Shelf Life [Hardcover]

Robert Corbet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

On aisle 1, Louisa's crying.
On aisle 2, Adam's trying to get fired.
On aisle 4, a renegade shopper is releasing the fizz from soda bottles.
At the service counter, an irate customer can't understand why his Long Life Milk went bad after a few years.

Working at the supermarket isn't exactly glamorous, but the teens on the staff have a lot of tasty secrets: like the fact that Adam decides to stick it out a while once he sees the very pretty Employee of the Month. Under the harsh glare of the fluorescent lights, the staff, as different as the products they unpack and arrange, unite against demanding customers and try to amuse each other until punch-out time.

In between the shelves, you'll discover romance, humor, and other realities of life in the fast aisle. Shelf- Life is a red-hot special that belongs in your shopping cart.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up–Shelf Life is an attempt to portray the lives of a multitude of characters, mainly teens, working in a grocery/all-purpose store. The result is jumbled, frenetic, and difficult to keep up with. Characters are introduced by the aisle in which they work, which is fairly irrelevant, and briefly come and go like customers in the store who appear, only to disappear from the picture for quite some time. There is some indication of what working in such a place does to the characters' psyche/sense of self and how it affects their home or school life. The exceptions are Louisa, "Employee-of-the-Month," studying to be a nurse while living in a dysfunctional home; and Adam, a former life-dropout who shapes up in order to try and have a chance with her. Their relationship is at least revisited and drawn to a conclusion of possible courtship. If anyone, this book might appeal to reluctant readers. It is fast and catchy, and you don't need to concentrate too much on any one character because chances are you won't be seeing them again for quite some time. If they do appear briefly, they are depicted more as part of the scenery rather than as fleshed-out human beings. Shelf Life is bound to have a short one.–Tracy Karbel, Glenside Public Library District, Glendale Heights, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

One of those books that will appeal across genres and ages.' AB&PMay 2004.Loaded with humour and poignancy.' The Age06/09/04Corbet weaves the characters into the fabric of the daily machinations of the supermarket c more than a touch of realism.' Reading TimeVol48 No3Shelf life should have a long shelf life.' Sunday Age25/07/0415 stories take you on a trolley ride in an unordinary' shopping centre.' Armidale Express26/07/04Life is going on everywhere, even at your local supermarket.' Viewpoint12(4) Summer 2004 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802789595
• ISBN-13: 978-0802789594
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,406,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shelf Life- a review by me!, September 29, 2005

By 

Jordan (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shelf Life (Hardcover)

I gave this book a four a few reasons. It was complicated. I like complicated books, but this one wove in many stories in to 1 book, it got complicated. Many of the charaters are involved in eachothers stories, so you have to remember who is who. And then some of the charaters are only mentioned 1 or 2 times, and then forgotten. There were so many begingings in this book, but I could only find a few endings, which makes me a little mad, because if i start reading about something, I want to finish the story and find out what happened to that charater. So I am thinking there might be a sequel in the works somewhere, maybe. I liked this book because it involved so many charaters that do all have something in common, they work in this super market. I recommed this book to people who like books about more then one thing/person. Over all it was a good book, and I hope you enjoy it!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Well Written and Fun to Read Comedy, August 17, 2005

By 

Maid Marian "book loving tree hugger" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shelf Life (Hardcover)

"Shelf Life" tells the creative life stories of workers in a supermarket. Each chapter is a different aisle, and in each aisle, a different worker and a new tale.

Some of the primary characters' stories play a role throughout the entire book; some characters appear for a only a brief moment before quitting or "disappearing." But each story is unique and important to all of the others.

This book isn't very long, and the syntax is quite easily understood, so it reads very quickly. A fresh and funny book, great for a fast, laugh out loud read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Shelf Life by Robert Corbet, November 8, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Shelf Life (Hardcover)

Shelf Life is a fictional book by Robert Corbet .This story is about teens who work in a supermarket, and are always getting into trouble. You're probably wondering why they were not fired, or why they were not sent to see the manager. The troubles that these characters endured they brought to work with them, and it affected the way they worked. There is no main character, but the character that comes up the most is Lois. She is a workaholic, neat freak, and is a power hungry dictator to her coworkers. However, she can be kind and polite to the customers. Before every chapter there are three pages called customer service. These pages catch the reader up on the lives of the characters. The reader also gets incite into the details of the chapter it precedes. I identified with Dylan and Jared because they did crazy things. Jared and Dylan would knock things off the shelves, and race the shopping carts up and down the aisles. Another character named Adam was every girls dream (even Lois liked him), but this made him uncomfortable. Adam wants to get fired so he can work at his brother's cyber café, but you need to read the book to find out why he does not just quit.
I recommend this book because it is a book for people with mixed emotions. If you're anything like me you would understand mixed emotions. This book would appeal to people who like multidimensional characters, and never a dull moment. So I urge you to go to the store and get Shelf Life off the shelf!

- Alex Belton