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Jojo's back, released from jail, and people are tense and afraid all over again. They wonder if his friends will start showing up again. They wonder if they'll be walking down the street one day and they'll run into Jojo and Jojo will give them attitude or shove them around, just for fun. Jojo's friends have a way of making it hard―really hard―on people who decide to press charges against Jojo. Those people just wish Jojo would go away and never come back. Then there are the people who have hate in their hearts. These people wish something bad would happen to Jojo. Something really bad. Ardell Withrow is one of those people.
- GenresYoung Adult
93 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
12 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
Norah McClintock
91 books209 followersNorah McClintock’s fascinating mysteries are hard to put down. Her Chloe & Levesque series, Mike & Riel series, and Robyn Hunter series, all published by Scholastic Canada, have been popular with readers in many countries. Norah has also written several crime novels for reluctant readers in the Orca Soundings series from Orca Book Publishers,
Norah is a five-time winner of the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Crime Novel. Read Mistaken Identity, The Body in the Basement, Sins of the Father, Scared to Death, and Break and Enter to find out why! Norah's books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and she has won numerous awards.
Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award - Juvenile
o 1996 – Mistaken Identity – Winner
o 1998 – The Body in the Basement – Winner
o 1999 – Sins of the Father – Winner
o 2002 – Scared to Death – Winner
o 2003 – Break and Enter – Winner
Red Maple Award
o 2004 – Hit and Run – Winner
Norah is a five-time winner of the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Crime Novel. Read Mistaken Identity, The Body in the Basement, Sins of the Father, Scared to Death, and Break and Enter to find out why! Norah's books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and she has won numerous awards.
Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award - Juvenile
o 1996 – Mistaken Identity – Winner
o 1998 – The Body in the Basement – Winner
o 1999 – Sins of the Father – Winner
o 2002 – Scared to Death – Winner
o 2003 – Break and Enter – Winner
Red Maple Award
o 2004 – Hit and Run – Winner
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 5, 2025
This is a very fast read, read it in an hour. I think what you take away from this story depends on how your life is gone and how you can potentially relate to each character. I like that the way it’s told is through someone else’s voice. The whole idea of there are two sides to each story and then the truth really resonates in this novella, the young boy telling it seems to be a very open minded and unbiased thinker. What he does is very brave.
I think the story is sad on so many levels and really makes you think about how we perceive people based off of gossip and false truths. Also how we continue to punish people based on past mistakes and how hypocritical people can be.
I think the story is sad on so many levels and really makes you think about how we perceive people based off of gossip and false truths. Also how we continue to punish people based on past mistakes and how hypocritical people can be.
November 17, 2012
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
A young man just released from prison has a neighborhood upset and ready for revenge. Jojo has been nothing but trouble from an early age, and when he beat Eden Withrow within an inch of his life, he became the most unpopular guy around. Most folks don't think the two-year sentence he served was nearly long enough.
Ardell, Eden's younger brother, can't stand to see Jojo living back across the street. His brother has been in a coma since the attack and is not likely to recover. How can Jojo return to the neighborhood and pick up life where he left off? Ardell is determined to make him pay.
Jojo seems quite different now. He spends his time cooking and cleaning for his mother, and when his old girlfriend, Shana, shows up with his baby, he seems ready to accept responsibility. However, his crime is more than most people can forgive. Ardell and his gang convince shopkeepers to close their doors to Jojo, and they stake out his house and make not-so-subtle threats to his family's safety.
Can a criminal be rehabilitated? Can the victims forgive a senseless act of violence? These are the questions posed by author Norah McClintock in BACK.
Less than 100 pages, this book is surprising in the way it clearly paints a picture of an angry young man, his family, and the punk whose actions changed the course of their lives. The style of high-interest, lower reading level will certainly attract and captivate the reluctant YA reader.
A young man just released from prison has a neighborhood upset and ready for revenge. Jojo has been nothing but trouble from an early age, and when he beat Eden Withrow within an inch of his life, he became the most unpopular guy around. Most folks don't think the two-year sentence he served was nearly long enough.
