In one school day, three teenage girls tell their stories with highly individual perspectives on a day that will end in a violent clash. Dominique, a basketball player whose grades have benched her, has pent-up rage about a classmate while she pleads her case to a teacher to get her grade changed. Self-centered Leticia is preoccupied with her nails. And Trina is a flirty, narcissistic artist who goes about the day musing about how wonderful her work is. Each is given an appropriate personality from her respective narrator: Shari Peele’s husky voice is perfect for Dominique. Cherise Boothe’s clear, demanding words fit Leticia. And Bianca Vasquez’s flighty, carefree tone is spot-on for Trina. None of the girls are that likable, but their varied perspectives and the narrators’ voices make this production enjoyable. M.B. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
Jumped
Narrated by Various
Rita Williams-GarciaUnabridged — 3 hours, 44 minutes
Jumped
Narrated by Various
Rita Williams-GarciaUnabridged — 3 hours, 44 minutes
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Overview
Editorial Reviews
Alternating among the perspectives of three girls at an urban high school, Williams-Garcia (Like Sisters on the Homefront) shows once again her uncanny ability to project unique voices. Benched by the basketball coach for her low grades, Dominique is trying to bite back her rage when "some stupid little flit comes skipping down B corridor like the Easter Bunny.... Skipping. In all that pink" and walks between Dominique and her "girls," "like she don't see I'm here and all the space around me is mines." That's it-Dominique vows to "kick her ass" at exactly 2:45. Her intended victim, Trina-already full of herself over her looks, and pumped up because she's about to hang her latest masterpiece of art in a hallway)-does not hear, but Leticia does, and she can't wait to tell her best friend ("That would be something to see.... Trina getting stomped on school grounds"). And when Leticia's friend argues that Leticia ought to warn Trina, the plot quickens rather than taking a simple path around should-she/shouldn't-she. So well observed that the characters seem to leap off the page, the novel leaves a strong and lingering impact. Ages 12-up. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.It's more than just three high-school girls-self-centered Leticia, skipping the last few minutes of her before-school, repeat Geometry class; angry Dominique, begging her teacher for five more points so she can play in the next basketball game; and overconfident Trina, hanging her Black History Month artwork in the corridor gallery-in the wrong place at the wrong time. When Trina cuts in front of Dominique and her girls, Dominique threatens, "I'm gonna kick that ass at two forty-five," and Leticia witnesses it all. Short, nuanced, alternating first-person chapters reveal the truth behind each girl's motivations throughout the day and challenge readers to ponder the culpability of each teen when Dominique carries out her threat and Leticia refuses to intervene. References to A Separate Peace and other literary and historical allusions help fuel the riveting debate. With a realistic look at girl-on-girl violence and gripping characterization, Williams-Garcia masterfully builds tension to the momentous ending. Although readers can anticipate the tragedy that transpires, it is shocking and agonizing nonetheless. (Fiction. YA)
So well-observed that the characters seem to leap off the page, the novel leaves a strong and lingering impact.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Williams-Garcia makes the drama feel not only immediate but suffocatingly tense, as each tick of the clock speeds the three girls toward collision. Most impressive is how the use of voice allows readers to fully experience the complicated politics of high school; you can sense the thousand mini–dramas percolating within each crowded classroom.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)
“Williams-Garcia deftly creates portraits of each of the girls as the narration moves from one to another, with the triangulation of view resulting in some fascinatingly complex characterization.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Williams-Garcia has given her characters strong, individual voices that ring true to teenage speech. The ethical decision will get readers thinking about the larger issues surrounding community, personal responsibility, and the concept of ‘snitching.’” — School Library Journal
“With a realistic look at girl–on–girl violence and gripping characterization, Williams-Garcia masterfully builds tension to the momentous ending.” — Kirkus Reviews
“The latest novel from Williams-Garcia offers a piercing snapshot of three girls in an urban high school, their daily struggle to realize their hopes and dreams, and the threat of school violence to shatter them all.” — Horn Book Magazine
“This nail–biter of a tale, told from the girls’ three viewpoints, has great insight into the lives of teenage girls and how they interpret and perpetrate bullying.” — Chicago Tribune
“Teens who live the reality of girl fights and getting jumped every day will surely see themselves and their friends in these girls.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
Teens who live the reality of girl fights and getting jumped every day will surely see themselves and their friends in these girls.
