Customer Reviews

Take It Easy

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

 

 

I highly recommend this book. I have used it this year with my fifth form (year 11) English class. My class is the 2 Year School Certficate class - I suppose their English ability would have to be defined as below average. They enjoyed the novel, and more importantly it held their attention - the death, near death and Carl's annoyingness! It was also easy for them to identify, talk and write about aspects like characters, themes, climax. Audio tapes of the novel are available from Replay Radio in NZ.

I started reading and couldn't put it down, I finished it in 1 day!! Very good book!! Must Read!

Rob is still dealing with his mother's death when he signs on for a hiking and camping trip. The other five teens on the hike have varying levels of experience and enthusiasm about hiking, but their guide, Harvey, is enthusiastic and knowledgeable enough for all of them. He explains that as long as he has a compass, he'll be able to get them where they are going.

Shortly into their trip, though, Harvey dies. Rob wants to follow the rules of the wilderness and stay where they are so they can be rescued more easily. He is overruled, though, and soon finds himself dragged along with the others, who feel better when they are moving toward the rescue they imagine is nearby. The group quickly becomes lost, wet, and injured.

Rob feels guilty about his part in their predicament. He feels like he should have been strong enough to make everyone stay at their camp, and he feels like he should have made smarter decisions to keep them all safe. His main concern now, though, is making sure that they get rescued before they starve to death.

I liked the survival aspect of this story, and the things the group did to stay warm and to keep alive. The characters were pretty weak, though. None of them really seemed like an actual person to me; they were all just vague cliches--the arrogant dumb jock, the frail beautiful girl, the tomboyish motormouth. Even Rob, the narrator, didn't really stand out. He somehow seemed distant from his own story.

Take It Easy
by: Joe

David Hill did such an outstanding job at writing this book that
whenever you pick it up, it is hard to put down.

This book Take It Easy is about a boy named Rob and the past month in his life has been so rough for him because his mother had died. Well, his
dad thought that he would do some good so he sent Rob on a hiking trip to New Zealand to get away from his troubles. Halfway through the trip the group leader dies and it is up to the teenagers to make it out of New Zealand al ¡ive. So they all decide to split up in different groups and go search for help. They had no luck finding help and they were starting to panic because they were running low on food supply.Then one day Rob wandered off by himself when he noticed a helicopter come to his aid, and the others were found not too long after that.

David Hill had really good discriptive writing like, Rob looked at the faces around him,shadowed under parka hoods, or pale and strained,with damp hair lying heavy across their skulls, eyes half-closed and vague. Another good use of description is, The sunlight had crept a quarter of the way down the bush on the far side of the valley. Tiny insects danced on the air as Rob sat on a boulder and tried not to think about what was to come.

I really enjoyed this book, although the end was fairly easy to predict. I would recommend this book if you like reading about getting lost in the wilderness.

This book really relates to real-life situations and how different people react to different problems. I though the author did an excellent job of vividly describing the characters and their personalitys. This was a great book!

This book is about six kids who go on a hike and wake up one morning, and their guide is dead! They try to survive for a week until search and rescue come to look for them. Can they do It? I liked this book because it was suspensful, and it had action in it. I enjoyed reading this story. It was a great book, and I recommend it to everyone!