Ardell, Eden's younger brother, can't stand to see Jojo living back across the street. His brother has been in a coma since the attack and is not likely to recover. How can Jojo return to the neighborhood and pick up life where he left off? Ardell is determined to make him pay.
Jojo seems quite different now. He spends his time cooking and cleaning for his mother, and when his old girlfriend, Shana, shows up with his baby, he seems ready to accept responsibility. However, his crime is more than most people can forgive. Ardell and his gang convince shopkeepers to close their doors to Jojo, and they stake out his house and make not-so-subtle threats to his family's safety.
Can a criminal be rehabilitated? Can the victims forgive a senseless act of violence? These are the questions posed by author Norah McClintock in BACK.
Less than 100 pages, this book is surprising in the way it clearly paints a picture of an angry young man, his family, and the punk whose actions changed the course of their lives. The style of high-interest, lower reading level will certainly attract and captivate the reluctant YA reader.
November 23, 2015
Have you ever done something bad and try to change but other people still look at you as the same way? Well this is what happened with Jojo. The genre of this book is realistic fiction because it can happen to anyone. I think this book was a great book because its sad and a little frustrating.
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The setting is in Jojo's neighborhood and stores around the neighborhood. The main setting is his mother's house and the stores around the neighborhood. Jojo just wanted to change after why he was sent to jail. He violently beat up his ex for not taking away the baby that him and his ex had. But Ardell's brother came in and helped her escape. Due to that, Jojo's gang, jumped him after. Leading him into a coma. Soon after the police officers found a lot of witnesses around the neighborhood, Jojo was sent to jail for 4 years. After the 4 years, he came back. Everyone that knew Jojo, (everybody does), will hate him for what he did to Ardell's brother. When he came back, everything was normal, well besides all the whispers all over the neighborhood. One day his friends came over. everyone was so frightened, no one was outside, except Ardell. Ardell has been looking for revenge for 4 years. And now its time. After while, Jojo's friends came out a little mad. They went into their cars and never came back. This was quite surprising for everyone. Jojo just wanted to change, guess he's started. After awhile, Ardell's gang started to come back. But everyone didn't care about them. Because they thought they were the good guys. Everyone knew he was becoming a good guy guy
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The setting is in Jojo's neighborhood and stores around the neighborhood. The main setting is his mother's house and the stores around the neighborhood. Jojo just wanted to change after why he was sent to jail. He violently beat up his ex for not taking away the baby that him and his ex had. But Ardell's brother came in and helped her escape. Due to that, Jojo's gang, jumped him after. Leading him into a coma. Soon after the police officers found a lot of witnesses around the neighborhood, Jojo was sent to jail for 4 years. After the 4 years, he came back. Everyone that knew Jojo, (everybody does), will hate him for what he did to Ardell's brother. When he came back, everything was normal, well besides all the whispers all over the neighborhood. One day his friends came over. everyone was so frightened, no one was outside, except Ardell. Ardell has been looking for revenge for 4 years. And now its time. After while, Jojo's friends came out a little mad. They went into their cars and never came back. This was quite surprising for everyone. Jojo just wanted to change, guess he's started. After awhile, Ardell's gang started to come back. But everyone didn't care about them. Because they thought they were the good guys. Everyone knew he was becoming a good guy guy
February 11, 2017
This was a heartbreaker. I feel like I've been hit by an emotional truck.
There's something almost Shakespearean about the inevitability of this plot as it unfolds, all loss and loyalty and revenge, a cycle only broken when the narrator summons the courage to bear witness to the larger community (the police and legal system, in this case).
There's something almost Shakespearean about the inevitability of this plot as it unfolds, all loss and loyalty and revenge, a cycle only broken when the narrator summons the courage to bear witness to the larger community (the police and legal system, in this case).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2020
**spoiler alert** I rate this book four stars because Ardell, one of the main characters of the book, has a brother named Eden who was put into a coma by a neighborhood bully named Jojo. Jojo went to jail because of his actions but has just been released. The book begins with Jojo returning home and Ardell seeking revenge for the harm done to his brother. Meanwhile, everyone else in the neighborhood is frightened of what trouble Jojo will stir up this time.
