Karma for Beginners [Hardcover]

Jessica Blank (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 18, 2009

Fourteen-year-old Tessa has never had a normal life. Her mother, a frustrated hippie with awful taste in men, has seen to that. But when her mom pulls her out of school to live at an ashram in the Catskills, Tessa goes from being a freak among normal people to being an outcast among freaks. Freaks who worship an orange robe-wearing guru. And while her mom is buzzing with spiritual energy, and finding a little too much favor with the guru, all Tessa feels are weird vibes.  

Unless she’s with Colin, the gorgeous boy who fixes trucks for the ashram. The connection they share is the most spiritual thing Tessa has ever felt. But he’s older—like illegally older—and Tessa’s taking dangerous risks to spend time with him. Soon her life is blooming into a psychedelic web of secrets and lies and it’s clear that something’s about to give way. When it does, will she have anyone to hold on to? Will she even know herself?

 
Revelations abound in this mind-altering novel from the acclaimed author of Almost Home.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Blank (Almost Home) pens a second tale involving drug abuse, absentee parenting and neglected teens flouting authority. As in her debut, she sets her sights on a fringe community-this time, a hippie cult-and catalogs life there, with mixed results. Many of her descriptions of communal life border on the cliché: waifish, beatific followers in flowing skirts and white robes, chanting sessions, daily seva ("selfless service," aka chores), a lecherous TV-watching guru, and touchy-feely mantras about surrendering desires and "Purity of Being." But 14-year-old Tessa's flight from her mother, who is desperate for a spiritual makeover, despite Tessa's misery on the commune, and into the willing arms of Colin, a 20-year-old who fixes broken VW buses on the ashram, strikes a nerve. While Tessa's clandestine relationship may initially seem deliciously rebellious and romantic to some, things quickly spiral out of control, both for Tessa and her mother, whose sexual connection to the guru is revealed. Eventually, wayward mother and daughter reunite, but not before unfortunate (and implausibly wrapped-up) lessons are learned on both ends. Ages 13-up.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH; 1 edition (August 18, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423117514
• ISBN-13: 978-1423117513
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,106,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A dissenting opinion on this book..., August 28, 2010

By 

Melissa B. Owens "of www.melissas-bookshelf.com" (Canton, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Karma for Beginners (Hardcover)

Firstly, thank you to Nicole with The Book Report Network for sending me a copy of this book! Simply from reading the synopsis, I thought it sounded like an interesting premise and a promising story. Upon starting the book, I realized it was set in the 80's, which I also found to be a nice change from the modern setting that is usually depicted in stories lately. While I initially found the relationship between Tessa and her mother (and their move to an ashram) intriguing, ultimately the story fell flat for me.

I think the reason it didn't resonate is that I simply couldn't relate to the characters. I have never felt the way Tessa did, nor did I ever contemplate acting the way she did and making some of the decisions she chose. While this is supposed to be a young adult novel, I was really turned off by the amount of sex and drug use that was depicted. I guess it happens, but I have to admit if I had a 14-year old daughter, I would not want her reading this novel, nor do I really feel that is appropriate for anyone in that general age group. The first part of the story that focused on the move to the ashram and the effect it had on Tessa and her mother was certainly interesting, but the story started going downhill shortly thereafter.

The writing is generally solid, with my only complaint being the use of first person point of view. I seem to have become more sensitive to that lately and I really thought some of the phrases felt awkward simply because they were written in first-person. So, while I can appreciate that many people would probably enjoy Karma for Beginners, it did not work for me, nor would I feel comfortable recommending it to others.

(NOTE: My actual rating was 2-1/2 stars, but I round up for sites like Amazon.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An unconventional and interesting story, November 15, 2009

By 

The Compulsive Reader (Big Rapids, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Karma for Beginners (Hardcover)

Tessa is used to being portable. She and her hippie mom have never really had a true home, instead they just wander around, following random guys and crummy jobs. And now they are moving yet again, only this time to an ashram for an "extended retreat". While her mom loves it there, Tessa just thinks all of the people are weird, and she can't help but feel a bit hurt at how everyone seems to overlook her. But then she meets Colin: twenty-years-old, funny, and normal. They connect through their shared love of music and begin to spend more time together. But as time goes by, Tessa finds herself drifting farther away from her mother and taking more and more risks until one day, everything backfires.

The concept for Karma for Beginners is really intriguing and entertaining. Tessa's voice is funny, smart, and authentic, but in her narration you can really feel her insecurity and yearning for a normal life, to know her father, and to have a mother who isn't a flake. Tessa's perception of the other people at the ashram is humorous and oftentimes insightful as she learns more and more about the place, and it even takes on a slightly creepy air as its cult-like inner workings are slowly revealed. The romance between Tessa and Colin is sweet, despite their age difference, and will leave you smiling, but about three quarters of the way through the book everything turns sour as drugs are introduced, and many pages are spent on Tessa's meandering thoughts as she is high. The secrets concerning her mother and what really is going on at the ashram are glossed over in the end, leaving you wondering about the details of what all really happened, and the conclusion seems a little too rushed and a little too unrealistic. However, overall Karma for Beginners is an interesting and unconventional novel about one girl's coming-of-age with an engaging and sympathetic narrator that teens can really identify with.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Read, July 1, 2010

By 

Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf (PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Karma for Beginners (Hardcover)

It has taken me a while to pick up Karma for Beginners, and I'm really not sure why. It has a pretty cover, an interesting premise and setting, and some great praise, so after some thought I decided to give it a chance.

So, here's the question: am I glad I did or not? Well, I certainly am because it was a empowering and enlightening book, which I flew right through easily; one read that I could see myself reading again someday, even though it wasn't an absolute favorite of mine.

Tessa was a character who I liked from the start, even though I didn't necessarily like all her choices. Because of Blank's excellent character development, Tessa's angst against the life her mother had chosen for her was spilled across the pages in a case were you understood her pain, her confusion, her wanting of normalcy, someone who got her, and a father figure easily. Her relationship with Collin, the sexy older boy, was done well. And while it wasn't the wisest of choices on Tessa's part, it provided her with a lot of much needed direction and strength in her life. Though, I did not like how Blank never had any of the characters face the consequences of their actions. I also liked how Blank showed the situation of a child acting like the mother and the mother acting like a dependent of child because, by the end, I felt it gave a good example how to deal with the situation if you are in Tessa's place in the relationship.

One of my favorite parts of Karma for Beginners was the use of an ashram as the setting. I've never had the chance to read a novel with that type of setting before. Which is surprising (Well, to me at least) because I feel the whole idea of people turning to a single, ordinary man for their guidance and decision making is simply fascinating. Further more, I liked how Blank used the setting to make the plot more believable and move it along.

I also enjoyed the main plot of the novel, because through Collin and Tessa's relationship it gave an overall message of why everyone should stand up for themselves and voice their opinions no matter what the situation.

My only real complaints about Karma for Beginners was that I feel the conversations between the characters felt more stilled rather than real, as well as the rushed ending and what I mentioned before about the consequences.

Overall, Karma for Beginners is a novel with an interesting setting and characters and plot events that set examples for teens, as well as provided fun reading material. I'm looking forward to reading more by Blank.

Grade: B-