Scan barcode
bernee's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked the book and idea of being able to give the finger to the world but I didn't like the ending. While the teacher character was well written, I think that character was written for teachers. I don't see my students understanding her experiences and the ending.
beths0103's review against another edition
4.0
Still processing this one. With its ten different narrators and different story threads, this is definitely a book that will appeal to people who love to re-read books. Even though I usually don't re-read books, this is one that I know I would greatly benefit from a more careful re-read.
Overall I really enjoyed READ BETWEEN THE LINES and look forward to recommending it to students.
I was perplexed by one thing though: every chapter but the last one is told in first person. I wonder what the significance of that is. I'm still trying to mull that over.
Overall I really enjoyed READ BETWEEN THE LINES and look forward to recommending it to students.
I was perplexed by one thing though: every chapter but the last one is told in first person. I wonder what the significance of that is. I'm still trying to mull that over.
cadoughe's review against another edition
3.0
This book kept hinting at coming to some kind of big culmination..... But left me feeling like id been led down a primrose path to a field of dandelions. A bit empty and wanting more. Good along the way.......
greenvillemelissa's review against another edition
5.0
Book #18 Read in 2015
Read Between the Lines by Jo Knowles (YA)
This book was a great, quick read. Told by several different characters, this book focuses on one day in the lives of high school students, former high school students and adults who work in the high school. As they tell their stories, readers will see how they all intersect and connect with each other; this writing style is masterfully done. It reinforces the belief that one can never truly know how connected we all are to each other. Characters are very well developed for their short chapters and I think both girl and boy readers, especially at the high school level, will enjoy this book. It was well done.
I received a copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program, in exchange for a honest review.
http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com
Read Between the Lines by Jo Knowles (YA)
This book was a great, quick read. Told by several different characters, this book focuses on one day in the lives of high school students, former high school students and adults who work in the high school. As they tell their stories, readers will see how they all intersect and connect with each other; this writing style is masterfully done. It reinforces the belief that one can never truly know how connected we all are to each other. Characters are very well developed for their short chapters and I think both girl and boy readers, especially at the high school level, will enjoy this book. It was well done.
I received a copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program, in exchange for a honest review.
http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com
jennifermreads's review against another edition
4.0
Received advanced reader copy from Baker & Taylor
“Numerous voices speak to the complex dance that is life. The characters orbit one another, trying to understand and be understood in the face of trauma, heartbreak, and revenge. The line where presentation and perception meet can be hard to discern. Unless, of course, one can look a little closer – and read between the lines.” [From back of ARC]
Usually, I am not a fan of short-stories. I do not like being drawn into a character only to be abruptly tossed into the next character. But here … it worked for me. Probably because, despite each chapter beginning an account of one character, the story wove together as the characters appeared in each other’s stories. It also was incredibly interesting to really look below the surface of the character, to see what lay between their lines, to see how much one could affect another.
“Numerous voices speak to the complex dance that is life. The characters orbit one another, trying to understand and be understood in the face of trauma, heartbreak, and revenge. The line where presentation and perception meet can be hard to discern. Unless, of course, one can look a little closer – and read between the lines.” [From back of ARC]
Usually, I am not a fan of short-stories. I do not like being drawn into a character only to be abruptly tossed into the next character. But here … it worked for me. Probably because, despite each chapter beginning an account of one character, the story wove together as the characters appeared in each other’s stories. It also was incredibly interesting to really look below the surface of the character, to see what lay between their lines, to see how much one could affect another.
crystal_reading's review against another edition
4.0
Review copy from publisher.
it's tricky to tell a story from many voices, but Jo Knowles pulled it off. The voices and situations were distinct and intriguing. They were also connected. Knowles wove many stories together and slowly readers can see the many connections.
Many of the stories involved someone flipping others off. There was also another connecting thread running through the stories. We see people, but so often we are not paying attention or we are missing who they really are or what struggles they may be facing. We don't take the time to read between those lines.
Knowles had multiple things playing out through the many characters. It was like a picture slowly coming into focus.
it's tricky to tell a story from many voices, but Jo Knowles pulled it off. The voices and situations were distinct and intriguing. They were also connected. Knowles wove many stories together and slowly readers can see the many connections.
Many of the stories involved someone flipping others off. There was also another connecting thread running through the stories. We see people, but so often we are not paying attention or we are missing who they really are or what struggles they may be facing. We don't take the time to read between those lines.
Knowles had multiple things playing out through the many characters. It was like a picture slowly coming into focus.