I really like that the author chose to make Jojo come back as a less aggressive person that has a lot of respect and love for his mother. This is shown when Shana said “He was a wild boy, there’s no doubt about that. He caused a lot of people a lot of problems and a lot of heartache including his mother. But he’s making up for it now, without anyone watching him, without anyone, knowing” (McClintock 79). It gives him a new image and leaves the reader conflicted with whether or not they should appeal to him. Similarly the author’s choice of making Ardell’s anger overcome him. In the book, Ardell is characterized as somebody who “...has hate in his heart, and hate takes the fear out of people and replaces it with a thirst for vengeance” (McClintock 10). With that being said, this book can be seen as controversial because some may be on Jojo’s side while others may be on Ardell’s side. While Ardell had a motive and what Jojo had done was not ok in any way, shape, or form, however, neither is what Ardell did. Some may say that Ardell was justified in killing Jojo, but similar to Shana, I believe that “... taking a life for any reason is wrong” (McClintock 100).
The book had a lot of expected yet unexpected events. Because while I didn’t see it coming, I think that a lot of readers would have expected Ardell to get revenge on Jojo because of how determined he was and because he had such a strong motive. However, when, where, and what was actually gonna happen was unexpected. I would have not expected Ardell to kill Jojo and I thought that whatever conflict happened would occur in the neighborhood since it was the general setting of the story. It was also not known at what point Ardell would get his revenge because there were multiple occasions where he tried to do so and he was either stopped or he didn’t go through with it because Jojo wasn’t doing anything wrong at that moment.
In order for this book to get five stars, this book would need some suspense. While there were a lot of unexpected events while reading it, I didn’t feel any suspense. I may not have expected some things, but I felt no sense of what’s gonna happen next until the end of the book. Suspense would add a lot more to this book and make it even more awesome.
Similar to Ardell, William, the main character of A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, sought to avenge his older brother. Both characters were very angered by their brother’s death and sought to take immediate action.
I really like that the author chose to make Jojo come back as a less aggressive person that has a lot of respect and love for his mother. This is shown when Shana said “He was a wild boy, there’s no doubt about that. He caused a lot of people a lot of problems and a lot of heartache including his mother. But he’s making up for it now, without anyone watching him, without anyone, knowing” (McClintock 79). It gives him a new image and leaves the reader conflicted with whether or not they should appeal to him. Similarly the author’s choice of making Ardell’s anger overcome him. In the book, Ardell is characterized as somebody who “...has hate in his heart, and hate takes the fear out of people and replaces it with a thirst for vengeance” (McClintock 10). With that being said, this book can be seen as controversial because some may be on Jojo’s side while others may be on Ardell’s side. While Ardell had a motive and what Jojo had done was not ok in any way, shape, or form, however, neither is what Ardell did. Some may say that Ardell was justified in killing Jojo, but similar to Shana, I believe that “... taking a life for any reason is wrong” (McClintock 100).
The book had a lot of expected yet unexpected events. Because while I didn’t see it coming, I think that a lot of readers would have expected Ardell to get revenge on Jojo because of how determined he was and because he had such a strong motive. However, when, where, and what was actually gonna happen was unexpected. I would have not expected Ardell to kill Jojo and I thought that whatever conflict happened would occur in the neighborhood since it was the general setting of the story. It was also not known at what point Ardell would get his revenge because there were multiple occasions where he tried to do so and he was either stopped or he didn’t go through with it because Jojo wasn’t doing anything wrong at that moment.
In order for this book to get five stars, this book would need some suspense. While there were a lot of unexpected events while reading it, I didn’t feel any suspense. I may not have expected some things, but I felt no sense of what’s gonna happen next until the end of the book. Suspense would add a lot more to this book and make it even more awesome.
