What do you think?
Rate this book
Breakout
Del's lived in Los Angeles for seventeen years, bouncing among foster homes. Smart, sharp-tongued, and a master mimic, she's fed up with her world and with being Del. So she's changing her name and leaving both herself and L.A. behind -- until her escape lands her in an all-day traffic jam.
Fast-forward eight years. It's opening night for the one-woman show Del has written and is starring in -- a show called Breakout about a Los Angeles traffic jam.
As the novel flashes between Del's present and future, we get a backstage pass into this young playwright's psyche, watching her life being transformed into art, heartache into comedy, solitude into connection. And, finally, anger giving way to acceptance.
Fast-forward eight years. It's opening night for the one-woman show Del has written and is starring in -- a show called Breakout about a Los Angeles traffic jam.
As the novel flashes between Del's present and future, we get a backstage pass into this young playwright's psyche, watching her life being transformed into art, heartache into comedy, solitude into connection. And, finally, anger giving way to acceptance.
144 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 2003
4 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
Paul Fleischman
66 books197 followers Paul Fleischman grew up in Santa Monica, California. The son of well-known children's novelist Sid Fleischman, Paul was in the unique position of having his famous father's books read out loud to him by the author as they were being written. This experience continued throughout his childhood.
Paul followed in his father's footsteps as an author of books for young readers, and in 1982 he released the book "Graven Images", which was awarded a Newbery Honor citation.
In 1988, Paul Fleischman came out with "Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices", an unusually unique collection of poetry from the perspective of insects. This book was awarded the 1989 John Newbery Medal. Factoring in Sid Fleischman's win of the John Newbery Medal in 1987 for his book "The Whipping Boy", Paul and Sid Fleischman became to this day the only father and son authors to both win the John Newbery Medal.
Paul followed in his father's footsteps as an author of books for young readers, and in 1982 he released the book "Graven Images", which was awarded a Newbery Honor citation.
In 1988, Paul Fleischman came out with "Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices", an unusually unique collection of poetry from the perspective of insects. This book was awarded the 1989 John Newbery Medal. Factoring in Sid Fleischman's win of the John Newbery Medal in 1987 for his book "The Whipping Boy", Paul and Sid Fleischman became to this day the only father and son authors to both win the John Newbery Medal.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 29, 2018
Personal Review
I really liked this book. I like the transition of her points of view and the descriptiveness. One of the things that stands out to me is how abstract this topic is. Most people wouldn't pick up a book and suddenly say, "Wow I really want to read about a traffic jam today" but this book makes it work.
Summary
It all starts with a quick-witted misfit by the nickname of Del. Hopping from foster home to foster home, she becomes sick of the routine and plans to escape the system in general. She fakes her death by setting her things on the beach and plopping her bathing cap in the water. Being in Los Angeles this is not the most improbable event. She then makes her way onward in a rickety old heap of a car, soon finding herself in a day long traffic jam. She later does escape to become a small scale play writer and actor.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book to most twelve to fifteen year olds with a lower level reading capacity. Even if you are capable of more, this is a quick and pleasant read. This will most likely not appeal to younger readers because of some upper level concepts and phrases.
I really liked this book. I like the transition of her points of view and the descriptiveness. One of the things that stands out to me is how abstract this topic is. Most people wouldn't pick up a book and suddenly say, "Wow I really want to read about a traffic jam today" but this book makes it work.
Summary
It all starts with a quick-witted misfit by the nickname of Del. Hopping from foster home to foster home, she becomes sick of the routine and plans to escape the system in general. She fakes her death by setting her things on the beach and plopping her bathing cap in the water. Being in Los Angeles this is not the most improbable event. She then makes her way onward in a rickety old heap of a car, soon finding herself in a day long traffic jam. She later does escape to become a small scale play writer and actor.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book to most twelve to fifteen year olds with a lower level reading capacity. Even if you are capable of more, this is a quick and pleasant read. This will most likely not appeal to younger readers because of some upper level concepts and phrases.
April 3, 2019
Breakout by Paul Fleischman had a very engaging type of writing style. He changes the main character Elena from her 17 year old self, adding eight years and switches off the ages off each chapter. Paul chooses a character who comes from foster care and a rough background who decides to change her life around. She makes a life for herself and creates a one- woman show about a traffic jam called "breakout".This shows how she changes from having a crappy life to being a writer and staring in her own show. I would recommend this book because, I feel as though this book is very relatable for anyone with struggles and shows that they are able to overcome.
March 26, 2019
Name: Nicholas Loehrke
Book title: Breakout
Personal response: The book had a good story. I personally didn’t like how it switched back and forth from past to present. I wouldn’t read another book like this.
