The Beetle and Me : A Love Story

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Summary: Very good book!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It had everything from Volkswagons to love and it really showed that girls CAN be mechanics and that cars aren't just for guys. The author did a really great job describing how a fifteen year old acts and what it feels like to be in one's first real romance.

Daisy Pandolfi, the main character had strong will and tons of determination. She knew what she wanted, which was a 57' purple Volkswagon that had been her dads and was being neglected in the icehouse in their meadow. After Daisy begged her dad to let her have the Volksie, he finally gave in and she recieved the barely fixable old car. Daisy fixed it up all by herself without help from her family, all of whom are excellent mechanics. This book was really enjoyable and I reccomend it to everyone!

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Summary: Perfect book for any age
Review: I was 15 when I read this book and I enjoyed it so much! It's really fun to read.

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Summary: This Author knows Volksies!
Review: I'm a middle school librarian, and my favorite part of the job is talking to English classes about new library books. Far and away, the most satisfying part of my job is when a student tells me that they loved a book I told them about.

One of the difficulties with this job is that most of the main characters of the books I discuss are male. This is finally beginning to change--there are more and more books with female protagonists coming out each day--but still, as far as the classics go, there are tons of guys, and not enough girls.

So I go along with renowned young adult book expert Michael Cart in his assessment of this work: what a refreshing, touching, and thoroughly enjoyable book, and what a welcome addition to the world of young adult fictional characters.

In Daisy Pandolfi, the author fashions a heroine that more female students should read about. Daisy wants to bring a vintage Volkswagen "back from the dead," and she wants no help from the rest of her family, all of whom are passionate about auto mechanics (inluding her aunt, by the way).

The theme of car repairs as life lesson has been done before, but somehow, Karen Romano Young makes it seem fresh and new. Daisy's independence is at turns touchingly admirable, yet, as all perents know, it can also be infuriatingly stubborn. We understand that she doesn't want her father to do anything for her, because then she'll never learn how it's done. Nonetheless, we're right with her as she grows independant enough to see that asking for help is not an admission of weakness.

Such is life.

In the course of the book, we see Daisy grow from dependant to independant to interdependant, leading to a conclusion with another character--a love interest named Billy--that is noble, touching, and completely satisfying.

To Daisy Pandolfi--and to Karen Romano young--I say: you go, girl!

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Summary: The beetle and me a love story
Review: In simple, straightforward language, Karen Romano Young unfolds how a seemingly awkward yet strong and determined heroine comes to terms with her dreams, her family, and herself. Daisy Pandolfi is a believable heroine who makes no excuses for wanting what she wants. She doggedly restores their old VW Bug and discovers heartbreak, disappointment, and love in the process. Her strength was an inspiration to me -- and I'm 23! I wish I was like that when I was 15.

The book is a love story, true, but not in the mushy line of commercial teen flicks. The romance aspect develops slowly, surely, imperfectly. But at the heart of it all was how Daisy tackled her independence. In a quiet exchange that moved me to tears, Daisy tells her father not to tell her what to do, just to tell her when she's doing it wrong. In the end, it IS a love story -- of a girl for her dreams, of a girl for her family.

I sincerely enjoyed the different characters that Karen Romano Young painted in this book, and I look forward to reading her other works.

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Summary: BEETLE is a charming, page-turning gem of a book!
Review: Karen Romano Young's novel about 15-year-old Daisy Pandolfi will have you smiling, thinking, wondering, and -- on the last page -- crying. It's about a girl's love for her parents' old VW Beetle, but it's also about life. (I never thought I'd care this much about a book about cars, but then again, I didn't expect to love "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," but it was one of the best books I read in college!) "The Beetle and Me" should be given away by VW dealerships to everyone who test-drives a new Beetle. They'd buy one for sure! Read this book. You'll remember it always.

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Summary: The beetle and me a love story
Review: This is a great book i dont like to read books and i love this one the author does a great job wrighting this book and does a great job keeping you hoked. This is the first book i have read in a long time my dad asked if it was good because he hasent seen me ever not put a book down i love this author and i am looking for more books by her. This book is about a young 15 year old girl who wants her dads old puple vw bug that he has put in the there ice house she works on it all summer and gets it up to shape to drive the one day her and her friend billy are driving it and and the find oil all over the ground she finds out later that there is a split in the crank case and it will have to be replaced so for christmas her parents and her buy a new one so now the beetle is all fine. Her friend Billy has graduated and doesnt have a car to drive and is in love with Daisy and wants to marry her but she doesnt know if she feels the same way and as a present the him she gives him the beetle on loan till she is 16 and can drive it, this is how the book ends and i am kinda wanting there to be another book after this one but thats just me.
sincerly Charity Summerlin