Similar to Ardell, William, the main character of A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, sought to avenge his older brother. Both characters were very angered by their brother’s death and sought to take immediate action.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2017
The title of my book that I read for quarter three was “Back”. The author for my book is Norah McClintock. I liked this book because it kept me reading and I don’t usually like to read, but this book kept me reading and it was just a really good book. The book “Back” is fiction. The theme of my book would have to be to just keep trying in hard times. If you think about getting through it, you will sure get through because you are keeping your mind to it.
My book started off pretty slow. After the first couple of chapters, it got interesting and that is what I like. I like it when books that I read are interesting because it makes me want to keep reading. In the first couple of chapters, it introduced some characters. Some of the characters names are JoJo, Ardell, Eden, Shana, JoJo’s mom, Ardell’s mom, and Shana’s dad.
I am going to talk about JoJo. He is a very mean guy. He isn’t very nice to people. He can be pretty nice to people as long as you are nice to him. I feel that people these days are nice/mean to other people depending on how they were to them. Someone that would relate to me like JoJo would probably be one of my many cousins. He can be very nice to you as long as you are nice to him. His brothers can beat up on him sometimes and he tries to fight back as much as he can.
The book that I read was a very fun book to read. It was fun because of the suspense in the book. I would have to agree with the title because I feel that it connected with the book because of the bully in the book. He came back from being sent away and then it went downhill from there. Everyone didn’t want him back. There isn’t really much to disagree with in this book because it was a very good book. The issue that the book rises is bullying. One of the main characters (JoJo) is a bully to Eden. Eden is Ardell’s brother. The book didn’t really affect me, but at times while reading it, I got the goosebumps. It doesn’t relate to my personal agenda because I don’t really see bullying in school.
I don’t remember ever being really sad or crying because it was a sad book, but it wasn’t sad enough to make me cry. There were times that I got really tense because just by reading the book, I could tell something bad was going to happen. Like I said in the paragraph before this, I got the goosebumps sometimes because just by reading the book I could tell something was going to happen. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew something was going to. Some parts of the book made me happy because the characters got along with each other. I would suggest this book to a teenager in high school because it would be good for them to read and it talks about hardships in life. I know for a fact that high schoolers go through rough times in life.
My book started off pretty slow. After the first couple of chapters, it got interesting and that is what I like. I like it when books that I read are interesting because it makes me want to keep reading. In the first couple of chapters, it introduced some characters. Some of the characters names are JoJo, Ardell, Eden, Shana, JoJo’s mom, Ardell’s mom, and Shana’s dad.
I am going to talk about JoJo. He is a very mean guy. He isn’t very nice to people. He can be pretty nice to people as long as you are nice to him. I feel that people these days are nice/mean to other people depending on how they were to them. Someone that would relate to me like JoJo would probably be one of my many cousins. He can be very nice to you as long as you are nice to him. His brothers can beat up on him sometimes and he tries to fight back as much as he can.
The book that I read was a very fun book to read. It was fun because of the suspense in the book. I would have to agree with the title because I feel that it connected with the book because of the bully in the book. He came back from being sent away and then it went downhill from there. Everyone didn’t want him back. There isn’t really much to disagree with in this book because it was a very good book. The issue that the book rises is bullying. One of the main characters (JoJo) is a bully to Eden. Eden is Ardell’s brother. The book didn’t really affect me, but at times while reading it, I got the goosebumps. It doesn’t relate to my personal agenda because I don’t really see bullying in school.
I don’t remember ever being really sad or crying because it was a sad book, but it wasn’t sad enough to make me cry. There were times that I got really tense because just by reading the book, I could tell something bad was going to happen. Like I said in the paragraph before this, I got the goosebumps sometimes because just by reading the book I could tell something was going to happen. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew something was going to. Some parts of the book made me happy because the characters got along with each other. I would suggest this book to a teenager in high school because it would be good for them to read and it talks about hardships in life. I know for a fact that high schoolers go through rough times in life.
