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Running Wide Open (Full Throttle)
 
 

Running Wide Open (Full Throttle) [Kindle Edition]

Lisa Nowak
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Book 1 in the Full Throttle Series

Cody Everett has a temper as hot as the flashpoint of racing fuel, and it's landed him at his uncle's trailer, a last-chance home before military school. But how can he take the guy seriously when he calls himself Race, eats Twinkies for breakfast, and pals around with rednecks who drive in circles every Saturday night?

What Cody doesn't expect is for the arrangement to work. Or for Race to become the friend and mentor he's been looking for all his life. But just as Cody begins to settle in and get a handle on his supercharged temper, a crisis sends his life spinning out of control. Everything he's come to care about is threatened, and he has to choose between falling back on his old, familiar anger or stepping up to prove his loyalty to the only person he's ever dared to trust.

“The roar of engines practically explodes off the page in this compelling, heart-thumping debut. Cody Everett is a straight-shooter with attitude, smarts, and whip-cracking wit; he doesn’t pull any punches, and neither does author Lisa Nowak. The collision of Cody and the world of stock car racing makes for a great story, one of the best I’ve read in a long time. Running Wide Open is a book not to be missed.”

- Christine Fletcher, author of Tallulah Falls and Ten Cents a Dance

Product Details

  • File Size: 486 KB
  • Print Length: 330 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Publisher: Webfoot Publishing; First edition (June 5, 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0054KNJ4K
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,048 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Cari J
Format:Kindle Edition
It doesn't matter if you are a racing fan or not, Running Wide Open will captivate you and capture your heart. Although the book is set in a racing mileu, the main story line is about a bond that forms and fluorishes between a rebellious teen nephew and his loving uncle. As a person who has grown up around racing, I can appreciate how the common interest in racing can draw otherwise very diverse groups of people into a very close and tight knit community. I highly recommend this book, and I am eagerly awaiting its sequel!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I rarely read books with male leads or narrators, but this one has a female mechanic in it so I decided to give it a go. Though it was a bit too much testosterone for me at times, it is an enjoyable read.

Cody is 15 and a juvie... and he is an ungrateful brat. I didn't like him at first.. but as the story unfolds, I could see WHY he is the way he is.. full of anger, insolent, disrespectful, ungrateful, bitter. His family has made him that way. His mother is a nightmare, his father a wuss, and his grandparents are no better. So when the you know what hits the fan, nobody wants him and he goes to live with his uncle, Race, who's very into stock car racing. (He's got the lady mechanic.)

Funny thing I noticed.. When Cody gets his life together, his mom decides she wants him back. Hmph.

I'm not going to go on and on about the plot, but I will say there is more to this than appears at first glance. It's the story of a boy and his teenage angst and anger (I did get a bit tired of this at times. Simply not my thing.) and about family learning to accept each other and also about admitting you love someone and even allowing yourself to love someone. And then there is a story of determination, an injured man who wants to race again.. It's about pulling yourself up from the dirt, brushing yourself off, and getting back on that horse.

Four stars. It was very well written and thought I didn't always like Cody and his attitude, I did appreciate his sarcasm and sense of humor. He's a funny kid.

Favorite quote: "Everyone makes a bad decision now and again. Only time it gets to be a problem is when you don't admit to it and set things right."
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Format:Kindle Edition
Story Summary

Lisa Nowak's Running Wide Open is about Cody Everett a teenager who is hot tempered, loyal and brave. He's protective of those he loves, but finds himself not afforded that same benefit. Cody lives with his ineffectual father; there in body but lost in spirit/mind; Cody's mother is a selfish, erratic woman who has left both father and son. The mother leaving has a profound effect on Cody, a little boy who still seeks the love of a mother, who appears incapable of truly expressing the nature of love, which is unconditional.

The story opens with Cody exhibiting some of his highest attributes which is loyalty, and bravery; Cody and friends are caught committing petty vandalism and Cody takes the fall for a friend with the police. His actions land him out of his home and on the road to live with his Uncle Race, whom he hadn't seen since he was a kid.

Gone was the only home Cody knew, even though it was dysfunctional, living with his Uncle was a huge adjustment. Uncle Race was kind to a fault;disorderly, but he had a major positive work ethic and view on life that Cody initially shies away from;Race tries to draw Cody out,but Cody pushes him away. Cody attempts to protect himself from fully trusting yet another family member, who he is assured to fail him.

