Comeback

by Vicki Grant

Ria is rich, slim, pretty, and popular. If you only knew her at school, you'd think she led a charmed life―and until recently you'd have been right. But her situation has taken a sudden, unfortunate change. Her parents' seemingly perfect marriage has broken up, and before she's had a chance to absorb the blow, her beloved father disappears in a plane crash. What's worse, rumors begin to surface that he may have perpetrated a multimillion-dollar investment scam and everybody―Ria's mother, her best friends, even her boyfriend―believes them. Ria sees no choice but to take her little brother and run. She vows to keep the memory of her father alive. Soon, though, she begins to is her memory playing tricks on her―or is he? Also available in Spanish or French.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Ebooks, Canada

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

After a long and messy adolescence, Vicki Grant stumbled into writing. She worked her way up from 30-second ads to 30-minute television scripts to full-length novels. She's written sixteen young adult, middle-grade and high-low novels. Her most recent YA novel, 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You, has been published worldwide in over twenty territories.. Vicki lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Juvenile (2006): Quid Pro Quo
Red Maple Award: Not Suitable For Family Viewing
CBC Young Canada Reads: The Puppet Wrangler.

Reviews

[Reut · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly have no idea how I got to Comeback. I don't remember seeing any reviews of it, or any advertising.

There is a reason for that.

To put it simply, I did not like Comeback. Don't get me wrong, it had good stuff. The ending was good, the beginning was good, it was just the stuff in the middle that was crap. Okay, so Ria's dad is this fantastic guy, who loves his kids sooooo much. Then suddenly he disappears. You think it was an accident, right? But nooo. Apparently the guy's been stealing money from innocent townspeople for years. And then he either fakes his own death or commits suicide in this plane crash.

So here's my question. If the guy loves his kids so much, why didn't he let them in on the secret? Why abandon them without a word? And also, there was never any reason for him stealing money. Was he in debt? Did he get some twisted power rush out of it? WE DON'T KNOW.

So now that Ria can't handle what people are saying about her dad, she runs away. Okay, we have the potential for a great runaway, coming of age story here. But here's the thing: she doesn't do it alone. She takes her six-year-old little brother with her. Yeah, this sixteen year old thinks she can get a job, put the kid in school, and support them; all without so much as a note to her poor mother.

Can I get a What The Fuckery? (Sorry, I really don't mean to be crude, but this is so out-there, I can't help myself.) So Vicki completely squanders any chance of this being a normal story, and pretty much turns it into a YA case study of a 16-year-old freakshow.

One good thing was the pacing of the story. It is not very hard to pace a story in 136 pages, but Vicki Grant does it exceptionally well, even though part of the reason why I was turning the pages was to see what "Ria the idiot" would do next.

[Dominic Drudge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comeback was one of the best books I have read out of the Orca Sounding series. It has a very good plot and a very good story. The main character Ria is very well thought out and her adventure is very well written. She is having some family problems but she manages to pull through in the end. I would recommend this book to people that are looking for books that give you a thrill and have mystery to them. What this book did well was keep me interested in it and hate reading and I couldn’t stop reading it. In my opinion it’s a 10. I would definitely read this book again.
I relate to Ria in this book because she pulls through every challenge that’s thrown her way and she takes care of her little brother while she’s doing it. I as well do that stuff which makes this book that much more interesting. The detailing in the description of everything that goes on paints a perfect picture in your head on what’s happening. From just conversation in the book to the major action moments everything is a thrill and very exciting.

[Aubrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was on okay book. There's nothing that really made it stand out, but there wasn't a reason to put down the book once I started. It was a quick read.

[Sheridan]

2. I found this author to be very inspiring because it's told from a point of view of a girl around my age and about her experiences of her father going missing in a plane crash and how she deals with it. The charters name is Ria and she has a boyfriend named Colin and he is very involved with her life and knew her dad well. She also has a younger brother named Elliot who is eight and doesn't understand what happened, she just tells her brother that their dad went away on a business trip and she doesn't know when he will be back. Because it is told by Ria and that she is a teenage girl it is an emotional roller coaster with her mom telling her that allot of people didn't like her father in the fact that he was a stockbroker and took people's money,and that the plane crash was a suicide mission that her dad did because he didn't have the money to give people that he said he did.


3. The author Vicki Grant uses originality in this book with her plot because it is always leaving you on an important detail wanting you to read more, and the fact that an the end of the book is where the action and suspense really start because she runs away with her and her little brother and how they get by for three days with little money and one pair of clothes. One of the copycat features that the author used in that she grew up in a rich family and that her dad was kinda famous which made people care more and made the story feel like she was a god. If it were someone that wasn't famous or had allot of money I think the story wouldn't be as suspenseful and dramatic.

