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Ready For The World: Driver's Education
“When you’re a teenager, there’s nothing you dread more than the first day back to school.” But as a first-year sophomore in high school in 1986, 16-year-old Brandon Delacruz knows he’s the little fish in an ocean full of sharks and barracudas. So begins author Charmeljun Gallardo’s alluring story in the first book, Driver’s Education, in his Ready For the World four-book series which chronicles the love, laughter, heartache—and yes, sometimes, tragedy—that is the high school years, bookended in the middle of the 1980s.“Nothing summarized what high school life was like more succinctly than lunch. What you did in those forty minutes between fourth and fifth period defined your value as a person. If a high school day was a boxing match, then lunch was when everyone went to their corners. The headbangers were near the parking lot under their cloud of smoke. The marching band sat in the band room so they could practice. The cheerleaders and jocks sat together in the middle of the quad so they could be seen. And the geeks and nerds retreated to the library so they wouldn’t be.” Gallardo masterfully weaves a story that is timeless, bringing together elements of finding oneself, experiencing love and loss, and surviving the perils of being a teenager on the cusp of young adulthood. Mix in falling in love with your best friend and it’s a recipe for disaster, or at least an awkwardness that knows no bounds.“Being a couple in high school was like getting a backstage pass at a concert. There was an exclusive world that you became a part of that you wouldn’t have known about otherwise. When you’re in a relationship, you always had someone to walk with between classes. You always had someone else to sit with at lunch. You had a partner in group projects. Parties were more fun. The sappy love songs on the radio had deeper meanings to them. In other words, when you were part of a couple, high school was awesome. But if you weren’t...well, you were us.”Filled with nods to 80s nostalgia that will delight adult readers and give YA readers a pass to be amused at their parents’ era, Driver’s Education and its follow-up Superstar will strike a chord for anyone wanting to reminisce about, or commiserate in, the ups and downs, wonder and bittersweetness, that is the formative high school years.
202 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 10, 2020
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 25, 2020
Before I start with my review, I have to say I am a sucker for teenage stories. I just love them. Nothing like the friends that you make in your school life, those stupid talks with friends seems like the most mature thing in the world, and most importantly first love. Nothing can beat those butterflies in your stomach, realizing that someone is special for the first time and the inevitable heartbreak. The first heartbreak feels like actually something is bleeding inside you and the world has come to an end. This book talks about all theses and much more in the most convincing way possible.
The author is a Philippine descent who is born and brought up in the USA and the story is set up in 1986 when Brandon 15 years old. However, I am from another part of the world, a Bengali who spends her teenage in early 2000, yet I can totally relate to the story. At moments it seems like it is my story, like someone from different parts of the world, whom I have never met is talking about me. It gives a sense of familiarity and comforts me in my feeling “my teenage was awful”. I ride the same boat which Brandon and many other teenagers did and I am glad about that.
As for the characters are concerned:
Brandon: He is all of us in our teenage. He is funny, stupid, smart, thinks he knows everything and struggling with his feelings.
Josh: He is my favorite character; he deserves a whole book to himself. We all have a friend like him, who seems the clown on the outside and the smartest and maturest inside. He will show you a mirror in the most casual way possible.
Ally: She probably has the most challenging life among all. Live through a lot of curveballs at her yet she managers her way through. She is the most mature of all, yet vulnerable and at times lost.
Overall, I love both books and recommend everyone to read it.
Mr. Charmeljun Gallardo is a master of expressing the most complicated feeling in the simplest words possible. Personally I am glad I read this book.
The author is a Philippine descent who is born and brought up in the USA and the story is set up in 1986 when Brandon 15 years old. However, I am from another part of the world, a Bengali who spends her teenage in early 2000, yet I can totally relate to the story. At moments it seems like it is my story, like someone from different parts of the world, whom I have never met is talking about me. It gives a sense of familiarity and comforts me in my feeling “my teenage was awful”. I ride the same boat which Brandon and many other teenagers did and I am glad about that.
As for the characters are concerned:
Brandon: He is all of us in our teenage. He is funny, stupid, smart, thinks he knows everything and struggling with his feelings.
Josh: He is my favorite character; he deserves a whole book to himself. We all have a friend like him, who seems the clown on the outside and the smartest and maturest inside. He will show you a mirror in the most casual way possible.
Ally: She probably has the most challenging life among all. Live through a lot of curveballs at her yet she managers her way through. She is the most mature of all, yet vulnerable and at times lost.
Overall, I love both books and recommend everyone to read it.
Mr. Charmeljun Gallardo is a master of expressing the most complicated feeling in the simplest words possible. Personally I am glad I read this book.
August 15, 2020
Fun read
Ready for the world: Driver's education is written by charmeljun gallardo. It is the 1st part of Ready for the world book series.
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This is the story of a teenager guy, Brandon and how he fell for his best friend. This book also describes the fun he had with his friends, the Teenage life, the laziness and much more.
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It was a good read. I love the ending though. The story line is not really clear and could have been a bit more left full stop the language of the book it simple and easy to understand. If you are in teenager or in your early twenties, you will surely connect to this book, do pick it up.
Ready for the world: Driver's education is written by charmeljun gallardo. It is the 1st part of Ready for the world book series.
.
This is the story of a teenager guy, Brandon and how he fell for his best friend. This book also describes the fun he had with his friends, the Teenage life, the laziness and much more.
.
It was a good read. I love the ending though. The story line is not really clear and could have been a bit more left full stop the language of the book it simple and easy to understand. If you are in teenager or in your early twenties, you will surely connect to this book, do pick it up.
August 23, 2020
An interesting read
Simple language and a grest storyline. This is Brandon's story. How he survives sophomore year with all the problems and the pressure of getting good grades.
Simple language and a grest storyline. This is Brandon's story. How he survives sophomore year with all the problems and the pressure of getting good grades.
August 24, 2020
Ready for the World: Driver’s Education, written by Charmeljun Gallardo is set in the mid-1980s, and is about a boy Brandon who is entering his 10th grade.
Typical of children at that age, the book talks about Brandon and his friends driving to their school, finding themselves girlfriends and other such things that seem trivial to the adults but are important for youngsters. The book is simple and realistic and would appeal to young adults instantly.
Our protagonist, in his quest to find a girlfriend, realizes that he actually has feelings for his long-time friend Ally. He is completely confused as to how to handle the situation while risking his friendship with Ally. Life takes a turn when tragedy strikes Ally’s family.
The book is completely relatable, and anyone who would have gone to school can empathize well with the characters in the book. The feelings of the readers are well taken care of by the author, he has included humour as well as serious stuff in the book, and that makes it all the more realistic.
The book runs a normal pace and storyline, there are no unnecessary drama or plot twists that make the book unputdownable. However, every child who has undergone high school would be able to relate to it. The reader keeps going back to their school days and it is a wonderful trip down nostalgia lane.
The book is universally applicable and does not necessarily be tied to just the young adults. I found the book quite enjoyable and I am sure a lot of others who enjoy fiction would love reading it too.
Typical of children at that age, the book talks about Brandon and his friends driving to their school, finding themselves girlfriends and other such things that seem trivial to the adults but are important for youngsters. The book is simple and realistic and would appeal to young adults instantly.
Our protagonist, in his quest to find a girlfriend, realizes that he actually has feelings for his long-time friend Ally. He is completely confused as to how to handle the situation while risking his friendship with Ally. Life takes a turn when tragedy strikes Ally’s family.
The book is completely relatable, and anyone who would have gone to school can empathize well with the characters in the book. The feelings of the readers are well taken care of by the author, he has included humour as well as serious stuff in the book, and that makes it all the more realistic.
The book runs a normal pace and storyline, there are no unnecessary drama or plot twists that make the book unputdownable. However, every child who has undergone high school would be able to relate to it. The reader keeps going back to their school days and it is a wonderful trip down nostalgia lane.
The book is universally applicable and does not necessarily be tied to just the young adults. I found the book quite enjoyable and I am sure a lot of others who enjoy fiction would love reading it too.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews