Customer Reviews

I Can't Believe I Have to Do This (Novel)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hi, I'm a 12 year old girl living in Saudei Arabia. I'm going to a prvate Ameican school herre. I found this book in out school library and I thought it was great. Its my first time reading a book bu J. Alford. The book is a bout a 12 year old boy called Dean. His mother gives him a journal for his twelfth birthday and makes write an entry atleast once week. He hates writing in his journal at the beginning. He starts by writing one sentence every week, but then writes about a page every day. Once he even wrote a three page entree. He finds himself writing about things he did that he would never have thought about doing a year before. Getting his ear pierced, leaving the yard gate open causing his dog get run over by a car, getting a date, and being elected for the 7th grade student council. Also, he finds himself writing about his best friend Aaron and his 14 year old friend Stiche. Aaron and Stiche pressure him into shoplifting, drinking, and racing with them in Stiche's mom's car. He gets caught when he shoplifts, sick when he drinks, and has to go to court because he was riding with an underage driver who had been drinking and taking drugs. He stops hanging around with Aaron and Stiche and makes other friends. Dean is a boy that has to suffer alot because of the consequences of the pretty bad decisions he made. I really enjoyed this book and would like to read other books by this author.

Even for an older reader, Jan Alford has filled this book with the consequences of life if you make the wrong decisions. I would think that this book would be great for a school reading list because it teaches kids that you can't just make bad choices and get away with it. There is always a price to pay. If you liked this book, I would think that you would like True Friends by Bill Wallace. It too focuses on problems of teenage life.

I admit; I was not expecting much when I first opened this novel by Jan Alford. It looked way too preachy for my liking, and was unsure exactly what message the person who gave me the book was trying to get across. However, I agreed to read it anyway, and I was surprised to find that "I Can't Believe I Have to Do This" is an honest look at what goes on in a 12-year-old's mind. Having just recently passed that age myself, I found myself remembering similar situations in my life to what Dean goes through in the book. Dean is one cool character, and resents the fact that his mother gives him a journal (a JOURNAL!?!) for his birthday, and that he will be expected to write in it every week. His first response is that he has nothing to write about, but as his year progresses, he finds that he often has too much on his hands- and that many of his problems are due to his own carelessness. The story finally culminates when Dean takes things too far, and realizes the value of responsiblity. Through the journal, readers will hear about Aaron, Dean's former best friend who goes through some troublesome changes, Tasha, the girl that becomes his first date, his annoying family, and much more. Most of Dean's complaints, situations, and lessons are as old as time itself, but the refreshing manner in which they are presented will keep readers' interest.

This is the best nook I've read since The Man Who Loved Clowns!It was a good book for kids 10-17!Plus you won't want to put the book down until your finished!

What a good book! I don't know how the author got into the mind of a 12-year-old boy, but Jan Alford did it. The phrasing and thought processes reminded me strongly of my own 12-year-old boy, whom I gave a journal for Christmas. He, too, thought the idea was lame, and he doesn't write in it regularly. So I'm hoping this book (and my encouragement - not nagging!) will get him into the habit of looking at his life, instead of just blundering through it.
Thanks for a great read, Jan Alford!

When I first read the title and saw the cover on the book I did not know what to expect. ALthough the book was fairly decent it was not quite what I expected. As a twenty-four year old it seems kind of characteristic for me to have this opinion. For a young teenager or a pre-teen this book by Jan Alford would be pretty interesting. I'll admit at times, I wanted to just keep on reading to see what type of trouble the kids would get into next, but other than that it seemed like a typical after-school television show; a growing, pre-pubescent boy getting into mischief when hanging out with the wrong crowd. He gets into trouble a couple of times and gets lectures from mom and dad, and near the end he totally felt like a jerk for all the stupid decisions he made. The last time he was sincerely apologetic. HIs dad told him heart-wrenching story that made hime think more than ever about some of the "out of control" things he had done. Basically, a pre-tenn grows up a little and learns some things that ultimately will help him become a reponsible, decision-making man in the future.

This book is about a boy named Dean Matthews. His mother gives him a journal for his 12th birthday and expects him to write in it at least once a week for the next year. He thinks it is the worst idea ever until he actually begins writing. He starts by writing about his family. He has a younger brother and sister who are always trying to get him in trouble. This is a bad thing for him because he has to write a disciplinary paragraph every time he breaks a rule. One journal entry is about his mother being pregnant and losing the baby. This is a difficult time for the whole family. Dean thinks he is pretty cool when he talks his parents into getting his ear pierced. Aaron is Dean's best friend. They hang out together all of the time but don't always make the best decisions. Aaron gets involved with alcohol, steals a car, and gets caught shoplifting. Dean is a part of this, and they both end up paying the consequences. During the year, he also gets his first date and runs for student council. When he got the journal, he never imagined he would have enough to write about. He ends up buying himself a new journal for his next birthday. The journal taught Dean self discipline and also how to express his feelings through writing. The book keeps the readers attention because there is always something happening. It is good for students around the same age as Dean to read it because they face some of the same decisions he faces. This book can be used to teach students about relationships, discipline, consequences, and writing.