Stick

3.5 STARS"You're dumb, Bosten."I pushed him back.I love my brother."Okay." And then he said, "I wish I wasn't like this."You're the luckiest and best person in the world, Bosten.""Stick?""What?""I can't live with dad anymore.""I know."Some books bitchslap you with sentimentality, some punch you in the boobs with longing and heartbreak, some books feel like a good one-night stand that leaves you with the disgusting aftertaste of regret, self-loathing and the fear of herpes… okay, I think I'm ge [...]

Meu primeiro Andrew Smith <3. Vou lembrar pra sempre!Eu fiquei muito surpreso com essa história. NÃO FOI NADA DO QUE EU PENSAVA. Eu já fui preparado pra uma coisa dark, sobre preconceito, sobre deficiência, etc. MAS É MUITO MAIS QUE ISSO. Eu não sei nem por onde começar falando dessa história maravilhosa. Que dor que eu senti em cada cena. Me tocou demais. O Andrew retrata o adolescente como ele é! Meninos de 13 anos ficam excitados com qualquer coisa, gente, lidem com isso. Mesmo no [...]

“It’s just…well, it’s ugly”She shrugged. “I don’t think so. I think it’s cool. Everyone else is so…the same. You know?Initial Final Page Thoughts.I need a cuddle.High Points.Stick. Bosten. Emily. Strength. Brothers. Talking through pipes. Best friends. Being different. Catching crabs. Anotia. Bubble baths. Jock straps. Surfing. Breaking out. Milkshakes. UFOs. Beanies. Playing California. Low Points.I wasn’t all that fussed with Stick’s road trip. What I really liked about t [...]

This review has been rattling around my head for months. I could not get my feelings down on paper. The words were stuck. I might sound a little “off my rocker” nuts here, but….I did not want to disappoint these characters. Crazy, right? I wanted to use just the right words to describe how much these characters affected my world. Stick, Bosten, Emily, and Buck were so well drawn and layered with such love and strength. They amazed me, inspired me, and left a giant hole in my heart! Here I [...]

meu deus, esse livro é um tapa na cara.

Stick is an abused teen. His parents are controlling, unloving, physically and mentally abusive. While Stick could react by being angry, bitter, mean and abusive himself, instead he is kind, gentle, loving, and he cherishes the small acts of kindness that neighbors, friends and others give to him.Stick still suffers from those horrible growing pains from child to teen. His "growing" attraction to all things female, made me laugh. Stick's desire to try out scenes from a stolen Penthouse magazine [...]

"Heartbreak" - that's how they call it.This is how I feel now, this is what this book might cause to you too.It should come with a note saying: 'open at your own risk' or 'put your heart aside because it might shatter'.It should come with a happy pill for you to take, it should come with Stick and Bosten in a cute package - such that you could take them in your arms and hold them close to your heart, such that you could hug their pain away.Oh, this story is really sad No no no 'Sad' is just a ti [...]

I work in a bookstore, which means I am pretty much surrounded by book snobs (and I mean that in the nicest way possible, I swear). My particular department is kids books, so I hear all kinds of derogatory comments about books written for people under the age of 18. Most of these comments are disguised as jokes, but they're the kind of joke that the teller actually believes. Also, they aren't funny. Now me, I love books. I've read picture books that are works of art (Shaun Tan, anyone?), I've re [...]

It’s a simple fact that it’s easier to write a bad review than a good one. When something doesn’t work, you can usually figure out what it is that’s broken down. When something works seamlessly…well, there are no rough edges to pick apart, no gaping plot holes to point towards, no awkward characters to take umbrage with.Which is a round-about way of saying that it is a special kind of challenge to review a 5-star book. One of those books that stay with you long after you’ve turned th [...]

Wow. Guys. I think we all pretty much know my thoughts about Andrew Smith, right? Kinda on the verge of stalker-ish-ness-ism. (or whatever) Nah. Actually the truth is, Andrew Smith is the very first writer that I've EVER connected with. Yeah, on that level. (I'm not talking to you if you have no idea what I even mean here.) I have read and collected all of Andrew's books and anxiously await the next in line. Andrew's newest release, STICK, (October 11, 2011 Feiwel and Friends) was absolutely no [...]

Why hello there! Okay, I have four reviews to do, so I'm going on a review spree. I'll start with this book because I've spent the longest procrastinating on it since I read it, like, two weeks ago exactly. Also, luckily, I don't have much to criticize about this book so the review will be fairly short.So, if you didn't know this, last summer I read Andrew Smith's book The Marbury Lens, and loved it. And afterward I was like, "Dude, I need to read more from this guy!"I've been meaning to read S [...]

4 Stars, maybe 4.5This is an interesting and involving YA story. Stick, whose real name is Stark, is a young, tall teenager with a missing ear who feels alienated from most of the kids around him, other than his friend Emily. As the story opens, Stick finds himself on the cusp of many changes both internal, in how he feels about Emily and how he reacts to other people, and in the events occurring in his life. He and his older brother Bosten live with abusive parents. His mother is mostly cold, d [...]

Cruelty and ugliness is something Stark lives with daily. He thinks his deformity, a missing ear, is ugly but that is nothing when you compare it to his parents. Thirteen-year-old Stark and his older brother Bosten have been dealt the Piece of Crap Parent card. Their parents aren't just mean, they are downright cruel. Very early on we know the boys' parents aren't exactly Mike and Carol Brady. There are hints of abuse very early on and by page thirty-seven, we know that their father is militant [...]

