Deadly Drive

by David Patneaude

Nine years ago, a hit-and-run driver killed Casey's mother. Casey swears revenge if she ever finds out the driver's identity. Every year Casey receives an anonymous envelope full of money. Is it blood money--from her mother's killer?

Genres: Young Adult

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

David Patneaude began writing seriously (more or less) in the 1980s. His first novel, SOMEONE WAS WATCHING, was published in 1993. His books have been named to dozens of state young readers' lists and honored by the New York Public Library, the Society of School Librarians International, the Winnetka (Illinois) Public Library's "One Book, Two Villages" program, and the Washington State Public Library. His latest was EPITAPH ROAD, a recent nominee for the Nebraska Golden Sower Book Award. But on June 1, 2018, his newest YA novel, FAST BACKWARD, launches. Check it out! When he's not in a coffee shop writing, or at a school or library or conference discussing writing, or out on the trail thinking about writing, he's home in Woodinville, Washington, with his wife Judy, a middle school librarian.

Reviews

[Lachelle Opp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book! It was fun and adventurous! This book was about a girl, Casey, whose mother died nine years ago by a drunk driver. She was in the car too and her arm got shattered, but she survived. Since then Casey has received hundreds of dollars the day the car accident happened, and when her mother died. Casey and her dad don't know who is sending the money. Nine years later, Casey was in basketball and track with her best friend Lisa. One day a family came and moved into the neighborhood. The family had a daughter named Amanda. And so one day Casey was outside playing basketball and Amanda came over, and they were talking for awhile and became good friends. Casey found out that Amanda was a pro at basketball. So she was hanging out with Amanda more than her best friend Lisa for awhile. Lisa started thinking that she was becoming the third wheel. She felt like she never got to hang out with Casey as much as she used too. So Casey and Lisa got into numerous fights about the same thing.

Then one day Amanda's dad, Duncan, came over and notice Casey playing basketball, he was really impressed and decided that she should come to Amanda's basketball practice. Amanda's basketball team was really really good, Duncan thought that Casey could have a chance. One day at practice, Casey was called over to talk with Duncan about her shooting and dribbling. She noticed Duncan starring at her arm. Then he realized what the problem was.

Meanwhile Casey notice a man go over to Meghan's house, Meghan is her aunt. And this guy was very suspicious. One day Casey came over to Meghan's house to work on some homework on her computer, Megan wasn't home at the time. While Casey was on the computer, she saw an email that said "our girls" And so Casey started wondering what that email meant. She decided to look. And she couldn't believe what she saw. She was so shocked that she almost passed out. But your just gonna have to read the rest to find out what happened.

[Mario Saucedo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who should read this book?
I think that this book is good for any type of person it teaches you a valuable lesson.

Which character from your book would you like to meet in real life?Why?
If I could meet a character in real life in the book it would be Casey because I would want to ask her how difficult it was to overcome those problems.

What is one of the main conflicts/problems in the book?How did it get resolved?One of the main conflicts in the book is that the girl Casey is trying to figure out who ran over her mom and why is there a lot of clues of her father knowing.

What did you learn about people or the world from this book?
I learned in the book that things don't always go as planned in the world and can go wrong quickly.

If you could ask the author one question about this book,what would it be and why?
I would ask that him that why did this all end up to be a happy ending if there was a lot of disasters stuff.

[Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Casey Wilde determined to find who killed her mother in a hit and run car accident. At this point, she will do anything to find out. David Patneaude was really expressing how she felt about her mother and described every move she made and how she seemed upset. Casey is an amazing basketball player and wants to make a better team. The coach of the team she wants to make is her new neighbor. Casey worked very hard and succeeded in two ways. The first one was she found the person who killed her mother and two she beat The Nightingales and her team went to Iowa. The reason she wanted to go to Iowa so bad was because that is where her mom went. The lesson of this story was work hard and you will succeed.
I enjoyed this book because it was there was a lot going on but not too much and the author made you feel like you were in the story. I think that people who enjoy basketball would like to read this book because most of the book is about basketball and if you don't understand the rules and positions of basketball it will be kind of hard to understand the book. If you a looking for a great book I recommend this one.

[Mackenzie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished reading the book Deadly Drive by David Patneaude. This was a very good book it was'nt one of my favorites but I still enjoyed reading it! My favorite character was Casey because she is just like me, she is on a successful basketball team and is trying to uncover a HUGE mystery!
The book is about Casey who lost her mom almost nine years ago in a hit and run car accident. Casey recieves a valuble gift every year on the anniversary of the trajic accident. Could the person who killed her mom care about Casey? She has spent years trying to uncover such a trajic mystery. Mean while her frined Megan has been snooping around and won't tell her whats going on. She searches for clues but still nothing and in between all this she has her basketball career going on. One day all the answers and pieces fall into place. I think you should read this book if you enjoy playing or watching basketball and LOVE mystery books!

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little mystery/sports book. While the solution to the "mystery" becomes painfully obvious pretty early on, the sports aspect is well done, particularly in the descriptions of the basketball games. Also nice for this age group in that the author didn't feel oblidged to include a romance for the main character. This makes the book more universally appealing; even though the main character is a girl I think both genders would enjoy this book.

[Emma Engel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I have learned from this book is that if somebody is trying to be nice to you then they did something that they shouldn't have done.



Also my review from this book is 99% amazing because at first I was confused but when I read on to chapter 2 I wasn't sure about the first chapter because it was confusing so I thought that if I just read the next chapter then it would be good and then I understound the rest of the book.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I love basketball, so I could connect with the main character. It is somewhat suspenseful, so it kept me turning the pages. I read this book aloud to my students and they loved it...especially the basketball players.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is tied with my 1st place book

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Laney · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a character named Lainey in this book - hmmm...I met David Patneaude several years ago...

[Katie-Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not one of my favorites. yet in a way it was good.

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really sad, but good. I love the ending.

[Andrew K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I THINK IT'S AN OK BOOK, BUT IT'S MOSTLY A GIRLS' BOOK. SO I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND IT FOR GUYS.

[Katie]

sounds good...