Sunday, December 07, 2008

The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith

Joel Espen was the nice guy of the community - always friendly, kind, and helpful. Everyone considered Joel to be a friend. So, when he unexpectedly dies of dehydration on a boy scout camping trip, the whole town of Haven is shocked and upset. In this heartbreaking novel, the six teens closest to Joel each explain their story and must learn to cope with Joel's death, and learn to live the way he did.

I was not impressed by this book at all. Since the novel has the point-of-view of six different teenagers, and each teenager takes turns narrating, the novel was choppy and unorganized. There was no plot, just six people rambling on about nothing very important. The characters didn't have any interaction with each other, and the author should have tried to tie them together better. The only saving grace of the book was the character of Joel, and he wasn't even alive. He seemed to be a good person, and a respectable role model for all teens.

Reviewer Age:16

Reviewer City, State and Country: Aston, Pennsylvania United States