Cheat

by Kristin Butcher

Laurel discovers her passion for investigative journalism when she writes an article for her school paper about the homeless man who's been living at the school. Eager to write more articles with impact, she launches an investigation of a cheating scam at her high school. Laurel's efforts elicit hostility from her classmates. Nobody is interested in seeing her article go to print, not even her own brother. It is evident that the cheating is widespread, and Laurel, caught up in the thrill of the investigation, is willing to commit social suicide to get the story, but her ultimate discovery changes everything.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Teen, Fiction, Canada, Realistic Fiction

128 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Brooke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I don't like the moral of this book. Yeah, she says, "we all have to live with ourselves" but in the end she decides she can't think of cheating as wrong because there are motives behind it that might make it necessary. Um.... no. If there's something in your life that is making it so you HAVE to pass a class, or get better grades, or pass a certain test, and you care enough to go to the trouble of cheating.... then mayeb you should care enough to go to the trouble of learning... and working hard. The moral of this story is wrong and messed up and if that's the attitude these growing generations take, then our world is in serious trouble. It's taking entitlement and lack of morals to a whole new level. If you didn't learn it or work for it, you didn't really earn it and shouldn't be able to say you did.

[Fly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a dumb little afterschool special of a book that manages to both insult the readers intelligence and finish with an anti-moral. Ostensibly YA, it reads as though it were written for elementary school children but I would not recommend it for that group either.

[Fruitloopz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have abounded this book because their was to much going on first she rights a newspaper and everyone loved it and a company wanted her but they never got back to the company so the company was not in the book at all

[Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Cheat was a really good book but I think it was very predictable. It has some very strong parts and some confusing parts. I liked that they introduced several characters to make up this book. It was also a really easy book to read. I finished it in one day because there were interesting parts and I wanted to know what happened next. I liked how there was one specific character that was I guess you can say the center of the book because of she (Laurel) was amazing at what she did and she was a huge help when she was needed and she pulled off some of her own tricks like her making new articles that were interesting to me but not the students in the book. I like how the problem played out but I think the solution was really predictable because they obviously needed to do something about the cheating scam. Many characters were very strong and they played a huge role in the book. Overall, this was a good book. I recommend this book to people that love a good mystery book because it was very strong and knew how they were writing.

[Desiree Lo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title:Cheat
Author:Kristin Butcher

This is a book about a girl who writes an article for the school newspaper and turns into the school reporter. She was in class one day when she was trying to think about what to write. She sees two boys cheating on a test so she wrote about the way they are cheating. Everyone, even her brother, get mad at her for "blaming" people for cheating. Someone writes her a note saying people are cheating on a test so she writes about it. She finds out something that she never wanted to find out.

The main character in this book is the reporter Laurel who pushes things too far.

I liked this book a lot because it helps you know that if you really want friends then don't go around giving out their secrets whether they are cheating or not.

This is a good book for people who like mysteries. Also those who like to find out good support in life.

[Karissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing i totally recommend to all students, a character in the book is kinda of sneaky but also a great reporter. Writes articles almost everyday because she has a new idea, and the main writing report was about this poor guy witch got her loved and famous. Then she wrote about cheating and everybody hated her for that because now the teachers are on alert when kids do tests, she wrote about this because there were to kids behind and in front of her cheating with their secret code. Also she has three friends that are always there but don't believe that shes going to get somewhere on the cheating article. Her friend Liz was right she didn't till she asked the principle for marks of the students and all of their classes they are in.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Laurel's passion to right a wrong she saw committed and felt the backlash she received for it a little unbelievable. In my opinion, too many of the characters thought cheating was okay to do sometimes and Laurel shouldn't make a big deal out of it. I thought it was wrong how Laurel's thinking about the issue changed once she discovered who all was involved in the "Scandal". I would've like a little more detail for the ending, but it was still a good story for the most part.

[Sheri Radford · Rating 3 out of 5]

The biggest disappointment in this otherwise pleasant book for reluctant readers is that the ending feels rushed and incomplete.

[Fabulous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Cheat' is a novel that, along with its overall touching and genuine appeal to young readers, talks about sociality, and standing for the truth, even if you're standing alone. The story generates suspense and curiosity, all while having a sincere and informative meaning behind it.

Through the perspective of Laurel, a tenth grader attending Barton High Secondary, as well as the school's leading (and only) journalist and reporter, we get to experience what life for her is like. Laurel is determined to write articles with meaning and impact, which she believes is right when a cheating scandal begins to surface at school. Desperate to find the truth, Laurel is willing to sacrifice everything she'd made under her name; and even her personal relationships. Once the truth comes out, though, everything that Laurel knows changes.

