The idea was interesting, but not well executed. I loved the idea of CoreAmerica, but there were some flaws in the way the characters handled it. I also found the speech of the students was a little over the top. I understand that high school students can have their own language, but their slang was little overused. Overall, I'm pretty indifferent; I neither loved nor hated it.

As usual I received this book from GoodReads as part of a giveaway. Also as usual, despite the very kind and generous consideration of getting a free book, I give my candid opinions below.

To nutshell the story, our protagonist is a high school senior who finds himself at the mercy of an experiment in sociology. His first day at school after summer break finds him choosing between two groups that will each run half the school. In the Groupism faction everything will be governed with the greatest common good in mind. Competing against them we have the Soloism faction which will be governed with the precept that whatever is good for the individual is ultimately best. These two fictional combatants are pitted against each other over the course of 10 weeks to see which one produces the more optimum society.

As I'm sure I need not tell you, this is at heart a rather thinly veiled political novel pitting Socialism/Liberalism (Groupism) against Capitalism/Conservatism (Soloism). The writing itself is at times a bit sketchy but overall the whole thing comes together rather nicely. Of all the diatribes of its sort, this one is one of the best as it makes its point effectively while also managing to tell a reasonably amusing story. The writer's use of the common vernacular of modern youth is also well executed and entertaining.

In the vein of deeper content beyond the mere arc of the story, this book is really just a conservative cautionary tale describing the way schools and society are run in the United States. It does tend to paint the situation in a rather binary and oversimplified manner but it does represent the conservative side of the argument in a coherent and readable way.

When pondering the next person to whom to pass this book, it will have clear appeal to the socially conservative among us and perhaps to others if they look at it with sufficiently open minds or are prepared with a moderately large grain of salt.

In summary, "Ten Rallies" has a political point to make and it makes it well. It is a reasonable investment of a few reading hours that entertains on a several different levels even if you don't entirely (or, in fact at all) agree with its underlying social premise. ( )

As usual I received this book from GoodReads as part of a giveaway. Also as usual, despite the very kind and generous consideration of getting a free book, I give my candid opinions below.

To nutshell the story, our protagonist is a high school senior who finds himself at the mercy of an experiment in sociology. His first day at school after summer break finds him choosing between two groups that will each run half the school. In the Groupism faction everything will be governed with the greatest common good in mind. Competing against them we have the Soloism faction which will be governed with the precept that whatever is good for the individual is ultimately best. These two fictional combatants are pitted against each other over the course of 10 weeks to see which one produces the more optimum society.

As I'm sure I need not tell you, this is at heart a rather thinly veiled political novel pitting Socialism/Liberalism (Groupism) against Capitalism/Conservatism (Soloism). The writing itself is at times a bit sketchy but overall the whole thing comes together rather nicely. Of all the diatribes of its sort, this one is one of the best as it makes its point effectively while also managing to tell a reasonably amusing story. The writer's use of the common vernacular of modern youth is also well executed and entertaining.

In the vein of deeper content beyond the mere arc of the story, this book is really just a conservative cautionary tale describing the way schools and society are run in the United States. It does tend to paint the situation in a rather binary and oversimplified manner but it does represent the conservative side of the argument in a coherent and readable way.

When pondering the next person to whom to pass this book, it will have clear appeal to the socially conservative among us and perhaps to others if they look at it with sufficiently open minds or are prepared with a moderately large grain of salt.

In summary, "Ten Rallies" has a political point to make and it makes it well. It is a reasonable investment of a few reading hours that entertains on a several different levels even if you don't entirely (or, in fact at all) agree with its underlying social premise. ( )

I would have to agree with the other reviews for this book. It was hard to get into. I really tried to like it, I even gave it a second chance by re-reading it; and my opinion still stands. The author writing the book in second person, made it so confusing and hard to follow, that I would not recommend it to teenagers who enjoys a YA novel.

Just not for me. ( )

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish Ten Rallies. The blurb given in the early reviewers book list was not the book that is Ten Rallies. As a veteran public school teacher, I was not moved by the CoreAmerica theme that plagued this book. I have picked up this book day after to day in the hopes that I could finish reading it, but sadly, I'm done with giving this book a chance. ( )