Surviving the Applewhites [ABRIDGED] [AUDIOBOOK] [UNABRIDGED] (Audio Cassette)

by Stephanie S. Tolan (Author), Robert Sean Leonard (Reader)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
When Jake Semple is kicked out of yet another school, the Applewhites, an eccentric family of artists, offer to let him live with them and attend their unstructured Creative Academy. Twelve-year-old E.D., the only non-artistic (and organized) person in her family, feels like "the invisible Applewhite" and is wary of Jake. Through Jake and E.D's alternating perspectives, Tolan (The Face in the Mirror) introduces the outrageous titular clan. E.D.'s pompous father directs a local production of The Sound of Music, while her mother breaks from her popular mysteries to write the Great American Novel; her uncle carves a coffee table that her poet aunt defends to Jake, "Well, you couldn't put a cup of coffee on it, of course, but then who would want to? It's wonderfully soul-filling, don't you think?" Some of the plotting feels unfinished: E.D. and Jake don't formally make peace and the Applewhites never come to terms with their individual narcissism. Jake's transformation too seems unconvincing. But humor abounds in the ever-building chaos: a writer coming to interview E.D.'s mother stays to do a slew of projects on the famous family, including inviting a television crew to document their lives. In the end, it's the antics of the cast of characters that keep this show on the road. Ages 10-up. (Aug.)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8-In this laugh-out-loud novel, a young teen on the fast track to the juvenile detention center suddenly finds himself living in rural North Carolina with the outrageously eccentric Applewhite clan. Jake Semple, 13, has been expelled from a long line of schools before coming to the Applewhites to be homeschooled. This extended family forms what a visiting reporter christens an "artistic dynasty," with various creative endeavors absorbing the adults' time and attention. Jake is left largely to his own devices, since the family doesn't believe in telling their charges what or when to study. He develops a loyal following consisting of an active four-year-old and an overweight basset hound, and his transformation is complete once he becomes enmeshed in the family's production of The Sound of Music. Quirky characters, from the cub reporter to the visiting guru, add to the offbeat humor. The Applewhites' over-the-top personalities mark them as literary kin of Helen Cresswell's Bagthorpes. Running beneath the narrative that gently pokes fun at everything from sculpture to TV documentaries, though, is also the story of a boy allowing himself to belong and begin to discover his own potential. This has terrific booktalk and read-aloud potential, and will help fill the need for humorous contemporary fiction.
Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: HarperChildrensAudio; Unabridged edition (December 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060582588
• ISBN-13: 978-0060582586
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (114 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #611,362 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Humor, with a human side, November 6, 2002

By	Laura Lynn Walsh "gt-teacher" (Fairbanks, AK USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Surviving the Applewhites (Library Binding)

This is a good hearted book that follows the transformation of Jake, incipient hoodlum, to Jake, possible actor/singer in a believable gradual series of extenuating circumstances. The humor rests on the interesting and very individualistic ways the various residents of the Creative Academy go about their daily lives, making Jake, with his spiked hair and many earrings seem almost normal.

A sub-plot also follows E.D., one of the daughters of the family in her quest to organize her life and NOT be as hair-brained as the rest of her family. She, too, discovers that her talents are valued, even if they are not in the artistic domain.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bagthorpes redux, August 3, 2005

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Surviving the Applewhites (Newbery Honor Book) (Hardcover)

There's a whole genre of children's literature that can be best categorized as Crazy/Artistic Family books. Since the publication of Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth's, "Cheaper By the Dozen" (and possibly before that book as well) kids have enjoyed reading about large crazy families and their occasional sad sane members. "Surviving the Applewhites" bounds gleefully into the ring to grab a little of this genre-glory and it's done pretty well for itself. It garnered a 2003 Newbery Honor. It's on countless Summer Reading lists around the country each year. You'd never know that it was a knock-off, would you? The fact of the matter is, "Surviving the Applewhites" is just a slightly contemporized version of Helen Cresswell's 1977 classic children's book, "Ordinary Jack". Though it certainly has some nice ideas and nice moments, "Applewhites" is doomed to be remembered as the Newbery Honor winner that copied a better book, from its dog to its fire-loving preschooler.

