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Summary: Rules of the Road
Review: Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer is a very alluring book. It is a story of gaining maturity over time. Traveling from inexperience to knowledge and understanding. It is about the "highway" of life and learning how to deal with your problems. Gladstone's Shoe Company is in trouble. Jenna Boller, the main character, and Mrs. Gladstone are the only people willing to save the company. Jenna Boller is just a normal teenager working part-time at a shoe store in Chicago. Jenna has a passion for selling shoes and helping people. She is a devoted worker, who has worked for at the same store for over a year. Mrs. Gladstone, the president, is retiring this year and handing the business over to her son, Eldon. Eldon is planning on selling the business to the Shoe Warehouse, a business that sells cheap-quality shoes for high prices. Mrs. Gladstone is getting older, has a bad hip, and needs someone to drive her to Texas to try and stop him. Jenna Boller agrees to drive her, just to get away from her drunken father and overlook the past. During their trip, they visit many diverse Gladstone stores in several cities. Jenna, being skilled in shoe selling, takes notes for Mrs. Gladstone to see how well the business is progressing. Most of the stores they visit are not doing very well. They do not care about their buyers and are not really concerned with what kind of quality they are selling. All they care about are earnings because of their own greed. Jenna enjoys being away from home and her father, but soon realizes she cannot run from her problems. Every night, visions of her past haunt her. She often has dreams at night that preoccupy her. Mrs. Gladstone incessantly complains and makes the trip even more difficult. Jenna continues to think positive and gives Mrs. Gladstone powerful encouragement daily. Mrs. Gladstone is determined to get to Texas, but is fighting against her hurt hip. In Texas, they meet Harry Bender, a member of the AA. The AA is an important organization that helps people stay sober. He is also a shoes salesman for Gladstone's Shoes. Jenna begins to talk to him about her father's alcohol abuse and is comforted and ultimately touched by his words. He learned from his alcohol mistake, and tries to help others deal as a result. He is one of the people who truly care about others. She comments about him, "Too many people try to fake their way through life. That's why the real ones shine so brightly." Jenna looks up to Harry and thinks of him as a father figure. She says, "He taught me not to be afraid of the darkness." She was given the strength through Harry, to confront her dad about his problem. Although it may not have helped him, it made Jenna not worry about it anymore. She had done what she had wanted to do for a long time. There are no missing pieces in this book. On the surface, Rules of the Road, is a children's book, but below the surface it has a lot to say about life. Jenna Boller, the main character, is a round character and very realistic. She has realistic problems that i can relate to. This is a very compelling, yet reflective escape novel. I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone. It is an excellent book enjoyable to both young and old.
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Summary: A good book
Review: The book "Rules of the Road" by Joan Bauer is a book for everyone. You see heartache, laughter, and disappointment through the eyes of this young woman, Jenna Boller. Jenna is a wonderful shoe salesperson. Jenna's job is more then just selling shoes it's connecting with people and helping them. After working in this one shoe store for quite a while she gets forced into the trip of her lifetime. Spending most of her summer driving the owner of the store to Texas, this means leaving everything and everyone who she knows and loves. Can Jenna make it through? You will have to read and find out. I have not enjoyed and book for a while as much as I enjoyed "Rules of the Road." I laughed at all the jokes that Jenna cracked about the situations that she was in. When you read the book you really feel like you are going through everything that Jenna goes through right along with her. I was pulled into this book right away. After you read "Rules of the Road" you will have a different view on life seeing how brave and wonderful Jenna is. I recommend this book to anyone that likes to take a great book and really live it. This book is not good for someone who wants a lot of gory action. For most people I would recommend this book.
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Summary: Clinton @ Richview Middle School @ Clks. Tenn.
Review: The book starts off in a shoe store, where Jenne Boller is working. She is a tall girl and she can sell anything to almost anybody. She is also facing family problems. To add on to that her dad is an alcoholic he even interrups her at her work. Sometimes it gets so bad she wants to leave town. So one day Madiline Gladstone,owner of a shoe company,hires her to be a driver. She takes a long journey across the U.S.. Then she meets the great Harry Blender And he teaches her the rules of the road. This Book was very interesting because of the lesson taught in it. It shows you that anybody can do anything.
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Summary: Good book!
Review: Rules Of The Road was a pretty cool book. I enjoyed the fact that plot was interesting and there were plenty of cool characters, Jenna, Faith, Mrs. Gladstone, Dad, Alice, and Harry Bender. They all have diferrent personalities, which makes them cool. There were also plenty of hardships along the way, like Mrs. Gladstone hurting hurself badly, Harry Bender's death, and of course, trouble with Jenna's father, who is sadly an alcoholic. Even if those parts are sad, many parts are very exciting, like when Mrs. Gladstone is able to stay with her shoe company. Jenna is neat because she is really daring and is willing to take risks such as the ones she does. Joan Bauer really put a lot of hard work into this book, and it shows. This is excellent. I would especially recommmend it to people in middle or high school. Thank you for reading my review!
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Summary: Rules of the Road RULES!!!