February 24, 2021
Es la primera vez que leo algo de esta autora.
La historia de Jojo es buena y desgraciadamente pasa mas frecuente de lo que podriamos llegar a pensar,
igual y no tienen el mismo final que Jojo pero si que hay mucha gente que aunque haya pasado el tiempo, la gente no olvida ni perdona.
La historia me gusto aunque no su final, obvio pero era de esperar ese final. La manera de narrar la historia por medio de un tercero
me parecio un poco floja, me hubiera gustado que le hubiera sacado mas provecho y protagonismo a lo que pensaba Jojo ya que lo conocimos a traves
del narrador, lo otro que me decepciono un poco es que fuera una historia muy muy muy corta el libro es de 106 paginas, muy pocas paginas para poder trasmitir todos los sentimientos que creo que pudo haber transmitido la autora si nos hubiera dejado conocer un poco mas el personaje de Jojo.
La historia de Jojo es buena y desgraciadamente pasa mas frecuente de lo que podriamos llegar a pensar,
igual y no tienen el mismo final que Jojo pero si que hay mucha gente que aunque haya pasado el tiempo, la gente no olvida ni perdona.
La historia me gusto aunque no su final, obvio pero era de esperar ese final. La manera de narrar la historia por medio de un tercero
me parecio un poco floja, me hubiera gustado que le hubiera sacado mas provecho y protagonismo a lo que pensaba Jojo ya que lo conocimos a traves
del narrador, lo otro que me decepciono un poco es que fuera una historia muy muy muy corta el libro es de 106 paginas, muy pocas paginas para poder trasmitir todos los sentimientos que creo que pudo haber transmitido la autora si nos hubiera dejado conocer un poco mas el personaje de Jojo.
July 2, 2021
As far as quick reads go this story is good. The narration is odd though...told through the eyes of a neighbour on the street who the reader never gets to know. The whole book has the tone of gossip being spread up and down the street. This story would be good developed into a full length novel.
January 29, 2020
Great book for ssr for kids in Spanish class
December 1, 2020
terrible ending
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May 8, 2023The book was good the only thing i disliked was the ending
October 31, 2023
2.5
made me seething mad
made me seething mad
March 17, 2017
I used this book with my middle school students and they LOVED it! High interest, low readability- talked about the themes of revenge and forgiveness. If you have reluctant readers who enjoy urban/realistic fiction, I recommend this book.
April 29, 2022
this is literally the last time i take book recs from my friends.... they've all been 2 stars. f in the chat
August 4, 2009
These series of books are mostly about street life. How teenagers live and how they survive in their neighborhoods.
The book is about Jojo-a bully and Adrell-the guy who wants revenge for what Jojo did back in the days to his brother. Jojo and his friends where bullying the streets and the area they lived around. Jojo had a girlfriend who got pregnant and he didi't want a child. Once when he was fighting with her on a street Adrells brother tried to defend her for what got beaten up really bad. Jojo got in jail, the streets became quiet but time went by and Jojo came back. Everyone was scared that he will start doing same stuff he did before but he didn't. He stayed quiet. Jojo is not welcome in his neighborhood anymore. He met his son because his girlfriend came every weekend to his mom, child's grandmother. Adrell was waiting for Jojo to make some mistake for wich he could beat him up or get rid of him. Adrell's brother was in coma, doctors said that he's going to die anyway. Adrell waited some time when Jojo did no move he decidet to take everything in his own hands. He started bullying him himself, he talked to people in the area so no store would be opened for Jojo. He saw that every wendsday the car service come to Jojo's house and he with his mother go somewhere for about three hours. The narrator's mom told him that Jojo's mom has cancer and she's dying. One day Adrell and his friends fallowed Jojo to the pharmacy, then to the park and there they killed him. In the morning when the police came none neighboors told them who killed Jojo even though everybody knew.
