Customer Reviews

Or Not

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book truly is amazing. An insight to the life of an eighth grade girl, it seemed so real that I found it diificult to believe the journal wasnt written by an eighth grade girl. Even if you don't agree with everything Cassie does or thinks, you should definitely read about her actions and cynical comments on the world.

I wish I had read this book before my son entered 8th grade. I wish all 8th grade teachers, parents, and administrators would read this book now. Mr. Mandabach really captured the Middle School emotions and what some students really go thru. I keep looking for Cassie in the hallways in my school. 12/10/07 I re-read OR NOT this weekend and enjoyed it even more. Hope there are more books by Mr. Mandabach to come.

Simply brilliant! An epic novel, of a typical (or atypical) middle school student's plight through the drudgery that is adolescence. Cassie Sullivan is not your typical middle school student...or is she? Cassie, seemed to me (an eighth grade educator,) to be a unique character with a captivating story, however, after discussions with my students I was amazed at how many students felt connected to this character. Although the details of Cassie's story may be unique, the author has captivated the "essence of adolescence." This allows all of us, whether you're just entering this phase of life or pushing 60, to feel a real connection to this embattled teen.

"Or Not" is without a doubt not a book for every teen out there. There. Disclaimers out of the way. On the other hand, it's a perfect book for a lot of pre-teens in more ways than one.

Mandabach tells Cassie's story so believably. Her character is supremely real, from moments where the reader likes her, to moments where the reader hates her (there are quite a few of those as well). Cassie is stubborn, a devoted anti-conformist (wannabe), and decidedly happy/depressed with her "weird" status. Chronicling Cassie's year in eighth grade, "Or Not" shows readers the very real and at times bad things some kids have to go through during the often-awful middle school years.

This book has a heavily tilting liberal bias (Cassie is ostracized in part due to her liberalism and need to be different) and nerd vibe (Tolkien, anyone?), but many middle-school aged kids will find something in the characters to relate to, whether it's struggling to explain to a teacher that a story is just a story (not symbolism for suicide), whether it's trying to figure out how to deal with crushes, or whether it's simply trying to fit in while remaining individual. Cassie's thoughts and feelings are clearly portrayed and are easy to feel as well.

Mandabach's book is well-written and quite enjoyable, if not for those looking for standard characters and less liberalism. "Or Not" is still recommendable, though, if only at a 4.5 rating level.

From the moment I saw the cover of "Or Not", I was hooked. Brian Mandabach really captures the essence of teenagers. It is rare that I connect with fictional characters, but I did with fourteen year old Cassie Sullivan. I think Cassie is a great fictional role model for girls her age to look up to!

(May Contain Spoilers)

Fourteen year old Cassie Sullivan is an LP record loving, hiking enthusiast vegan who lives with her lawyer and musician parents who talk about anything from politics to religion at the dinner table. Cassie's only friends are her college aged brother Sean and his hippie girlfriend Ally, whom she is closest to. Cassie loves to hike and spend time at her parents' cabin in the woods, everything seems to be going well for Cassie until she starts 8th grade.

Because of her parents' "no hold back" policy, Cassie has some pretty radical views on some things which doesn't make her very popular with the teachers and her fellow classmates. After she refuses to sing "Proud to be an American" in chior, her fellow classmates start calling her names like Cassie O'Sama and doing awful things to her, but Cassie doesn't let any of that bring her down. But when Cassie writes a part fictional story which includes her character's suicide, she gets even more unwanted attention. But with the help of Ally and her parents and her very cute friend DJ, Cassie learns the real meaning of life and love.


I really enjoyed "Or Not" because of the brilliant writing. I really felt like I knew Cassie and that I was experiencing what she was going through. I believe everyone should read this book to get an idea of what can happen in 8th grade. This book is highly recommended!

Cassie is a mature, independent, non-conformist, and intelligent girl for her 13 years. But middle school is not kind to girls like Cassie. When she refuses to sing I'm Proud to Be An American during the September 11th memorial service, she finds herself more than just a loner, but a complete outcast. Bullied and harassed, Cassie withdraws, confiding only in her diary. As she becomes more and more unhappy, she tells of the previous summer, where she was content and set in her beliefs. But when one of her short stories in taken the wrong way, and she is thought to be depressed, Cassie will slowly make alliances with people her age. But will her refusal to report the bullying against her put those new friendships at risk?