Review: Rules of the Road is book about a teenage girl finding her place in life. Jenna is a tall, lanky girl, who works at a shoe store named Gladstone's. Mrs. Madeline Gladstone, the owner, is threatened by her money-hungry son, Elden, who wants to take over the buisness. Mrs. Gladstone, needs someone to drive her to Texas, to stop him, and keep her company. After observing her work, Jenna is the perfect candidate to drive her. Once Jenna accepts Mrs. Gladstone's generous offer, and becomes her personal driver, things start falling apart at home. Jenna's father is an alcoholic, and has made Jenna and her family live through hard times with him before the divorce. Jenna needs to get away from problems at home, and a road trip to Texas is the perfect exit. The journey's experience teaches Jenna, and the reader determination, courage, and friendship. This book didn't only make me laugh out loud, and make me never put it down, but it taught me that friendship has no age limits. Jenna and Mrs. Gladstone are the perfect example of that. I think this book would appeal to anyone who likes sarcastic humor, continuous plot, and characters they can relate to.
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Summary: Rules of the Road
Review: Rules of the Road was a fiction story written by Joan Bauer. Jenna Buller is an average 16 year old girl who works at a local shoe store. Mrs. Madeline Gladstone, the president of the company, chooses Jenna as her driver on a business trip to visit other Gladstone's stores. Jenna goes reluctantly--with fear of driving the huge Cadillac, and of leaving her alcoholic father behind. But on the road, proves to be very independent and mature. She learns to admire and love the moody Mrs. Gladstone as well as her old friend, "World's Best Shoe Salesman" Harry Bender. When Harry dies suddenly, Jenna realizes that she wishes he had been her father. Throughout the story Jenna learns how to deal with many adult situations. Joan Bauer displays much maturity and responsibility through this character. I felt like I could truly relate to Jenna being that she was a teenager with much responsibility. I honestly enjoyed reading this well written story. I recommend any teenage girl read and enjoy this as much as I did.
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Summary: my favorite book for 4 years standing!
Review: i would tell anyone to read this book. i dont like joan bauer over all but this book is wonderful! i finished it while at the furniture store, you cant put it down! if you like books like SPEAK, ZIG ZAG, WALK 2 MOONS, ill garuntee you that youll love it. how can you say no to a book that looks so ... good too?!!!!
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Summary: Wonderfully Written Story
Review: Have you ever read a book that you just couldn't put down? A story so engrossing, you forget about the world around you and enter into the world of the protagonist? Well I have. It's called Rules of the Road, written by Joan Bauer. With its extremely descriptive details this novel makes you feel like you're in the story. A good example of this would be when Jenna is making a grilled cheese sandwich for Mrs. Gladstone and herself. She describes it and your mouth waters as she puts the olive oil on the oat bread and adds tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and Canadian bacon. When she puts it in the hot frying pan you can hear the sizzling of the sandwiches and the aroma that fills the huge Texas house. Jenna Broller, a sixteen year old girl, just got her driver's license. She works at a Gladstone's Shoe Store in Chicago. Jenna loves her job and is very good at selling shoes. She had only been driving for a couple of months when she was confronted by Mrs. Gladstone, company creator and owner of Gladstone's Shoe Store. Mrs. Gladstone purposed a driving opportunity for Jenna. Jenna was to drive her to Texas, but stop at many of the Gladstone Shoe Stores on the way. One main conflict of this novel is person vs. person. Jenna's father left when her parents got a divorce over his alcoholism. When he returns he always causes trouble for his family. Jenna wants to help her father but can't confront him in the beginning.
The novel Rules of the Road is a wonderfully written story. I could relate to the character in some ways and at the end of the book I felt very attached to Jenna like I knew her. I admired Jenna, because she was a very determined lady who wouldn't give up till she did what she had to do. The story also had very descriptive words. For example Bauer, the writer, picked the perfect words, like the words are puzzle pieces and she only chose the ones that fit perfectly. One minor flaw was that in the beginning the characters kind of repeat themselves and Bauer keeps telling us about how Jenna loves to sell shoes and she so great at it. This only happens in the beginning of the story. The rest of it was marvelously written. The book was great.
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Summary: One Unforgettable Trip
Review: This story,"Rules Of The Road", is about a teenager that is 16 years old named Jenna who works at a shoe store. Jenna lives with her mother because her mother and father split up. Jenna's father always calls Jenna to talk and that is why she got her phone number changed. Jenna never wants to talk with her father because he is a drunk and she doesn't want to talk with him when he is like that. The store manager, Mrs. Gladstone, wants Jenna to drive her around to different places like Dallas, Texas, and St. Louis, Missouri over the summer so Mrs. Gladstone can plan her retirement. When Jenna and Mrs. Gladstone got back from their trip, Jenna went for a walk. During her walk her father picked her up in his car. While they were riding Jenna realized her father was drunk. She wanted him to stop but he wouldn't so she put the car in neutral to stop it. Jenna's father told the police officer that her father was drunk and he went to jail. When he got out of jail he met Jenna at the park and Jenna told her father if he doesn't stop drinking she will never talk or see him again. I think that this book is great for all ages.
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Summary: Rules of the Road
Review: This is the type of book that keeps you reading for hours. The book is about a girl named Jenna. She works at Gladstone Shoes. The owner of the store Mrs. Gladstone asks Jenna to be her personal driver. They visit many places for Mrs. Gladstone, while Jenna learns many interesting things about herself. This book teaches lessons that you will find handy in your life. I give this book a 4 out of 5.
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