Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Move over Judy Blume! McCabe is a New Teen Character for a New Generation, August 31, 2008
LK Gardner-Griffie is a clever author who has truly embraced the "tween" readers of today with a rambunctious young lady they will certainly relate to. Katie McCabe, the main character, is a rebellious fourteen year old tom girl looking for trouble. And most of the time, she gets exactly what she's looking for!
Timmy Lawrence (I can just hear that name being yelled out the back door by an angry mother!) is Katie's best friend and partner in crime! Right from page one, the author shows you these two are up to no good. They are in a neighbor's shed with a flask of rum to spike their Cokes...and they toast to their adventures in smoking as they light up cigarettes! Like any child, they become entranced by the flame when they start playing with the matches and end up catching the hay in the shed on fire.
Playing with fire, drinking stolen booz, trying cigarettes for the first time...the friendship between Timmy and Katie definitely brought back memories. I can recall the next door neighbor's grand daughter who only visited during the summer. I was always anxious for her arrival, and even more anxious for her departure by the end of the season. She was pure evil!
When she wasn't persuading me to steal eggs or kitchen matches to make magic potions, she was pulling me around the yard in a cardboard box and busting my head on the rocks when the box split open. I seem to recall a collection of Garbage Pail Kid trading cards that also went missing from my room one year shortly after she visited!
More importantly, Katie does not lie about her involvement in the shed burning when her father questions her. Very smart! After all, her father is the town sheriff. He sends Katie to live with his brother, her Uncle Charley who also happens to be very strict. With a house full of cousins, the trouble has just begun. But when Katie starts up a friendship with her older cousin, Sarah, who helps Katie through those "changes of life," Katie really begins to mature and change. But this certainly doesn't happen in a day.
In the meantime there are new friends to make and new enemies. A battle of wits pursues between Katie and and a nasty little snot named Harvey Denton Jr. He's the local banker's son and enjoys letting everyone know it. He also enjoys seeking revenge against Katie. Cheating, lying, stealing...the list goes on and on of obstacles Katie must continue to face, even though she is trying her best to be the better person.
LK GG moves her story along with well versed dialogue and has penned an array of characters who are each interesting and unique in their own way. Her descriptions of the predicaments Katie faces practically on every page are complex (and often seem unfair) to a 14 year old, but provide enough excitement and detail to keep a reader of any age interested.
Despite Katie being a few years younger than my own niece, I plan to purchase a copy of this book for her as she turns 17 this year. There are situations and outcomes here that any teen could (and will) face, and Misfit McCabe is a character who high school readers will relate to and learn from. This book would make an excellent gift for those just about to enter high school and begin that often troublesome phase of life.
Kudos to LK for embracing this age group. Katie McCabe is a character who I hope to visit with again soon!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Misfit McCabe - A Hallmark Movie Waiting to Happen, September 20, 2008
First things first, in case you are wondering whether I have any relation to the author, I am married to her. She gets the Griffie part of her name from me. I want to also thank Mr. Yarbrough for posting his review of Misfit McCabe because I felt like I couldn't post a review until someone else had. If I posted one first, it would simply have been discounted because "I'm the husband and HAVE to say nice things."
Actually, that's not true. When it comes to writing, LK Gardner-Griffie would rather have an honest assessment than fluff comments like, "I really liked it." Since I'm not much of a reader, I had to ask to read the book while she was working on the final stages of getting it ready for distribution. I'll admit, I asked out of curiosity because I wanted to see what she was spending so much time working on. Well, let me tell you, I read the first chapter that night and had to finish the book the next day. I couldn't put it down.
Misfit McCabe is the story of 14 year old, Katie McCabe and how she handles the circumstances that life has dealt her, as well as the consequences of the choices she has made. When she ends up being sent to live with her uncle and some cousins, Katie struggles with anger about the situation, but doesn't really have too much time to focus on that because she makes an enemy her first day in town. Through a series of one-ups-manship retaliation, the battle between Katie and Harvey Jr. escalates to a dangerous degree and ultimately puts Katie in peril.
Why I think this is a good book? You are drawn into the story from page one, and the action continues throughout the book. It is easy to visualize what is happening and you can connect with the characters no matter what age you are. Katie is dealing with real-life situations that any teenager could be facing and deals with them in a realistic fashion.
When I finished the book, my first thought was what a wonderful Hallmark movie this would make, or when I was younger, an After-School Special (I don't know whether they still make those or not.) That's how clearly the words come to life.
This is a great coming of age story, which is a must read for everyone.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bring on the Sequel, April 13, 2009
Many a year has passed since I was a 14 year old year girl so being taken back into the mind of one was a novel experience. And LK Gardner-Griffie does a remarkable job of portraying a teen's thoughts and emotions through Katie's narration. I could so relate to Katie McCabe, and so will teens who read Misfit McCabe, and any adult who (honestly) recalls their teen years. You must remember when you thought your hometown was boring and didn't want to be stuck there your whole life. When you needed so passionately to be seen as an individual and not an extension of your family. When running away when you'd messed up seemed the best option, even though you knew that would result in a worse punishment than if you'd stayed put.
Have you ever looked at your own teen and wondered, why are you so contrary? Just what is in that head of yours?
I couldn't help but like Katie McCabe even though she is about as contrary as a teen can be. The teen years are terribly complex, while they try to cope with emotional and physical changes and conflicting feelings. I think teens who read Misfit McCabe will identify with her.
I won't go into the plot as other reviewers have already outlined it. I will say that in Misfit McCabe, Katie's world is turned upside down and she must learn to live with a terrible loss, learn to accept the solace and friendship she is offered, and is plunged into many difficult and, at times, dangerous situations. Through it all, Katie grows as a person.
Misfit McCabe is beautifully written and Katie is an engaging central character. LK Gardner-Griffie truly understands young teens and takes you into their world, with all their insecurities and uncertainties.
I'm sure that more adventures await Katie, more "growing pains" and more lessons from life, in the coming sequel to Misfit McCabe. I can't wait to read it.
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