Customer Reviews

Frozen Rodeo

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

FROZEN RODEO is Catherine Clark's best book to date. Written in first person present tense, it focuses on a teenager named Peggy. Middle name, Fleming. Her father is an amateur figure skater turned real estate agent and her mother is a very pregnant weather forecaster. Due to her father's career, the children all have been named in honor of famous skaters. The five year old twins are named Torvill and Dean. The quiet and thoughtful three year old is called Dorothy. That in itself is sure to crack up any skating fan - but wait, there's more.

Peggy, who opts to go by Fleming, has a very interesting summer. After getting into multiple car accidents - in which she remains unscathed, but sadly cannot say the same for the vehicles - she is no longer allowed to drive and gets a job at the local Gas 'n' Git to pay her father back. Meanwhile, she takes a French class taught by a string of unqualified substitutes, fights her attraction for the cute waiter at IHOP, befriends a girl named Charlotte with a wild streak and bickers with her co-worker, Denny, who has an obsession with U2 and often attempts to look, sound and act like his idol, Bono.

Anyone who has ever lived in a small town and dreamed of getting out of it will echo Fleming's thoughts about her city; anyone who has felt pressured to take care of their younger siblings will sympathize with her family plight. This book is all I have been talking about for days, and I will continue to yak about it until the cows come home. With a solid ending that ties every subplot and character together, I give FROZEN RODEO a perfect score.

Peggy (AKA Fleming) expects the summer before her senior year in high school to be horrible. After crashing the family car twice, her parents force her to get a job as a coffee server at a local gas station, Git and Go, to repay them. In her spare time, she is taking summer school french, to grwduate early and get out of her hometown, Lindville (which is basically a gignatic beef processing center). She also is supposed to help her mother prepare for the birth of another child and babysit for the others. The only part of her summer she looks forward to is wooing her longtime crush, Steve Gopher, while he works at IHOP. However, this hope is quickly dashed when he a Jacqui ( a "ditzy" blonde) become a couple, and Peggy is left out. However, she forges new friendships, Denny (an obsessive U2 fan), Mike ( Steve's best friend who becomes her romantic interest throughout the summer) and Charlotte ( a girl with a definate "wild streak", as the book puts it). Whether it is Denny and Peggy stopping a robbery, making-out with Mike in a carwash or streaking through the lindville rodeo parade with Charlotte, Peggy has these and countless other comical adventures during the summer that prove that things don't always go as planned, but will turn out for the best.
Though this book may seem like a typical young adult book, it offers much more. The adventures are unique and crazy ( No car, so steal a golf cart), and the characters are brilliantly well-developed. Extrodinarily comical moments make this fast-paced read a must read for anyone.

When Catherine Clark introduces the reader to Peggy Fleming Farrell, it's completely evident that we have a new type of young heroine on our hands. Peggy is responsible, observant, and wryly humorous-- think Ramona Quimby; and then pad her ribs with typically embarrassing high school experiences: dumb counter jobs, annoying co-workers and bosses; the excitement and confusion of love; and, of course, the search for one's identity.

Peggy's voice comes from that tender space between youth and adulthood; and her observations and musings often reflect this complexity accurately. For example, Peggy clearly loves her family-- she speaks in detail about her admiration for her father's athletic ability, or her sister Dorothy's patience-- yet the reader simultaneously develops the sense that Peggy is slightly embarrassed to be her mother's birth coach, or that her parents decided to name all the children after figure skating champions. While the reader is willing to accept that Peggy is of atypical intelligence and maturity, she does, at times, appear too smart-- even for an above-average 16-year-old girl. For example, when Peggy finds out the boy she likes only intended for her to be his makeout partner instead of his girlfriend, she goes to his place of employment to confront him about it. This is a point in Peggy's narration where Clark pushes the writing and does not let Peggy do what seems most natural; the reader senses that Clark directs the scene rather than reports it, if only to maintain Peggy's girl-you'll-be-a-woman-soon balance.

Nonetheless, Frozen Rodeo is an entertaining seasonal read. It's not overly sensational-- it stays real through Peggy's voice-- which is warmly human and very funny.