Jake Semple is a mean kid. A mean spiked hair kid. A mean spiked hair, multiple earrings, swear at authority figures, wear black clothing kid. He's been kicked out of every school he's ever gone to until finally he's ended up on the Applewhites' farm. The Applewhites are neighbors of Jake's grandfather (the last person the boy was dumped into the care of) and they're a bit... well.... a bit peculiar. All the adults have amazing artistic talents, while the kids are developing their own particular styles in a kind of free-form classroom. In the midst of this chaos is E.D. Applewhite, Jake's peer and an overly organized kid. She doesn't trust Jake for one little moment, but the fact of the matter is that there are larger issues hanging over her head. E.D. can't stand the loosey-goosey nature of the family. She's not artistically talented so she feels left out of things. It's only when her father ropes the entire family into helping with his production of "The Sound of Music" (with Jake as a lead) that E.D. and company learn how to best utilize their talents in a way that the world can really enjoy.

There are nice things in the book. Author Stephanie Tolan does wonderful things with butterflies here. Throughout the story, E.D. and Jake work on projects involving butterflies, culminating with Jake's idea to hatch some black swallowtails in the home. The result are butterflies that live with no fear of humans and become sort of family pets (an adorable idea). It's a bit of a stretch to imagine that E.D.'s father's idea of colorblind casting "The Sound of Music" would be considered groundbreaking, but it works within the context of the story. Children's books love colorblind casting musicals anyway (as in "Amazing Grace" by Mary Hoffman which did the same thing with "Peter Pan").

The book is very nice if you haven't read any of the Bagthorpe books (like "Ordinary Jack"). If you have though, you're in trouble. Consider the similarities. In "Ordinary Jack", Jack is the only normal member of his crazy/artistic family and so he and his dog Zero interact with his demanding writer father, adorable blond firebug of a preschool cousin, and others to find out what makes him special. In "Surviving the Applewhites", E.D. is the only normal member of her crazy/artistic family and so she and the family dog Winston (who loves Jack) interact with her demanding director father, adorable blond firebug of a brother, and others to find out what makes her special. Oog.

Jake himself is an odd sort. He doesn't do anything even slightly delinquent aside from swearing once in a while and smoking cigarettes. High crimes indeed. His appearance is that of a punk, a fact that would have shocked other kids in 1977, perhaps. Here, it's rather quaint. He's like a throwback to an earlier innocent age. If he had tried to look like Marilyn Manson he probably would've ended up a far more believable character. After all, what kid today goes about spiking his hair anymore?

Also, the book commits one particular crime that I am loathe to forgive and forget. The aforementioned adorable preschooler is named Destiny (kill me now) and randomly speaks with an affected cuteness that is supposed to melt readers' hearts. Instead, it only succeeds in inspiring jaw-dropping disbelief that any author would stoop so low. Destiny is prone to sentences about his hair like, "Mine just growed. My hair's blond. Did you know they don't gots a blond crayon even in the sixty-four box?". Gots? The child is a menace who repeatedly annoys the characters, almost kills another kid, lights fires, and basically behaves in a manner that, in an attempt to be cute, ends up as sickeningly saccharine.

There's a lot to like in this book, no question. If you can get over the identical plot/characters and the awful blond child then the book reads rather nicely. It STILL did not deserve the Newbery Honor. Goodness me, no. But it's a nice title that should be interesting to many kids out there. I didn't personally take to it, but I can see how others might. An overly simple book that will garner a large following.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The show must go on", February 12, 2004

By	Kayla (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surviving the Applewhites (Newbery Honor Book) (Hardcover)

Do you think you can change a 13 year old teenager whose parents are in jail for selling and growing marijuana in their own home? Change him into a hard working student instead of the kid who just burnt down his old school?

Stephanie S. Tolan's book Surviving the Applewhites is a great book that shows that even the worst people have some good in them. Jake Semple is a scary kid. Word has it that he burned down his old school and then was kicked out of every school in his home state. Only a few weeks into September, the middle school in Traybridge, North Carolina, has thrown him out too. Now there's only one place left that will take him: a home school run by the weirdest, most outrageous, quarrelsome family you'll ever meet. Each and every Applewhite is an artist except E.D. the smart, scruffy girl E.D. and Jake, so close in age, are quickly paired in the family's first experiment in "cooperative education." The two clash immediately, of course. The only thing they have in common is the determination to survive the family's expectations. But when the Applewhite Father directs the Sound of Music it brings the family together and shows E.D. and Jake the value of the special gifts they've had all along.

I thought this book was awesome, but I don't think Tolan explained the characters well enough. There were too many people in the story and I couldn't keep them straight. I think Tolan did a great job describing the setting of the story I could imagine what it was like there with Jake and the craziness of living with 4 kids and 3 adults who are all obsessed with being artistic and showing their natural talents. When the family gets crazy about the play (The Sound of Music) you can fell their enthusiasm and excitement. I really like the novel.