Race introduces Cody to his world of down-home friends and Stock-car racing; Also Cody meets,(and at first crushes on Kasey, a friend-girl of Race) But soon it evolves into just familiar love and friendship between Cody and Kasey;This pseudo parental love is coupled with all the other emotions Cody has for the rag tag bunch that he finds himself in the middle.Through his uncle, Cody locates the ability to acknowledge his gifts(karate, reading), embrace them, and begins to evolve into the man he is destined to become.

REVIEW

I really wasn't sure how I would like a book that was from the viewpoint of a male character; and which was about stock car racing. But like it I did! Ms Nowak, has a clean, clear way of writing and immediately the reader is drawn into the story.Lisa Nowak's writing is remarkably strong and I was pleasantly surprised; I moved through the story like a hot knife through butter:). It was that effortless and easy.

Lisa Nowak has created a story that I believe is a superb model for young people to own the challenges from their past, and once acknowledging and working their way through the bad stuff(hopefully with a trusted adult); then moving ahead into life stronger and wiser. Ms. Nowak's has shown that "family" doesn't have to be the nuclear unit(Dad,Mom, kids and throw in pets) which is the traditional viewpoint; But family is where love, acceptance, guidance and encouragement is found.

I believe that the young and young at heart would love this book!

RUNNING WIDE OPEN is on it's way to becoming a new classic, coming of age story; residing in the company of other great stories such as S.E. HINTON'S THE OUTSIDERS and THAT WAS THEN and THIS IS NOW...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Running Wide Open
Cody is a damaged young man who has been let down by everyone he cared about, and he's learned to just not care anymore. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Gaz
A full throttle good read
It's the voice of Cody that drew me into this story and kept me reading, and wanting to return to the story, even when I could only read a chapter at a time. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Terri Patrick
Really a great read!
This was a really good read. Not my normal paranormal romance, so I was pleasantly surprised that I got as into it as I did. Read more
Published 3 months ago by RichNNat
Such an emotional book!
No one said being a teen is easy. Cody Everett is that one punk everyone remembers from high school as "trouble". Read more
Published 3 months ago by Lauren
A heart touching story! A must read.
My first thought when I finished this book was, "Whoa! Lisa Nowak can WRITE!"

One might think, from the the cover of this book, that it's about racing. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Arla Cook
Awesome Book
I usually read at night before going to sleep. I woke my husband up the last few nights laughing out loud. This was a very well written book and entertaining all the way through. Read more
Published 3 months ago by B. Larrick
Something for everyone
Cody Everett is a 15 year old troubled kid who has a messed up family and a messed up life. After getting caught with his buddies plastering graffiti at the zoo, Cody is given the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Sara J. Kovach
Running Wide Open
Wonderful book! I recommend it to any teenager. I'm much older and I sure enjoyed it! My book club is gathering books for a school in Africa and I gave them my copy. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mary
The Stock Car is Just the Vehicle
It's about people and family and relationships. And learning to get beyond what life hands you.

I'm not a race fan but Lisa's story about a messed up teen who ends up... Read more
Published 4 months ago by M. Scadden
Highly Recomended!! Yes, I might have been a little skeptical, but I...
Spoiler Alert!!!

Ok, like most of the readers that have reviewed this book, I too am not into racing. I just never got it. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Carla
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More About the Author

In addition to being a YA author, Lisa Nowak is a retired amateur stock car racer, an accomplished cat whisperer, and a professional smartass. She writes coming-of-age books about kids in hard luck situations who learn to appreciate their own value after finding mentors who love them for who they are. She enjoys dark chocolate and stout beer and constantly works toward employing wei wu wei in her life, all the while realizing that the struggle itself is an oxymoron.

Lisa has no spare time, but if she did she'd use it to tend to her expansive perennial garden, watch medical dramas, take long walks after dark, and teach her cats to play poker. For those of you who might be wondering, she is not, and has never been, a diaper-wearing astronaut. She lives in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her husband, four feline companions, and two giant sequoias.

To get updates of new releases, sign up for Lisa's newsletter by cutting and pasting this link into your browser window: http://bit.ly/LisaNowakNewsletter

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