Jumpstart The World

Jumpstart The World

Author: Catherine Ryan Hyde

Genre: Novel

Book Review #13

Elle is an average teenager who doesn't have any friends, she is a loner. The good thing is that Elle likes to be left alone and doesn't need people to keep her company. She is ignored and sort of dis - owned by her mother and her mother's boyfriend so she is used to having no one listen to her. She hasn't even turned 16 yet and her mother wants her to live on her own in an apartment. Her mother doesn't want her in the house because her new boyfriend doesn't want to deal with a teenager. Before Elle moves into her new apartment, her mother said that she needed someone to keep her company. Elle tells her mother that she would like to take their pet cat to her new apartment but her mother doesn't agree. Then they both go to a pet shop and get Elle a cat. After that, Elle and her mother go to her new apartment where they meet a guy named Frank. Frank was Elle's new neighbor. He introduces himself and tells Elle to feel free to come around anytime. Elle's mother gives him her phone number just in case if something happens to Elle. Elle and her mother both stare each other in the eye and then look away. Elle rolls her eyes. Her mother finally stops pretending to care about her and opens the door to the apartment. Elle's new cat runs out of its cage, falls over and crawls underneath her bed. Her mother gets a text from her new boyfriend saying that he was taking her out to lunch at an expensive place. She quickly leaves her daughter in her apartment, confused and scared and runs off to her new boyfriend. Elle slams the door behind her mum a bit harder than she needed to and screams in rage. She looks around the room looking for ways she could calm her anger and finds a large stack of boxes in the middle of her room. Like a rugby player, she tackles the boxes head on causing the tower of boxes to collapse. Franks knocked on the door, worried that someone had tried to murder Elle. Elle slightly opens the door to find Frank on the other side, making her open the door a touch more. Frank asked Elle if she was alright and Elle told him that she 'accidentally' knocked over the boxes. Frank smiles and said that he thought something had happened.  He leaves and Elle gets a weird feeling in her stomach. She starts to like Frank more than just a friend and is hesitant to tell him she feels that way because he is 30 and she isn't even 16.

My Questions So Far:

Will Elle tell Frank about how she feels or not?

If she does tell Frank, How will he react?

I rate this book a 7/10

I like how Elle is an independent teenager and doesn't need friends to keep her company.

I didn't like how Elle's mother treated her and how she'd rather spend time with her boyfriend over her own daughter.