Driver's Ed (Hardcover)

by Caroline B. Cooney (Author) "Remy Marland crossed her fingers and prayed to the God of Driver's Education that she would get to drive today..." (more)
Key Phrases: mailbox baseball, thickly settled, Denise Thompson, Morgan Campbell, Nickie Budie (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A wrenching, breathlessly paced plot and an adrenaline-charged romance make Cooney's ( The Face on the Milk Carton ) latest novel nearly impossible to put down. To high school junior Remy, a late-night sign-stealing expedition seems like an especially thrilling (and only vaguely illegal) way to pursue the boy she has a crush on, good-looking Morgan Campbell. Intoxicated by their feelings for each other, neither Remy nor Morgan pays much attention when thuggish Nickie decides to take a stop sign from a poorly lit intersection. Later that night, a young mother is killed when she is hit by a truck at the very same intersection--a direct consequence of the teens' prank. Remy, Morgan and Nickie have left no evidence to implicate themselves; while Nickie is glad to evade responsibility, Remy and Morgan must somehow come to terms with the tragedy they have caused. Set against a richly imagined background of relentlessly ordinary events--Thanksgiving festivities, Christmas shopping at the mall--Remy and Morgan's tortured inner searchings are all the more harrowing. Given Cooney's vigorous, evocative prose and her carefully individuated characters, this modern-day morality tale is as convincing as it is irresistible. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up-Disinterested driver's ed teacher Mr. Fielding views his class as indistinguishable brainless clones. In order to keep them straight, he distributes name tags, and then calls out three lucky participants each day to go out on the road. Of course, the students are way ahead of him, and just exchange name tags whenever anyone wants a chance behind the wheel. Remy loves to drive, and she constantly trades tags with other girls. One night, she and a perspective love interest, Morgan, accept a class challenge to collect road signs, recruiting an older boy to drive. The expedition goes without a hitch- until they learn that a young mother has been killed at the intersection from which they have stolen a stop sign. The whole community is up in arms, and the grieving widower appears on TV with his son, offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the vandals. Remy and Morgan are filled with remorse and guilt as their lives are turned upside down. Mr. Fielding, in a rare act of awareness, nearly accuses a different student of the crime because of the switched name tags. Both young people realize that they have to take responsibility for their actions and confess. Cooney uses her familiar fast-paced, conversational style throughout the novel. As the action intensifies, the sentences get shorter and more pointed. This stylistic device intensifies the drama and underlines the horror of the situation. Great literature this is not. However, the simple plot, told from Remy and Morgan's alternating viewpoints, is in no way simplistic, as it takes on sensitive issues and deals with them in a compelling manner. The overriding tension and the theme of an innocent prank backfiring into tragedy will attract teens and heighten the book's appeal.
Susan R. Farber, Chappaqua Library, NY
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385320876
• ISBN-13: 978-0385320870
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,084,704 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A novel with impact -, October 28, 2006

By	Randlehouse (Utah USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Driver's Ed (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a book I read some years ago. I'm reviewing it now because I was thinking about it this morning. And any book that makes you think years after you've read it deserves a review, I think. I don't remember a thing about the structure of the story or the style in which it was written. I do remember feeling a certain distance from the story as I read it. Cooney is a fairly dependable writer; perhaps the distance had to do simply with my own particular taste. Regardless, the book has tremendous impact. If you read the other reviews, you will get the spoilers; I see no need for me to outline the plot here. What I want to discuss is the very effective, very real tension that arises out of what could seem like a very simple decision--a choice kids make, thinking it's going to be funny, thinking that what they do tonight has no connection to anyone else's life, or to their own futures. I have very good kids - I'm not at all worried that they'll do something easily definable as wrong. But I am afraid of their youth and inexperience, which has to result in a fair amount of short-sightedness, and of the level of silliness the best kids can hit when they are out together and egg each other on.

I still remember the horror I felt as this story unfolded. As a mother, way past any such temptations myself, I still became the kids as I read. Cooney creates in the reader that sort of nightmare experience: in your dream, you have done something terrible, something really terrible and your life will never be the same. From the dream, you wake. The impact of this story is that there can be no waking. The terrible thing is there, and will always be there. My reaction to the story still lingers, after all these years. And so I save this book, when so many others make way for the new stuff on the shelves. I would sit a kid down and make him or her read this book if I felt like the lesson needed to be learned - or I would read it to a family out loud. This said, the book is not written in a didactic manner (preachy). The facts are simply laid out. When you read these other reviews, you will find plenty who note that the book is "hard to get into," which, with a writer like Cooney who knows her business, means that the book has some serious things to say and is not simply entertainment. There is a feeling of portent from the beginning. If only more people understood that so many stories in our own lives, if told by a storyteller, would start weeks before the mistake or accident or choice with a feeling of portent and forshadowing.

Read it as a horror novel, if you like. Certainly, that's what it was for me. I still carry with me the imprint of its impact. It is a true cautionary tale. And if reading it can give any kid just a moment's pause before making a stupid choice, then God bless it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book worth your time!, February 4, 2003

By	Koreena (ID, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Driver's Ed (Mass Market Paperback)

As a university student, I chose to read this book as part of a Young Adult Literature class. I enjoyed it for several reasons. First, the characters in the book are realistic and ones that readers can easily relate to. The book took me back to my teenage years when driving and dating seemed to be the most crucial aspects of life. The characters are not fluffed up to become some heroes they aren't. For example, even when Remy and Morgan, the protagonists, get into trouble beyond anything they could expect they still worry about their newfound relationship. These are real kids trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Another aspect I enjoyed was the way Caroline Cooney built up the suspense throughout the book. I experienced the same anticipation as the main characters and was never quite sure what they would ultimately decide to do. The ending is such that it leaves you meditating because the story does not feel quite finished. While some may view an unfinished story as irritating, I see it as an opportunity for the reader to make the story his or her own by personalizing it with his or her opinion of how the characters' lives will play out.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has experienced the torture of keeping a secret or has done something wishing no harm but later regretted the action. If you like this book, I would also recommend The Face on the Milk Carton by the same author.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Driver's Ed By, Charlotte, March 28, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Driver's Ed (Mass Market Paperback)

In the book Driver's Ed by Caroline B. Cooney, a boy Morgan and a girl Remy steal a stop sign. That night a woman, Denise Thompson, dies bringing home her babysitter when she goes by the stop sign that they took and an oncoming car hit her. The guilt of the death eats away at Remy and Morgan, and they just can't take it anymore. They have to do something about it.
This book is not the greatest book ever; it is very hard to get into. There are a lot of dialogue and unnecessary characters in the first chapter. Most of the action comes later in the book, so because of that in the beginning it kind of just rambles on for a while and then the action comes. One of the things I did like was the message the book sent. It tells you to think before you do something and that peer pressure gets you into trouble. I think 7-9 graders would like this book, because the characters and issues deal with those ages.