Ricochet

by Julie Gonzalez

A bully.

A gun.

A dare.

A friendship ripped apart.

An instant in which Connor Kaeden's life changes forever. . . .

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published April 10, 2007

Reviews

[Garland Spivey]

The character Will is such a bully! But he got what he deserved by being put in jail. He pressured all his friends (Ryan,Daniel,and Connor) in to playing the game russian roulet. He finally got Connor and Ryan to take a turn, but he thought Daniel was to chicken (which he was). Then Will decided to make daniel take his turn by pointing the gun at him and pulling the trigger. Now he is being tried as an adult and he is going to be charged with first degree murder.
I can't wait to see what happens next!

[Sandra McLeod · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very insightful novel about the ramifications of peer pressure and how a young man deals with the aftermath of a major personal tragedy. Perhaps Will, the "villain" of the piece, could have been less stereotypical and a bit more likable, but I found Conner's journey following the tragedy to be very realistic for the most part. I particularly liked the role of music in his life and the fact that he was able to work through some of his feelings of guilt, remorse, grief, anger, etc. by creating his musical composition--"Ladder of Glass." The book will get the reader thinking about some very difficult questions.

[Kurt Trendle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not really a plot. The excerpts on Quiksilver, the dragon, was weird.

[Devon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ricochet was a overall very suspenseful and very compelling read. The book had a good way of going back and fourth between the present and the past but only for short periods of time. The story is told by the narrator and main character Connor Kaeden. Connor tells the story of how he watched his best friend Daniel die while playing Russian roulette. When nobody dies when playing Russian roulette, Will the person who brought the gun changes the game up a little. This leads to a game called idiot roulette where Daniel is shot and killed by Will. Daniel is then taken to interrogation with his friend Ryan who also played Russian roulette and both are put on probation for assisting in a incidentally murder. Connor then talks about how his relationship with his brothers grew through this experience and how he had to grow up more. I personally thouth this was a great book. I give it a five out of five stars.

[Brandonf]

The Blast of a gun is powerful , but the force it takes to pull the trigger is harder to bare. Even if you pulled the trigger or not , you are to blame for owning a gun , and the consequences an repercussion are all on you. A young man named Will and Three young boy’s choose to go on top of the roof with a loaded gun , and dares them to play ‘idiot’s roulette but insead of pointing the gun at your head they are pointing it at the neighbor head. A game in when you put one bullet with any revolver , twist the chamber to see who life would be taken first , this activity was found by the Russians.

Will has found his way in jail but he could care less , thats just how he is . Will was charged with murder .But when someone let them encourage someone to get their lifetaken away , beause of a crazy young boy wanted to kill his self is crazy. Conner the accessory to the crime , life changed when he and his friends was egged on to play the silly game. A stolen Gun and a game cause the death of 15 - year old daniel .

The story is told by , Conner is now on probation for the death of his friend , people know about how Conner feels aboust his best friend Daniel . Will on the other hand , this has affected his hole life , from friends at school to family or siblings , and daniels mother. The story is told by flashbacks of childood were no one predicted that such a horrific outcome would turn out for good kids. The reader would be drawn into sence of horror Conner must face , everyday of his life.

The autor did a good job gettting inside the heads of these young boy’s making them see how affective peer pressure is . Showing them that even if someone tells you to something , its your choice and you have a say so. The thing that gets to me is that this book relates to me because i had the bestfriend the died from playing with guns and i really understand how his friends and family felt. Its a sad feeling that Conner has to deal with.



Dealing with the local bully , has found Connor life affected it all types of ways. His parents question his every move , they dont really trust him by himself , his younger brother dont even look at him. His older brother suddently starts putting him in late-night adventures. His bestfriends mom hugs him and always tell him to vist anytime . He has to deal with the affects everyday of his life.

The main idea of this tragic book is that peer pressure is a big thing . Never let anybody tell you what to do . They followed a bully orders and look were it got them . One in jail , and the others have to deal with the memories of what happend. You would think this book is’nt good because of the plain orange color , but to me its one of the best book i’ve read befor . Its a re

[Julius]

Connor’s best friend throughout all of his life is Daniel, but as they grow older they start to see each other less and less. Daniel was starting to hang out with Will a weird kid who Connor doesn’t like at all. One day Will asks everyone to meet him at this abandoned warehouse. When they go there Will had a gun and wanted to play a dangerous game called Russian roulette. Everyone was safe until Will changed the game. He pointed the gun at Daniel, fired and the bullet hit Daniel in the head. Everyone watched in horror as Daniel fell. Everyone ran.
The cops investigated the scene the next day and eventually they charged Will with 1st degree murder. Everyone else was put on probation, including Connor. Connor started hanging out with his older brother and saw what he would do at night, Drag racing. Connor was scared at first but got over it. His parents would always wonder where they would go at night, and eventually figured it out because one day Connor’s brother got into a crash. They had to do all this paper work to fix the car and took away the keys from Connor’s brother. Luckily Connors brother wasn’t hurt.
Connor started hanging out with Stewart a kid from orchestra. Stewart was like Connor’s new best friend. Connor thought of him as a new Daniel and saw that Stewart knew what he was going through because he experienced a family death. As his relationship grew stronger with Stewart it grew less with his family. He started talking less with them, he grew more mysterious.
One day, Connor was accused of stealing tools from the garden he worked at. His boss said he would report him and Connor would go to jail because he was on probation. Connor was scared. The boss never reported him because over a weeks time the cops investigated the evidence and they found out it really wasn’t him. It was another employee who worked there. The boss felt very sorry and gave Connor a raise. Connor helped pay for the funeral for Daniel with the extra cash, and Daniel’s mother was very appreciative.
At the end of the book Connor couldn’t help it. He opened up his feelings about Daniel with his family and felt a lot better. He explained that he thought it was his fault Daniel died because he felt he could have saved him by pushing Will or taking the gun away. He started getting less mysterious and more social. He still had the job and got a raise. He stopped getting mysterious with his family because he expressed his feelings towards life more. He would always go to Daniel’s mother’s house to talk about Daniel. He started to learn to play guitar with Stewart, and he never forgot Daniel.

[Michael McKinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book ricochet is about Connor,15 years old and forced into a game that turns deadly.He is pressured into playing a game of russian roulette called " Idiots roulette" where instead of pointing at yourself you point the gun at your neighbor and pull the trigger.

While playing the game it turns bad when one boy named Will shoots and kills Daniel , who is best friends with Connor . Connor is haunted by nightmares after this event takes place.He copes with the pain by going to violin class,working and driving his brothers car.He wakes up i night sweats at night with the feeling of guilt.

Will was charged with murder and not to mention that the gun was stolen.Another boy and Connor was charged as accessories in the investigation.He can never get past this tragic time because of his flashbacks of him and Daniels childhood.His friends try to distract him from what happened but it doesn't work.He occupies himself but yet is still haunted by his decision.He is working towards self-knowledge and self-forgiveness.His family helps him come to terms with the tragedy.

Everyone of his relationships with people have been affected.His parents are cautious of his every move and questions everything he does.He has a younger brother who is so scared of him now that he wont look at him now.His best friends mother hugs him every time she sees him and tells him to visit sometimes.When he looks at his friends mom he wishes he had done something to stop it.
He is put on probation and shortly after his probation officer helps him find a job at a local hardware store.He is working to help re pay money from court fees and the fines he had.He likes the work and it helps Connor with just more than school.He finds time to jot down a few notes at work concerning his violin work.

