Customer Reviews

Zigzag

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

 

 

The premise of this book, a trip to get away from it all, is, as has been said, nothing new, but this book is extremely well-crafted in making all of the characters plausible and real - AND INTERESTING. Robin is dreading her boyfriend's first year at college while she is still in high school, when he gets a trip to Italy as a graduation present from his rich parents. Rather than falling apart entirely, Robin takes her mother's and her aunt's suggestion of accompanying her aunt and her cousins on a trip to California.

The best thing about this book is its lack of the melodramatic. All of Robin's relationships seem so real. She makes mistakes; she recovers. She gets mad at her cousin; she learns to sometimes hold her tongue. She doesn't pretend to like everything that comes her way, but she learns to tolerate it and with that, she not only begins to enjoy herself, she becomes able to help both herself and her family.

I have enjoyed other works by this author and this is another good one. The special quality about this one is that it feels GOOD to have read it - almost like you have learned a gentle lesson yourself.

This book was a nice read. There was nothing phenomonal about it,just a relaxing and easy read. The book is full of adventure but not worth buying. I would have checked it out from the library. There are too many slow parts in the book. A lot of dead time and it's very predictable. Nothing jumps out at you that makes you want to read on.

"Well I left my happy home to see what I could find out
I left my folk and friends with the aim to clear my mind out
Well I hit the rowdy road and many kinds I met there
Many stories told me of the way to get there

So on and on I go, the seconds tick the time out
There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to find out"
--Cat Stevens

ZIGZAG is a warm, sometimes rocky, summer's journey through which a young Midwestern woman--soon to begin her senior year of high school minus the boyfriend who is heading off to college--learns about losses, changes, choices, and new parts of the country, while accompanying her bereaved aunt and younger cousins on a winding highway of discovery across the Western US.

"Going down the road feeling bad
Going down the road feeling bad..."
--Traditional

As the story and the summer begin--with the fancy graduation party given for her boyfriend Chris--Robin is already miserable, trashing the summer before it starts because she is dreading Chris's end-of-summer departure to Georgetown. Robin is a girl who has misplaced her Self, along with any self-awareness of her better qualities, as a result of her perception of their relationship:

"It had all been so easy with Chris, right from the beginning. He was the perfect boy and he chose me. I knew I didn't deserve him, but I had him anyway. Except now he was leaving and I couldn't stand it. I couldn't imagine what my life would be like without him."

The crisis quickly hits high-alert, when Chris's parents unexpectedly give him a summer of studying in Rome as a graduation present. The plane leaves in a matter of days. Robin is awash in self-pity and junk food. But as Chris flies the coop, the proverbial door opens when Robin's Aunt Dory convinces her to take part on a zigzag summer trek with the kids. Dory's husband Allen had died in an accident the previous winter, and Robin quickly discovers after sliding into her Aunt's minivan that her cousins, Iris and Marshall, perfectly complement their mom--as a pair of smaller basket cases.

"...Money it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash..."
--Pink Floyd

" 'I have to buy something,' he said, shaking his head at me as though I didn't understand his role in keeping the economy afloat."

In addition to the book's other important themes, Ellen Wittlinger takes serious aim at modern-day commercialism in Gotta-Have-It-Now Brand Name America, and its effects on adolescents--the haves, the have-nots, and the used-to-haves. How, we are forced to contemplate, are the balances of relationships between her various characters weighed down by who has how much moola?

ZIGZAG is an indispensable story for girls who will be newly testing the waters of high school in the fall, as well as those who have already been up to their necks in it. Adolescents facing that pressure to dress right and have a boyfriend (or girlfriend) have plenty to learn from Wittlinger's character Robin as she wrestles with such questions as "Who am I?", "What's really important?", and "How much is enough?" ZIGZAG is a lovely and introspective end-of-summer read that could well set teens on the road to find out....

This was an enjoyable book to read. At first I thought why was this book recomended to me? It didnt sound all that iteresting. Wow she's going on a trip across the US what fun.I ussally have trouble staying interested in a book, but I didn't find that a problem while reading this book. I couldn't Beleive Robin had to put up with the spoiled rich kids who just lost their father and seem to make things worse than they really are.The begining is kind of on the boring side, but the middle and the end is very interesting.(If you Are reading and find it boring I woundn't put it down you like the ending) I strongly recomend reading this book.

I truly had trouble with the first part of this book because I don't want to read about some girl and her rich boyfriend, but this book is much more than that. As I finished the first thirty pages or so this book turned into something much better than a girl and her rich boyfriend.

This story about getting to know each other is best done in the film, Coup Deville starring Daniel Stern and Patrick Dempsey. Zig Zag easily rivals the aforementioned classic film with a very intriguing story about a girl who is left by her boyfriend to spend her last summer alone. That girl, Robin, decides to go on a trip with her Aunt and cousins whose dad just recently died. The whole family has post-traumatic issues and Robin ends up being like a therapist for her extended family's dysfunction.

Marshall, Iris and Dory all have their own individual issues that Robin helps them deal with and get their mind off of the best she can. The whole adventure is interesting and Ellen Wittlinger should be proud of her achievement. Getting me to read this kind of book and enjoy it takes talent. Wittlinger is very talented.

Great book.

If you were expecting Ellen's usual style you won't get it- but she is one of the only author's I know who could take such a heart warming plot and make it actually good. Great book!

Wittlinger's novel is not necessarily one that English teachers would want to teach their students, but it is a great young adult novel to recommend to their Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior level readers. Zig Zag is an inquiry into the lives of everyday teens set loose in the greater expanse of America. It is not a classic road trip novel in which the characters tear relentlessly along the highways. Instead, in this novel, the characters move in and out of motels, restaurants, tourist traps, and roadside haunts in their quest to experience the pleasures and frustrations of young people freed from the boundaries of home and schools.

Teen girls will relate easily to this YA novel. It touches on several different issues that many adolescent girls identify with today including eating disorders, relationships with boys, a young single mother in the dating world, and even death. The letters interspersed in this coming of age narrative work as a multi-genre device and shoe the growth of Robin and Chris as they expand their horizons beyond rural Iowa.

The kindness of strangers carries this unlikely group throughout their journey, and eventually serves as a much needed harbor during the novel's dramatic climax. The potentially disastrous trip evolves into an eye-opening adventure as Robin recognizes her own sense of independence. For the first time, she is even considering going to college outside of Iowa. This is asign of Robin's transformation into a stronger, more independent young woman.

************* SPOILER ALERT *******************
At the end of the book, Chris moves to Phoenix to go to college. She runs into cowboy Glen and they fall in love. She develops a pretty good relationship with her father and baby step-brother. She and Iris email all the time and become like sisters. Not. Actually, the book leaves you with more loose ends than a bad haircut. If that bothers you, don't read it. As you can see, I decided what happens after the end of the book, so no problem.