Customer Reviews

The Juvie Three

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

 

 

When I saw the author was Gordon Korman, I picked this new title up with enthusiasm. Jake, Reinvented was wonderful, and his Island, Everest, and On the Run series were all page turners. Juvie Three reads as a unedited first draft, with weak characters, bad writing, clumsy narrative (both highly uncharacteristic of Korman), and an uninteresting plotline that dragged rather than revved. Korman's use of present tense was ill-advised. I think he was going for immediacy, but rather he simply achieved a weak canvas on which he painted an equally-weak story. I really hope next time, Korman and his editors will vet his manuscript with much more care.

This is a quality title that is accessible for reluctant readers. The premise will capture their interest and the fast-paced action will hold their attention. It may not be a Printz contender, but it's well-written, engaging and definitely serves a purpose. I'd highly recommend it for teen readers.

Gecko Fosse drove the getaway car for another of his brother Ruben's thieving escapades. Arjay Moran fought back against some bullies, and one was killed accidentally after a punch. Terence Florian planned a robbery that others in a Chicago gang he wanted to join committed. All are in lockup and miserable.

Douglas Healy designed a pilot program for juvenile offenders. These three are chosen to live with him in an apartment, go to school, attend therapy sessions and be involved in community service. One slip-up and the boys will go back to prison.

Terence has no intention of toeing the line; he aims to run away as soon as possible. Gecko and Arjay know that if he disappears, they will be sent back. One night, while the three are arguing, Healy tries to intervene and is accidentally knocked unconscious. The boys drop him off at a hospital and live in fear of the consequences.

Nothing happens the next day, and they all go to school and work as if nothing happened. Gecko sneaks into the hospital to learn that Healy has no memory of who he is or what had occurred. In order to keep an eye on him, Gecko pretends to be a volunteer there. Then he meets Roxanne, another volunteer, and falls in love. Roxanne's wealthy, well-connected family threatens him, and he does not want to return to prison.

Arjay makes Gecko and Terence do their homework and keep all appointments so no one will suspect Healy is gone. But he also sneaks in some guitar practice at school and with a band at a nightclub. He finds success beyond his dreams, but knows he is now jeopardizing his freedom and those of his two friends as he becomes more known.

Meanwhile, Terence tries to get in with a gang again, finding a way to set up another robbery to court favor. When that doesn't make them accept him, and when they ask him to do something truly harmful to another person, he realizes that this is not who he wants to be. But now he has made some bad guys quite angry.

Healy is transferred to a mental institution because he still doesn't know who he is. Gecko, Arjay and Terence know they can't let him stay in that awful place; they need to band together and find some allies to help them out. Very few trust them with their criminal past, and many would just as soon see them all get sent back to prison.

The clock is ticking for all of them. The dialogue and brotherhood developing among the three boys speak true amidst a crazy situation. Would you do the right thing if no one was watching you? From thinking about surviving the next prison beating to finding out what they want for their future, they grow through every exciting page.

Prolific author Gordon Korman uses his usual humor in THE JUVIE THREE, but adds a suspenseful edge that will keep readers rooting for the boys and their overwhelming odds right through to the end.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

This book is AMAZING!!! One of the best books ever. It is Readers Choice Nominee in my state. Its is very interesting, funny and at the end of every chapter it makes you wonder whats next. You must read the book its for girls or boys ages 10 and up. This is a must read book !!!

My wife and I chose the audio-book of this novel because we had enjoyed two other novels narrated by Christopher Welch. We were not disappointed in this. While this is a bit of a predictable story about three boys taken in by an idealistic social worker, the characters and story were fun. It's a novel that the whole family can enjoy. This does not have the cutting realism of many other YA novels, but I enjoyed rooting for these likable characters who are down on their luck. Chris Welch is very easy to listen to as well.

Gold Star Award Winner!

What do you get when you mix three juvenile delinquents on their last chance before doing some long-term hard time, one do-gooder out to help them become better people, and Gordon Korman? THE JUVIE THREE! It is a fast-paced page-turner complete with humor, action scenes, romance, and some fascinating twists and turns.

Douglas Healy lived through his own hard times, and now he is determined to give some hope to a new crop of troubled teens. He has worked hard to cut through the red tape and bureaucratic nonsense to open a small halfway house (apartment) for three lost boys. Gecko, Terence, and Arjay have committed a variety of crimes, from driving a stolen getaway car to murder, and society seems to say their are beyond hope. The efforts of Douglas Healy have given the three a last chance.

Gecko seems grateful and determined to do the right thing. Arjay is confused and suspicious, yet strangely appreciative, that a stranger would take the time to reach out a helping hand. Terence looks at the situation as an opportunity to make a quick buck and escape ASAP.

When Terence breaks the rules one night and attempts to sneak out by way of the fire-escape, the other two boys step in to protect what they view as their last chance at a real life. The scuffle between the boys is interrupted by a sleepy and angry Douglas Healy, who has the unfortunate luck to plummet head-first from the fire-escape to the pavement below.

Fearful of the outcome if they are caught, the three boys load an unconscious, bleeding Healy in the back of a stolen car and rush him to the nearest emergency room, where they dump him and then hightail it back to the apartment. Until they can decide what to do next, they agree to keep up appearances and stick to their usual daily routine. What follows is an amazing tale of how three supposedly "no good" kids follow the rules and make the right decisions without adult supervision.

