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    Ebook174 pages31 minutes

    Unlocked

    By Ryan G. Van Cleave

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Fourteen-year old Andy is the janitor's son, and an outcast. It's rumored that formerly popular Blake, who has become a loner since his dad's death, has a gun hidden in his locker, and beautiful, unattainable Becky Ann wants to see it. In order to impress her, Andy steals the keys from his dad and opens up Blake's locker, but the gun isn't there. A friendship develops between the two loners, and Blake shares most of his secrets with Andy, including the gun. But there's one secret that worries Andy more than anything-the date circled on Blake's calendar. Does Blake have something planned? Something that Andy can prevent?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateMar 1, 2011
    ISBN9780802722614
    Unavailable
    Unlocked

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    Reviews for Unlocked

    3.5/5

    19 ratings4 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Andy, the high school janitor's son, feels as if he doesn't fit. A friendship with Andy, a boy rumored to have a gun in his locker, makes him feel like he finally belongs despite the fact that he is torn between enjoying the friendship and telling someone about his suspicion of school violence. Told in poetry. Interesting premise, the execution just didn't hit me like I thought it might.
    • 3/5
      With his father as the school’s janitor, no one is willing to talk to Andy, unless they are making fun of him. His days are filled with constant torment and desire for unobtainable things. Andy accepts his place in the high school food chain… until the rumors begin. Andy finds himself in the path of the social outcast, Noah, by accident. But then the two become friends. Noah and Andy have a bond. A secret that no one else knows. Then the poison of doubt starts to creep in to Andy’s mind. What if? As the days inch closer to the mysteriously blacked out date on Noah’s calendar, Andy finds himself asking “what if” a lot. What if his dad had died in the war like Noah’s? What if his only friend was planning a school massacre? What if he was wrong? Andy has big choices to make, and his decision will haunt him for a life time. Ryan Van Cleave’s novel, Unlocked, is an untarnished insight into the minds of young adolescents as they enter high school. Written in prose, the story instantly catapults you into Andy’s lonely life as a high school freshman. The plot moves quickly in the novel. As you read, you can’t keep your mind from drifting to scenes from the nightly news, depicting the violence associated with the numerous school shootings we have experienced. There are several “layers” that could be applied to the characters in the novel. On the surface it’s a simple story of “doing the right thing.” As you dig deeper, however, you start to notice other subtle elements. The story then becomes one of dealing with grief caused by the loss of a family member in war. Or, the story of a lonely son seeking his father’s approval. Ryan Van Cleave did a splendid job of giving the reader insight into a lonely teenage boy’s mind, and showing us the struggle between choosing to do what is right or keeping your only friend.
    • 2/5
      Bullying, guns, and high school.
    • 4/5
      When you're the janitor's kid, you don't have many friends. You don't have any friends. Andy is no different, but when he hears a rumor that the school outcast, Blake, has a gun in his locker, he decides to make friends with Blake. When the boys do become friends, Andy must choose between protecting his only friend and protecting a school full of kids who could care less about him?Read-alikes:Just Another Hero by Sharon DraperShooter by Walter Dean MyersJumped by Rita Williams-GarciaEcho by Kate MorgenrothGive a Boy a Gun by Todd StrasserWhere the Steps Were by Andrea ChengFor older readers:Hate List by Jennifer BrownNineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult