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Up Country
Carl knows he's playing with fire every time he fixes up a stolen car stereo to resell. But he needs the money; how else is he going to get away from his boozing mom and her endless parade of classy guys? Then one night his mother's drinking gets out of control and Carl's plan to get himself a decent life takes a nosedive. Sent to live with distant relatives far away from the life he has always known, Carl is faced with a decision: run away and stick with The Plan, or come up with a new one . . . fast. "A strong central character . . . a well-placed, believable plot."--School Library Journal, starred review. "Carl's . . . turnabout is convincing enough to sustain the story's power."--Booklist, starred review.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 2, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
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October 5, 2020This was a re-read, I love this book. For one thing, it's the story of being an Upholder child in a chaotic household.
December 30, 2011
This was one of my favorite books growing up. I loved the story and how this protagonist was transformed. It made me want to live in a small town.
December 21, 2025
Carl's mom is an alcoholic, his life constantly on edge. And he figures a life of crime--fixing stereos for a local theft ring--is the only shot he has of getting out.
Funny thing, though. His life doesn't work that way. Instead his mom winds up in court-mandated rehab and Carl winds up up north, with a bunch of relatives he hasn't seen in seven-to-eight years. Doesn't seem likely his beaver-trapping cousin, hot-lunch scooping aunt, and fall-asleep-in-the-truck uncle are gonna fix Carl's life.
But Carl has heck-all to say about it.
Up Country is a book I quite enjoyed when I first stumbled upon it, in middle school, I think. I read it multiple times during my initial The Outsiders/troubled-teen reading phase; but it's been a couple decades. Good news. It's well written.
The characters are well drawn. The punchlines are punchy. And it doesn't matter whether Carl's dreams of becoming an electrical engineer might today play out on slightly different technology. The problems he faces--those are legit. And the relationships he tries to blow up, including the one with the neighbor girl who makes her own taffy, those feel very real.
Funny thing, though. His life doesn't work that way. Instead his mom winds up in court-mandated rehab and Carl winds up up north, with a bunch of relatives he hasn't seen in seven-to-eight years. Doesn't seem likely his beaver-trapping cousin, hot-lunch scooping aunt, and fall-asleep-in-the-truck uncle are gonna fix Carl's life.
But Carl has heck-all to say about it.
Up Country is a book I quite enjoyed when I first stumbled upon it, in middle school, I think. I read it multiple times during my initial The Outsiders/troubled-teen reading phase; but it's been a couple decades. Good news. It's well written.
The characters are well drawn. The punchlines are punchy. And it doesn't matter whether Carl's dreams of becoming an electrical engineer might today play out on slightly different technology. The problems he faces--those are legit. And the relationships he tries to blow up, including the one with the neighbor girl who makes her own taffy, those feel very real.
October 27, 2018
I read this book so many times at an early teen. I still remember parts of it, like the pulling taffy. I haven't read it in years, so I'm not sure how it holds up.
April 3, 2022
This is very well written. Carl is a high schooler who has a lot of brains but a hard life growing up with an alcoholic mother who keeps bringing home “classy guys” and getting in trouble with the law. Carl has gotten himself involved in the stereo-stealing business too. But his mom has to go to rehab and Carl finds himself able to make a new start with his mom’s family in Blind River.
March 19, 2020
Very negative, unwholesome reading. After 12 pages and choosing random pages throughout, it was evident there would be no improvement. Received by the trash.
September 30, 2024
I have re-read this book countless times, but I still viscerally remember my first experience picking it up around the age of 12 or 13 (I’m in my 30s now, for context).
While the male protagonist, Carl’s, home life didn’t exactly reflect my own at the time, both the way he dealt with that trauma and how it infected his life was like looking in a mirror, and I just remember feeling absolutely gobsmacked that there could be someone who had such similar thoughts patterns and ways of coping as me (the “Ol Professor with ice in his veins” act, especially). What shook me more, though, and undeniably had a tremendous influence on my life in the years since, is how the book dealt with Carl’s reckoning — everything crumbled apart rapidly around him, but he still found the strength to endure.