'Cheat' incorporates both real life conflicts, social and personal, and the message of standing up for what's right. As the story progresses, we were able to see Laurel develop as a character. Through the trial and error, the lengths she would go to reach her goal of getting to the bottom of the scam, and her overall determination to pursue her dreams, Laurel was able to accomplish what she always wanted to achieve. Unlike other novels, Kristin Butcher had a clear synopsis, BUT, also had the mindset that not all stories had to have a happy ending. The most rewarding feeling from polishing off this particular novel is that you finish reading the story knowing Laurel is set to be the best of the best.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the writing style. I felt as though I was part of the story.

Unfortunately, the main character is so immature and the basic plot so goody two shoes that it removed from the story and this is why I gave this 3 stars. There are other ways in which this subject matter could have been explored.

It's a shame.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was short which was what I was looking for. it was okay, I was routing for Laurel and I thought she was doing well until the end. The other characters were a bit one dimensional but I guess that's what you get with a short book. I will say the book got me thinking about right and wrong, I didn't like the end though.

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

AUDIOBOOK:

it was too short. It appears to end so abruptly! would have been better as a full length novel since the author was amazing at character development. left me wanting more!

[claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terrible.

[Cherry-Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

What happened to the end?

[Elise · Rating 2 out of 5]

J’ai donné deux seulement parce que c’était si facile que je pouvais le finir avant que demain quand c’est due. Autre que ça… absolument pas.

[lily silverwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

read for French class, not the best

[Bug Bug]

Shit sucks

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn’t bad like the other reviews mentioned, it just wasn’t anything great. Plot was confusing at times and was over dramatized like it was written by a teenager.

[josette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast read great for kids who struggle to read long books. I liked the story line.

[Saad Sayyed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing was amazing, the plot bought me to tears, but, the climax was just overtwisted and supposedly gave the wrong message.

I'll especially recommend it to younger fans of popular books such as, '' Nancy Drew " "Scooby Doo" and other teenage mystery novels. However, it's a journalism mystery novel, and that is a perspective I liked.

Awesome work done by Butcher.

[Mia Sebti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheat is a book written by Kristin Butcher. In this book the protagonist is Laurel Quinn.
This story takes place in a regular high school. Laurel is a journalist who is trying to write an article as good as the one that got her a job at the New York Times magazine. While she is taking a test she sees a boy lifting one finger. And every time he did that someone else would write on their paper. They were obviously cheating but for how long had it been happening? How much people were involved? How come she never realized it? All of those questions led her to decide to write an article on this subject and do more research about it. Later Laurel discovers that Sean, her brother's best friend, was the one that stole the answer keys and sold them to students. The price depended on their grades. In the answer keys Sean would put some wrong answers so that the student got better grades but they would not all have A's because then it would be too obvious. When Laurel wanted to write the article she discovered that her brother had been involved once and that he would be in big trouble. So she decided to drop the article."The big article that was supposed to put me on the social map had done exactly the opposite." (Butcher 106) Everyone at one point of their lives has to give up things for the people they care about.

Laurel Quinn is a very interesting person .
If I had to describe her in 5 words, they would be determined, curious, talented, caring and loving. This book has many themes and lessons that are really important in real life. Sometimes you have to give up important things for the ones you care about. Don't listen to people who try to bring you down. Don't give up because it's too hard. Hard work pays off and Never give up.
These are the main lessons that you learn from this book. The most interesting part in this book was the rising action which is when Laurel discovers the cheating scam.

This book was really interesting because the readers got to be with Laurel during the different steps of writing the article. Which is why I would recommend this book to middle schoolers but especially the ones involved in newspaper and writing articles because the readers will get a chance to experience writing the article along with Laurel. My favorite part of the book was when Laurel discovered that her brother was involved in the scam because it was a lot of suspense and at the end of the book the Reader's still don't get to see his consequences. However my least favorite part was when Laurel dropped her article when she discovered that it would get her brother in trouble after all the hard work that she had done to finish that article. I would certainly read another book by Kristin butcher because I really liked her type of writing and I would love to read another book from this style.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like this book was written for a much younger audience than a lot of other YA, which is fine, but it surprised me a bit. This one was a really quick read, though... took maybe an hour, hour and a half to read altogether.

I felt like this book set out to send out a message to its readers, so things like characters weren't given a lot of thought. They don't have much depth, and there's not a whole lot of character development and whatnot here. But I also kind of felt that toward the end of the book, the message wasn't so much about cheating, but about the consequences of doing whatever it takes to get what you want without regard for others. I thought that was a message worth expressing, but since it was muddled up with cheating, it left me a little conflicted and confused.

I didn't really know a whole lot about this book or the author when I picked it up - just spotted it in the new eBooks at the library and figured I would pick it up when I was done with the book I had been reading. It was definitely on the lighter side of things tone-wise compared to the other books I've read lately, so that was a nice change for me. I definitely would have liked more development all around, though, to make things feel more authentic, instead of a bit of a vessel for the author's message.

