Rating: 
Summary: A deep and powerful book!
Review: I rate this book a ten star! Too high for a 5 star scale. The code in this book was exiting to figure out and it helped you unravel the story of Julian with him. I read this book in one day and loved it! One of my all-time favorite books! If you don't read this book, you are going to miss out on a wonderful experience!
Rating:
Summary: Holy cow. This is a good book.
Review: I read part of this book and then had to go to work before finishing it. That was the longest shift I've ever had to work. Talk about hard to put down... it's gripping, compelling, and most of all, disturbing. But it sticks to you, somehow.
Rating:
Summary: Could not put it down.
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I picked it up in the book store and could not put it down. I really enjoyed the code because it was diffrent and easy to decipher at a glance.
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: It is well worth the time to struggle to understand the first pages. It is a quick and wonderful read.
Rating: 
Summary: Creative and Sensitive Book on an Emotional Topic
Review: Julian Drew lives with his abusive father and stepmother. The physical and emotional abuse he receives separate him from everyone he meets. The only outlet for his pain is his NBs, or notebooks, where he writes his deepest thoughts and feelings. Afraid of the consequences for his honesty, he writes in a secret code, to some he calls "U." Although at first, the reader can not fully understand Julian's code, it creates sympathy for Julian and a need to understand him and with each page Julian reveals a little bit more of himself. Deem treats the topics of abuse and abandonment with sensitivity, and portrays them in a very real manner. The book is separated into three sections, each one a different NB. With each notebook the reader experiences the growth and progress made by Julian through each of his trials. Recommended for all YA collections.
Rating:
Summary: A survival story.
Review: Julian is an abused child. His mother is dead, his demented stepmother starves him and locks him in his room and makes him do all the chores in the house, and his father lets her. The story is told in diary form of Julian's three notebooks, or "Nbs" as he calls them. The notebooks are written in code so that if his father and stepmother should discover them, they would have difficulty reading. The reader also has difficulty at first, as it takes some detective work to decipher the code. The thing I liked most about the book is Julian's strength of spirit. With the support of his English teacher and a classmate, he is able to get a job, run away, and make a new life for himself. When I looked at James Deem's website, it says the story is based on the author's own experiences. And you can tell. It's really good, though the code can be a bit annoying.
Rating:
Summary: 170V3 T413 800K!
Review: Parts of 15 year-old Julian's life are so terrible, the only way he can write about them in his journal is in code. "My hand is going 2 write U if it K1775 me," he writes in his NB, an 80 page green spiral notebook. As his diary unfolds, we slowly see the horrible emotional and physical abuse he receives at the hands of his stepmother and the longing he feels for his dead mother. This book is challenging to read, but well worth the effort: _Flowers for Algernon_ meets _I Am The Cheese_. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: No word Can Fully Describe This Book
Review: This book seriously defies the mind. When I picked up this book + read the 1st page I knew that it was going 2 B like no book that I have ever read. I had some knowledge of pager code before hand so it was not as difficult for me as it would B for someone who hadn't. I was intrigued w/ 16 y.o Julian who's life + everything in it couldn't be described as anything but [the underworld]. This book kept me turning page after page determined to find if he gets away 4rm his abusive parents or ever meets this "U" th@ he obsesses himself over.
This book is a puzzle and unraveling it is only half the fun. I recommend this book 2 everyone. I thought it was a great story + if u take the time 2 sit down + read it, I'm sure you will think the same thing 2.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!!!!!
Review: This book was the best book i've read in a long time. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. It deserves more that 5 stars! Its hard to understand at first since its in code but once you pick it up you will not be able to put it down! If you have to choose one thing to read have it be this book!
Rating:
Summary: 3 Cheers for 3 NBs of Julian Drew!
Review: This book was, in a word, fabulous! I was a bit confused in the beginning with all the "codes", but after a while I found it enhanced the story's authenticity and made me feel as if Julian was a real, breathing person (and maybe somewhere he is). This story of a teenage boy in search of his past and identity had me itching to read more after I had put it down for only a minute. There is, literally, never a dull moment! Mixed in with the exceptional dialect of this troubled 15-year old are wonderful pieces of "poetry" that express Julian's inner most intelligence and feelings: his work for Mrs. Pope, the concerned English teacher; as well as his thoughts on "U" (you), "43" (he), "543" (she), and "S" (Susan). Despite being misunderstood by family and himself, he somehow finds peace through the writings in his "NB". I picked up this book not knowing what to expect, but was indeed pleasantly surprised. This is a book you cannot afford to put down!
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