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Liked It “Freak, weirdo, maladaptive, useless, crippled, Sam has lived with these words his for most of his time growing up. Jonathan Friesen’s character in his debut novel suffers from tourette’s syndrome, which leaves him with the inability to control his movements or what he says at time. In the small...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Very interesting book. A good read for teens. Makes you think about the way you treat people and the effect it might have on them. Cute relationship between Sam/Jack and Nae.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Freak, weirdo, maladaptive, useless, crippled, Sam has lived with these words his for most of his time growing up. Jonathan Friesen’s character in his debut novel suffers from tourette’s syndrome, which leaves him with the inability to control his movements or what he says at time. In the small town of Mitrista, Minnesota he can forget about fitting in, beautiful girls, friends or even having family. A step-father who abuses him and his mother, stories of a drunken father who cheated and died when Sam was young, and the only thing that Sam has ever been able to do was run, but all he wants is to be still and normal. He feels so out-of-pace, he can’t even make it through graduation, but afterwards, everything changes an d his world is thrown out of place. Now, he does not know where he is headed, who to believe about his past and present, if the girl sitting next to him is there for herself or him or both, but he will take the trip and what he discovers will change his life and yours.
Richard Winters wrote this review 12 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Friesen creates characters you can feel, that are relevant to everybody’s life because we all know them in one manner or another. The events and choices are not always, in fact hardly ever, happy, but they are real. Friesen wrote the book about something he knows, having tourette syndrome himself, and the authenticity of the feelings that Sam goes through shine in this book of self-exploration. An excellent easy-read but with a deeper meaning, when you read this be prepared to be very moved.”
“Highly recommend it!”
Andrea G wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Very interesting book. A good read for teens. Makes you think about the way you treat people and the effect it might have on them. Cute relationship between Sam/Jack and Nae. ”
Trinity T wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Jerk California is about a boy who has tourettes who takes a jouney his father set up for him before he died. Sam had no friends at high school, his step father was a jerk and his mother wouldn't speak up for him. He found a job and a place to stay at the crazy guy in towns house, his name is George and everyone thought he was crazy but Sam realized he was a very nice man. He was doing lawn work for George and they worked at this girl, Naomi's, house at times. Sam really liked Naomi. George told Sam that he knew his father and that his name is Jack Keegan, not Sam. After George died he sent Naomi and Jack on a trip together to all the places that Jacks father had built windmills. In the begining of the book "Sam" hates his father because he is the one he got his tourettes from, and by the end of the book he realizes what an amazing father he had. This book was really good and I liked that it was told in Jacks perspective because you got to see how he felt about his tourettes. I would recommend this book.l”
Corinne M wrote this review Monday, November 16 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Excellent read - just the right journey; I learned a great deal about the big "T" as well. Definitely highly recommended!”
Lisa S wrote this review Tuesday, October 27 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Very good-helpful at understanding Tourette's”
Terri K wrote this review Thursday, October 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A great coming of age story and of accepting yourself. Sam Carrier is a teen who has Tourettes and only remembers his biological father from this syndrome. He lives with his mother and dead beat step dad who feeds stories to Sam about his real dad. Sam discovers there's more to his real father than meets his eye when he befriends an elderly man and heads off a road trip to Jerk, California.
Cullengirl l wrote this review Tuesday, October 13 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I liked how Sam painfully describes how Tourettes has taken over his life and how through his relationships with his friends that he meets along the way change his way of thinking. I also loved the connection between father and son figures along the road trip. A fun read.”
“This was one of the most difficult books I've ever read. It's not that the content was hard, it was the situation the character is in. Sam (aka Jack) finds himself trapped in his mothers home with an abusive step father. His step father has treated Sam and his mother horribly scince everyone found out Sam had tourette syndrome. Sam faces a rough journey during the events of having a job, losing a friend, and sticking up for himself against his step father. Sam recieves a map from a friend and decides to take the long journey of roads and windmills to his grandmothers home. Once Sam is there he realize that the road trip there changed his life once and for all. I enjoyed the book, there's a little romance, little action, but a lot of bravery.”
NikkiFaith wrote this review Wednesday, August 5 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“amazinggggggg”
Nicolesykes. wrote this review Tuesday, August 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