I enjoyed the book well enough, having read it in one sitting, and would be interested in reading more of Butcher's books in the future, despite having mixed feelings about this one.

[Zhen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Cheat" by Kristin Butcher is a compelling story about Laurel Quinn's process of discovering the scammer. A informer notified her that there's a cheating scam in Mr. Draper's class. So Laurel got a list of students and their grades. Later, she founds out that the scammer is Sean, her brother's friend, while hiding under the desk. Laurel hides in the girl's bathroom and sees her brother, Jack, is switching the answer sheets. Laurel was shocked!! The scammer was her brother, Jack. All Laurel wanted to know was the scammer but when she finds out that the scammer was her own brother then that's a different story. When Laurel got home Jack confessed he helped Sean with the cheating scam but Sean was the one selling the answer sheets to pay for the basketball trip. After all that's happened, Laurel learned that there's more than one side to a story, people's feelings. It's not just black and white...but gray as well.

[Jacob]

Cheat (2010) by Kristin Butcher. Genre: High School Hi-Low. This book tells the story of Laurel a teenage girl in High School with a strong love for investigative writing. As the title, the main focus of the novel centers on a student cheating scandal. When Laurel spots two of her fellow students cheating on a test, she does not pass up the opportunity to investigate and report the situation. Even with others around her recommending that she not go any further, Laurel is determined to report the incident. Unbeknownst to her, Laurel discovers the unintended consequences of revealing the truth to others. Although there are short chapters, they benefit from the real-to-life situations. Additionally, the subject matter of "cheating" is an issue that will most likely relate to young readers. Overall, I would definitely recommend this suspenseful novel as an ideal hi-low book for high school students who are reluctant readers. Target Audience: ages 12-15.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheat is about a young girl, Laurel, a spunky journalist. After Laurel witnesses students cheating on a test she decides to write an article about it for the school newspaper. Quickly after the article runs everybody dislikes her. She gets a tip that the cheating is a bigger issue. Laurel goes all Nancy Drew to solve the mystery. However, she is shocked with the results.

Pros: This book was a nonstop reader. I opened it up and did not put it down until I was finished. The book was about real time issues rather or not anyone would want to admit that or now.

Cons: I did not like that Laurel’s brother lost a friend at the end. However, nobody needs a friend like that.

Conclusion: I would defiantly recommend this book to read. The cliffhangers keep you turning the pages.

[AbsentLibrarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a look at the moral question of what to do when you discover there is cheating going on. Do you 'rat' out people? Do you keep your mouth shut? Do you consider what exposure will do to those involved or does the concept of fairness win out?

I was surprised at the one-sided reactions from Laurel's friends and classmates. It didn't ring true that everyone would be so adamant. I also thought that the inclusion of a faculty advisor, or senior student, running the paper would have offered some guidance or perspective for Laurel. I felt that the tone was too intense or extreme for what was happening and that the world of the story was not broad enough. Some important issues surrounding cheating and its consequences within people were brought up. I feel that they were not answered or explored enough.

[A.weyerholgate.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reading Cheat BY Kristen Butcher i am done it is a realistic fiction.
I think i am like the main character because i wanna get that last missing clue like he does and you just feel like never giving up. I like this book because its a mystery and when he hides in the bathroom waiting for that kid to come steal the answers the teacher come and when the kid goes in the room he jgrabs his jacket instead. then his brother calls when hes waiting in the bathroom he says were are you and he says school but his brother said get home no so he left. the reason i kinda disslike this book is because he doesnt always find the cheaters but most of the time he does its like cop show they have 48 hours to figure out the murder but they dont always find the killer.

[Sara Alsaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to find a place for yourself when you're walking in the shadow of a school legend. That's the problem fifteen-year-old Laurel Quinn has faced every day of her school life. She loves her brother, Jack -- a jock, a brain, and one of the most popular guys in school -- but she's tired of being known only as his little sister.In an attempt to establish her own identity, Laurel becomes a reporter for the school paper. After months of invisible articles about school activities, she finally gets a break, writing an article that gains her the recognition she's been seeking.Then she stumbles upon a major cheating scam and -- convinced exposing it in print will win her even more accolades -- Laurel sets out to dig up the dirt. Little does she know it's going to fall all over her.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is on my district's list of recommended books for struggling readers. I found it on MackinVIA and decided to give it a try.

It's a really quick read. It's straight forward with a bit of meat to chew on. The story is simple but complicated in the ramifications of friendships, relationships, and how a few bad decisions can change lives.

I don't know who I'll recommend this book to but I have the feeling it ought to be read by more of my students.

[Xiao Mei · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot of this novel is very interesting. The main character who is a journalist, Laurel, investigates a cheating scam at her high school. However, no one in her school has interest in her investigation, not even her brother. Along the way, she lost friends. This novel seems very interesting to me because once the truth was revealed, it was shocking. i recommend this book to teenagers.