[Erica Su · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I was looking for a quick book to read, I stumbled across a few different ones. I read through a few summaries from various books but this was one that stood out to me the most because it sounded the most adventurous and fun to me. Ria's parents are divorced, her mom hates her dad. However, Ria still tries to keep a father and daughter connection even though he was a very busy man. His dad was a fairly successful working man. He was rich and cared much about Ria and her younger brother Elliot. Her life felt very different when she was with her mom. After the divorce, they lived a whole different life. They moved to a different town and was not as wealthy as they were before.

One day, Ria was told that her father got into a plane crash. Since then, Ria’s life flipped upside down. As Ria received more information regarding her father, she knew that her father was still alive. Despite the fact that Ria had little money, she decided to run away from everyone with her brother Elliot as a way to cope.

This book covers a lot of real-life issues, which I like. In addition, this book is very detailed. During little scenes like Ria crying, the book described how she was feeling, and how she looked. Throughout this book, I was able to picture all the scenes in my head. I really felt like I was in the book at certain times! I do wish that this book was slightly longer as it only has about 130 pages with fairly big font size, but overall I would give this book a solid 4. If you have some time to read a quick book, I recommend this!

[Kimberly B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: Comeback
By: Vicki Grant

Review
I read the book, Comeback, by Vicki Grant. I found the book to be a quick read. Ria has a perfect life until the downfall in her family ruined everything. I found it stunning how she overhears her parents speaking about divorce and that her mother kicks her father out of the house. At first I thought the book was a little slow and didn’t really grasp my attention until Ria started to face some problems.

I have not been in Ria’s situation, her parents going through a divorce, but I can imagine just how terrible it must feel. My favorite part from the book was when Ria’s father showed up at her school and took her and her friends out to eat because he missed her so much. I think Ria’s father really showed he cared about his children above all because he always was “there”. I would recommend this book to those who like romance, action, mystery’s, and quick-reads.

I feel the moral of the story was that even if you run away from the wrong that you did, it will always catch up with you and there will be consequences. You can’t just “get away” from your problems. I think the book overall was great, but I feel it could have been written better; maybe add in a little more background info of what was going on with the father at the time being. I feel I could read more books from this author in a further future.

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a youth book, and admittedly I am a mother, not a youth myself. Just the same, this book was terrible. The main character is Ria, a 16 year old girl who makes a series of terrible choices after her father fakes his own death to escape the consequences of having stolen and/or lost millions of dollars of his clients’ money. Ria kidnaps her 5 year old asthmatic brother and goes on the run, intending to find a place to hide, get a job, and put her little brother through school while she raises him herself instead of remaining with their mother (a good person who ‘works too hard’). Eventually her father turns himself in in order to help find the kids, and after he leaves her a voicemail on her cell phone (which for some reason the authorities didn’t bother to track) she calls him back when the little brother has an asthma attack. The kids are recovered, and the book ends with Ria working in a coffee shop, the father in prison, and multiple investors including Ria’s ex-boyfriend bankrupt and ruined as a result of her father’s actions (the motivation for which is never explained). Crappy, depressing book with no redeeming qualities or even a lesson or message, and no character growth.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ria had a pretty decent life until she found out her parents were getting a divorce. Ria and her brother live mostly with their mom after that and only seeing their father on the weekends. The last time Ria saw her dad was when he picked her and her boyfriend at school one day. Then Ria learns that her dad had gone missing in a plane crash. Then Ria finds out that he may not be the father that she has grown to know and love. The only thing she has left to do is get her brother and run.

I connected with Ria because my parents got a divorce jus like hers. I only see my parents half the time; which is kind of like Ria’s situation. This book reminds me of many books I have read because it is sad the characters are confused and frustrated.

My favorite part of this book is that Ria takes action to protect herself and her family. The author did a fantastic job at making this book relatable and interesting. I would recommend this book to another person because I liked it.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "Comeback" and I found it to be interesting. I thought the main character was very interesting as was her life. I also thought that her life could be very relating to others. This book was a very fast read for me and it kept me interested so I would recommend it for school projects. This book had a lot of details throughout most of the book. Even though it was a fast read it still had a lot of things in it that surprised me. Also it had a lot of twist in it, that made it more interesting. My favorite part of the book was when her father surprised her at school and took her and a couple other people out to lunch because he missed her. I thought that is was really sweet and that it was perfect timing for her. I would recommend this book if you do not like to read a lot or for a school project.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read and the story is real good. A teenage rich girl's world comes crashing when her parents split. She wants to live with her dad when suddenly his plane crashed down with no sign of his body to be found. This accident unravels the truth about her father and it's too much to handle.

