Gingerbread

Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn is a book about a 16 year old name Cyd Charisse. She is a very strange girl. She has a doll named Gingerbread that she takes everywhere. She got is from her Dad when she met him for the first time when she was 5. Her parents were never married and he r dad lives in New York City while her mom lives in San Fiasco. She lives with her mom and Step-Dad and does not really like them. Cyd Charisse has also stolen from surgical supply stores!
This book was ok. It took a long time for me to like it. It started getting really interesting in till chapter 18. It was mostly about her past to get into the story. But going over the past was not like the beginning of the story remembrance it was more like a summery from another book. This book was not all bad. She had a lot of details and I really liked the ending. I thought it was very interesting to see how close she was to this doll. The doll was the only thing she had from her Dad and she missed her dad so the doll Gingerbread was the only thing she had from her Dad. ( )

Educators, proceed with caution with this first-person, realistic fiction account of teen pregnancy and abortion. Those events are not exactly front-and-center; this hi-lo read focuses more on a teen girl’s coming-of-age in a complicated family, which includes a biological father who’s been absent most of her life and half-siblings she’s never met until now. The pregnancy and the abortion happened before the story began, and its emotional repercussions are felt throughout the book at a pretty subtle level. Still, those are the taboo topics that will get kids whispering and perhaps parents worried. Be prepared to justify inclusion of this book in a classroom collection. Certainly its biggest defense is that it will appeal to struggling readers, especially those who are driven to keep up appearances. It looks like an average-size novel, but the font is slightly larger, there is plenty of white space left around the type, and the chapters range from a single page to, typically, not more than four or five. The reading level is upper-elementary/lower-middle school, but the content suggest it's suitable for older readers. ( )

I should know better than to judge a book by its cover but, alas. I adored the quirky punk-goth girl with a doll on the cover and thought this book would be edgy and thought-provoking. I was sadly mistaken.

From the first page, I was stuck on the slang usage. The author is clearly trying to sound like a teenager without any knowledge of how teens talk. It felt fake and forced.

I was very intrigued by the fact that Cyd had an abortion as a young teenager, but it played a minimal role in the book. There was even a scene where she was turned-on by anatomically correct-shaped cakes in her brother's bakery. Why does she have no emotion for the adult decision she had to make? She's always trying to get laid, as though she learned nothing from her experience or as though it never happened.

I adored the secondary characters and would much rather the book focused on them instead of whiny Cyd. ( )

Gingerbread is a story about growing up, and ultimately a very optimistic book. The narration remains light-hearted in the face of serious issues, while still acknowledging complexity. The characters are portrayed as good, despite all their mistakes.

Recommended for anyone who needs something truthful but pleasant.

This was one of those books that my best friend recommended I read by way of pressing it into my hands at the library. I loved the cover art and how edgy it felt, because at the time I was really starting to explore different genres of fiction, trying to get myself away from all the fantasy. (That failed by the way.) But this book doesn't stick out to me. I have no interest in rereading it, I have very few memories of it, and there was nothing spectacular. I suppose it was good, but in all honesty I can't even remember what the story was really about, other than a girl with attitude. ( )