When the Phone Rang [Paperback]

Harry Mazer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1986

When their parents are killed in an airplane crash, three siblings try to keep the family together in the face of overwhelming personal and financial problems.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is a solid novel by an author whose works are almost invariably critical and popular successes. It's also, however, very sad, perhaps too disheartening for wide appeal. Mazer strikes a realistic note at the outset, when Billy Keller tells his sister Lori that the phone call to their Manhattan apartment was a mistake. He throws himself into cleaning up the rooms, denying the report of his parents' death in a plane crash. Later, Billy persuades older brother Kevin to take time off from college and remain with him and Lori, making a family, instead of letting relatives separate them. In time, the situation is beset by troubles, financial and otherwise. Lori hangs out with a tough girl and begins shoplifting. Kevin misses his studies and his girl; quarrels erupt among the three. But they gradually find solutions and Billy pins his hopes on the shared discovery that a family is a state of the heart. He even feels "normal" for a moment, although he doubts he will ever be able to trust feelings of security again. It's hard to view the book objectively, to believe that the Kellers accomplish the many, intricate feats that Mazer describes. One would also question that an airline official would telephone news of the parents' fate to a young boy.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10 After a detached voice on the phone announces the death of their parents in an airplane explosion, the lives of the three Keller children (Lori, 12; Billy, 16; and Kevin, 21) quickly deteriorate into chaos. Well-meaning relatives attempt to split them up, but at Billy's insistence Kevin moves back home so that the three survivors can remain a family unit. Kevin resents moving away from his girlfriend and relinquishing his independence, Lori feels neglected and left out and Billy feels guilty about insisting that the three stay together. Minor issues rapidly escalate into major crises, but the siblings realize just in time how much they mean to each other and how important it is to stay together. Through dialogue and the thoughts and actions of Billy, the narrator, Mazer skillfully conveys the five stages of grieving. He creates credible characters, balances a meaningful theme with a rapidly evolving plot and incorporates splashes of humor while maintaining the established mood and tone. The author's sensitive penetration into adolescent emotions in stressful circumstances makes this a novel with many enduring qualities. Cynthia K. Leibold, Anderson High School, Cincinnati
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Point (September 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590447734
• ISBN-13: 978-0590447737
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,253,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harry Mazer is the author of many books for young readers, including A Boy at War and A Boy No More, which introduced Adam Pelko; The Wild Kid; and Snow Bound. His books have won numerous honors, including the Horn Book Honor List and the ALA Best Books for Young Adults citations. He is the recipient of the ALAN Award. Harry Mazer lives in New York City and Montpelier, Vermont.

Harry Mazer says, "After I finished A Boy at War, I wanted to write about Adam Pelko again, but what was the story to be? It wasn't until after the tragedies of September eleventh that I found the focus I needed to continue his story." Periods of war and national emergency have never been kind to personal liberties. In the aftermath of September eleventh many Arab and Muslim Americans find themselves under suspicion and their rights jeopardized. In some ways this is what happened after Pearl Harbor, when Japanese Americans were demonized and their rights were trampled. I know that history never simply repeats itself, but I hope that through Adam and Davi's story readers will recognize the parallels--and the perils."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting book, January 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Phone Rang (Library Binding)

The whole book is written from Billy's point of view.Billy has a friend called LJ who appears later. Billy is 16years old has a driving licence and a 12year old sister. In the beginning of the story the phone rang and a woman told them that their mother was dead they didn't want to belive it, but then they saw it in the news and had to. Then as it is obvious the relatives saw it, too and came to their house. (relatives=Aunt Joan, Uncle Paul and their Grandma).But they were lucky they had also a big brother who was in college. He came, too. The relatives wanted to seperate the family,but Billy and Lori didn't want to. So they had to do something and what they did is easy they told Kevin(=big brother)to stay and go to college there. The only problem was money but they solved it,too by finding Kevin a job. So Kevin had to go to college and to work.......(to be continiued)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sad Start but Happy Ending, October 21, 2005

By 

Yesi (Reedley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When the Phone Rang (Point Paperbacks) (Paperback)

The phone rang a calm afternoon in the house of Billy and changed his life forever. Billy was a teenager who live with his parents and a younger sister in a new city. One afternoon Billy and his sister Lori were cleaning the house because they were waiting for their parents who were on a business trip. Suddenly the phone rang and it was a woman who told Billy that his parents had suffered a airplane crash in the Caribbean and that their parents were dead. At first Billy thought that it was a joke and hung up the phone, but when the woman called again and said that same thing as the first time, Billy went into shock ands didn't say anything. Later they receive a phone call from their uncles and from his brother Kevin an older brother who was in the college in Boston studying to be a doctor.
The next day his brother Kevin comes to visit them to be together, and a few days later their uncles and grandmother came too. After a few days the family members needed to go back to their homes, and they were going to take Billy and Lori with them. But Billy and Lori didn't want to go because they want to be in the house of their parents and for their older brother to stay with them. After hours of discussion, Kevin thought that it was the better that he stay with his younger siblings and not go back to Boston to finish his career, because they were suffering a lot. Kevin stayed with his brothers, he got a job and went to the college in teh city, while his siblings go to school. Billy in the afternoon tryed to fix a room that was in the top of his house, something that he was doing with his father. He needed to fix it becuase they need to rent the room. At this tiem the brother had some problems, like one wiht the car that was from their parents, Billy love this car because it was the familu car and it bring memories to him of when the whole family went out in it and they were happy. They had problems because Kevin sold the car, and Billy did't want to separate from the car. Also Lori, the younger sister, had problems because she had a friend who smoke and stole things from the stores she teached it to Lori. Lori say that she does this ceause she felt lonely and the her friend was the only one who loves her. At this momment Billy felt bad because he was suppsoed to be in charge of his younger sister. Billy wants to do what thier parents wil do if thery were i this situation, but he knew that he is never going to make Lori feel like her parents were there. Finally Lori went on vacation to visit her grandmother and stayed away from her friend. Kevin continuos workin gand going to college. Billy found a part time job in a arcade while he was on vacation. Billy also finished fixing the room and thy found someone who rent it. The three siblings continue their life missign thier parents.
I recommend this book because it is very interesting. I personally learn a lot from it. I will recommend for everybody but especially teenagers because when they lose a family member they feel bad and they star to be in gangs asdn do bad things. Wiht this book we can learn that we should continue our life after we lose a dear member, we suffer a lot but we can't go down. This book is a good example because three younger brothers continue their life with effort and together without their parents. We may have problems, but if we help each other we can go on life.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Pretty Good Book, March 14, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: When the Phone Rang (Library Binding)

I think that when the phone rang was a pretty good book. Personally I like the book because it had all the conflicts that brothers and sisters go through. I also like how they figured out there problems so I think that this book wasnt really a bad book at all. So I would recommend this book to some body who like changes that happen in real life and what and how the little girl who is twelve changes, her name is Lori.