There are many scenes that have stuck with me over the years, but probably the most prominent is one of the last ones, of him calmly cutting wood to make up for what he’s done and just reflecting on where he could go in the future - all the possibilities that have opened now that he’s not stuck in that horrid gunk of his previous life. I think that sums up this book’s greatest strength, which is its ability to hold up that light of hope and offer it to the young reader who is maybe consuming the story from a similarly dark place.
That’s not to say this book doesn’t have its flaws. Carl is no doubt quite the messy protagonist, and some of the things he thinks, says, and does, while understandable in the broader context, can make the reader feel off-put and icky at times, especially since he’s rarely if ever held accountable for these actions. The romance is very insta-lovey, and most of the side characters are terminally undeveloped.
And of course being a book for young adults, things do tend to veer on the side of “everything’s sunny” in the end. I think that is both a flaw and draw of this book in particular, since, while it’s good to be optimistic, it also kinda gives false impression that, with enough hard work and “doing the right thing,” your life will be tied up in a pretty, everyone in your family/life will just kinda accept you despite everything because underneath it all you’re a “gentle and kind person” bow that is simply (and a little devastatingly, to my younger self) unrealistic, to put it bluntly.
It is with my older eyes that I view these flaws with a more critical lens, but I still can’t help but still be captivated and pulled in by the magic of a remembrance of that first read through, of discovering that not only are there kids out there like me, but also the assurance that things won’t be this way forever, that I could figure a way out. And for a book as short and concise as this one to leave such an indelible mark on a young reader is something I think to be quite commendable, all in all.
While the male protagonist, Carl’s, home life didn’t exactly reflect my own at the time, both the way he dealt with that trauma and how it infected his life was like looking in a mirror, and I just remember feeling absolutely gobsmacked that there could be someone who had such similar thoughts patterns and ways of coping as me (the “Ol Professor with ice in his veins” act, especially). What shook me more, though, and undeniably had a tremendous influence on my life in the years since, is how the book dealt with Carl’s reckoning — everything crumbled apart rapidly around him, but he still found the strength to endure.
There are many scenes that have stuck with me over the years, but probably the most prominent is one of the last ones, of him calmly cutting wood to make up for what he’s done and just reflecting on where he could go in the future - all the possibilities that have opened now that he’s not stuck in that horrid gunk of his previous life. I think that sums up this book’s greatest strength, which is its ability to hold up that light of hope and offer it to the young reader who is maybe consuming the story from a similarly dark place.
That’s not to say this book doesn’t have its flaws. Carl is no doubt quite the messy protagonist, and some of the things he thinks, says, and does, while understandable in the broader context, can make the reader feel off-put and icky at times, especially since he’s rarely if ever held accountable for these actions. The romance is very insta-lovey, and most of the side characters are terminally undeveloped.
And of course being a book for young adults, things do tend to veer on the side of “everything’s sunny” in the end. I think that is both a flaw and draw of this book in particular, since, while it’s good to be optimistic, it also kinda gives false impression that, with enough hard work and “doing the right thing,” your life will be tied up in a pretty, everyone in your family/life will just kinda accept you despite everything because underneath it all you’re a “gentle and kind person” bow that is simply (and a little devastatingly, to my younger self) unrealistic, to put it bluntly.
It is with my older eyes that I view these flaws with a more critical lens, but I still can’t help but still be captivated and pulled in by the magic of a remembrance of that first read through, of discovering that not only are there kids out there like me, but also the assurance that things won’t be this way forever, that I could figure a way out. And for a book as short and concise as this one to leave such an indelible mark on a young reader is something I think to be quite commendable, all in all.
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November 2, 2009this book is about a boy named carel. hes lving a terrible life, his mother is a alcholic. one night his mom gets into a bar fight and smashes a bottle to her boyfriends head. he got 60 something stiches. she tried to run off and she bumped into cops, then she kicked a cop in his private spot and tried to escape and got arrested. carl was in his basement fixing up stolen radios because thats his job. then cops came to his house and where talking about his mom and what she did and what charges she is being charged with. and her bail. he goes to the job spot the next morning. its not really a jobits more of a big bum lot with lots of problems. so they steel radios from cars in parking lots and then they fix them up and make then nice and actually worth some money. they sell so many of them until they have enough money to bail her out, when they bail her out theres prblems because then they owe the jail spot extra money and thts not good so they run in spots hiding here and there making there life like a sercret one until they rob a corner store and they all get arrested but then they end up sneaking out, and running for it and theres was there life.
i cant connect my life to this but i can connect it to the world, because there are robbers here and there and people are in jail now and having a terrible life, my dad had to bail my uncle out of jail it wa slike a 350,000 dollor bail, first it was 80,000 then it was like trippled. because they saw tht my dad had money and the courts just want to take the people money. so they took his money.
i give this book a 5 stars because it was amaing and not boring. i didnt want to put it down because whenever i was in the car i was bored so then i read a book. i reccomend this book to kids who wana read a good book and who are a level y
i cant connect my life to this but i can connect it to the world, because there are robbers here and there and people are in jail now and having a terrible life, my dad had to bail my uncle out of jail it wa slike a 350,000 dollor bail, first it was 80,000 then it was like trippled. because they saw tht my dad had money and the courts just want to take the people money. so they took his money.
i give this book a 5 stars because it was amaing and not boring. i didnt want to put it down because whenever i was in the car i was bored so then i read a book. i reccomend this book to kids who wana read a good book and who are a level y
May 3, 2014
After reading Up Country by Alden R. Carter, the author makes the reader come back to read more. The book starts off with two cops in Carl’s basement. Carl is the main character. Carl’s mom is always drinking and getting in trouble. She can’t go to jail because she has Carl at home. Carl has a job it’s stealing car stereo’s and selling them. Carl has 3 guy’s that work for him and help him steal the stereo’s, there names are Dave, Steve, and Charlie. They can get the stereo’s out of the car’s in less than 15 minutes. They use a big screwdriver, then a pry bar, then a hammer and they wedge it out of the dashboard.
Carl’s mom doesn't work, she sometimes has job’s to do, but very little. Later in the book Carl leaves town and heads East. He stops in a little town called Blind River, the town doesn't have much, but it survives. Carl meets a guy named Cliff. Cliff teaches Carl many thing’s from how to paint and use a paintbrush to help out with other people. But Carl still works on stereo’s and he works on so many of them, he wants to keep stealing stereo’s and selling them to make money for college.
Carl has the best week of his life because he was stealing so many thing’s with his friend Signa. Carl would come home after school and do his chores, then inhale is dinner and go back out with Signa. But it had to stop. Carl took a bus up country. He did a lot of thinking when he was on the bus. He went back home and stayed with his family. He helped out his uncle with the animals and did some work.
After reading this book, I thought it was a book written by an author that has done experience with some of the event’s that were happening in the book. It made me look back and make me know that I should be happy with what I have. I think people that like reading adventure books and read teen books should read this one too.
Carl’s mom doesn't work, she sometimes has job’s to do, but very little. Later in the book Carl leaves town and heads East. He stops in a little town called Blind River, the town doesn't have much, but it survives. Carl meets a guy named Cliff. Cliff teaches Carl many thing’s from how to paint and use a paintbrush to help out with other people. But Carl still works on stereo’s and he works on so many of them, he wants to keep stealing stereo’s and selling them to make money for college.
Carl has the best week of his life because he was stealing so many thing’s with his friend Signa. Carl would come home after school and do his chores, then inhale is dinner and go back out with Signa. But it had to stop. Carl took a bus up country. He did a lot of thinking when he was on the bus. He went back home and stayed with his family. He helped out his uncle with the animals and did some work.
After reading this book, I thought it was a book written by an author that has done experience with some of the event’s that were happening in the book. It made me look back and make me know that I should be happy with what I have. I think people that like reading adventure books and read teen books should read this one too.
