Jeania Kimbrough
Auteur de Van Diemen at 17
Œuvres de Jeania Kimbrough
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Lieux de résidence
- Navajo Nation; Albuquerque, NM; Hobart, Tasmania; Sydney, Australia; Phoenix, Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona; Granda & Barbastro, Spain; Partizanske, Slovakia; Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Paris, France
- Études
- Rutgers University, NAU, ASU (MA ∙ Communication & Information Studies ∙ MA ∙ TESL/Linguistics ∙ BA ∙ English Literature/Minor Spanish)
- Courte biographie
- Jeania Kimbrough holds graduate degrees in both Communication and Information Studies from Rutgers University and Teaching English as a Second Language from Northern Arizona University. Her bachelor’s degree is in English, with a minor in Spanish, and is reflective of the passion she has always had for literature and language. Although she’s lived and traveled in over twenty different countries, home has always been the Desert Southwest. She likes to think she was born in the middle of a ancient dried out ocean, and has been thirsty ever since.
Membres
Critiques
Luz, Rebound par Jeania Kimbrough
Cette critique a été rédigée pour LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
I have not read the prequel to this book, so character development seemed lacking. It started out a little slow, but after a few chapters I had a hard time putting the book down. I think it dealt with some real struggles that teens face today, and even some adults. I would definitely recommend this book.
Cette critique a été rédigée pour LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
I received Van Diemen At 17 as an ARC, and while it is not the normal genre of book I typically choose to read, I was anticipating it for a few self-indulgent reasons.
Like Kara, I was a teen in the 80's who spent a little more time than normal feeling as if I was on the outside looking in. I also often thought that escaping away (in Kara's case via a foreign exchange student program) could potentially alter my entire existence for the better.
I feel that this novel had a lot of potential, but somehow just slightly missed it's mark. How many of us as teens felt like it was "us against them" and that nobody understood us, only to learn that it was truly "us against ourselves" and that we were the ones most not in tune with who were really were (or wanted to be). We have all heard "you are your own worst enemy" and I walked away from this book feeling as that is all that Kara ended up learning. Had she learned it in the first chapter, maybe her time in Australia could have been more of a learning/growing experience for her that would have captivated me more.
I felt that the author did a disservice to Kara's character by not even allowing the reader in. I wanted to feel compassionate towards Kara's plight, but quite frankly with no sort of development or background into who she was prior to arriving in Tasmania, it left me not really ever connecting with the character, and I felt sad about that. I wanted to feel for Kara.
I think that much more time could have (should have) been spent setting up the connection to Australia, and to the 80's. What is the point in indicating the setting if you never establish that in the context of the book. The two main components that made me most excited to read it seem to me to be left on the rough draft, and never made it to the final copy.
At times even the dialog between characters seemed to be out of element. Kara tended to sound much more than her 17 years, and not so much as " a girl wise beyond her years" but rather as a completely different character than the 17 year she was supposed to be.
Since I have heard that sequels to the book will follow, I would have to say that I will potentially give Kara another go, but I feel that the author would need to spend a little more time on character and setting developments in order to get me to want to invest my time.
As a side note, my ARC also did have quite a few typos throughout the entire text that I hope could be corrected for mass printing.… (plus d'informations)
Like Kara, I was a teen in the 80's who spent a little more time than normal feeling as if I was on the outside looking in. I also often thought that escaping away (in Kara's case via a foreign exchange student program) could potentially alter my entire existence for the better.
I feel that this novel had a lot of potential, but somehow just slightly missed it's mark. How many of us as teens felt like it was "us against them" and that nobody understood us, only to learn that it was truly "us against ourselves" and that we were the ones most not in tune with who were really were (or wanted to be). We have all heard "you are your own worst enemy" and I walked away from this book feeling as that is all that Kara ended up learning. Had she learned it in the first chapter, maybe her time in Australia could have been more of a learning/growing experience for her that would have captivated me more.
I felt that the author did a disservice to Kara's character by not even allowing the reader in. I wanted to feel compassionate towards Kara's plight, but quite frankly with no sort of development or background into who she was prior to arriving in Tasmania, it left me not really ever connecting with the character, and I felt sad about that. I wanted to feel for Kara.
I think that much more time could have (should have) been spent setting up the connection to Australia, and to the 80's. What is the point in indicating the setting if you never establish that in the context of the book. The two main components that made me most excited to read it seem to me to be left on the rough draft, and never made it to the final copy.
At times even the dialog between characters seemed to be out of element. Kara tended to sound much more than her 17 years, and not so much as " a girl wise beyond her years" but rather as a completely different character than the 17 year she was supposed to be.
Since I have heard that sequels to the book will follow, I would have to say that I will potentially give Kara another go, but I feel that the author would need to spend a little more time on character and setting developments in order to get me to want to invest my time.
As a side note, my ARC also did have quite a few typos throughout the entire text that I hope could be corrected for mass printing.… (plus d'informations)
From back cover copy:
A true page turner! Few works of fiction portray realistic exchange students, and even fewer place these characters at the epicenter of a human drama. Kara is a compelling character facing a range of both ordinary and extraordinary issues as she attempts to live with a family of strangers and adjust to the demands of a new school in Tasmania. Although Kara’s exchange story is atypical, her story is a realistic portrayal of the kinds of situations and personal reactions to them that do crop up every year for a few students. The sympathetic rendering of a conflicted young woman is heartfelt and will resonate with anyone who has struggled to make sense of life in another culture.
-- Bettina Hansel, Ph.D., Author of Exchange Student Survival Kit, 2nd Edition
Winner of 2010 Moonbeam Children's book awards in the Young Adult -- Mature Issues Category.… (plus d'informations)
A true page turner! Few works of fiction portray realistic exchange students, and even fewer place these characters at the epicenter of a human drama. Kara is a compelling character facing a range of both ordinary and extraordinary issues as she attempts to live with a family of strangers and adjust to the demands of a new school in Tasmania. Although Kara’s exchange story is atypical, her story is a realistic portrayal of the kinds of situations and personal reactions to them that do crop up every year for a few students. The sympathetic rendering of a conflicted young woman is heartfelt and will resonate with anyone who has struggled to make sense of life in another culture.
-- Bettina Hansel, Ph.D., Author of Exchange Student Survival Kit, 2nd Edition
Winner of 2010 Moonbeam Children's book awards in the Young Adult -- Mature Issues Category.… (plus d'informations)
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 2
- Membres
- 12
- Popularité
- #813,248
- Évaluation
- 3.7
- Critiques
- 3
- ISBN
- 4
- Favoris
- 1
