Best Foot Forward [Hardcover]

Joan Bauer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2006 | Age Level: 11 and up | Grade Level: 6 and up

Jenna Boller is back from her life-altering trip to Texas, dripping with instant maturity. She’s got a new job as assistant to Madeline Gladstone, Director of Quality Control for Gladstone Shoes, and a handsome protégé named Tanner Cobb.

But balancing all these responsibilities with the angst of junior year and her needy family isn’t easy, especially when she’s uncovering nefarious dealings at a mysterious shoe factory called Plant 453 and her protégé happens to be a shoplifter. Jenna finds it difficult to trust Tanner, although his street smarts might be just what she needs when the going gets tough—filling so many shoes is a tall order! But Jenna’s sense of humor keeps her grounded and helps her understand maturity is a work-in-progress.

Once again, Joan Bauer has written a sure-footed, funny, and poignant novel about honesty, self- esteem, the demands of loyalty, and the redemptive power of sole.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10–Teens who followed Jenna's journey from Chicago to Texas and back again in Rules of the Road (Putnam, 1998) will be thrilled with this sequel. The 17-year-old still likes to be in control (surely she must be a Capricorn), but she's thrown for a loop when her elderly employer, Mrs. Gladstone, hires a young man caught stealing from the shoe store where she works and appoints Jenna as his supervisor. The teen is still dealing with many issues in her own life, including an alcoholic father and a beloved grandmother whose Alzheimer's disease is progressing. Just as it seems that her life is as complicated as she can handle, she discovers that Mrs. Gladstone's son has been secretly utilizing unethical overseas labor tactics to cut costs and downgrade the quality of the shoes. Bauer's strength in characterization is amply evident here. Teens will enjoy Jenna's emotional growth and root for her tentative romance with Charlie, the donut king. For continuity, however, it is necessary to read Rules of the Road first as Best Foot Forward does not stand as surefootedly on its own.–Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. Taller-than-average shoe salesperson Jenna Boller is back in this gentle, stand-alone sequel to Joan Bauer's lauded Rules of the Road (1998). It's the start of junior year, and new challenges await Jenna, both on the job and at home. Professionally, she is helping Mrs. Gladstone with the merger between Gladstone Shoes and Shoe Warehouse, while training smooth-talking, former juvenile delinquent Tanner Cobb in the fine art of shoe retail. Privately, she is working through her feelings about her father's alcoholism by attending Al-Anon meetings; she's also trying to score a date with cute Charlie Duran, who knows donuts the way she knows shoes. Jenna is so busy that she nearly fails to notice clues leading to Mrs. G's unscrupulous son Elden's embezzlement. But it doesn't take long for sole-ful Jenna to catch on, and, with Mrs. G's support, restore the good name of Gladstone. This funny, winsome book is full of Bauer's trademark folksy wisdom, and although it breaks no new ground, it will be warmly welcomed by her many fans. Jennifer Hubert
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Hardcover: 183 pages
• Publisher: Perfection Learning (October 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756967678
• ISBN-13: 978-0756967673
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,020,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"I had moved from journalism to screenwriting when one of the biggest challenges of my life occurred. I was in a serious auto accident which injured my neck and back severely and required neurosurgery. It was a long road back to wholeness, but during that time I wrote Squashed, my first young adult novel. The humor in that story kept me going. Over the years, I have come to understand how deeply I need to laugh. It's like oxygen to me. My best times as a writer are when I'm working on a book and laughing while I'm writing. Then I know I've got something." Joan's first novel, Squashed, won the Delacorte Prize for a First Young Adult Novel. Five novels for young adult readers have followed: Thwonk, Sticks, Rules of the Road (LA Times Book Prize and Golden Kite), Backwater and Hope was Here (Newbery Honor Medal). Joan lives in Darien, CT with her husband and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bauer's best foot forward!, August 12, 2005

By 

Ei "crzybookmoovielover" (Seekonk, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Foot Forward (Hardcover)

This is a great sequel to an equally stunning and entertaining read, "Rules of the Road".
Bauer has vastly impressed me with all her books I've read thus far, but this one was like a big fat cherry along with the whipped creme on top of the hot fudge sundae known as "Rules of the Road".
Jenna Boller is back, back with a vengence alongside the owner and her boss, Madeline Gladstone. There are some new characters that add flavor to an already sweet treat of a story.
For anyone who just likes a good plot and lots of laughs, I recommend this. It may be targeted at teenagers(those teenagers are darn lucky cuz there were no writers like this in my teen days), but at 36, I have grown into a great fan of Joan Bauer's writing. She is very talented at telling a tale that is funny and endearing. It is a really easy read that I know younger girls will really enjoy because while I may be 36, deep down, I am still a teenager at heart.

Eileen F.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Foot First, Heart in the End, November 8, 2005

By 

Stephen T. Romaine "Steve Romaine" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Best Foot Forward (Hardcover)

One person can make a difference. That's the big lesson Jenna Boller learns outside of the classroom and it changes her forever. As she returns to school in the Fall, she immediately realizes how much she has matured over the summer. It's as if the other students were frozen in time. Jenna grew up at Gladstone Shoes. At first, she is consumed in her own problems, most notably fixing the strained relationship with a dysfunctional alcoholic parent she helped put in jail. A sister obsessed with her own appearance is also scarred by family problems but refuses to deal with them. At work, Jenna's boss, an elderly women, Mrs. Gladstone, seems out of touch and too gullible, giving the wrong people, like the troubled Tanner, a second chance. As Jenna learns, it was all a matter of having the right person redirect Tanner's high energy in a more positive direction - and Mrs. Gladstone make Jenna his boss, partly responsible for the transformation. Mrs. Gladstone knows that in her heart Jenna does not understand her methods. Jenna believes Mrs. Gladstone is soft, an easy mark. As the story unfolds, Jenna observes as Mrs. Gladstone takes on her own son, exposing the corruption that has infested Gladstone's new corporate offices. As her mentor, Mrs. Gladstone explains, "I want you to learn from this. I want you to write it in your heart." In the end Jenna intuitively creates her own mentoring role, helping someone else put the best foot forward. Joan Bauer has written a most enjoyable, uplifting book that will not only resonate with young reasons, but with all who read it. It kept me smiling.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good, but...., December 13, 2005

By 

terryannlibrarian "terryann" (phoenix) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Foot Forward (Hardcover)

j is back in a good way and in a bad way. again, the dialog is snappy, the main character is fun and witty and likeable. however, the issues are huge and therin lies the problem. bauer tries to tackle an alcohalic parent, a (maybe) annorexic sibling, a grandmother with alzheimer's disease, a thieving co-worker, the issue of unethical overseas labor tactics and the maturing of her main character all at the same time. the book treads on all of these issues but fails to tackle them realistically. the theiving co-worker for instance does not feel like a real teenager. in fact, he comes accross almost as an idiot...i could have pulled off a better scam than that guy:) anyway, it IS still a fun read, just don't look for any realness in it.