Plot summary: The main character is a 17 year old girl named Del. Del faked her own death to escape her foster parents. While driving she got stuck in a major traffic jam in Los Angeles. Del visited with the people around her in the traffic jam. Throughout the day Del changed her name to Elena Franco and everything else about her like her voice and backstory. 8 years later Elena has a job of performing monologues of her traffic jam stories.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book to people who enjoy theater. This is not a good book for lower level readers because it is confusing. This is a good book for high school students.
Characterization: Del starts off as a lost foster child. During the traffic jam, Del becomes Elena by changing her backstory and her voice. She becomes who she wants to be. At the end, Elena finds herself where she wants to be in life.
Book title: Breakout
Personal response: The book had a good story. I personally didn’t like how it switched back and forth from past to present. I wouldn’t read another book like this.
Plot summary: The main character is a 17 year old girl named Del. Del faked her own death to escape her foster parents. While driving she got stuck in a major traffic jam in Los Angeles. Del visited with the people around her in the traffic jam. Throughout the day Del changed her name to Elena Franco and everything else about her like her voice and backstory. 8 years later Elena has a job of performing monologues of her traffic jam stories.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book to people who enjoy theater. This is not a good book for lower level readers because it is confusing. This is a good book for high school students.
Characterization: Del starts off as a lost foster child. During the traffic jam, Del becomes Elena by changing her backstory and her voice. She becomes who she wants to be. At the end, Elena finds herself where she wants to be in life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2008
Considering that nothing actually happened in this slim novel, I found it extremely interesting and funny. It's essentially a 140-page description of a traffic jam. It alternates chapters: one thread of the narrative is the 17-year-old protagonist who gets stuck in a massive Los Angeles traffic jam while running away from her umpteenth foster home, and the other thread is the same young woman, now a successful adult performance artist, who just did a play about a traffic jam.
As the people in their cars realize they will be stuck on the San Diego Freeway for a long, long time, they begin to get out and talk to each other as if the road is "one giant cocktail party," and the reader learns snippets of their lives. My favorite was probably the beautifully restored 1951 Hudson Hornet, a big birthday cake of a car gleaming perfection. Everyone gathered around asking the driver about it, how long has he had it, how long did it take to restore it, and so on. The driver is a teenage illegal Mexican immigrant who stole the car this morning and he's freaked by all the attention.
Though Breakout isn't for everyone, I recommend it for whimsical types who enjoy slice-of-life type books. I wouldn't call it a strictly Young Adult book either.
As the people in their cars realize they will be stuck on the San Diego Freeway for a long, long time, they begin to get out and talk to each other as if the road is "one giant cocktail party," and the reader learns snippets of their lives. My favorite was probably the beautifully restored 1951 Hudson Hornet, a big birthday cake of a car gleaming perfection. Everyone gathered around asking the driver about it, how long has he had it, how long did it take to restore it, and so on. The driver is a teenage illegal Mexican immigrant who stole the car this morning and he's freaked by all the attention.
Though Breakout isn't for everyone, I recommend it for whimsical types who enjoy slice-of-life type books. I wouldn't call it a strictly Young Adult book either.
December 9, 2017
In this short novel, Paul Fleischman creates an amazing number of vivid characters, seemingly pulling them out of thin air for the reader to observe for only a few pages before these insurance salesmen, aspiring musicians, and hot dog merchants are discarded entirely. A short and quick read, but one that is dense with Fleischman's philosophies and psychoanalysis, all seen from a variety of perspectives.
October 1, 2018
This book is decent to me because it goes through Del's life the day of the traffic jam that she was in. It shows how she changed and got to know the people around her and saw their lives and became friends. Del was ready to leave her family, change her name and move on with her life and that's kind of sad. Some teenagers feel the same way she did, probably, so it might be good for them to read.
March 20, 2021
I found this book a little difficult to read, but it had an engaging context and a good overall message. The main character can have some improvements in my opinion.
November 20, 2021
2.5 stars
September 18, 2024
I just didn't like this book. I didn't get it, and I didn't like it.
January 24, 2012
Very interesting concept. Told in alternating chapters by same author. One voice is when she was young and running away from L.A. after living in several foster homes. The other is through her one-woman show loosely based on her experience in a traffic jam trying to escape L.A. I liked the book, but kinda wish I knew more about what happened to her.
