Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful, realistic book about the pressures teenagers keep bottled up inside, December 25, 2005
This review is from: Bottled Up (Hardcover)
Pip is bottled up. He has an alcoholic father prone to violent rages, a zonked-out pill-popping mother, and a little brother who looks up to him as the biggest hero in the world. To escape from the pressure of protecting his brother from his father, Pip escapes in drugs and alcohol. The narrative is told from Pip's flippant, jaded point of view , mocking authority figures and just trying to ease the pain of everyday life.
A concerned principal steps in to urge Pip to turn his life around. Is Pip ready to accept personal responsibility and deal with his family issues? Does he have the strength to avoid repeating this father's mistakes and treating his own brother like Pip himself was treated? The book doesn't deliver any magic solution wrapped up in a nice little bow. This is a powerful and realistic book about the pressures that teenagers keep bottled up inside.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A real page turner for teens and grown ups alike!, July 11, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Bottled Up (Hardcover)
Bottled up is a moving story about a teen on the brink of disaster who has to make a choice as to which path his life is going to take. I loved the characters in the story and found them very believable. I really liked the realistic portrayals of alcholism in a family. The main character, PIP is strongly developed by the author and easy to identify with for any teen I would think. I found the story kept me interested and I read it all the way through quickly, I couldn't put it down. The ending was my favorite part because it was realistic, everything had not gotten better for the character but he had changed and had made his own choices as to how to live his life. I loved the sense of hope that left the reader with. I also loved the theme throughout this story that everyone deserves a couple of chances and that sometimes giving a kid a chance is more important than following procedures or punishing. I would recommended this book to any teenager, mature adolescent or grown up. Its a great find!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Authentic teen voice, April 17, 2005
Despite the fact that this novel doesn't have huge revelations about teen life or a tantalizing twist in the end or even a plot that is overly unique, Bottled Up is a fantastic read. I had trouble putting it down once I began it. My literary background kept waiting for "Pip" to have something in common with Dickens' Great Expectations, but that never happened, so I relaxed into Pip's tale of teenage woe--alcoholic father, mother in denial, endearing and annoying younger brother, meddling principal (who ultimately saves Pip's future).
Even though nothing in the story surprised me (other than Mikey's accident--I'd figured on the cause being the father rather than Mikey himself), I loved this book. Pip is so much like the students I teach, trying to act cool and unaffected when so much is going on inside his head. His drug use in his situation is understandable and so is his decision to stop, especially with the group therapy members who have been where he is.
A great book that doesn't preach, yet has the ending it really needs: a brighter future for Pip and his family. I have recommended this book to so many people, I've lost count AND I've loaned out both of my copies.
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