Williams-Garcia deftly creates portraits of each of the girls as the narration moves from one to another, with the triangulation of view resulting in some fascinatingly complex characterization.
This nail–biter of a tale, told from the girls’ three viewpoints, has great insight into the lives of teenage girls and how they interpret and perpetrate bullying.
The latest novel from Williams-Garcia offers a piercing snapshot of three girls in an urban high school, their daily struggle to realize their hopes and dreams, and the threat of school violence to shatter them all.
Williams-Garcia makes the drama feel not only immediate but suffocatingly tense, as each tick of the clock speeds the three girls toward collision. Most impressive is how the use of voice allows readers to fully experience the complicated politics of high school; you can sense the thousand mini–dramas percolating within each crowded classroom.
This nail–biter of a tale, told from the girls’ three viewpoints, has great insight into the lives of teenage girls and how they interpret and perpetrate bullying.
Williams-Garcia deftly creates portraits of each of the girls as the narration moves from one to another, with the triangulation of view resulting in some fascinatingly complex characterization.
Williams-Garcia deftly creates portraits of each of the girls as the narration moves from one to another, with the triangulation of view resulting in some fascinatingly complex characterization.
"Williams-Garcia makes the drama feel not only immediate but suffocatingly tense, as each tick of the clock speeds the three girls toward collision. Most impressive is how the use of voice allows readers to fully experience the complicated politics of high school; you can sense the thousand mini–dramas percolating within each crowded classroom."
Williams-Garcia deftly creates portraits of each of the girls as the narration moves from one to another, with the triangulation of view resulting in some fascinatingly complex characterization.
Gr 8–10—Before writing this novel (Amistad, 2009), Rita Williams-Garcia carefully observed students in a number of inner-city high schools, intent on creating this authentic story of self-absorbed, sociopathic teens. Teen voices narrate the actions of students during one day at their urban high school in this exceptional production. Leticia, privileged, spoiled, and shallow, is only interested in the excitement of the social drama surrounding her. Instead of becoming responsibly involved, she is absorbed in Celina, her "baby girl" cell phone, and the loss of her designer fingernail. Nique will not admit that she is responsible for the low grades that are keeping her off the basketball court. She insists her "troubled kid" label is unfair and that she has control of her temper. The catalyst in the story is Trina, a conceited, petite girl with personality and looks that all the girls envy and all the boys can't resist. When Leticia overhears Dominique threatening to beat up Trina, she really doesn't want to get involved and warn the girl to divert disaster. In alternating chapters, the story is told in three first-person accounts by the girls. The expert performances by various narrators enhance the author's characterizations of the teens and the adults who supervise them. Lyrically expressed in street talk with similes and metaphors, the strong characters have a lot to say. This insightful, realistic, and expertly written novel is a language arts teacher's dream, offering unlimited potential for active discussion.—Jennifer Ward, Albany Public Library, NY
In one school day, three teenage girls tell their stories with highly individual perspectives on a day that will end in a violent clash. Dominique, a basketball player whose grades have benched her, has pent-up rage about a classmate while she pleads her case to a teacher to get her grade changed. Self-centered Leticia is preoccupied with her nails. And Trina is a flirty, narcissistic artist who goes about the day musing about how wonderful her work is. Each is given an appropriate personality from her respective narrator: Shari Peele’s husky voice is perfect for Dominique. Cherise Boothe’s clear, demanding words fit Leticia. And Bianca Vasquez’s flighty, carefree tone is spot-on for Trina. None of the girls are that likable, but their varied perspectives and the narrators’ voices make this production enjoyable. M.B. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940171194888 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Recorded Books, LLC |
| Publication date: | 05/14/2010 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Read an Excerpt
Jumped RB/SB
Chapter One
Zero Period
Leticia
Zero period. You got that right. Fail one math test and you're up before the first chirp of day. Up before streetlights turn off and sun rays shoot through the blinds. Fail one math test and you're stepping over a snow-covered homeless lump to get to the stop, shiver, and wait for the city bus to pull up to your boots.
None of this had to happen to me. None of it. Having to set and wrap my hair at 8:00 PM instead of 10:00. Making Celina wake me because my alleged alarm clock won't do what it's supposed to do when it's supposed to do it. Getting dressed in the dark because a hundred watts are too hard on my eyes at 5:45.