The book is about Jojo-a bully and Adrell-the guy who wants revenge for what Jojo did back in the days to his brother. Jojo and his friends where bullying the streets and the area they lived around. Jojo had a girlfriend who got pregnant and he didi't want a child. Once when he was fighting with her on a street Adrells brother tried to defend her for what got beaten up really bad. Jojo got in jail, the streets became quiet but time went by and Jojo came back. Everyone was scared that he will start doing same stuff he did before but he didn't. He stayed quiet. Jojo is not welcome in his neighborhood anymore. He met his son because his girlfriend came every weekend to his mom, child's grandmother. Adrell was waiting for Jojo to make some mistake for wich he could beat him up or get rid of him. Adrell's brother was in coma, doctors said that he's going to die anyway. Adrell waited some time when Jojo did no move he decidet to take everything in his own hands. He started bullying him himself, he talked to people in the area so no store would be opened for Jojo. He saw that every wendsday the car service come to Jojo's house and he with his mother go somewhere for about three hours. The narrator's mom told him that Jojo's mom has cancer and she's dying. One day Adrell and his friends fallowed Jojo to the pharmacy, then to the park and there they killed him. In the morning when the police came none neighboors told them who killed Jojo even though everybody knew.
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November 2, 2009 This book back by Norah McClintock, is about a boy who went to jail for beating a boy to concousion because, the boy help out the muderers girlfriend out by grabbing her away from a crowd of guys who is surronding her, pushing her around while she is pregnant. Throught this book, the boy comes out of jail and vists his girl Shana who was pregnant with his baby. He meets his baby who is 1 years old and people try to beat him up because of what he did.
Shanas internal conflict is, should she let the baby daddy come see his son even after what he did to her, or should she erase him from her life and protect her son.
I recommend this book to people who have a baby on its way and you have did something to the girl which influences you to go to jail and let the girl raise the baby by herself. I recommend this book to people like that because this book shows that when you come back from jail, things will be different with you old friends and you girlfriend.
I'll give this book a 5 because I liked how Norah used examples of a pregnant teenagers life to influence people out there tp not have sex without protection when you are under age.
Shanas internal conflict is, should she let the baby daddy come see his son even after what he did to her, or should she erase him from her life and protect her son.
I recommend this book to people who have a baby on its way and you have did something to the girl which influences you to go to jail and let the girl raise the baby by herself. I recommend this book to people like that because this book shows that when you come back from jail, things will be different with you old friends and you girlfriend.
I'll give this book a 5 because I liked how Norah used examples of a pregnant teenagers life to influence people out there tp not have sex without protection when you are under age.
May 11, 2015
why should people read this book,i will tell you why. this book contain dialog and actions. when you read it you could picture it in your mind that it could happened in real life. A boy named Jojo is a bully in the neighborhood. Jojo make a girl named Shana pregnant. He does not like Shana. Jojo is trying to convince Shana to get rid of the baby. Shana disagree. One day, in the neighborhood Jojo slap Shana in the face and push her. Shana did not fell because Ardell's brother hold her. Then Jojo and Ardell's brother started to fight. Jojo hit to hard that Ardell's brother had been send to the emergency room. The doctor said that he is alive but is brain dead. Because of that, Jojo had been send to jail. Two years later, Jojo is releasing from jail. People who live in the neighborhood are tense and afraid. They wonder that if one day they are walking down the street and they will run into Jojo and Jojo will give them attitude or shove them around just for fun. A lots of people wish that Jojo would go away and never come back.
November 23, 2015
In the book Back by Norah McClintock I really thought this was a really good book.In the the Book it is about a boy an named JoJo and his wife and JoJo does not want any kids in "His" family so he starts hitting and assaulting his wife.Another thing is in the end of the book another man named Ardell sees JoJo's Wife and takes the baby and holds the baby in the air and won't give the baby back so JoJo's wife calls 911 and right when the police get there Ardell was forced to hand the baby back or he is going to jail.Eventually Ardell hands the baby back and was forced to go with the police Ardell did not go to jail but he did get pressed with charges and got released back.Overall I would rate this book as a 5 star rating.
