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As I went through this book I found myself wondering if the adults may have seemed a little far fetched over all. The teacher always seemed fairly scatter brained to me. The idea that she was continually unsure of the words she used seemed a little much. An English teacher would have a pretty good grasp on how to correctly use words and weather or not the words she was using were words at all. I also felt that the secretary may have been unrealistic. The part where she drove Corey to the hospital, without her mothers permission, was definitely not something that would happen in this day and age. If an adult did that any more they would be charged with kidnapping and thrown in jail.
I also felt, at first that, Corey's mother was a bit overpowering, but as the story went on the relationship between mother and daughter seemed to flow better and become more realistic.
Over all I just felt like the adults in the story could have been developed a little better, but than I started to wonder if perhaps the author was creating them from the view point of the average twelve year old.
Opinions?

I agree that the teacher was a little scatterbrained, especially with her own language. I also think that the whole "adult conversation" about keeping it secret that Dharma away was a little unrealistic.

I don't think they were any more far-fetched than the adults in most cartoons or Disney shows aimed at preteens. I thought the English teacher was joking about not knowing the definitions of the words she used.

I agree about the secretary not driving a student somewhere without getting in lots of trouble. For that matter, an unattended 12 year old visitor would never be allowed on a psychiatric unit without a parent.

That stuff didn't bother me too much, however because I felt these details were minor to the overall storyline.

Hey, thank you all for sharing your honest thoughts! Please continue. Small detail--wasn't it Lorne, the detention lady, who drove Corey to the hospital? (If I'm wrong about this, then heavens--let me know ASAP!)

Lisalovecraft wrote:I don't think they were any more far-fetched than the adults in most cartoons or Disney shows aimed at preteens. I thought the English teacher was joking about not knowing the definitions of the words she used.

I agree about the secretary not driving a student somewhere without getting in lots of trouble. For that matter, an unattended 12 year old visitor would never be allowed on a psychiatric unit without a parent.

That stuff didn't bother me too much, however because I felt these details were minor to the overall storyline.

Oh I completely agree that she was joking with her language. Please don't take my comment in a negative way, because I loved how she acted and how she was the crazy fun teacher everyone has.

I also agree that these things didn't bother me either.

-- 09 Mar 2015, 23:26 --

zeldas_lullaby wrote:Hey, thank you all for sharing your honest thoughts! Please continue. Small detail--wasn't it Lorne, the detention lady, who drove Corey to the hospital? (If I'm wrong about this, then heavens--let me know ASAP!)

Haha you are so right! But, I think you would know!

HA HA. I was trying to be tactful. I'm very polite!!



I'm so happy that you all love my book so much!!

clmartin wrote:As I went through this book I found myself wondering if the adults may have seemed a little far fetched over all. The teacher always seemed fairly scatter brained to me. The idea that she was continually unsure of the words she used seemed a little much. An English teacher would have a pretty good grasp on how to correctly use words and weather or not the words she was using were words at all. I also felt that the secretary may have been unrealistic. The part where she drove Corey to the hospital, without her mothers permission, was definitely not something that would happen in this day and age. If an adult did that any more they would be charged with kidnapping and thrown in jail.
I also felt, at first that, Corey's mother was a bit overpowering, but as the story went on the relationship between mother and daughter seemed to flow better and become more realistic.
Over all I just felt like the adults in the story could have been developed a little better, but than I started to wonder if perhaps the author was creating them from the view point of the average twelve year old.
Opinions?

The teacher was not that unrealistic, based on my experiences with a few of my sons' teachers over the years. One of them would often mark math problems wrong that were correct....it was pretty embarrassing when I would have to bring these mistakes to her attention. Another teacher's typed flyers for projects, parties, etc. would include grammatical and spelling errors. One teacher used to always use the wrong "to/too" or similar types of errors that an elementary teacher should know! The quality of many of the teachers nowadays is not as good as when I was growing up. Just my opinion.

bookowlie wrote: The teacher was not that unrealistic, based on my experiences with a few of my sons' teachers over the years. One of them would often mark math problems wrong that were correct....it was pretty embarrassing when I would have to bring these mistakes to her attention. Another teacher's typed flyers for projects, parties, etc. would include grammatical and spelling errors. One teacher used to always use the wrong "to/too" or similar types of errors that an elementary teacher should know! The quality of many of the teachers nowadays is not as good as when I was growing up. Just my opinion.

I think I shared this anecdote elsewhere on this site, but here it is again! My eighth-grade English teacher told us to pick a book to write a report about. We were supposed to give her a project proposal before beginning to read. I chose The Princess Bride by William Goldman (he was the author, right?) and I wrote on my proposal, "Don't worry. I fully intend to read the book and not just watch the movie."