Sixteen year old, Peggy Fleming Farrell believes that her summer has come to the worst. Waking up at five every morning, rollerblading across town to work, and babysitting her younger siblings is not how she expected her summer to start. After wrecking two of her parents' cars, Peggy, who was named after a famous figure skater, has to take on a job at Gas `n' Git to pay back her debt. In addition, to make things worse, she gets her license taken away. You will have to read the book to see if Peggy's summer takes a huge twist or if everything just seems to get worse.
I really enjoyed this book because it had a funny plot to it. Peggy just wants to spend her summer learning French and hanging out with her friends, but nothing seems to go the way she wants it to. I liked everything about this book and it was a very quick read. Every chapter has something new and unexpected. I hardly ever wanted to put it down.
Mostly girls would probably like this book. If you want to experience "sweet sixteen" through another's eyes, this would be perfect for you. The main character definitely explains how there can be more work than fun and the disadvantages of growing up. Either way, this is an awesome book and I think you will probably enjoy it.

predictable. At the end of the book you can kind of figue out what is going to happen. This book is also very slow and hard to get into. You really have to keep reading to get to the good part. I thought that this girl complained to much also.

Peggy Fleming. Not your typical 16 year old teenager. With problems that are not even hers, such as her dad being a skater and trying to make his comeback, and her mom being a weather announcer on KLDV radio who is also expecting another baby. How will she make it through the problems that ARE hers? She works at Gas 'N Git, there is a robber on the loose that robs gas stations, gives her parents her paycheck so she can pay them back for the two car accidents she caused, and watches her siblings. Also, she is obsessed with Steve Gropher, has no friend in town for the summer, goes to french class were the teacher never shows up and gets substitutes that do not even speak French, and has to take a bus with a crazy driver because she has no car. But one of the biggest problems is that the Rodeo Days are coming to town in Lindville, which she hates. I like this book because the author leaves you hanging there wondering what is going to happen next and then picks you right back up again. Also, she ties everything together and makes this story relate to most teenage girls.

Peggy Fleming Farrell is stuck working as a coffee wench at the Gas `n Git when all she wants to go is grab some gas and git out of Dodge before her father, Patrick Farrell, involves her in his skating comeback. Then there's Peggy's mom, queen of weather and radio broadcasting, who seems to think Peggy hasn't got a responsible bone in her body even as she rushes out the door leaving Peggy to watch "The Little Mermaid" again with her younger siblings. Then there's Peggy's desperate crush and the agony of small-town America, but a la Dorothy, Peggy's going to learn that there's no place like the rodeo.

Frozen Rodeo is a book about a teenage girl that lives in a small hometown. She faces many problems like boys, French class, Rodeo Days, a job, and dealing with her mother's pregnancy. In the small town though, she doesn't have a lot of things to do in her spare time. All the adventures and daily problems she goes through makes for an excellent book full of drama with some comedy.
The part I liked about this book was how I could relate to the main character in many ways. Being a teenager from a small town like she was, I could understand jokes and remarks she'd make. Also the imagery was well described so you can easily get a picture in your head. However, one thing I didn't like about the book was how the author would drag things out at parts. I prefer a book that's exciting at every part. If you have ever read the book When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, you would enjoy this book because it has a lot of the same type of comedy. Also, the small town setting makes them have the same feel. I would recommend reading this book if you are a teenage girl. You'll understand more of where the main character is coming from and dealing with.

I loved the books "Truth or Dairy" and "Wurst Case Scenario" which are both by Catherine Clark, but I was disappointed by "Frozen Rodeo."

Peggy Fleming Farrel (or, as she likes to be called, Fleming) has a pretty abnormal life. She works as a coffee girl at Gas 'n' Git, the local gas station. She's working to pay her parents back for the two cars she's ruined in car accidents, so she has to give them most of her paychecks. Besides working all summer, she's also taking a French class to be closer to Steve, the guy she likes. In her French class, she keeps getting substitutes that don't speak a word of French, and the real teacher is M.I.A. In her French class she meets Charlotte, who teaches her a lot about being different.

Fleming's mom is pregnant with the fifth kid, and she has to attend Lamaze class with her mom. As if that wasn't weird enough, her dad's an ice skater, and is planning on skating at the popular rodeo in town every summer.

Though Fleming is trying to impress Steve, she meets - and falls - for someone else...his best friend.

This books is really funny, but I was disappointed to see it had a similar plot line to "Truth or Dairy"

This book is one that most teens can relate to, especially if you live in a small town and have a small town festival. There are some parts that are very unrealistic, but this book made me laugh out loud while I was reading it. A great summer read book--you won't be disappointed!