Father Figure [Hardcover]

Richard Peck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1996

Living with their mother and grandmother following the divorce of their parents, seventeen-year-old Jim Atwater and his younger brother, Byron, find their lives turned upside down by the death of their mother and the return of their long-lost father. Reprint. SLJ. AB.

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

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover
• Publisher: Perfection Learning (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812423224
• ISBN-13: 978-0812423228
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,130,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Peck has written over twenty novels, and in the process has become one of America's most highly respected writers for young adults. A versatile writer, he is beloved by middle graders as well as young adults for his mysteries and coming-of-age novels. He now lives in New York City. In addition to writing, he spends a great deal of time traveling around the country attending speaking engagements at conferences, schools and libraries...Mr. Peck has won a number of major awards for the body of his work, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award from School Library Journal, the National Council of Teachers of English/ALAN Award, and the 1991 Medallion from the University of Southern Mississippi. Virtually every publication and association in the field of children s literature has recommended his books, including Mystery Writers of America which twice gave him their Edgar Allan Poe Award. Dial Books for Young Readers is honored to welcome Richard Peck to its list with Lost in Cyberspace and its sequel The Great Interactive Dream Machine...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Father Figure is a must to read book., June 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Father Figure (Mass Market Paperback)

Father figure starts when Jim and Byron, his younger brother, are picked up after school by their grandmother. At their grandmother's house they see many peple inside crying, and a group of cops writing the personal notes of jim's dead mother. Jim stil can't imagine why his mother would have committed suicide. Usually he tries imagining being Nathan; who found Jims mom dead in her car, and see his mother. Jim keeps and takes care of his brother, by working as a coach in school, one day his grandmother phones Byron to come to her house with his brother. Jim goes to Florida to start a new life with his father. Jim doesn't want to do this because his father left them when Byron was just born. On the plane they meet Adele, they become great friends. Throughout his time in Florida, Jim and Byron meet new people, friends, some that he would like to meet more. Throughout the long summer Jim misses his mom. He also meets this new friend called Marietta, and shares all his secrets. I really liked this book because its similarity with real life situations. It is a good idead to write about issues because they give an idea of how hard life can be from one minute to another. As the book is written in first person, I felt as if I'd been Jim, moving to Florida, and having all these problems he has to solve with his father. It was really a good book, which I recommend to teenagers, I give it an eight out of ten.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Way Beyond His Years, December 1, 2001

By 

Jeff Kepreos (Canonsburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Father Figure (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. I thought is covered a great deal of real life situations and occurances for a person so young. The story moved at a good pace from one event to the next and kept the reader interested by changing scenes so quickly. Jim Atwater is forced to grow up in a hurry and assume so much responsibility for just being 17 years old. His father leaves at an early age, his family must move in with his grandmother and his mother commits suicide to end a life of suffering. He and his brother, Byron, are then reunited with their father and forced to move to Florida for the summer. He matures even more while in Florida and becomes better aquainted with his Father. Jim plans to leave to return to New York but then discovers that Byron decides to stay with his Father. Even though it is a long 8-9 year period that is covered, the book itself moves quickly from one event to the next and keeps the reader highly interested in what may happen next. A good, solid, entertaining novel about Young Adult Literature and one that I would recommend to all young readers to follow the tough emotional life of a young teenager, Jim.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Way Beyond His Years, December 1, 2001

By 

Jeff Kepreos (Canonsburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Father Figure (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. I thought is covered a great deal of real life situations and occurances for a person so young. The story moved at a good pace from one event to the next and kept the reader interested by changing scenes so quickly. Jim Atwater is forced to grow up in a hurry and assume so much responsibility for just being 17 years old. His father leaves at an early age, his family must move in with his grandmother and his mother commits suicide to end a life of suffering. He and his brother, Byron, are then reunited with their father and forced to move to Florida for the summer. He matures even more while in Florida and becomes better aquainted with his Father. Jim plans to leave to return to New York but then discovers that Byron decides to stay with his Father. Even though it is a long 8-9 year period that is covered, the book itself moves quickly from one event to the next and keeps the reader highly interested in what may happen next. A good, solid, entertaining novel about Young Adult Literature and one that I would recommend to all young readers to follow the tough emotional life of a young teenager, Jim.