Review from Publisher's Weekly:
Fleischman (Whirligig; Seek) explores the way art allows people to re-examine their lives, in this chronicle of a young woman who experiences an emotional breakthrough while stranded among strangers on the San Diego Freeway-and its contribution to her work onstage. The novel opens with the narrative of 17-year-old Audelia "Del" Thigpen who, readers learn, has just faked her own drowning in order to escape her latest foster home; en route to Taos she becomes mired in a traffic jam. The narrative then fast-forwards eight years: Del has assumed the identity of Elena Franco, and is being interviewed in Denver as the star of a one-woman show centered on characters trapped in a traffic jam (she describes the piece as "autobiography seen through weird, wavy glass"). The two narratives alternate, with a photo of a traffic tie-up and a photo of a microphone (plus differing type fonts) to indicate which is which. Splicing together related vignettes, as he has done successfully in the past, Fleischman here allows the real and imagined events to blend, supplementing and augmenting each other. This blending is both the novel's strength and its weakness. For instance, one of the most poignant moments occurs while the cars are at a standstill, and Del becomes intrigued with a performance artist who is interviewing various drivers about road rage; he ignores Del while interviewing a "tank-topped twenty-something," and Del's response points to her history of abandonment. But in other ways, because of the episodic presentation, readers learn little about her (e.g., the origins of her interest in films and books) so that when, at the close of her show, she finally relates her epiphany, it feels anticlimactic.
Review from Publisher's Weekly:
Fleischman (Whirligig; Seek) explores the way art allows people to re-examine their lives, in this chronicle of a young woman who experiences an emotional breakthrough while stranded among strangers on the San Diego Freeway-and its contribution to her work onstage. The novel opens with the narrative of 17-year-old Audelia "Del" Thigpen who, readers learn, has just faked her own drowning in order to escape her latest foster home; en route to Taos she becomes mired in a traffic jam. The narrative then fast-forwards eight years: Del has assumed the identity of Elena Franco, and is being interviewed in Denver as the star of a one-woman show centered on characters trapped in a traffic jam (she describes the piece as "autobiography seen through weird, wavy glass"). The two narratives alternate, with a photo of a traffic tie-up and a photo of a microphone (plus differing type fonts) to indicate which is which. Splicing together related vignettes, as he has done successfully in the past, Fleischman here allows the real and imagined events to blend, supplementing and augmenting each other. This blending is both the novel's strength and its weakness. For instance, one of the most poignant moments occurs while the cars are at a standstill, and Del becomes intrigued with a performance artist who is interviewing various drivers about road rage; he ignores Del while interviewing a "tank-topped twenty-something," and Del's response points to her history of abandonment. But in other ways, because of the episodic presentation, readers learn little about her (e.g., the origins of her interest in films and books) so that when, at the close of her show, she finally relates her epiphany, it feels anticlimactic.
December 13, 2012
A strange book where there are two perspectives. One, Del, a runaway who is starting her new life, and two, Del eight years later, relaying her experiences as a live stage performer. Her experience/performance takes place during a several hour long traffic jam, and consists of a "slice-of-life" type narrative about "otherness" and how it needs to be accepted throughout one's life.
Fleischman is poetic, and understands people. Is this enough for a novel? This same scenario could have taken place at a snowed in airport in Minneapolis, or any place where people from various walks of life are forced to be together. There is no doubt that Fleischman has a clever turn of phrase now and then, but I would have much rather followed Del on her journey, I mean she faked her own death after all! Also, being from the Midwest, the concept of a several hour long traffic jam is beyond my understanding. It is interesting to read about at first, but in the end, who really likes to be stuck in traffic? And he places us there for about 137 pages.
Fleischman is poetic, and understands people. Is this enough for a novel? This same scenario could have taken place at a snowed in airport in Minneapolis, or any place where people from various walks of life are forced to be together. There is no doubt that Fleischman has a clever turn of phrase now and then, but I would have much rather followed Del on her journey, I mean she faked her own death after all! Also, being from the Midwest, the concept of a several hour long traffic jam is beyond my understanding. It is interesting to read about at first, but in the end, who really likes to be stuck in traffic? And he places us there for about 137 pages.
April 9, 2015
A young teenager desperately tries to escape her life cycle of never being accepted by blazing her own trail. She is held up however on the interstate by a massive traffic jam in Los Angeles. Running on adrenaline and hope after faking her own death and running from foster care she makes a new life for herself as an actress. She has already cultivated the necessary skills throughout her life as she has tried to be accepted by one foster family after another.
This novel has detailed inner dialogue that is stifled by the setting of being stuck on an interstate. The character herself is highly entertaining, but the story line could have been enriched by a movement in her surroundings. Most Young adult audiences would enjoy this novel, even the males despite a female protagonist. Fleischman effectively depicts the inner struggle for identity that adolescents face.
This novel has detailed inner dialogue that is stifled by the setting of being stuck on an interstate. The character herself is highly entertaining, but the story line could have been enriched by a movement in her surroundings. Most Young adult audiences would enjoy this novel, even the males despite a female protagonist. Fleischman effectively depicts the inner struggle for identity that adolescents face.
February 23, 2016
The book club of which I'm a member just finished reading Seedfolks by Flesichman, and in the afterward by the author he alluded to another of his books: "In an earlier book of mine, a character who's lost her mother vows to keep her alive by becoming her." I was intrigued by that comment and searched Fleischman's titles trying to decide what book that might me. I chose Breakout, but find that wasn't it.