burstnwithbooks's review against another edition
2.0
I rated it 2 out of 5 stars, because when you hover over it, they give you a definition of what that would mean. (Go Goodreads!) Two stars is “it was ok”. Definitely how I feel about this book, so I’m going to have to go with a three out of ten. Honestly, my favorite part about the book was that I started to feel for some of the characters. But… it really lost me aside from that. Least favorite would be how unorganized and character-based it was. Having finished this two weeks ago and still feeling it was “meh”, I don’t feel that I can properly rant, but I can tell you why it was “just” okay. Alright, so you first have to realize the whole “read between the lines” thing is not a deep metaphorical whatever whatever. It is essentially that the cover is flipping you off. The next thing you have to realize is that the book is throughout the course of one day (except for the very end), so you really don’t see long-term effects of everything that happens to the people in the story. What ends up happening is that you get a glimpse into each of the characters’ (the ones described in the blurb) days. The book starts off in the morning with one guy, goes until something major happens to him, and then backtracks a bit (but not all the way) to earlier, from another person’s point of view. And so on throughout the whole thing. What I WANTED to happen (and expected to) was that there would be three, five characters tops and then we would go through them all again. This I got from The Candymakers by Wendy Mass, because I liked the way it tied up all the loose ends. Next, there either was no plot, or it was threadbare, because all the story really consisted of was getting to know the character (for 3/4 of their part of the story), something tragic/upsetting happening to them/their friends, and people giving/getting the finger. To sum up this whole paragraph, (Yeah, you could’ve skipped the whole thing. But you didn’t, did you? DID YOU???) I felt that there was no point to the story. We got to know a bunch of random people, the finger was (excessively) used… That’s pretty much it. Hence three out of ten. I won’t be reading it again, but I hope that if you’ve read it or plan to (just be prepared), that you enjoy/ed it a lot more than I did. :-)
Read it on my blog here: https://abookwormsperfectapple.wordpress.com/2016/01/16/recently-finished-fri-saturday/#more-2750
Read it on my blog here: https://abookwormsperfectapple.wordpress.com/2016/01/16/recently-finished-fri-saturday/#more-2750
sc104906's review against another edition
1.0
Read the original review on my blog: https://wp.me/p8jcuj-2BG
Receiving the finger connects several stories of characters in this small town high school. Characters are victims of bullying, dealing with their sexuality, frustration with their current situation, and friendship challenges.
I am having difficulty describing what this book is about because the only true cohesive storyline is the presence of the middle finger. This novel feels like a collection of short stories with glimmers of the other stories. I thought it was a cool concept. However, the development wasn't there and once you start liking a character, you move on to another one. I struggled reading this book because it just wasn't grabbing me. This is certainly a case of being tricked by the cover.
Receiving the finger connects several stories of characters in this small town high school. Characters are victims of bullying, dealing with their sexuality, frustration with their current situation, and friendship challenges.
I am having difficulty describing what this book is about because the only true cohesive storyline is the presence of the middle finger. This novel feels like a collection of short stories with glimmers of the other stories. I thought it was a cool concept. However, the development wasn't there and once you start liking a character, you move on to another one. I struggled reading this book because it just wasn't grabbing me. This is certainly a case of being tricked by the cover.
melissapalmer404's review against another edition
5.0
Book #18 Read in 2015
Read Between the Lines by Jo Knowles (YA)
This book was a great, quick read. Told by several different characters, this book focuses on one day in the lives of high school students, former high school students and adults who work in the high school. As they tell their stories, readers will see how they all intersect and connect with each other; this writing style is masterfully done. It reinforces the belief that one can never truly know how connected we all are to each other. Characters are very well developed for their short chapters and I think both girl and boy readers, especially at the high school level, will enjoy this book. It was well done.
I received a copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program, in exchange for a honest review.
http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com
Read Between the Lines by Jo Knowles (YA)
This book was a great, quick read. Told by several different characters, this book focuses on one day in the lives of high school students, former high school students and adults who work in the high school. As they tell their stories, readers will see how they all intersect and connect with each other; this writing style is masterfully done. It reinforces the belief that one can never truly know how connected we all are to each other. Characters are very well developed for their short chapters and I think both girl and boy readers, especially at the high school level, will enjoy this book. It was well done.
I received a copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program, in exchange for a honest review.
http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com
msethna's review against another edition
5.0
I have always been a fan of Knowles' writing, but this by far was my favorite. At first I was a bit confused by the amount of characters and how they were going to connect throughout the story, but as I read further, I could picture every single one of them at my high school going through these exact same situations. In each vignette, the character reflects on who they are and who they really want to be. Beyond that, they deal with the consequences of a parent's unemployment, scams, drunk driving, sexual assaults, hoarding, questioning one's sexual identity, eating disorders, and more. There are definitely characters and issues that students can relate to throughout the book.
My favorite vignette, was at the end of the story - Ms. Lindsay. I think many teachers have felt her struggle to gain respect of her students and her determination not to be bitter. What I loved was her honesty. Every teacher has those days (or classes) that just get to them and make them want to give up. Ms. Lindsay didn't.
"Today will be better.
She will stand in front of the class and hold up her three fingers to quiet them down, and for a moment she will think, Read between the lines, class.
But then, as she looks at their unsuspecting, uninterested faces, she will start to think about what that really means. That just like there is more to her than what they see, there is more inside each one of them.
What's your story? she will wonder as she scans the room from face to face.
And this time when she pleads with them to read between the lines, she will try to do the same."
What a great ending to a heartfelt, emotional story that I didn't want to end.
Side note: If you don't follow @AndersonGL on Twitter, you must read Gary Anderson's interview with Jo Knowles about Read Between the Lines.
My favorite vignette, was at the end of the story - Ms. Lindsay. I think many teachers have felt her struggle to gain respect of her students and her determination not to be bitter. What I loved was her honesty. Every teacher has those days (or classes) that just get to them and make them want to give up. Ms. Lindsay didn't.
"Today will be better.
She will stand in front of the class and hold up her three fingers to quiet them down, and for a moment she will think, Read between the lines, class.
But then, as she looks at their unsuspecting, uninterested faces, she will start to think about what that really means. That just like there is more to her than what they see, there is more inside each one of them.
What's your story? she will wonder as she scans the room from face to face.
And this time when she pleads with them to read between the lines, she will try to do the same."
What a great ending to a heartfelt, emotional story that I didn't want to end.
Side note: If you don't follow @AndersonGL on Twitter, you must read Gary Anderson's interview with Jo Knowles about Read Between the Lines.