If not for those missing thirteen points, my mornings would be calm, not chaotic. A 52 on the final and they wouldn't pass me. They couldn't scrape up a point here, half a point there to make up the thirteen. They said SHOW ALL WORK in the test booklet, so I did that. I showed them my sides, my angles, line BEC bisecting line DEF. I did my part. What was the sense of showing all that work if they had no intention of doing their part? The missing thirteen are there in the booklet. Had they dug deep enough, they would have found them. I would have passed.
Mr. Jiang knows he doesn't want to see my face this spring semester. I aggravated him fall semester like he aggravated me. This was all on him. He should have done the right thing for both our sakes and passed me along to Geometry II with Miss DeBarge.
Why Bridgette or Bernie didn't handle things immediately, I can't understand. Neither took time off from their jobs to confront Mr. Jiang orstrike a deal with the guidance counselor. No. They just let Jiang fail me. Bridgette shook her head and Bernie dipped his biscuit into the gravy but no one gave Leticia a second thought when all they had to do was show up. Speak up. Do what they were supposed to do.
Anabel Winkler's grandmother loved her. Anabel's grandmother talked to the guidance counselor and fixed things so Anabel could attend summer school after this semester. That's why Anabel is still wrapped up tight in her Hello Kitty comforter crunching Z cookies.
If someone loved me, I'd be turning over in the warmth and safety of my queen-size bed. But no one thought to open the envelope addressed to the parents of Leticia Moore that offered the choice between summer school and rising at an ungodly, unsafe hour in the chill of near night. I know the school sent the letter. The school's very good about mailing letters to the house, and Bridgette and Bernie are usually pretty good about reading them and following up with the "talking to." Bridgette and Bernie knew to look out for the letter from the guidance counselor's office. They knew it was coming. They signed the blue booklet with the big 52 on the cover under Parental Signature Mandatory. But when the guidance counselor sent it, and the postman delivered it, the parents of Leticia Corinthia Moore, aka Bridgette and Bernie, didn't bother to open the envelope. They just fed it to the recycling bin like it was a bill. That's right. My do-not-pass-go card was recycled into toilet paper and Starbucks napkins, not doing anybody a bit of good.
It's not enough that I have to get up before the world turns and watch newspaper chunks hit the streets and block-long McTrucks unload McFood crates. I'm stuck watching gears of the working world shift just so I can take an "extra help" math class I get no credit for. It's like being in school for free. Like working behind a counter without getting that five twenty-five an hour. Or five fifty-five. Whatever next-to-nothing they pay kids to dodge french-fry grease. Except you get up, risk your life waiting in the dark to sit through slow-motion Geometry and get no credit. Two periods later you're still repeating Geometry I, still looking at Mr. Jiang's face, and he's still looking at your face. You get nothing for being in "extra help" math before the world turns. For all this chaos you get zero. Period.
I dig down in my bag for my schedule but the lady cop waves me through. She knows my jail sentence and my big face by now. Zero period doesn't miraculously disappear from your schedule. Once a class is stamped in the column that's grayed out for everyone else, you're stuck. You're a zero-period regular and the cops know it and wave you through.
Miss Palenka isn't a full teacher. She's still in college getting her practice on us, probably getting paid zero, and that's about right. But she's nice, wears okay outfits, and takes her time explaining until everyone looks like they got it. For the next twenty-five minutes I'm present, taking notes, breaking down the proofs until ten minutes before the bell rings. By then everyone is arriving, congregating outside, and I can't write another given. To us stuck inside, the milling and laughing sound like a party, and who wants to be inside when the party is going on outside?
I try to sit through it, but how many ways and times can she demonstrate a ninety-degree angle in a right triangle? How many times can she say right triangles can only have one right angle? How many times can she point to the hypotenuse? Right, right, right triangle. I got it. I got it. Please don't say it again. But there she goes, working hard for her zero.
Pen down. I'm done listening to zero for zero. I need to be outside where the dirt is fresh and the gossip is good. I need to catch it all while it's clicking and flashing: what they're wearing, who they're with, and what they're saying. I need to sashay myself within twenty feet of Chem II James and let him get the ball rolling. Can't do that from inside here, so I scribble a bathroom pass right quick and raise my hand.
Jumped RB/SB. Copyright © by Rita Williams-Garcia. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.Videos