It was a good story though. A 17-year-old foster child sets out to run away from the latest in a long series of abusive or neglectful foster homes, and doesn't even get out of LA before she's stuck in an hours-long traffic jam. Most of the book consists of her 25-year-old self, on the debut eve of a one-woman play, looking back at how contact with others in the traffic jam, overheard conversations, and imagined life-stories shaped her view and goals.
It was a good story though. A 17-year-old foster child sets out to run away from the latest in a long series of abusive or neglectful foster homes, and doesn't even get out of LA before she's stuck in an hours-long traffic jam. Most of the book consists of her 25-year-old self, on the debut eve of a one-woman play, looking back at how contact with others in the traffic jam, overheard conversations, and imagined life-stories shaped her view and goals.
February 11, 2024
Seventeen-year old Del decides to run away from foster care. She had planned this moment for months- saving money, stocking food and water, buying a car. Del even faked her own death and changed her name. Now the morning has arrived and she's stuck on the Santa Monica Freeway in Los Angeles because of a horrific traffic accident. Towards the end of the long day, people begin entertaining each other. Del steps up and performs a respectable comedy routine by using the people and situations she saw that day. Eight years later, using her experiences and her talent for mimicking other people's accents and postures, Del (now known as Elena Franco) launches a one-woman live performance.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
September 14, 2014
In the beginning of this book, I was really confused by how the author kept switching from future to present, but then as I kept reading, it started to make since. I have never read a book like this before, and I would recommend it, because it makes you think about the simplest of things. It starts out with a girl whose running away from a life full of foster homes, and she's stuck in a L.A. traffic jam. Then, the text turns into italics and its an interview with a girl named Elena, and she's answering questions about this play she wrote about LA traffic jams also. In the end, everything connects together and its an overall good book to read.
Read
October 28, 2015This book is very awesome to me because it goes through Dels life the day of the traffic jam that she was in. This book shows me how she changed and got to know the people around her and saw their lives and became friends. Del was ready to leave her family, change her name and move on with her life and that's sad. She was nice to other people and when she left she didnt go back. She wrote a play about it 8 years later, she had had a daughter by that time. when it flashed back and forth I got to see how she was feeling at that point in time when she was talking about it and I found that cool that she knew that she had learned better and found her new self and was happy with her daughter.
January 3, 2015
A very fresh work, in the form of an interview with Elena Franco, a twenty-five-year-old woman on the opening of a one-woman show, 'Breakout' interleaved with the narrative of seventeen-year-old Del, the person Elena used to be during her own break out from foster homes and other people's expectations.
Fleischman's clean, wise and observant prose will remind readers of his ability to create memorable auditory works such as his books of poetry for two voices, Joyful Noiseand I Am Phoenix and Seedfolks. (124 p.)
A National Book Finalist
Four and a half stars
February 4, 2016
This novel alternates between Del's teenage self and her adult self. Both are stuck in traffic jams, one as a foster child bent on running away and the other a performance artist of some kind (I think). The hours spent stuck on the freeway serve as teenage Del's revelatory moment, the beginning of her journey to becoming an artist. I just couldn't get into this, but the horror of being caught for hours behind an accident was rendered well enough to make me feel as uncomfortable as if I were there.
October 2, 2007
Fleischman's book is creative and tells an interesting story well, but the story at times is rather drawn out and void of progression. The voice of Del is well developed and provides a strong female character finding herself after years of doubt.
January 13, 2010
I admit that there were moments in this book when I felt amazed at Del's ingenuity and talent. But the novel on the whole didn't seem to go anywhere as a story. I just didn't feel captivated as I waded through this story.
September 23, 2007
I was not going to give this one star but then it would look like I just did not do the star rating.
November 18, 2007
Told in the form of a play.
March 24, 2009
A look at people and culture. Interesting, though not very exciting.
November 29, 2009
I don't know why I even considered finishing this book except, that due to a bad head cold, my eyes hurt too bad to read, and I didn't want to get out of bed to get another audio cassette. . .
February 2, 2010
I've read other books by this author and loved them but this one I just didn't get and couldn't get through it.
November 8, 2012
I don't even know what made me decide to read this. There is nothing about the concept that is interesting. In fact, the whole story is rather dull. Very boring.
January 14, 2011
Did not like at all.
September 11, 2011
I think a coworker recommended this one to me, but I don't remember. Nor do I really remember what this book was about.
July 31, 2013
I didn't even finish the book! It was boring an nothing happened!
August 21, 2015
Utterly fascinating and leaves you wanting more. One star off for not making this fabulous book longer. Has this author written anything bad? Because everything I've read by him is fantastic.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews