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Stuck at home all summer due to a broken ankle, McClintok's unnamed,cartier love bracelet replica men, 16-year-old, female protagonist observes a series of bizarre events unfold around her: "no matter what time of day it is, there are always people sitting on their porches, or standing on the sidewalk talking to other people, or across the street on their neighbors' porches, drinking coffee and talking". When the narrator's neighbor, Jojo Benn, returns after a two-year absence, the summer she thought would be the most boring of her life turns out to be the most unforgettable. Replica Jaeger LeCoultre
Two years earlier, Jojo Benn had been the neighborhood bully. Whenever he came around, people in this front-porch community crossed to the other side of the street or went back inside their homes. Jojo and his friends terrified the neighborhood, coercing the people into silence through fear of retaliation. Neighbors knew that the gang often keyed cars, broke windows, or started fires after a report was made to the police, and they always eluded capture.
The entire community holds its breath on the day Jojo returns. Of special interest is what will happen between Jojo and Ardell Withrow, the brother of jojo's last victim. Ardell's brother, Eden, now resides in a hospital bed comatose and so badly beaten the doctors have declared him brain-dead. That's why Jojo went away in the first place; he had served only two years of a five-year prison sentence for almost killing Eden. To make the situation even worse, Ardell lives directly across the street from jojo's mother.
Each day after Jojo comes back, Ardell waits on his front porch for Jojo to appear, waits for Jojo to step over the line, waits for his revenge. Ardell trails after Jojo threateningly when Jojo walks to the store. Ardell and his friends begin pressuring neighborhood businesses to refuse to serve Jojo, and the businesses go along with it. Throughout the book, the neighbors continue to blame Jojo for past offenses. On several occasions, Ardell tries to provoke Jojo, but Jojo refuses to take the bait. Jojo and Ardell seem to have switched roles. Ardell has become the bully and Jojo the victim, yet nobody wants to recognize the switch or admit it.
As the plot continues, the narrator hears and sees conflicts occurring on her street, but she also sees Jojo taking care of his sick mother on the porch and playing with his baby son when he answers the door. Jojo's mother and Shana, his son's mother, seem to be the only people willing to give Jojo a second chance. The narrator cannot help but think that others might change their mind about Jojo if they were able to see this other part of him.
When Ardell's parents decide to "pull the plug" on Eden, Ardell finally loses it. When he lashes out at Jojo, will the neighbors finally recognize the change in Ardell—or once again blame Jojo?
Bullying and revenge are common themes in young adult literature, but author Norah McClintock gives these classic themes an updated twist. Readers will easily step into the story because they become part of the town, watching jojo and Ardell with bated breath to see who will cross the line first. Although the plot is limited by the third-person perspective of the 16-year-old narrator,cartier love bracelet white gold ebay, the narrator often speaks to and about other characters so readers understand the undertones of the piece. Replica Omega Watches
Norah McClintock has written several high interest/low reading level books for Orca Book Publishers. This particular book would appeal to either mature middle school or high school students, especially those who read below grade level but desire a mature and interesting story. The experiences in the book are ones to which almost any reader will relate.
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