Customer Reviews

The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods was written by Ann Cameron. I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it to people of all ages. This book is especially enjoyable because of its characters and its extremely powerful theme, be yourself and don't allow other people to change you. The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods takes place a while ago more or less in 1954, in Rome, Wisconsin. Amanda is a 12-year-old girl who faces many problems to discover who she really is, what she should be, and why things are the way they are. Some of the problems she encounters will maybe never be clarified or solved. Like why her mother loves to change people and make them what she wants them to be, or why her sister is always depressed and mean to her. Although Amanda faces problems that make her sad she also deals with situations that allow her to discover her real self. The whole plot of this book revolves around the characters. In this book you find out about many different characters and their characteristics. I really liked reading about the characters, it is one of the reasons I enjoyed this book. Like Lydia Woods, Amanda's mother. She wants people to be who she wants them to be, especially her two daughters, Amanda and Margaret. Lydia wants her daughters to be everything she wasn't when she was growing up. She obligates her daughters, especially Margaret who is older, to do whatever she wants. She doesn't allow her daughters to give opinions on what they want to do. Lydia also excludes people if they are poor or not as socially high as they are. Margaret was raised by her mother, so she grew up to be who her mother wanted her to be and not what she wanted to be. Margaret gets depressed when she lets her mother down, she blames it all on Amanda. Margaret is all very insecure and she won't stand up for her opinions only when it is against her little sister. The theme of this book is another reason why I really enjoyed it. Of the many themes this author tries to pass to the readers I think that the most important one is to be you no matter what. I thought that was the most important theme because it you are not yourself you can hurt people and you can especially hurt yourself. You should be liked by who you really are. Ann Cameron shows you that in a different way. Amanda sees how her sister suffers by being who her mother made her be, and she promises herself she will be what she wants, she will at least stand up for her opinions. Find some time and read this book because you will enjoy the Woods family and their characteristics, and the special theme of this book.

I am 14 and I loved this book, despite it being written for 4th grade-6th grade. I thought it was really cute and it was a peek inside the mind of such a REAL girl, who every girl can relate to in one way or another. Amanda, the main character isn't perfect, but she tries. She's often discouraged by her more than perfect older sister and her overly commanding and busy mother. Amanda identifies more with her father, but she's doubtful even he understands her problems, and she has a lot for a girl her age. This is such an enjoyable book to read, with a lot of imagination. It doesn't seem like a book as much as it does just seeing how this girl Amanda thinks. It's not a waste of your money, no matter how old you are. The reason I gave it 4 stars is because the up until almost the end I didn't know it was set in the 50s! The author could have made that much more clear. But other than that it was a good book and any girl will enjoy reading it.

I thought that the book "Secret Life Of Amanda K. Woods" was a very well written book. I really do not like to read but this book really caught my eye and I loved it every step of the way. It was just awesome. I would totally read this book agian. I could really relate to this book throughout it. It's about Amanda and how she doesn't want to be like anyone else but she has to start somewhere. She is very jelouse of her older sister Margret but knows that she will never be as beautiful or popular as her.Amanda has a best friends Lyle.Amanda and Lyle live at Lost Lake. There very close and then Lyles mom decides to move to Montana. And Amanda is devistated. You'll have to read the book to find out what happes next!! If you like a great but sad best friend story LOOK NO FURTHER!!

The Secret Life of Amamanda K. Woods is a very good story. This story has a plot that a lot of people can relate to- a pressuring mom, a perfect sister, and a non-affectionate dad. I found this story in a set that I bought, and planning not to read it, I shoved it in the back of my bookcase. A few years later, I found it there and started to read it. I loved it after the first few pages! This story is not completely action packed though. But if you enjoy a good, heart warming novel, The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods is for you.Go out and buy it today on Amazon!