June 6, 2010
This book Up Country is about a boy named carl who steals radios and then sells them to people on the street. he does this because his mom is a drunk and she usually doesnt give him money for anything. Carl expieriences alot of difficulties during his life throughout this book. The book Up country reminds me of a book called Rule of Bone. I say that because in both of these books the kids in them have terrible relationships with there mom's so they decide to live somewhere else to see if there life goes better. That is a text to text connection. I rate this book a 3 stars because it wasnt alot of action in it like Rule of Bone it just talked about Carl's bad life. I recomend this book to anyone who likes stories about kids running away.
September 25, 2014
i thought that this book would be good for any one around the age of 14 to 18. because it hits allot of key points of things that kids that age go threw. like parents being bad, thinking about good grades and relationships also it hits on young crime and how it never pays off. this book is even good for adults. it shows what a kid may act like in a situation like this over all i think that this book gets you hooked on the main characters life and it really makes you want to try to predict and guess what is going to happen next and than it takes a plot twist and its got you guessing again. over all this book is a 5/5 very good flow and information was clear and well said. have fun reading this i hope this helped.
October 23, 2009
This book was super! If you enjoy a book full of four letter words pick this one! The plot was quite good. The main character whose name is Carl is in business with other friends fixing stolen radios. His mother who is really not a big deal to him. Says out of the house and uses all their money on alcohol. She killed someone and now Carl has to play the price by leaving home while his mother is off a hospital for alcoholics. While away he meets his cousin who lives on a farm. Carl has many adventures while beening away. This book is good and I strongly recommend it!
November 25, 2025
One of my favorite books of all time, and possibly the first book I ever loved, in retrospect. At the time in middle school I didn't appreciate how this would stick with me, but in my late 30's here we are. Which is odd, because I have almost nothing in common with the characters. Whatever the reason, I continue to find this young adult story compelling to read through. His eventual love interest with the local farm girl is the first relationship I can remember being invested in in a story. If you are or know a young adult who fashions themself an outsider they might also love this.
November 3, 2008
I appreciated this book and plan to recommend it to several of my male middle-school students. I found the main character, a male, to be believable. The story depicts the harsh reality of growing up with an alcoholic parent. However, through the course of the story, the reader finds hope. There is hope for the alcoholic mother, hope for her son, hope for their relatives who are learning to reach out and love in healthy ways, hope that the system can serve minors well...
January 21, 2012
This was a required summer reading for school. I'm so glad I discovered this book. A young boy with a troubled heartless mother moved up north to spend some time with a hill billy family he never really knew. Something about this book got hold of me and calls me to read over again. Nice coming of age story.
January 27, 2011
Here's another one that I'm surprised I've never rated before. It's a quiet, emotional book that was one of my favorites as a new YA librarian in the early 90's. I don't think I was ever successful at writing a really good booktalk for it, though. Maybe 4 1/2 stars, but I'm so fond of the memory of it that I'm rounding up. I like the 2004 cover.
October 3, 2011
I gave this book 4 stars because It was about a boy that went away from the cops and had some fighting in it. I didn't like the book Because the book was a little to long and didn't have alot of exitement towards the end but at the beggining of the book. Other than that I liked it otherwise.
June 26, 2014
YA book. Starts out really interesting,but then it falls into the corny trap. Feels like the author hasn't been around enough teenagers-reads more like an adult trying to remember what it was like to be a teen.
October 26, 2015
I think this book was a good book. It didn't really interest me all that much. But I would defiantly recommend it to people. Sometimes it just left me reading details and nothing was really happening and i would get bored.
February 5, 2008
My grandma was involved in the school system and once she mass-ordered left over books from the Scholastic Readers program. This was one of those books, and I liked it so much I kept it.
September 28, 2009
A story about a good kid making bad decisions. Good book, a little hard to get into at first but well worth the read.
August 9, 2011
The moral of this book? It is the kid's fault when his parent turns into a raving alcoholic who tries to get said kid arrested. Kid should be ashamed of himself for being born.
July 3, 2013
This was one of my favorite books when I was in middle school. I need to read it again. Growing up in a small town, it really clicked with me. I loved watching the growth of the main character.
December 2, 2015
it is good
April 13, 2017
It was nice revisiting this book from my youth.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews