Recovery Road in Mock Printz 2026

Nov 05, 2011 Richie Partington rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, ya

12 October 2010 RECOVERY ROAD by Blake Nelson, Scholastic Press, March 2011, 320p., ISBN: 978-0-545-10729-7

"So much time to make up
Everywhere you turn
Time we have wasted on the way"
-Graham Nash

"I'm trying to brush my teeth but I can't find my toothpaste.
"It's 9:30 in the morning. I'm standing in the bathroom, in my bathrobe and underwear. I've completed my twenty-eight days in the main building, and now I'm in my second week at my halfway house.
"Which sucks. But it would at least be tolerable ...more

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Jan 11, 2012 Becky rated it liked it

Shelves: ya, drugs, northwest

Finally a book that gets the sense of place right! Normally I get frustrated reading a novel that takes place in a city I know well because they over describe, using too many street names and place names (I'm looking at you Big Girl Small!), but Blake Nelson easy sets Recovery Road in and around Portland without shoving it down your throat. I liked the difficult but hopeful story of Maddie, but like others didn't really feel her struggle as much as I thought I should. ...more

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Jul 22, 2011 Ellen rated it really liked it

Blake Nelson is one of my favorites writers of contemporary YA fiction, and again delivers a thought-provoking portrait of a believably flawed teen. Not everything ends well, but then again, a tale of addiction and relapse wouldn't ring so true if it did. Would make an interesting discussion book for High Schoolers. ...more

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Jul 02, 2011 elissa rated it really liked it

Shelves: youngadult, my_10s_reads, drugs, capitol_choices_archives

This caught me up immediately. I really like the main character's endearingly whiny voice (which gets way less whiny by the end), and it's a super-sweet portrayal of young love (albeit a doomed young love). The ending, and many of the depressing events, are completely realistic for the subject, but some of them are not at all easy to read about. [Kicked off of my 2011favorites shelf on 10/25, to be replaced by this year's Sarah Dessen novel. Not necessarily that I think that one is "better", but ...more

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Nov 25, 2010 Cathy Blackler rated it it was amazing

Wonderful insight into the minds of teenagers in rehab. Mad Dog Maddie attempts to put her life back together one step at a time. Meeting and losing friends along the way, she stays true to the first boy she gave her heart to, even when that means letting him go.

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