...Or Not? is a your thinking girl's read. Cassie is an amicable, engaging, and engrossing narrator this so unlike the typical teen girl, but yet so alike at the same time. Her incisive and thoughtful views and questions will challenge the reader in this very tangible and believable book that every teen can relate to at one time or another. Mandabach portrays a very vivid picture of middle school and young teens today, and this is sure to be a novel that will get through and hit home to numerous readers.
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First off, I'd like to say that if nothing else, this book did make me evaluate my views on whether or not everything happens for a reason. It didn't change them, but it did make me stop and think, which is more than a lot of angst-saturated fiction can say. And I met the author, and he seemed like a nice guy, so it's nothing personal. But it needs to be said.
Cassie is unlovable. She is her own worst enemy, even though she tries to blame her problems on other people. She is an accurate middle-schooler, which is to say, unrepentantly self-centered, without thoughts for anyone but herself. She wants the choir teacher to magically understand her point of view without bothering to explain it to him. She wants the school to forgive her and give her what she wants even though she personally injured their chances at getting funding. She wants her brother to stay in a relationship not because it is in any way beneficial to him, but because she likes his girlfriend. And the writing flails about, trying to be unique but flopping around in the shallow waters of useless pop culture references and self-righteous literary references.
Actually, the references are quite good. Cassie gives some deep and interesting analysis of classic literature. But she thinks she's so much better than anyone else for reading classics that are beyond her life-experience to appreciate. In fact, my biggest flaw with the character is that she tries so hard to act like a sophisticated adult, when really she is a petulant child. Her selfish solutions and blind hatred for anyone who doesn't "think as originally" as her gives a bad name to atheists. Just once I'd like to read about an atheist who wasn't a complete jerk to anyone with a belief system, who practiced rather than hypocritically preached acceptance for who they are. Sadly, she doesn't fit the bill, and the entire novel suffers because of it.

"Or Not" wants to be desperatley included in that category of adolescent litearture that challenges conventions, shakes up the system, and stays with readers for years afterward. It wants to be ranked amongst pieces like "The Realm of Possibility" or "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and even "The Catcher in the Rye," though that title may be thrown around far too often. However, something holds it back, allowing it to become nothing more than a quick, somewhat predicatable read.

The story itself is simple: Cassie Sullivan faces a semester of jeers because she's not the declared patriot of her right-wing contemporaries. Her family is on the furthest side of the left and allow her to have her own ideas and defend herself whenever she's in trouble. She has her mentor, her brother's college girlfriend, and she has her own love interest. In fact, each and every convention you can think of for works of adolescent literature appear here.

Which in itself isn't so terrible: this indeed is a tribulant time, when growing up turns out to be much harder than originally thought, and indeed, any walk down any middle school corridor can show you just how mean these kids really care. And Manadach tries his best to capture all this. He presents all the controversial objects he can: post 9/11 unpatriotism, bumbling school administrators, mild drug use, and sex (in a scene that seems entirely to miss the point). Yet at the same time, it feels that he's almost afraid to fully tackle these subjects; he keeps a safe distance in the background, allowng Cassie to point them out, maybe offer a comment, but still stay a safe enough distance away that we as readers feel disappointed. There's so much potential to be explored, but it's glossed over to go for the Carver-esque, unresolved ending.

Cassie Sullivan, as the pages go by, becomes more annoying, though you could attribute that to her age than anything else. She complains about simply inane things ("CDs suck becuase they sound too clear") that make you shake your head, roll your eyes, and say, "Oh come on." Added to that is an almost fantatical fascination with Tolkien, creating a thinly veiled source of the author's own opinions. She's barely better than the people who attack her, dismissing them all as mindless religious hicks, and Mandabach never investigates how, outside of why they were raised this way, and why they act the way they do (both "Realm" and "Perks" explore different persepectives beautifully), making them their own cliches and stereotypes, caricatures of their own beliefs.

The book itself goes on far too long, by about 75 pages or more, filled with ranting that doesn't contribute to the story, the characters, or anything else, as if Mandabach wrote for the sake of making more binding signatures. There's just not enough story to justify the length.

While there was potential, the novel was brought down by it's own self-righteousness and inability to tackle the issues it so willingly brought up. A good read but not a great one; adolescent literature offers so much better.

Cassie is my hero. She is an intelligent non-conformist who is stuck in junior high.

...OR NOT? starts with the summer before Cassie goes into eighth grade. It is told through Cassie's journal. She lives with her mom and dad and has a brother in college. They live in Colorado and have a rustic cabin, which she loves, in the mountains. Her family walks to a different drummer, with her father being a lawyer and her mother a musician.

They are a family who talks at the dinner table of politics and philosophy. They enjoy being together, especially at the cabin. That is where Cassie would like to be always. She loves the mountains and all of nature. She really is at home there.

Cassie doesn't fit in at school, though. She is odd because she really doesn't care about the things that her classmates care about. Her style of dress is different and she shaves off her hair, but doesn't shave her legs. She has fits of depression and thoughts of suicide. During her eighth-grade year she finally finds a group of friends. But before that she must endure religious intolerance, paranoia, and horrible bullying.

The school officials were ineffective, which made me sad but is also realistic because I teach school and it can be a minefield. Cassie discovers and learns to really love herself by the end of the novel and it is a truly wondrous ride. I recommend this book if you really don't fit, but even if you do you might learn something about how the other half feels. I laughed, cried, and couldn't wait to hear what would happen to Cassie. ...OR NOT? is also well-written. It's always nice when the story is great and the writing superb!

Reviewed by: Marta Morrison

A great read! I bought this book for my teenage daughter and found that I too could not put it down. A truly great insight to what it must feel like to be amongst your peers in middle school but at the same time feel a misfit and outsider. I loved the fact that Cassie eventually found herself and her place among her own friends. My daughter enjoyed the strong character Cassie represents while at the same time totally connected with the storyline, according to her the writer really nailed it!