And so my teacher wrote on the top of the page, "Interesting book choice! I hope you intend to read the actual book and not just watch the movie."

HA HA HA HA. Apparently I haven't forgotten that, some 24 years later.

zeldas_lullaby wrote:

bookowlie wrote: The teacher was not that unrealistic, based on my experiences with a few of my sons' teachers over the years. One of them would often mark math problems wrong that were correct....it was pretty embarrassing when I would have to bring these mistakes to her attention. Another teacher's typed flyers for projects, parties, etc. would include grammatical and spelling errors. One teacher used to always use the wrong "to/too" or similar types of errors that an elementary teacher should know! The quality of many of the teachers nowadays is not as good as when I was growing up. Just my opinion.

I think I shared this anecdote elsewhere on this site, but here it is again! My eighth-grade English teacher told us to pick a book to write a report about. We were supposed to give her a project proposal before beginning to read. I chose The Princess Bride by William Goldman (he was the author, right?) and I wrote on my proposal, "Don't worry. I fully intend to read the book and not just watch the movie."

And so my teacher wrote on the top of the page, "Interesting book choice! I hope you intend to read the actual book and not just watch the movie."

HA HA HA HA. Apparently I haven't forgotten that, some 24 years later.

That's a funny story! I initially thought Andi's dad was a bit far fetched in his conversations. Still, Einstein was brilliant and I heard he could never find his way to the cafeteria in his first job.

HA HA HA HA. Yeah, the mind is a terrible thing to waste. Some people are mathematical genuises, other people know where the food is. Hey, you play the hand you're dealt in life.

This reminds me of an absurd conversation I had with some friends in college. It was like, "Would I rather be a genuis, or would I rather find the party?"

Oh, geez.

The adults in the book are a little far fetched except Aunt Berry. Every family has at least one adult that's a magnet for pre teens.
My biggest criticism is about mom. Why, purchase new panties and not have a real menstrual chat?} Far Fetched to me

Overall, I don't think that the adult characters were too far fetched. I think that we all had the quirky teacher, the awkward parent, the scary librarian, etc. Unless I'm wrong, these characters really revolved around how they interacted with Corey. Corey is a character who, for the most part, is mature beyond her years so they may come off as a bit more 'adultish' then any normal. I liked the interaction- it may me feel like I understood Corey and her friends a little more.

-- 11 Mar 2015, 14:02 --

Jojowrites4All wrote:The adults in the book are a little far fetched except Aunt Berry. Every family has at least one adult that's a magnet for pre teens.
My biggest criticism is about mom. Why, purchase new panties and not have a real menstrual chat?} Far Fetched to me

Actually I didn't think it was that far fetched. It was exactly what my mom did with me- haha. She basically assumed that I would figure it out through my friends or school. It was too awkward to really talk about.

The only adult I thought was far fetched was the principal. My jaw pretty much hit the floor when he had Corey and her friends clean up the locker room after the fire. Aside from being completely unfair, that's gotta be against some sort of safety code.

Thank you all for your honest opinions to my questions. You all brought up some really great points. Like I said maybe they were just written with the idea that this is how a twelve year old would view the adults in their life. I do love that there is so much adult interaction, however, it encourages the young adults that would read this book to seek out the adults in their life rather than rebel against them as many children do at that age.

-- 14 Mar 2015, 06:18 --

zeldas_lullaby wrote:Hey, thank you all for sharing your honest thoughts! Please continue. Small detail--wasn't it Lorne, the detention lady, who drove Corey to the hospital? (If I'm wrong about this, then heavens--let me know ASAP!)

You are correct! That was an over site on my part. I apologize. The office lady gave her a ride home shortly before she went to the hospital with Mrs. Lorne.

-- 14 Mar 2015, 06:21 --

ashley_claire wrote:The only adult I thought was far fetched was the principal. My jaw pretty much hit the floor when he had Corey and her friends clean up the locker room after the fire. Aside from being completely unfair, that's gotta be against some sort of safety code.

I agree, the Principle was the one adult that I really was not impressed with in the least. He seemed to blame Corey for a few of the situations rather than guide her through the hard situations. I hope that if my girls ever have to deal with their principle that they will have a much better experience.

I was wondering how to describe the adults in this book. "-a little far fetched" is perfect. The school personal totally brought down the creditably of this book. Mom, Aunt Berry, even the guy they took the Halloween candy were all eye-rollers.