The Noah Confessions [Paperback]

Barbara Hall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2008

At the age of 16, it's standard procedure for every girl at Lynnie Russo's posh Los Angeles prep school to get a car. So on her 16th birthday, Lynnie is startled when she opens the small gift box from her father—it doesn't contain the shiny new set of keys she was expecting. Instead she finds a worn-out bird charm bracelet. What can he be thinking? When she cuts school to go try surfing so as to have a special day, instead of grounding her, her father hands her a manuscript box and says, "Your mother wanted you to have this when it seemed you were losing perspective. I think now's the time."

Through "The Noah Confessions," Lynnie uncovers her family's secrets, loves, and tragedies, and comes to recognize that their past may not necessarily determine her future.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up—For her 16th birthday, Lynnie expects a car, which is what every girl at her Los Angeles private school gets for that birthday. Instead, she receives something puzzling, though of much greater importance: a charm bracelet that belonged to her deceased mother. Later that day, she ditches school to learn how to surf, and her dad, feeling she is becoming arrogant, gives her a long letter from her mother to a boy called Noah. The teen begins to read about her family's past and learns why she never met her grandparents. Readers will want to find out what is in the letter, but Lynnie keeps putting it down to go about her life. But she soon gets swept up in her mother's secrets and begins to doubt her own future. To prove that she can be as brave as her mom, she goes surfing during a big swell and almost drowns, and the experience leads her to move on, closer to her father and with a new boyfriend. This novel will grab readers' attention with the promise of mysterious revelations by Lynnie's mother, who was a victim of crimes not her own. A solid story, told from three different points of view, that teaches about self-examination and the ability to move away from the past.—Corinda J. Humphrey, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“This novel will grab readers’ attention with the promise of mysterious revelations.”—School Library Journal

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (November 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385733291
• ISBN-13: 978-0385733298
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,993,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspirational tale, June 1, 2007

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Noah Confessions (Hardcover)

Lynnie Russo has always been an obedient daughter to her widowed father and a model student at the exclusive Los Angles private school she attends. Like all the other girls at school, Lynnie fully expects to receive a car --- hopefully a new one --- for her 16th birthday. But instead of an automobile, her father gives her an old, chipped charm bracelet with birds on it.

Receiving a used charm bracelet --- and an ugly one at that --- makes her angry, embarrassed and disappointed. She realizes that her father won't give her a car because her mother was killed by a drunk driver while on the road. Knowing the reason doesn't make her hurt any less; she thinks her father is being unreasonable and unfair.

To get back at him, she ditches school and spends the day learning how to surf with one of her free-spirit classmates. And that's just the beginning of Lynn's rebellious behavior. While visiting her mother's gravesite, she befriends an unkempt "public school" boy who wears old jeans, a faded fatigue jacket and beaten-up, low-brand sneakers.

After her father learns about what Lynnie has done, rather than punishing her, he presents her with a manuscript. "The Noah Confessions" is a combination memoir, love letter and confession written by Lynnie's mother when she was her age. After Lynnie starts reading the handwritten manuscript, she discovers the kind of person her mother really was and learns the significance of the charm bracelet. She also begins to understand why her father clings to her mother's memory.

THE NOAH CONFESSIONS is an inspirational tale about how circumstances, choices and sacrifices can shape lives and how events that occurred long ago can reverberate into the future.

--- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, January 3, 2008

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Noah Confessions (Hardcover)

Does the name Barbara Hall sound familiar? It does to me because she has written and produced a number of my favorite TV shows - Judging Amy, Chicago Hope, and Joan of Arcadia. I knew she had also written some books, but I hadn't read any. THE NOAH CONFESSIONS caught my eye at the bookstore, and then I saw her name and snatched it up pronto!

Lynnie Russo doesn't remember much about her mom, but she's about to learn way more than she ever thought there was to know. Her mom died in what everyone refers to as a "bad car wreck." Having a dead mom puts Lynnie in a special category at her private L.A. prep school. Everyone there is known for something, and this is Lynnie's "something."

A sixteenth birthday in Lynnie's neighborhood means a new car. Lynnie's expectations are not necessarily new, maybe a modest used VW, but definitely a car. Surprise! Her dad hands her a small box. Car keys? Nope, just a cheap looking charm bracelet with birds on it. You've got to be kidding. Where's the car? Dad says there isn't one.

There is something else though. Lynnie's dad also gives her a manuscript. It is a letter written by her mother back when she was fifteen, almost sixteen. It is supposed to explain her mother's life. All Lynnie knows as she begins to read the lengthy letter to some mysterious Noah person; it is not a car.

Barbara Hall takes readers on a journey with Lynnie as she discovers a huge secret about her mother's life. Imagine thinking you know the people who have surrounded you for your entire life only to discover a whole other world full of secrets. THE NOAH CONFESSIONS will suck you in before the end of the first chapter.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Teen Read, August 29, 2007

By 

Bonnie Neely - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Noah Confessions (Hardcover)

The Noah Confessions by Barbara Hall is a new book for the young adult reader and within the captivating mystery are a lot of good examples of what can happen to teens who make poor choices or choose the wrong crowd. Young Lynnie expects a car for her 16th birthday and is quite disappointed with her father's gift, which looks old and shabby. She rebels in ways to hurt her father. But the gift ultimately reveals her much about her dead mother and the story of her youth. The book is a good one for teens.