Customer Reviews

Getting The Girl (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The title, front cover, and inside front jacket of this book led me to believe that it would be a shallow story about a boy who wanted to have sex with his brother's girlfriend. For some reason, I took it out anyway and read it. The first few pages seemed to confirm my theory, but I read on.

And changed my mind. Getting the Girl is not the shallow sex story I assumed. It is a moving account of a boy and his life, his relationships--with "the girl", but more importantly, with his family and with himself--and his longing for "okayness." Cameron is a believable character that you will grow to support, ache for, and feel attached to. The supporting characters have depth and truth, the plot is interesting, the setting is not stated but you get a feel for the where and the when.

Cameron grows as a person before your eyes as the author shaves off layer after layer to reveal him on the inside.

Markus Zusak's GETTING THE GIRL, the sequel to FIGHTING RUBEN WOLFE, is a five star effort of YA fiction. The story centers on the life of Cameron Wolfe and his hunger, his desire to get a girl, "the" girl, the one who lives in the house up in Glebe he waits outside of. This coming of age story feels so fresh that I swear my eyes started sweating.

Like so many younger brothers, Cameron is trying to grow in the shadow of his brothers, and it's not working for him. Rubes gets all the girls, accomplishes all the heroics, and stands on his own in the world. Cameron can only "want" that. It takes Octavia, not the girl he thought he was waiting for, but the real thing, to enter his life by surprise and plant the seed of strength in Cameron that he didn't know he had soil for.

At first, Cameron's secret journal writings feel too advanced for the kid we meet, but he grows into them, or they grow into him. Either way, they work well to add a deeper level to this already emotionally complex novel. They reveal a maturity in Cameron that feels right when the end of the story comes around.

If our lives truly are made up of moments, as Cameron says they are, that those moments are the pieces of us, then this story is a piece worth carrying with you, one you'll want to applaud with your noble clapping hands. When the last raindrop has fallen, the question it's asking us might be -- "What moments make up that life of yours?"

Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

Cameron Wolfe is crushing hard. Her name is Octavia and, in his mind, she is just about perfect. She's beautiful and caring, and can make a harmonica "howl." Octavia doesn't mind having Cameron around, unlike most of the girls Cameron's brother Ruben brings home. That's the trouble: Ruben brought her home first and, unlike most of the other girls who have come and gone, Octavia is the one who dumps Ruben. Ruben acts as if it's no big deal but, in truth, Octavia is the source of Cameron and Ruben's first real conflict, in which Cameron bears the brunt of Ruben's anger. It is Cameron's sister, Sarah, who helps Cameron see that he can be more than just Ruben's shadow --- he is his own person, smart and sensitive with his own unique vision of the world.

Lyrical and evocative, GETTING THE GIRL is not so much about Cameron's crushes as it is about family, self-discovery through writing, and the reality of teen love. Cameron's voice is graceful with a perfect blend of wisdom and naivete, of learning the differences between lusting from afar and real-life dating. Readers will identify with him at the same time they want to strangle him for being so pigheaded, doing things like sitting outside the house of a girl who hates him. The change in Cameron and Ruben's relationship is satisfying and realistic. Those who are looking for a thoughtful yet strong male character will find a perfect match in this elegant sequel to FIGHTING RUBEN WOLFE.

--- Reviewed by Carlie Kraft

Please don't ever judge this book by its cover. Based on the title and image, I was expecting a shallow hormone-fest for teen boys, but it's a beautifully written story of an artist discovering his craft and finding his sense of worth because of it. I freaking love this book. Zusak balances humor and poetry like nothing I've ever seen. It's awesome, but completely unpretentious. He also handles sibling relationships in a touching and realistic way.

I read this book like once a month. It's that good.

3 Weeks ago I read The book Thief, loved it so much i ordered fighting ruben and getting the girl. Mr. Zusak is an amazing down to earth writer that I seem to keep craving more of. I'll be moving on to the messenger and waiting anxiously for whatever else he writes. Thanks for adding substance to my world.

Markus Zusak has such a gift with words. This is a simple story about a young man learning who he is and where he stands. But with Markus Zusaks gift for writing it is a simple story turned into an amazing story. I really enjoyed reading this book as I have all his others. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a nice book to read and enjoy. :)

I am not surprised that thus far, this book has only received 5 star reviews. I read all kinds of genres of books and this is one of my favorite books of any genre, definitely of the YA genre.

Before I review it, I want to say this is my first Markus Zusak book and I did not realize that this book follows another: Fighting Ruben Wolfe. Unfortunately, that book appears to be out-of-print here in the U.S. and is for sale Used at like $30 a pop. Understandably, people don't want to get rid of Zusak's book, because I'm sure they want to reread them! My point is that if you can't get the first book, or you do not want to pay that much $, I felt like Getting the Girl can be read without needing to read the first. I did not feel like I was missing backstory, though I would like to go back and read the first.

Now, as for my review, I won't recap the plot, because I hate recapping the plots when I write reviews, but also because this book is more about a character's journey to find self-worth than about any specific events. That isn't to say that there weren't some suspenseful moments where I couldn't tear my eyes from the page. Especially towards the end of the book, I was covering the words with my hand so my eyes wouldn't jump ahead.

This story really snuck up on me. In the first half of the book, I was pulled through my the author's amazing writing, which is both poetic yet straight to-the-point. Not overwritten at all. At first, I was reading it in like 30-40 page increments at a time. I found myself rereading sentences and letting them settle in my mind. At some point in the middle, the story turned a corner where I could not put it down and stayed up late to finish it. In no way is this book sappy or melodramatic - it involves guys fist-fighting, playing sports, going after girls, etc. but it is very raw and real and it reached in and grabbed my emotions by the throat and didn't let go. I cried at least half a dozen times in the second half of this book.

I just hope this review did this book justice. It was that good. This may be classified as Young Adult, but I think this is a great book for not only adolescent and teen boys & girls, but also for adult men and woman. So I guess I pretty much think everyone would love this book.

I loved this book. It was a quick, easy read. A lovely story about a teenage boy becoming a man,discovering love and finding a comfortable place within his family and the world around him. I have enjoyed all Zusak's books and I am amazed that someone so young can write with such feeling and understanding.

Friday, I read "Fighting Reuben Wolf"...couldn't put it down. Saturday, I read "Getting"...do I need to say more? All I can say, in all truthfulness is: "Write more, Markus and write fast!"

What makes up an individual into the person one hopes to be? What components to a person's life are most crucial to this formation of self? To which extent is an understanding or reconciliation of these personal elements required for one to achieve a satiated level of "okayness"?

These are the questions that auspiciously consume the pages of Markus Zusak's sweet and endearing novella. In my own chronology of Mr. Zusak's erudite adventures, following I Am The Messenger and The Book Thief, the third book in my path, Getting The Girl feels decidedly more deliberate and minimalist. With the protagonist, Cameron Wolfe, ever searching for a hunger and desire within, readers my find themselves, along with Cam, searching for what it is they also are hungry for. In a completely charming approach, Getting The Girl offers fun and amusing perspectives on the intimate value of words, stories and a sense of feeling. Most predominantly, Mr. Zusak frames a portrait of personal familial relationships and how the person that one perceives in themselves informs the perception others have in them; and vise-versa.