Peeling the Onion [Hardcover]

Wendy Orr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1997

Following an automobile accident in which her neck is broken, a teenage karate champion begins a long and painful recovery with the help of her family.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up. After suffering spinal trauma in a car accident, Anna, 17, begins a painful physical and emotional recovery that peels away her old life and strips her down to her very core. A gripping narrative, told with smarting honesty.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 8^-12. When an automobile accident leaves Anna with a broken neck and shattered dreams of a black belt in karate, she is forced to come to terms with a life filled with previously unimaginable goals--overcoming debilitating pain, concentrating long enough to complete a simple reading assignment, and sitting and walking without toppling over. She also must sort through the age-old adolescent questions: Who am I? What will I do with my life? Who will love me? Although similarities to Voigt's Izzy Willy Nilly (1986) are obvious, this is a very different book, one able to withstand comparison. It is superbly crafted. The physical pain Anna feels is palpable, and the fear that the doctors aren't quite on target, insidious. Her struggle to master a body that she formerly controlled with such ease and her complete physical and mental collapse when she sees the man who caused her accident are overwhelmingly vivid. Her mother's deep grief, her father's anger, her siblings' wide-eyed wonder at her frailty, and even her boyfriend's fear of kissing her are easily embraced in this Australian import. The title aptly describes Anna's attempt to deal with her bitterly enforced change in life plan, but it is also indicative of the book's startling complexity. Frances Bradburn

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House; 1St Edition edition (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082341289X
• ISBN-13: 978-0823412891
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,504,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent one-day reader!, July 19, 2000

By 

"alh1729" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peeling the Onion (Mass Market Paperback)

My sister was reading this book, and the strange title perked my interest. It was the kind of thing were I read the back, investigated the cover, scanned the first page, and was completely engulfed for the rest of the day.

The story begins in the hospital. It is written in first person, occasionally flashing to third person. It flashes from the story, to Anna's thoughts, to conversation, to flashbacks. It's not confusing, because it follows an obvious line of thought. The way it's written is an intreiging look into the head of a 17 year-old girl.

The story follows Anna from the hospital home. It describes the mental and physical effects of the accident as it affects Anna, her friends, her family. The characters are so realistic psychologically, it's facinating.

I love reading, and I loved this book. My sister hates reading, and she's enjoying it. I read it in a day and couldn't put it down. She pulling through the first few chapters after a week, and isn't giving up. I'm excited about this book because it's so true, so painfully real. There's no miracle, no happy ending. When things get better, then can get worse, and in such a pathos (my english teacher would kill me if i called it a tragedy) nobody ever comes out perfectly.

This book deals with relationships, romantic, friend, and family relationships. It deals with self-image, self-worth, with self. It's philosophical as well and factual and real. The author knows what she's talking about, she was a psychologist before her near-fatal car accident...

I enjoyed this book very much. It's a real, honest dose of life, it all it's pain and ugliness as well as beauty. Young readers will relate to the main character, and readers of all ages will gain a new perception of their world.

Really, read this book. As Anna grows into a real person, you will grow too. I guarentee you will come out of this book looking at the world in a different light.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very moving and inspirational story., November 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Peeling the Onion (Hardcover)

TITLE: PEELING THE ONION This is a book about a popular, funny, pretty girl named Anna Lockwood. That is, before her accident. After a car accident with her boyfriend, Anna finds that nothing will ever be the same again. As she sinks into a deep depression, Anna feels that she has no purpose in this life at all. Well, now that Luke has entered her life, she must face who she is and what she wants to do in life and that scares her... I loved this book! I have never read a book that is so emotional and so real. I know I could identify with Anna, and so could many others. She takes on the characteristics of any everyday teenager now. I would recommend this to anyone willing to read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Finding yourself, October 25, 2000

By 

Jen (Irmo, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peeling the Onion (Mass Market Paperback)

Anna Duncan is 17 years old, wonderful at karate, and is kindling a new romance. Riding home from a karate tournament, that she has just won, with Hayden, her "boyfriend" a car doesn't stop at a stop sign and Hayden slams into it. Anna breaks her neck and thumb, and sprains her ankles. She thinks her life is over after a year of fighting this. She can no longer take karate, she walks with a cane, and one of her closest friends deserts her. Then she begins "peeling the onion". She falls in love with a 20-year-old named Luke ho is helping her mom out at the nursery, she finds her true best friend, and she understands who she is. This book is a good book, but I don't recommend it for people who enjoy things that aren't suspenseful. I would read it again, if I was ever feeling really low, down, and out to cheer me up