How to Steal a Car: By Pete Hautman

HOW TO STEAL A CAR

SUMMARY

Some girls act out by drinking or doing drugs. Some girls act out by sleeping with guys. Some girls act out by starving themselves or cutting themselves. Some girls act out by being a bitch to other girls.

Not Kelleigh. Kelleigh steals cars.

In How to Steal a Car, National Book Award winner Pete Hautman takes teen readers on a thrilling, scary ride through one suburban girl's turbulent life - one car theft at a time.

REVIEW

I was very impressed by How to Steal a Car. It had a three dimensional protagonist, a fast moving plot, and a unique and interesting story. But what I was most impressed by was the level of writing that Hautman was able to summon for this book. With only 170 pages Hautman easily gets the reader to connect with the protagonist.

That said, while I was impressed by the character development and the level of writing, I felt Hautman tried to fit to many issues into one book. He went from drugs to rape to divorce to personal issues with being a teenager all in the span of the 170 pages. And while the reader can clearly see how Hautman connects these issues, it just felt like to much to fit in to such a small book.

All in all How to Steal a Car was a very good book and I’d recommend it to any fan of young adult literature.

INFO

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Published: September 1, 2009

Price: $16.99