Crunch- Leslie Connor

Title:Crunch
Author: Connor, Leslie
Publisher: Harper Collins, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0061692345

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Reading Level: HL 490 Lexile
Interest Level: 8+


Readers Annotation: Mom and dad are gone for a week and Dewey is partly in charge of all his other siblings while they are gone. Gas has run out though and now his parents cannot make it home. Life just got complicated.

Plot:
Dewey and his older sister Lil are in charge of their three younger siblings for the week their parents are gone. This does not seem too hard until gasoline shortages make it so no one can buy any. The family runs a bike shop off of the family farm and normally business is steady but not overly busy. When the shortage happens, people start using bikes more and business is booming. This would be wonderful if Dewey was not trying to take care of his family as well. Lil and Dewey try to hold everything together while their parents struggle to get home. One day, Dewey notices some of the bike parts have gone missing. This sends Dewey over the edge because he cannot be a parent, run the shop and figure out who is stealing. The children must lean on the people around them, are they worth trusting?

Review:
This book was very different from Connor's first book Waiting for Normal but the theme of leaning on those around you and learning to trust are in both. The family must bind together in ways they have not before in the face of a crisis. Unfortunately, this is a reality for families all across the nation. We have not run into a gasoline shortage, but people have been affected by prices as well as natural disasters. These events can bring families together as well. This is an interesting book and although it is different, it is a book that could become a reality. I had a hard time reading this one toward the middle because of the amount of detail. The book did not quickly move through the story which would make it difficult for reluctant readers to get though.

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