Doing Time: Notes from the Undergrad [Library Binding]

Rob Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1999

Randall's Social Work 322 class has been assigned to evaluate the community service program at Robert E. Lee High School. He and his classmates have each been given details of individual volunteer projects that the Lee seniors have had to complete in order to graduate.

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

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up. A collection of 10 loosely knit vignettes that focus on the theme of volunteering. In "Shacks from Mansions," Randall's college social work class has been assigned to report on community service projects completed by local high school students as a requirement for graduation. Randall reminisces about the time he was on the receiving end of one such project and a well-known professional football player befriended him through a Big Brothers program. About the time Randall began to develop a bond, his big brother completed his court-imposed number of hours and disappeared from his life. The remaining stories examine issues regarding community service, including attitudes and motivations. Thomas challenges readers to look beneath the surface of these typical teenagers and realize that they are rarely the people they first seem to be. In "Blue Santa," one high school do-gooder is the president of the Key Club and heads up a Christmas toys project. The student is motivated only by dreams of the recognition the club will receive. On the other hand, Dwight, in "The Laser," rarely lives up to the expectations of his school superintendent father, yet he goes far beyond the service requirements to help a Mexican man pass an employment test. The stories are well-written, interesting, provocative, and humorous, and often have surprise endings. Teachers will find them useful to stimulate classroom discussion. The characters accurately reflect contemporary young adults and the dialogue is both realistic and amusing.?Tim Rausch, Crescent View Middle School, Sandy, UT
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

From Thomas (Slave Day, p. 306, etc.), an attempt to draw a cross-section of humanity from a group of high-school students performing community service. In the first chapter, as part of a college course, Randall is assigned to follow up on nine high-school seniors who had to do community service projects to graduate, by interviewing them and the participants in their projects. He's a skeptic after his own experience on the receiving end of someone else's community-service project a decade earlier. The next nine chapters are more like short stories, each one a self-contained first-person account by one of the nine seniors: Some perform their service with honor, some with cynicism. Thomas covers a lot of territory and demands that readers keep track of several characters and activities; each narrator establishes himself or herself, describes the mission, learns a lesson, or hits a defining moment, then checks out, without a reappearance of Randall for perspective or hindsight--which leaves the book's premise, and readers, dangling. It's a promising work--it just doesn't feel finished. (Fiction. 12-14) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Library Binding
• Publisher: Rebound by Sagebrush (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613170482
• ISBN-13: 978-0613170482
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,412,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Doing Time's 10 stories full of voice and insight., November 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Doing Time Notes from the Undergrad (Hardcover)

Doing Time: Notes from the Undergrad, Rob Thomas' lastest work of fiction for young adults captures the experiences of high school students engaged in community service projects they are required to complete for graduation. These stories will appeal to teenagers and to adults alike; the characters' voices are sincere and engaging, and the stories are intriguing, insightful, and most importantly, entertaining. I like how the author avoiding resorting to moralization and preachiness and focused on how individual teenagers might react in each of the situations...many of their decisions were surprising, and the stories ended in ways that really made me think.

Neither adults nor students should be put off by the fact that these are short stories...they are among the best pieces of young adult fiction I've read, and I think other readers will agree as they finish each one, they wish it would go on. The characters are that real, and the stories that engaging.

4.0 out of 5 stars Will Make "Veronica Mars" Fans Feel Like They're Home At Last, May 2, 2008

By 

Pat Shand "Pat Shand" (Freeport, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Doing Time Notes from the Undergrad (Hardcover)

I'm ecstatic to have discovered this book. I'm a huge fan of YA books, and an even bigger fan of Veronica Mars, a critically acclaimed television show created and executive produced by Rob Thomas. I could go on and on about how great Rob Thomas is at writing dialogue, how perfectly plotted his story arcs are, and how he has the best understanding of the teenage mind in TV land... but that would be gushing. And I already kind of did that in the "Veronica Mars" review, so let's move on.

"Doing Time: Notes from the Undergrad" is a collection of short stories, each of which are first person narratives about how high schoolers spent their community service time (a requirement for their graduation). The stories range from slice of life tales, funny tidbits, and even tear jerkers, each of them commenting on the human condition. As with "Veronica Mars," Rob Thomas values the quirks and cynicism of realism over sentimentality, which makes this book ring all the more true.

The first story gives a nice context to those that follow. A college student named Randall is asked to review the reports that the high schoolers in question have written, and those reports are the subsequent stories. However, as another reviewer mentioned, this book feels extremely open-ended, as it doesn't close with another Randall story. However, that's a minor quibble, as this truly isn't a novel. It's simply a collection of short stories that center around a similar theme.

Some stories were better than others, but this book was entertaining throughout, which is rare for short story collections. It's short, it's packed with dialogue that zings across the page that will make any "Veronica Mars" fan feel like they are at home at last. It's not perfect, and it's not a life-changing book, but it's a great little book from an author whose work--whether it be prose or television--should be on your To Buy list.

8/10

4.0 out of 5 stars The Truth and its companions, April 12, 2004

By 

Neill (Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doing Time (Paperback)

Doing Time by Rob Thomas is a great book. Rob Thomas does an excellent job of writing ten short stories in which each one appeals to teenagers. Thomas does an exceptional job of conveying morals and themes from each story that really makes one think.
This book is exceptionally well written. Thomas was really able to bring these characters alive and have them become appealing to us young adults. He really portrays how teenagers would react in certain types of situations and made each story very logical and relaxing to read. I really liked how he had some twisted endings and had endings that really made one want to sit and think about what they have just read.
Thomas does such a good job with each story that you just do not want to have the stories end. He does such a good job of bringing out the character's personality traits. He truly does make them alive and seem like one of our friends at school. The only negative thing that Thomas does throughout this whole book is that he doesn't have much closure to the book.