[Cat {Pemberley and Beyond} · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great quick read, with a surprisingly likeable main character.

[Cameron Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for my french class, cant really comment on it because im not very good at reading french but overall the plot was far fetched.

[Allisson T · Rating 1 out of 5]

No me gustó.. no le encontré atrayente; es corto así que lo terminé rápido, pero no fue algo q disfrutara.

[E. Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Canadian author Vicki Grant‘s latest novel from the Orca Soundings imprint fast establishes a problem for protagonist Ria Patterson: her parents are divorcing and Ria’s life is going in the exact opposite of a direction she’d choose for herself. Her rich investmant-banker dad has been kicked out and her mom won’t take any of his money. Ria’s mom insists on living on cheap frozen pizzas and when the final bomb drops — Ria, her little brother Elliott, and her mom will all be moving to another town to start a new life — Ria can’t help but freak out. She is in no way ready to leave her ritzy neighborhood, her bffs, or her hot boyfriend Colin for, well, anything.

Ria’s priorities change quickly, though, when her dad goes missing in a plane crash. She’s sure her dad is still alive, but family friends are already talking about him like he’s gone for good. Dead. And the media has started circling in. Soon Ria is confronted with rumors that her father wasn’t the person she thought he was, and it affected almost everyone in town, including Colin. Alone and scared, Ria knows she has to do something to take matters into her own hands. She just doesn’t know how.

With twists and turns around ever corner, COMEBACK is a great pick for reluctant teen readers. Considering its short length, Vicki Grant does a fabulous job of capturing Ria’s voice straight away, developing real, relateable characters, and pacing an unexpected thrill-ride. I’m looking forward to seeing what Ms. Grant is working on next!

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

Ria's perfect world is crumbling around her. It comes as a total shock when she hears her parents are divorcing. Sure, her father was usually busy with his career as a stockbroker, but now she's living with her mother and little brother and only seeing her father on the weekends.

Shortly after the separation, Ria's dad shows up at her school driving a vintage convertible. He offers her and her boyfriend a ride, and after returning them to school, even offers to let the kids use the car for the weekend. That's the last time she sees him before she learns he has disappeared in a plane crash.

Thinking he is dead is a big enough shock, but then Ria starts learning further information that indicates he may not have been the father she has grown to know and love. News of his disappearance is included in all the news broadcasts, and people she's thought of as family friends and acquaintances are making strangely rude remarks.

Ria's reaction to all the chaos is to pack up her little brother and run. With only pocket money and a tank of gas, she takes off without a thought as to where they will go or how they will survive.

Author Vicki Grant takes readers on a frightening ride in COMEBACK. She captures the disappointment and frustration Ria feels when the life she's always known takes a dramatic turn. This fast-paced read is perfect for reluctant readers.

[Carmen Yeung · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book did started out with Ria having a perfect life, but it started to turn the other way around. Her mom kicked his father out of the house and they started to live a poor life, because the mother won't take any of the father's money from investing in stocks. Then they had to move to a new town and start another life, but she dont want to leave her friends. Then not any sooner, she heard the news that her father had died in a plane crash, but she doesnt think it is real and she start to find out behind the truth. At the end, she found out that her father really didnt die, but he was just faking his death to run away from the fact that he stole money and scammed his friends and relatives or even old ladies. Even though his dad done such a bad thing, in the end he turned himself in because he heard that Ria and Elliot (Ria's brother) went missing. Ria had forgiving her dad for all those mistakes he has done, as long as he know to comeback and resolve it. In the beginning of this book, i also thought that her dad died, but if her dad really died this book wont be as long. So i followed Ria's footsteps through out the book and was really suprised how the family love can be more important than him going to jail. I thought his dad can be the best dad ever if he never committed those mistakes that are now crimes. As long as he cameback, it was all past tense, because he turned himself in for all this mistakes he never thought it would make such a big impact on.

[Lesly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "Comeback" is about a girl name Ria, she had a brother names Elliot and a boyfriend/ ex boyfriend named Colin. Her parents got divorced and she is facing the problems because she had to live with her and go with her dad some of the times, since he is busy. She wanted to tell her dad that she and Elliot wanted to live with him, she never had the chance to. Her dad went on vacation, and while he was on the plane he died. Her dad was a billionaire, so they then thought that he stool money from a bank. After this incident every started hating her because he dad stool money and did something bad to the community. She was then faced with more problems, her boyfriends even broke up with her. She decides to run away with her little brother, she then learns to survive on her own. She had to learn how to make money, for her brother to eat. She also had to do this sneakily because people were looking for her. The book got interesting at the this point because after they sneaked into this camp for kids and slept there, she later got a call from her dad saying he was alive and that her is very sorry. Ria gets arrested and so does her dad, the book ends here. The ending was really bad because they don't mention nothing about the mom, or if Elliot is going to stay with her. The book wasn't that long and i didn't like the ending, thats why i give it four stars.

[Abbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comeback, by Vicki Grant is a very good book. Teenager Ria is everything a girl wants. Pretty, popular, rich. But her family has its own issues. Her parents are divorced, and it got kind of rough. Her dad offers the rest of her family checks, but her Mother doesn't accept. Living with her mother is dreadful, and she can't wait for them to move to a new house.
When Ria is with her dad, things are different. Nothing else matters but then and there, and she loves it.
But, when her dad goes missing in a plane crash, Ria has a hard time coping to live without dad.
Ria wants to escape live. People start calling her dad a criminal, and her mother gets more annoying by the minute. Ria makes a decision to take her brother with her and run away. Far away from her crazy mother. With little money in her pocket, and her brother and Ria miserable, will her dad ever come back? Will things work out? Read Comeback to find out!*

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was alright. The storyline kind of didn't make any sense, because she didn't really rescue her father's reputation. There was no way to. He was guilty of what everybody thought he was, and there was no way he could get out of that. Running away with her little brother made no sense at all, especially since Ria knew he had asthma but somehow forgot he had to have his "puffer" when he needed it during an asthma attack. Then how her father was somehow alive after a plane crashing into shreds and having bits of his clothes found makes sense too, right? No. But how her friends started not liking her after her father was accused of scamming people out of millions of dollars made sense, no sarcasm there. If my best friend's father just completely scammed my family into bankruptcy I wouldn't be happy with them either. Anyways, this book was alright overall.
I hope you enjoy Comeback by Vicki Grant!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was about a rich girl named Ria who had the perfect life. But one day she finds out that her dad was a scam artist. To me this was a good book it tells you that having a perfect life isn't perfect. This book had good details on the characters emotion,action and setting. For example when she is told that her dad got in an accident and might be dead, some people where saying that it was good for him for stealing from people. The book explains that she got mad and wanted to run away and how fast her heart was pounding with anger. There is also good details especially when Ria and her brother go on an "adventure" the author starts explaining the whole scene where Ria is and you can visualize it. I recommend this book to a person who like reading realist fiction. This book leaves you thinking on what might happen next.

[Julia McCane-Knox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comeback by Vicki Grant is a short read, which displays a young girl's wonderful life turning upside down. The main character finds her life shattering before her eyes, so she takes it upon herself to piece her family's life back together. Throughout this journey, the pieces she puts back together cuts her family deeper with each section; thus, for every step she takes forward, she takes two steps back, and there is nothing she can do about it.

At a young age, she realizes the hard way that the saying, "truth hurts" is not just a meaningless phrase. Another hard lesson she learns is that one's will is not always strong enough to impact reality. But rather, she finds out circumstances shape lives, and the only control a person truly has is how he/she reacts to situations.

[Emily Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read a great book called Comeback by Vicki Grant. The main character in the story is named Ria who has a situation that is very complicated that just suddenly changed. I enjoyed this book very much because of all of the great detail that the author put into this book. If you love books with a lot of twists then I recommend this book to you.

[Taisa Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book Comeback was a okay book. I didn't like this book all that good because, this book didn't relate to me or life. I give this book two stars. Also Ria was a girl with a perfect life, until one day she founds out her father is a scam artist.But overall it was a nice book.

[Emma Blanchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was amazing at first I thought I knew what was gonna happen. The Dad would really be dead, but as Ria went along on her adventure to find her Dad and he would be alive. Once I started reading this I couldn't put this book down. This is a must read book.

[Beyond Words · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. It should have been a short read but I just couldn't read it that fast. At times I read hardly anything and sometimes I read only a couple of chapters. It was a little confusing but still a good book of what will happen next.

[Ms. Tongate, TLC Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick Orca read that non-readers love. Romance, mystery, survival, family issues, and cops; all in 132 pages.

[Cassandra Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought their would be a book were a character that would be so much like me! I would love to read it again! This is another night time read!

[Pauline Stroosnijder · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read this with my third graders, 14 year olds(Dutch: 3 havo). No comments.
story is quite predictable but a nice story.

[Stephen Jagba · Rating 5 out of 5]

That is was very good book plus it really help me to discover things such as becoming a good reader.

[Kailin Berlington]

i think