step up and help Jake find and free Maria AND take her to the police station to tell them what happened to her. This book is really short and to the point--there is not much as far as character development or background, but I'll bet that this situation is very real especially now and the author is not far off in her description of how Maria's life changes when her parents are deported. Jake is an awesome friend to her and seems sweet. Thanks to NG for the ARC!!

[Hayley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really good and interesting but it was very short and because of that you didn't get a good developed connection with the characters like you would if this was a regular length novel. Some parts of the story seemed really rushed and there were a few parts that I wanted to know more about and get a deeper understanding however because of the length I didn't get that chance. There was so much happening in this story that I just wish it was a little bit longer. I did really like the premise of the story however its not something that I read about all of the time but it was really good and a very sad premise. This showed the fear and terror that our main character went through living in the country illegally and facing the fear of deportation. What made it so interesting was just knowing that this is a real thing that lots of people go through, the author really opened my eyes up to the terror that is behind it. Nice, quick read and while there were parts I wasn't to fond of I'm glad I got to read it.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jake's dad drinks and swears a lot but at least he is not violent. Jake's mom left the family years ago, his older brother Cole is in jail, and his younger brother Luke doesn't talk much; he just practices martial arts. Jake only has two friends: a girl named Maria who was born in the US but whose parents are undocumented and an older man named Oscar who seems to be homeless and spends all his time collecting bottles and cans to get the money from recycling them. Jake is just putting in time and not much effort until one day when Maria's parents are taken by the government to be deported. This propels him into action.
Swearing - but I'd still put in my middle school as is so very relevant these days. Hi-lo (Orca).

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

A compelling story with some interesting characters but this suffers from what many of these teen read Orca series books do - not fleshing out the characters enough and having far too many convenient plot devices.
Jake's friend is having immigrations issues? The new "cool" teacher just happens to have a friend who is an immigration lawyer AND who owes him a favour.
Need to take on some bad guys? Jake's younger brother just happens to know martial arts.
Your best friend is missing and you have no idea where she is?
Well, you get the idea.

Maybe I'm too much of a jaded adult to suspend my disbelief.

Full disclosure - I was given an ARC through my work

[Taylor (Books&Beanies) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Self-actualization, that's what Mr. Lotz is trying to teach Jake because he knows Jake is a good guy. Jake doesn't think he's good at anything until Maria tells him he's good at helping people. This comes in handy later in the story when Maria's parents are taken by the government and she has no place to go but to Jake for help.



This was a good story, but I gave it three stars because I felt like it didn't need to be so fast-paced. I feel like if it were stretched out more over a longer period of time it would have been better. I also feel like all the things that happened weren't really that realistic. BUT, before you say anything, I understand that girls/women get taken every day and bad things happen. I don't think how this story played out was super realistic. I did like the main character though and his loyalty to his family (even his hateful father) and his only two friends, Oscar and Maria. I would still recommend this book despite the things I didn't like about it.



Thank you NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[Amy McCay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most mature of writing styles, but the subjects of impoverished individuals, illegal immigration enforcement, and trafficking are painfully current despite the age of the publication. it easily reaches a younger reading audience to encourage empathy for immigrants, and we need more of that to be sure.

[Flesha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good story for a hi/low read. Jake is just going along with life until a teacher and a set of circumstances surrounding his best friend (who is undocumented) makes him have to reach inside himself and use what he finds to solve the problem.

[Khepre · Rating 1 out of 5]

A story with infinite detail. However, it lacks depth and complex plot that is unique in its own right.

[kerrycat · Rating 3 out of 5]

good hi/lo read, tackles several current issues in one story in a realistic manner

[Neo Hsueh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very easy book to read with happy ending, not bad to kill time.

[Heather Webster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but not a lot of substance.

[Beth Wyant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this quick read for reluctant readers more than I expected. Great story and positive message for teens. Will recommend this one to my students...especially those who need some encouragement.

[Rachel MsSpicey · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot is too dynamic for this 172 page book. Fast paced plot yet extremely boring.

[Jennifer Slemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense story line!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is interesting and there are interesting characters in it but the characters are not developed at all and some major plot point are glossed over. I would consider this more of a novella or companion book to something else but that something else doesn’t exist.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Kriz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the story and the way miss Lesley wrote the book.

My favorite thing was how I could identify with the main character being as he was incredibly loyal to a fault some would say and that's definitely something I know very well.

3 stars. ⭐⭐⭐

[Josh Newhouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kids will like it but it’s too many issues, too many suspensions of disbelief, and some bizarre acts and a lot of quickly resolved plot strings... I don’t think it’s a great book but I was curious to see how it all wrapped... I think it’s an important topic, but too many tangents and the dad ugggh!!!