The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods by Ann Cameron is a fun book. It isn't heavy reading, it is a before bed type of book. It is a fictional chapter book. It isn't an adventure or mystery book, it is more of a drama I guess you could say. The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods is about a girl named Amanda who loses her best and only friend, Lyle Leveridge, when he moves away. Now Amanda is trying to find new friends and eventually she does. Her name is Pam. That friendship has its ups and downs. Amanda now, to build her confidence, uses Amanda "K." Woods on her school papers. Amanda also tries to come up to her mother's standards (her mother doesn't exactly think she is perfect). She wants to get her mother to notice her more because she feels that her mother spends more time with her "perfect" older sister Margaret. She writes pen pal letters to India and France, and gets a visit from her pen pal from France, Antoine. Antoine thinks Amanda's sister is the one he is writing to which makes for an interesting visit. Read the book to find out what all happens in between.

The book has many strengths. It grabs your attention and is very entertaining; you won't want to put it down. You'll love the characters. I really didn't find any weaknesses. It is well written and I think Ann Cameron did a great job with the book. I think she is a really great writer. She has other books out besides this one that I hope will be as good.

I would definitely recommend this book to other people. It is not a serious book but it makes up for that. I would recommend this book to girls around the ages of ten, eleven, and twelve. I don't think it would interest many adults, and I am pretty sure it wouldn't interest any boys. So read The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods by Ann Cameron. I am positive you will enjoy it.

I am sure many young teen girls will enjoy this book, but in my opinion it lacked depth and richness. The book does explore some of the complexities of mother-daughter relationships and the competition and rivalry that can exist between siblings, but it does not delve deeply enough into these issues.

Good...but lacks verve.

The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods is by Ann Cameron, and I gave it 4 stars.

I gave this book 4 stars because I enjoyed it, but I think it had a few missing parts. The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods takes place in Wisconsin in the 1950s. It focuses on an eleven year old girl going through many difficulties in her life, and we see how she handles them and the outcome of everything. Amanda's problems start when her best and only friend moves away, and then continues with her over-demanding mom, nearly perfect sister, and her loneliness. We get to see Amanda go through her problems and end up gaining many new friends, a closer relationship with her sister and father, a pen pal from France, and ends up surprising her mom with her outstanding skills in arithmetic. This book would be great for girls who are around Amanda's age-11 years old, because they might be experiencing the same issues she is dealing with in the book. I could even relate to Amanda K. Woods, a few times, myself.
Although I enjoy this book, and do recommend it, I believe the author included some unnecessary parts and there were also some missing ones. The author included a character in the beginning, so you believe that he will eventually show up in the story again later, but you never see him again. The author leaves you in suspense, but it is also good because it gives you room to imagine your own ending to the story.
Some other titles I would recommend you to read are, The Wedding (for an older/mature reader), The Luna Bay Series, and Hope was Here. I am thirteen years old and I enjoy going to the beach.

In The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods, Amanda lives on Lost Lake. As an eleven-year-old girl she has many difficulties in life, a strict mother, a somewhat perfect sister, and a best friend who moves away. When her best friend, Lyle Leveridge, moves away she is very depressed that he is gone. On a summer day Lyle and Amanda traded their right hands. She wants to be different from her family: a demanding mom, a perfect older sister, and her father, who she is very close to yet she doesn't want to be like him. Trying to be different she changes her name from boring Amanda Woods to Amanda K. Woods, a person who is strong and confident. This occurrence causes a sequence of cause and effect actions.
I liked this book because of how described some of Amanda's feelings are. Like when Lyle moves away, Ann Cameron goes into detail about how upset Amanda is. I also like the section written as a letter. I didn't like some of the mother's actions because she seamed very rude and snotty. Overall I liked this book.

Amanda Woodses' only friend was Lyle. They would always be together doing whatever they wanted- but one dull day Lyle moved.
In the year of 1954, 11 year old Amanda Woods was once again friendless. Every day she'd be ignored. It didn't matter to her-not even her mom thought she was smart. She was also failing in math. Amanda thought she would be stuck in this mess forever.
One glourious day her sister Margaret gave her advice on making friends. It took some time but she finally did make some friends. Amanda also got an A in math and discovered what a bright unique girl she was. This book was fantastic! I'm so glad Ann Cameron wrote it!

I love this book. I think that this book is a great!!
And I don`t think that I could explain how I feel about this book. Ann Cameron you are a great author!!