3.5/5It read like the Perks of Being a Wallflower but had me reeling the same way I did with Smith's Marburry Lens after that kidnap-grope scene. This one had me angry and hurting for all of them, all at once particularly the first half. The jump into the second half had me reeling for other reasons though. Specifically, where had Dahlia been all their lives? That alone had me a little bi more angry. To think of all the things they'd gone through with such horrible people! When all the while she [...]

3.5 starsFourteen-year-old Stark McClellan - nicknamed Stick because of his height - looks up to his older brother Bosten; unlike Stick, Bosten has two ears and knows how to fight back against the bullies at school. But both Bosten and Stick suffer at the hands of their abusive parents. After visiting their Aunt Delilah in California and getting a taste of freedom, the two boys realize that their family life differs from the typical familial dynamics of their peers. Bosten runs away when his fat [...]

Andrew Smith has done it again: penned a compelling tale about the power of love. Stark and Bosten McClellan have secrets; secrets that are capable of destroying them both. Holding on to hope and the love for his brother, Stark "Stick" sets out on a journey to heal them both. I'll wait until closer to this book's release date to comment further. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to read the ARC and cannot wait to put this gripping story into the hands of my students

Andrew Smith possui uma bizarrice muito peculiar. Mas em "Minha Metade Silenciosa", ele parece acertar a mão e equilibrar com bastante talento os elementos de sua história. Contando o dia a dia de Palito (Stick), um menino que nasceu sem uma orelha, ele cria um livro tocante e difícil de largar de lado. No primeiro e no segundo ato (cerca de 200) páginas, ele explora a relação de Stick com os amigos e a família, a melhor parte. Seu pilar de resistência é o irmão, que junto com ele é v [...]

Nicely written book. I really enjoyed it!The format on the kindle was off a little with big spaces at times in the middle of sentences which made it difficult to read. For a $10 ebook I wouldn't expect these types of problems.

I mostly loved it: beautiful writing, some great characters, but a few situations/references felt a little clunky. Recommended though, and proud to have it as our 2016 Read Brave book.

Stick by Andrew Smith a book full of adventure and mixed emotions on one another is the way to describe this text. Stick was published by Macmillan, New York, NY in September of 2011. This book is for people that feel apart from people because of the way you are, or the way you seem to be towards others. Stick is the main character of this text and he will show and connect to people that have a hard life inside and outside of their house and how he feels about being different from everyone else [...]

Stick came out today, a new novel by Andrew Smith, the author of Ghost Medicine, In the Path of Falling Objects, and The Marbury Lens. These are three of my favorite books, each for different reasons but more than anything they are three books about the relationships young men have with each other, and more specifically, brothers. Stick is similar in that it explores this territory, Andrew Smith territory, but it is, like each of Andrew's other books, different.Synopsis from : Fourteen-year-old [...]

Stick by Andrew Smith has changed my perspective on what it can be like to not be loved in your own home. Stick was published by Square Fish and Macmillian in New York, NY in September 2015. It can take you on a roller coaster with many loops. You'll feel like everything is going smooth for Stark, and then BOOM! Everything at once hits you again. No matter how much you try to put the book down you just can't. There are some hard subjects to face, you keep reading no matter the outcome because it [...]

It's always a day for celebration when a new Andrew Smith novel comes out. Andrew's books are among the most well-written, compelling books I've ever read and are filled with characters that worm their way into your heart and demand to be noticed. STICK by Andrew Smith (Feiwel & Friends, October 11, 2011)I got hooked on Andrew's books last year with THE MARBURY LENS which was like a crazy thrill ride I'm normally too scared to go on at amusement parks. But books are so much safer to me, and [...]

Stick By Andrew Smith (published by first Macmillian, New York, NY in 2011) Is a very emotional and horrifying read. 13 year old Stark McClellan and his brother, 16 year old Bosten McClellan have an unordinary life that no teenage boy should ever have to live. Stark McClellan also known as “Stick” is 6ft tall and only has one ear. He isn't your average 13 year old boy, but with the protection of his older brother Bosten, he has nothing to worry about. Stick idolizes Bosten. He keeps his deep [...]

I really liked it I thought it was interesting and the story was so good I had a hard time putting it down. I fell in love with the characters and it was also interesting to see the romance going on with stick and how he juggled Kimmy and Emily because he seemed to love them both and find that because of them things were changing. I also liked that he was willing to do anything for his brother even if that ment running away from home and going to LA.

Extraordinary. Full stop.

Que família horrível, que irmãos maravilhosos! :p

Stick by Andrew Smith (published by Macmillan in New York, NY in October 2011) is a nail biting, finger tapping, body shaking, and air gasping fictional novel written to draw you in like sea waves and, if you're lucky, return you to shore nervous to test the waters again. Stick is forward, blunt, honest, has no filter, and is overall real. Some may even question the reality of the memories and events.Stark “Stick” McClellan is the voice of Stick. Stick is a thirteen year old boy who eventual [...]

Finalmente consegui ter uma boa experiência com Andrew Smith. Quando li Selva de Gafanhotos, a decepção foi tão grande que cheguei a cogitar não ler Minha metade silenciosa, livro que já estava na minha TBR já algum tempo, mas felizmente resolvi dar essa segunda chance e eu não poderia estar mais feliz. A história de Stark é pesada, em diversos momentos eu senti que a leitura me destruiu, mas não digo isso de forma ruim, porque apesar de ter sofrido bastante com esse livro, foi uma do [...]

This book was so good, I was doing my Lamaze breathing during some parts because they were exquisitely written, yet incredibly painful and dark. This book will haunt me for a long time, but that's okay because I've never read anything quite like it. The characters are so well-formed, my heart so invested in their actions, I so desperately wanted to meet them and hug or stab them, accordingly. Stark's devotion to his brother and his determination to navigate through the hell of his life, while at [...]