Four Miles to Pinecone [Hardcover]

Jon Hassler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1977

An incident at his uncle's isolated cabin causes a sixteen-year-old to reexamine his decision to keep silent about a robbery he witnessed.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Tom Barry's summer starts off bad and only gets worse. He not only has to write a paper during the summer, but he sees his best friend rob a store. He doesn't tell a soul about it, but then later in the summer, at his uncle's resort in the Minnesota woods, Tom becomes part of something much worse. The stakes are higher and this time his life is on the line. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 117 pages
• Publisher: Frederick Warne; 1st edition (January 1, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0723261431
• ISBN-13: 978-0723261438
• Product Dimensions: 20 x 20 x 20 inches
• Shipping Weight: 20 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,710,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Four Miles to Pinecone, January 26, 2003

By 

J. Lindner (Gem Lake, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Four Miles to Pinecone (Fawcett Juniper) (Mass Market Paperback)

Minnesota author John Hassler uses Four Miles to Pinecone as an allegory to itself. He opens by stating summer is over then proceeds to tell a tale of growing up and making decisions of one particular summer. In the end, the book becomes its own forty-seven page assignment (and then some) as described in the early chapters. Hassler weaves an intricate tale using metaphors along the way. Particularly poignant is the main characters inability to use a manual transmission on a car. Hassler writes how he often gets stuck in one gear due to unfamiliarity with a clutch. This is a metaphor for his character's inablity to change gears in his life. He insists on working in a grocery store, and plans to do so forever (so it seems), or how he cannot turn in his friend whose become a burglar.

The is a very well-thought and developed story line. It is an older work by an accomplished author, but is worth reading nonetheless. It is a middle school level book, and should be part of many schools' required reading lists.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good,Simple Book, November 22, 1999

By 

The KID (THE GOOD OLE US of A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Four Miles to Pinecone (Fawcett Juniper) (Mass Market Paperback)

Being a teenage boy growing up in Minnesota, I took an extra personal interest in the story. I could relate to the scenes that he was writing about and as I got deeper and deeper into the plot, it felt like I was actually in the story. Hassler's events were short and to the point. He covered a lot of detail in only one hundred fifteen pages. I prefer books that have a straightforward plot and one that has good principles. I feel that 4 Miles to Pinecone is a book that has all of that.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good story, good message, September 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Four Miles to Pinecone (Fawcett Juniper) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an interesting story by an excellent author. It makes a point about decisions everyone must make to do the right thing or take the easy way out. Part of the story is set in town in the world of a teenager--school, part-time job, friends, etc. Part of the story is set in a rural area of wildlife and cabins. Anyone of any age should enjoy this fast-reading story. All of Mr.Hassler's books are top-notch; this one for young people is also. It makes a good point without being preachy.