The plot twists and turns will keep even the most reluctant readers on the edge of their seats. Don't miss THE JUVIE THREE.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

"He turns left and left again, circling back onto Jackson. It's effortless. The wheel is an extension of his hands, just the way he likes it. Gecko's the car, and the car is Gecko. Not bad, this M4...
"Uh-oh. The bald guy's dead ahead, and he's managed to flag down a traffic cop. The cop steps right into the Infiniti's path, holding his hand out like, well, a cop. Gecko slaloms around him and then floors it. In the blink of an eye, the Infiniti is halfway down the next block. Gecko grins into the mirror. The officer and the car owner scramble helplessly in his wake.
"The smile disappears abruptly as his rearview changes. The door of the shop bursts open, and out stumble Ruben and his two cronies, weighed down with huge armloads of video games. One of them actually runs into the traffic cop, bowling him over in a spray of falling cases.
"Gecko shifts into reverse. Now the acceleration is pressing on his chest, propelling him backward. Uh-oh. The light changes. A solid line of traffic is coming at him from the other direction. He presses on the gas, steering with one hand as he peers over his shoulder at the tons of metal hurtling toward him. The gap disappears in a heartbeat, split seconds to impact --"

I want to meet the kid who isn't immediately sucked in by the high octane opening scene of THE JUVIE THREE. (It ends with that Infiniti flipped upside down and Gecko blacked out inside.)

Gecko, the thirteen-year-old getaway "man" who is prone to "not thinking," subsequently finds himself in the Jerome Atchison Juvenile Detention Center. Meanwhile, Terrance Florian, a teen gang member from Chicago has been a resident in an alternative detention program at Lion's Head Island. And fifteen-year-old convicted murderer Arjay Moran, "a six-foot-five, 260 pound African American, built like a wrestler, with a barrel chest and huge arms," has been incarcerated in Remsenville, an adult correctional facility.

The three teens are now being released into the custody of Douglas Healy. Healy has received a New Directions grant from the Garfield Foundation "to create a living situation for boys in the juvenile detention system." He will be living with and supervising the trio in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. They will be carefully overseen during every moment as they attend a public high school, participate in community service, take part in group counseling, and share the cooking and cleaning. There will be no contact of any kind for the first six months with family or old friends, and there will be no unsupervised time for getting into trouble.

If any one of the three kids screws up, then all of them will be forced to return to the respective hellish situations from which Healy has rescued them. Ms.Vaughn, a harsh, skeptical, and seriously overworked social worker, doesn't like this setup one bit, and is gunning for catching one of them stepping out of line so that she can pull the plug on this misguided experiment.

"Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run,
There's still time to change the road you're on."
--Led Zepplin, "Stairway to Heaven"

As two of the teens try to stop the third's middle-of-the-night attempt to slip out of the apartment, they accidentally but severely injure Mr. Healy. Leaving him, in a coma, outside the entrance to a nearby emergency room, THE JUVIE THREE is the story of how the three teens individually and collectively move forward as the time ticks away on their freedom.

"It reminds him of a story he studied in middle school. A condemned man staves off his execution by promising that, in a single year, he can teach the king's favorite horse to talk. Someone asks why he would make such a ridiculous bargain.
"He replies, 'A year is a long time. I may die. Or the king may die. Or the horse may die. Or the horse may talk.'
"Freedom equals possibility. The horse may talk."

One of those read-it-in-one-gulp books, THE JUVIE THREE is a smart, sweet, breathless romp through Manhattan that is appropriate for and is certain to be a hit with middle school students. High action is interwoven with the steady peeling away of the layers to reveal what each of these three kids is really made of. I am also really moved by the character of Healy, a former problem kid who has survived his own adolescence and now hopes to do something for the next generation.

With THE JUVIE THREE, Gordon Korman spins the pleasing, if improbable, tale of three amigos -- juvenile delinquents to you -- with different strengths and weaknesses who are scooped up by a do-good sort (and ex-juvie himself), Social Service worker Douglas Healy, who wants to oversee their rehabilitation by sending them back to school. Gecko is the car thief, Terence is the smooth-talking con man, and Arjay is the gentle giant who accidentally killed a bully by punching him (no, no -- the PUNCH didn't kill the kid, the statue he hit his head on when he fell did).

Sound far-fetched? It is. And the plot gets even "FARTHER-fetched," but Korman is in after-school TV special mode where anything can happen and, as long as it's entertaining, does (readers will no doubt forgive him). One of the book's strong points would be the humorous dialogue -- a Korman staple. As for the plot... well, there's this bridge I have for sale (called the Suspension of Disbelief Bridge), but that's another matter entirely. Young readers should get a kick out of Mr. Healy banging his head, suffering amnesia, and the three amigos trying to stay clean on their own (all while "hiding" his disappearance) so as to avoid a return to juvie hall.

As you might expect from a Hollywoodesque formula, the book ends with a bang (car chases, escapes, cop sirens, pretty girls with rich daddies, etc.) and ends happily ever after, too. Credit where it's due -- Korman can practically crank these out in his sleep by now. For reluctant readers, entertaining stuff. Ours is not to question so much as to enjoy, in some cases.