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May 11, 2015This book tells about a boy who were in jail was out. But everyone in the neighborhood don't likes him. Because he kills a boy. But he didn't do any bad things when he was back. He has a child with a beautiful girl. The girl likes him so much and he also likes her so much. But the girls father don't likes him and the girls brother also hates him. Because he kills his brother. And at the end the boys died. Everyone was very happy about that. But no one knows that who kills him. His mother was very sad. When he didn't died everyone closed he store when he comes to eat or buy things. Its interesting. You can reads it! You will gonna love it.
May 15, 2015
in the book Back by Norah McClintock is a book that is very interesting to me and i think it be for other people too. this book is how people who do something and might come back to them like karma and this is a bad karma. this story is about a boy name jojo and he got out of jail. Ardell's brother is the reason why he was in jail but the boy was just trying to be a hero and JoJo didn't like that. Ardell has so much anger on jojo for what he did to his brother. this book could be a life lesson for people who do bad things and go to jail for it. more people should read these books and now that i read this book and maybe more books by here
May 3, 2011
Thought-provoking and to the point. Back is an excellent book for reluctant readers. The narrator is an observer, telling about events in his (or her) neighbourhood as they unfold, until at the end, the narrator chooses to take action. The book ends with a decision, and the reader is left thinking about what might happen.
Like all the Orca Soundings books, Back is a short, fast-paced read with an easy-to-read vocabulary, but McClintock doesn't let the size of the book limit the scope of the story.
Like all the Orca Soundings books, Back is a short, fast-paced read with an easy-to-read vocabulary, but McClintock doesn't let the size of the book limit the scope of the story.
October 31, 2010
This book wasn’t really the best book out there. The main character is JoJo who is a teenage. The book really takes a turn when JoJo get home from going to jail. When JoJo gets home from jail he discovers that there is much hate in the air. A local on the block named Eden is in a server coma due to JoJo who also hates him. But Eden’s brother is very excited for JoJo to get home. Overall the book was ok if you can relate to it this book would probably be better.
April 15, 2012
I read the Spanish language version, "El Regreso," published in 2011.
This Spanish translation of a novel originally written in English accurately portrays how continuous thoughts of revenge, along with a mob mentality, chase away all reason and blur the choices between right and wrong. It invites class discussion, and will stay with readers long after the last sentence has been read.
This Spanish translation of a novel originally written in English accurately portrays how continuous thoughts of revenge, along with a mob mentality, chase away all reason and blur the choices between right and wrong. It invites class discussion, and will stay with readers long after the last sentence has been read.
Want to read
July 8, 2014Jojo is back from prison and not a lot of people like the fact that he’s back because he would always cause drama in the neighborhood. One of the people who really hates him is Adrell Withrow, he’s the reason he went to prison. People don’t like Jojo because he causes a lot of trouble with people in the neighborhood like picking fights and threatening to hurt people.
April 5, 2010
This was a really great read for those stuggling, I hate to read, students. Jojo comes home from prison. Another boy on the block (Eden)is in a coma because of Jojo. Eden's brother is filled with hate for Jojo and he can't wait for Jojo to get home.
November 23, 2010
the book was ight filled with drama. The ending was just ridiculous though. the dudes name is jojo. he just got outta jail an then an theres this dude that don't like him. so the dude ends up killing jojo an thats how the book ends
July 17, 2011
I didnt like this book too much. It was between an okay and didnt like most of the time. I didnt like how it was pretty much in third person form most of the time. I also didnt like how the story ended. It should have had more.
December 11, 2013
jo jo he was released from jail everyone hates that hes back cuz he mureder someone even thou he was alive AT THE BEGAIN. i dont think i would recommend this book its good at the start but its boring at the end
October 20, 2015
After participating in a webinar about reaching reluctant readers, I decided to give a Hi/Lo book a try. High Interest/Low Literacy level books are so incredibly important in libraries---I will definitely be adding this to our collection soon.
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