Connor is slowly but surely trying to get his life to what it once was. But with the articles still surfacing around town its quite hard.Hanging around with the wrong people can have bad consequences.His family bond is getting stronger and poeple are slowly forgetting that the incident but when the guys involved see each other they relive the scene all over again or until someone cracks under pressure.Will we find out a secret behind the whole scenario,was this forced or was it voluntary ........ Grab a copy and read it i am sure everyone will enjoy the book

[Brianna Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book a good five stars. I really enjoyed this book. I really have no complaints besides the fact that I'm still a little confused about the dragon that Connor talks about. Of course it is a figment of his imagination but it doesn't really explain what it is doing and why it is there. Other than that, I think the author did a good job in writing this book. There were good details and it had me not wanting to put it down. I recommend this book to anyone really. This is a good book to read to learn about when you should walk away from a situation and what can happen if you don't. In this book a bad boy guy named Will goes on the rooftop of his building with 3 other guys and pressures them into playing Russian roulette were there is only one bullet in the gun and you spin the chamber which holds the bullet, then you point the barrel at your head and pull the trigger. You have like a 5 out of 6 chances of surviving. None of the boys want to really play besides Will, but then they get peer pressured into it and they all end up taking a turn. They end up all surviving and they think its over and they all want to leave but then Will tells them that he want to play a new game he just thought of called "Idiot Russian Roulette". This game is were you do the same thing as the last game but instead of pointing it at your own head you point is at someone else head and fire. They have a 5 out of 6 chance of surviving. Will starts pointing the gun and each of their head and all the guys duck and try to get away and tell Will no that they aren't playing that. Will lastly points the gun at a boy named Daniel and he fires the gun. They weren't as lucky this time. The gun ended up in the wrong chamber and Daniel got shot. Daniel died. Will was charged with murder and a bunch of other stuff and the other boys Ryan and Connor got multiple charges pressed against them. Connor got put on probation and had to go t court and had to see a psychiatrist/therapist. This book is mainly about Connor's life after that stupid, tragic night. It tells about that many difficulties he went through and everything that follows.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

Four boys. An abandoned rooftop. A gun. A game of Russian-roulette.

Connor Kaeden's life is changed forever. He and one friend are on probation. Another "friend" is in jail. His best friend is dead. What happens next?

Every one of Connor's relationships has been affected. His parents now question his every move. His younger brother won't even look at him. His older brother suddenly starts including him in his late-night escapades. His best friend's mother hugs him and tells him to visit anytime. Connor lives his days with constant reminders about what happened on that deserted rooftop, and the guilt that he should have done something to stop it.

With the help of his probation officer, Connor gets a job at a local hardware store hoping to earn the money to repay the fines and court costs his parents incurred. The work is satisfying and helps Connor with more than just money. Connor also finds relief when he resumes playing his violin. He often finds himself stopping work in the store's garden center to jot down a few bars of music that seem to express the turmoil in his mind. Basically, Connor tries to get his life back to what it once was. But is that even possible?

RICOCHET by Julie Gonzalez explores the emotional journey from tragedy to the gradual return of what might begin to pass for normal daily existence. This soul-searching, emotion-packed novel follows one young man and his family through the aftermath of one senseless act.

[Alex B]

I just got done reading Ricochet by Julie Gonzalez. This book is different the any other book I have read because they are some weird events that happen in this book like play a game called idiots roulette where you take a gun and point it at your friends head. I thought after reading that part in the beginning that this book was going to be a bad book because it would have a lot of stupid things happening, but in the end it turned out to be a good book, showing how a boy needs to deal with his problems and how good his friendship was with one of his friends that died.

This book started out with it telling us about the main character Connor and his best friend Daniel, who Connor was seeing less and less. One day, Daniel's friend asked Connor and his friends to play a game that involved a loaded gun to be pointed at other people. Daniel did not want to play this games but everybody was making fun of him, so he gave in to peer pressure and played the game. During this game Will had the gun, and shot Daniel in the head.

Throughout this book it was about how Connor had to deal with his problems as a teenager. He lost the life of his best friend. He got a new best friend who was not up to any good. At Connors job he would steal things and then Connor would get blamed for it and he almost lost his job and he was trying to save money to help pay for Daniels funeral. During the last half of the book it showed you how much Connor cared about Daniel and how hard it is to lose your bestfriend.

[Jazmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Connor Kaeden’s life is forever changed when his best friend Daniel is killed. It had all happened, when a so called friend of Daniel’s, Will, pressured them into playing Russian roulette. No one has the misfortunate of being harmed then, but then Will points the gun at Daniel and it turns out that it was spun to the dreaded chamber that holds the bullet, killing Daniel. There is a lot of legal things to be handled after the tragedy and his family at first can’t stand the sight of him having not have stopped the event, but eventually, they come to terms with him. Daniel earns a job, but he is accused of stealing items there. However, he is proven innocent. Throughout, Daniel must cope with the loss and deal with the accusation of others as they blame him for what happened as well. He somewhat learns to deal with the loss and regains the trust of many. The story is written so that each subtitled section is either a memory from the past, a dream, etcetera, while the other half of the sections continues the present story.
I thought the way it was written was creative; however, it could be confusing at times whether it was the past or present. The flashbacks added background, history, and further developed the characters. The tale covered many issues in teens’ lives. It was a very credible story that I fairly enjoyed.

[Trevor Oakley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ricochet is more about the aftermath of a tragedy than about the incident itself. Connor Kaeden is on a rooftop with his friends and a guy named Will...and Will has a gun. The guys do a round of Russian roulette. Metal on metal. Will suggests “idiot’s roulette”. He spins the cylinder, points the barrel at Daniel, and then…explosion. Smoke. Blood. Daniel. No Daniel.

Ricochet happens in short bursts of prose detailing episodes in Connor’s life. Readers experience his nightmares and escapist daydreams of being accompanied by the dragon Quicksilver, much like The Luck Dragon with Atreyu in The Neverending Story. Readers will experience hope and concern throughout, pulling for Connor until the final page.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh...I knew where this YA novel was going as soon as they mentioned Russian roulette. Really, boys, why in the heck would you be so stupid to play a game where you might die? The author does a good job of explaining why. Told through a series of short chapters and jumping back and forth in time, we learn why Connor was there, and why he didn't stop was going on. And we learn about the healing process--it's a long haul, but Connor will eventually be okay. Interestingly, the main character plays the violin AND works in a hardware store--I liked the juxtaposition of the two interests. It's a good tale of brothers, friendship and parent-child relationships, too.

[Pume · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about a dare from a bully that changed many lives from then on.

many people are bullied every year. It often traumatizes people and some times it often leads to kids committing suicide.

This is one of the best books i have ever read. I would give it 5 stars. It shows you how peer pressure can result in tragedy. The thing that i learned from the book is to just say no. You do not have to do what people want you to do.

[Colby Dotson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about a 15 year old boy named Connor Kaeden. Who falls into a horrible situation caused by peer pressure. He gets involved with the worng kid and ends up in the middle of a bloody game of Russian Roulet.

It was a very interesting book and it kept you on the edge of your seat always wanting to know what is going to happen next.
I learned not to give in to peer pressure and leave a bad situation if you have the chance!

[Branfon Ferguson]

"ricochet . they say what you throw out comes back on you . Well bullying your friends in to playing a game of Rushin Roulette , is crazy lets see how long it would take befor someone is dead or in jail. it seems like is so easy even a baby cant go get a gun of the streets . Im enjoying it its just so predictable . im half way into it , about 60 percent"

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

i believe this book was good in the begining because of the conlict the group of friends were going through. but then after the tragidy that happend, it starts talking about the main characters life after that tragidy and how his life gets better. it aint that good.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent portrayal of how one event can alter people's lives in ways they never imagined. When friends play a dangerous game with a gun, all of their lives change forever. This book shows the effects that a mistake can have on everyone involved.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fiction told in an alternating point of view after a boy is killed. It is a chilling recount of what peer pressure can do especially if violence is involved.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of friends hang out on a roof and one of them decides to play a dangerous game. The story unfolds with Connor's adjustment to the evening's events.

[TheSaint · Rating 1 out of 5]

A great premise. Good character development of OH. But this one tried to cover too much ground in too little space for it to be coherent.
Also: dialog not authentic teenage language.

[pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written although I think the ending was kind of rushed.

[Ghslibrary]

Connor and some friends play a version of Russian Roulette and Daniel gets shot and killed.
This book is about Conner's journey through accepting responsibility, his grief, his memories of his friend, etc.
A clear example of the consequences of our actions.


August 2016!