Lisa LawrenceCritiques

This story could have been pulled from the lives of many of the students I teach. Like Isabelle, I have many students who have had to deal with an alcoholic parent. In Isabelle’s case, it is her mother. I have many students who have had to take care, raise their younger siblings. Isabelle has a younger brother and sister to take care of. On top of all of this, she has a part-time job and is going to school. She is in a vicious cycle. She has the weight of the world on her shoulders and she is afraid to try to remove that weight because of the consequences to the lives of her siblings. As I read this and saw her pain I wanted so much to take that pain from her. It hit too close to home. I had a student, a young man who lived this life with his younger brother. His mom was a drug addict. He’d had enough teachers show support that he finally took a leap of faith, left his mom in another state and moved back to Florida with his younger brother. He arrived a few days before turning 18, with the help of one of his high school teachers he was able to go to court to get custody of his brother.

Unlike my former student, Isabelle doesn’t want anyone knowing what is going on in her life and therefore, getting help for her and helping her deal with things is made more difficult. This is definitely a book I will recommend and it is a book I will put on my shelves at school. I see this as a book that may just help that one child who is like Isabelle and needs some encouragement to get help. Well worth the read.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Rodent is a quick, powerful read with a very realistic angry and bitter teenage girl who has had a really shit life. This is slightly reminiscent of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, which was a great read as well.½

Difficult to read... but important to read and beautifully done.

Rodents are very resilient. They survive when nothing else can-even become immune to poisons. Did you know a rat can tread water for days?”
“No, I didn’t.” I laugh.
“Survive being flushed down a toilet?”
“No.”
“So if you’re a rodent,” he says, “you’ll probably outlive us all.”

Isabelle’s character makes me happy. She’s a teenager that has to put up with an alcoholic mother, violently alcoholic uncle and take care of her two younger siblings, but she’s not the typical I-can-do-everything! teen I usually seen in these books. She gets angry, she’s selfish, she gets into fights; just as most teens in that typical situation would find themselves.

Will is the romantic interest of the book. He is a bit of an outcast himself, though not much is found out character-wise about him. Honestly, I would have liked the book better if they had remained friends and the ‘romance’ had been left out. He was an interesting character for what was given, though.

The main focus within the school is that Isabelle is placed with a small group (including Will and herself) called The Words on the Wall in which they come up with a theme and poster words on the cafeteria wall that will eventually include the rest of the students. It sounds like a great idea, allowing teens to express themselves through the theme, but of course teens can be cruel and (like all YA high books based in HS) there are your typical mean girls to look out for.

The highlight of the little group are their meetings in the drama club prop room! Zara is a bit of a stickler for rules and order, but Damien is a care-free artist that goes around picking out the most ridiculous props for everyone. The room eventually becomes a important part of Isabelle’s story.

Jacquie is Isabelle’s cousin and a picture of what Isabelle is on the road to becoming/could have become. She dropped out of school, has already been in juvenile hall for fighting, and dresses in very revealing clothes.

There were a few times where the story had the perfect adult for the perfect situation, or someone just happened to have arrived at just the right time. I’m not typically a stickler for these, but when it happens quite a few times in one book it gets on my nerves.

Overall, Rodent is a good contemporary young adult read.

Isabelle is in grade 11. Her mother is an alcoholic, so Isabelle is the one who takes care of her two younger siblings, Evan and Maidie. Normally, she tries to stay invisible at school, but on her first day at a new school, she gets into a fight, which results in her being bullied.

I thought this was really good. It's YA, so it moved quickly and was a fast read. I definitely felt badly for Isabelle and hoped things would work out for her.

I liked this book! I received an early review copy and was excited to dig into it. The main character and story were believable and relatable, even though my life is nothing like hers. Sadly, I think there are many children and teens struggling through a difficult life. I really felt for her and her siblings and was happy with how the author tied the story together at the end.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! It was truly just a beautifully brutal, deeply moving and emotionally fraught gem. I won this book through a giveaway and really did not have that high expectations for it. However, I literally read it in one sitting (well, lying?, as I was in bed and decided to start it and did not end up going to sleep until about 1:30 in the morning) and could NOT put it down. I cried throughout half of the book, I kid you not. Horribly, ugly tears, of pain and sadness and despair for Isabelle. I truly loved this book so much more than I thought I would and just can not give it enough praise. 5+ stars without any doubt.

High school student Isabelle is dealing with about as much as she can handle: an alcoholic mother and two neglected younger siblings who demand her attention while she simultaneously dodges school bullies and holds down a job. Isabelle's single-minded focus holds her together, but is shaken as she tentatively accepts friendship and even romance as part of her whirlwind life.
I really liked the multi-faceted characters in this book. Isabelle is such an honest character: she's so steadfast in her desire to hold her family together, while at the same time pining for the warmth and affection lacking in her life. My only critique with this book is that it feels like it ends so suddenly. There are many events built up in the book that don't end up going anywhere. In particular, Isabelle's relationship with one of her bullies, named Celeste, comes close to a breakthrough, but then ends up seemingly forgotten entirely by the end of the book.
Overall, this was a gritty, interesting read, albeit with a rushed ending.½

I really enjoyed Rodent. Isabelle was a great character; you couldn’t help but root for her. I wouldn’t mind if there was a second part to this book just because I desperately want to know how everything turns out for Isabelle, her friends, and her family. I like to think that every turned out well and that everyone is happy, but I need to KNOW.

I really enjoyed this book. Having been bullied in high school myself, there were moments where I could relate quite well to what Isabelle was going through. The characters were well-written and I wanted to keep reading to see what would happen. I kind of wish there would be a sequel to tell what happens to Isabelle from here.

I like this book. It’s raw, real, heartbreaking, and captivating. I find that even though a contemporary narrative is one the easier genres to write it’s a lot more difficult to believe. This book however was able to balance truth and story-telling so wonderfully.
Isabelle is a 16 year old teenager in her 11th year of high school. Things don’t start off well on her first day in a new school but that’s just the story of her life, learning how to survive yet another hostile environment. With two younger siblings and an alcoholic mother dependent on her it’s just another problem she’ll have to deal with anyway.
When the going gets tough she still finds a group of people who really root for her to succeed. When I read a book with a caring teacher it always manages to make me feel all warm and gooey on the inside because it reminds me that not all teachers lose the spark of joy in helping out a young mind. I love reading about the beginning of friendships especially with a character who has about three different types of walls to knock down. But what I love most is seeing growth within a person who has already ‘grown up’ in a sense. Chapter 1 Isabelle was so hard on herself never thinking about her own wants or needs, which can be very unhealthy at any age or circumstance, but a little boost of confidence goes a long way.
I feel like it does slump a little towards the end, like the ideas are brought up but not fully fleshed out, but the conclusion was very satisfactory and I felt a happy meltyness in my heart. It teeters between 3.5 and 4 stars but the latter winning because of a good ending.