Customer Reviews

Car Trouble

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

 

 

I read this book recently and I found it to be okay. I rather enjoyed the original characters. Each one was unique in their own way. Each character had their own spot in the story and none of them were pushed to the back of the spotlight. The overall plot of the story is very interesting and humorous. I disliked one thing with the plot; a really weird series of events would have to happen in real life for it to ever occur. The sense of humor is great throughout the entire story and I found myself laughing in the middle of reading it. The main character Duff changed a lot through the story and gained a lot of wisdom in a short time span. The stories that have characters changing over time I think are the easiest to relate to. I also think the book is okay because of its length. I think the book is too short to make a huge impact on the reader. Compared to other books I have read this one just doesn't stand out in my mind. It is a good book to read in your spare time but don't take a lot of time to explore any more of the book. In conclusion I gave this book 3 out 5 stars.

CAR TROUBLE is the title of Jeanne DuPrau's newest book. Since she wrote CITY OF EMBER and SPARKS, I've been a huge fan. CAR TROUBLE is a totally different genre than DuPrau's fantasy realism books, more of a teen comedy with secrets, bad guys and a little romance. I LOVED it!

CAR TROUBLE is a funny light YA about the misadventures of a 17 year old computer genius who is driving cross-country to start a fabulous job in CA. Not only does he encounter "car trouble" and share the trip with two interesting friends, but he gains an awareness of alternate fuel types and a growing desire to change the world, which brings about positive changes in himself.

This book offers a fun, surprising road adventure that will appeal to fans of Gordon Korman, Joan Bauer and David Lubar.

For some reason my wife has gotten into a groove of reading YA (young adult) books lately, and as a result, I end up reading some almost by accident. I dipped into the first few pages of this one to vet it for her, and over the course of a few days, ended up reading the entire thing (it's a quick read, about two or three hours at most). The story is pretty simple and gentle, unlike so many "issue" YA books that appear these days, which seem to draw their inspiration from cautionary afterschool specials and then amp them up.

Here we meet 17-year-old computer geek Duff Pringle (is it just me, or does sound more like Homer Simpson's favorite brand of potato chips than a real person's name?), as he embarks on that quintessential American rite of passage -- a road trip. He's passing up college for a dot-com job in San Jose, and has a week to drive his decrepit Ford Escort cross-country from Richmond. Of course, things don't go as planned, and wacky antics ensue, involving a '57 Chevy, a surfer-dude hitchhiker, a cute girl and her vomiting dog, a biker bar, and a couple of goons.

Duff is a pretty one-dimensional character, the classic supergeek who's good with computers and bad with people. Over the course of the story he's forced to deal with people, and of course, as a result, grows up a bit. It would have been nice if he were a bit more nuanced -- computer geek kids are so thick on the ground these days that it's hard to buy him as a totally friendless loser. That archetype worked better back in the '80s, but is much less plausible now. Hitchhiker Stu is a charmer, but clearly bad news, so the reader spends most of the story waiting for the shoe to drop with him. The third person who joins Duff on the ride is Bonnie, who brings a little more reality and level-headedness to the story (although you have to wonder at her wisdom in taking a cross-country ride from two guy she jut met -- talk about sketchy...).

In the end of course everything more or less works out and no one is done any lasting damage. It's a perfectly fine story, albeit one that you'll have completely forgotten about a week later.

While the book was fun and the characters entertaining, the odd string of events were almost believable, but her explanation of computer functions hardly. However, I enjoyed the book overall as a good coming of age story about a young computer savant.

The title is too generic and the cover picture too boring. I picked this book up only because it was in the NEW ARRIVALS section of my library. The premise also seems cliche. What's this? Another story about a socially-challenged friendless teenager?

But this turned out to be one of the better books I recently enjoyed. I especially love--or maybe it's because of--Stu's presence. I rarely fall in love with a fictitious character from a novel, but Stu captured my attention right away with his lovable personality. Yeah, I see why the main character (Duff? I can't even remember his name) is jealous of him; he has every right to be.

Car Trouble is a wonderful book from the imagitive mind of Jeanne DuPrau. This book tells the story of Duff Pringle, a seventeen year old driving to San Jose, California to start a new computer job. But when his car breaks downs is where the fun begins. He meets a hitchiker, Stu, who has some secrets up his sleeves, Bonnie, a girl who loves to sing (and Duff is drushing on!) Full of adventure, fun, love, and some plot twists, Car Trouble will want you to read all day!!!!

the thing that i dislike about this book is that it starts out slow their is nothing good about it at the beginning then the part that i like about it is that duff pringle goes on a road trip to sanjose, california and he has to be at his job in 3 weeks and he blows his engine

Jeanne DuPrau combines mystery, comedy and romance to pull off a wonderfully captivating book. The characters are hilariously realistic and get themselves into all sorts of unimaginable predicaments, some of which involve con artists and vomiting cats. The plot, although slightly predictable, moves along at a clipped pace, keeping you involved from start to satisfying finish. This is a wonderful book to read while you're out lazing on the beach this summer.

This is a good easy read book. I am a big fan of Mrs. Duprau's other books,and was excited when this one was released. The guy in the book reminds me a lot of me, so that was pretty cool :)