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Rules of the Road (1998)

by Joan Bauer

Series: Rules of the Road (1)

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1,2552715,216 (4.06)22
Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of successful shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to confront the son who is trying to force her to retire, and along the way Jenna hones her talents as a saleswoman and finds the strength to face her alcoholic father.
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Meet Jenna Boller, star employee at Gladstone Shoe Store in Chicago. Standing a gawky 5'11'' at 16 years old, Jenna is the kind of girl most likely to stand out in the crowd for all the wrong reasons. But that doesn't stop Madeline Gladstone, the president of Gladstone's Shoes 176 outlets in 37 states, from hiring Jenna to drive her cross country in a last ditch effort to stop Elden Gladstone from taking over his mother's company and turning a quality business into a shop-and-schlock empire. Now Jenna Boller shoe salesperson is about to become a shoe-store spy as she joins her crusty old employer for an eye-opening adventure that will teach them both the rules of the road and the rules of life. ( )
  Gmomaj | Jul 8, 2020 |
It was okay, can't say I like it. Bought it for high school summer reading, finally got to read it after all those years. ( )
  JoeYee | Dec 8, 2013 |
wonderful main character- story about a 16 year old girl who overcomes difficulties in life ( )
  cwbooks | Aug 7, 2013 |
Another great book by Bauer! Jenna, like all her other protagonists, has such an engaging voice that you can't put the book down. I read this book & its companion Best Foot Forward in about 3 hours. ( )
  bridgetrwilson | Mar 27, 2013 |
Dealing with the very tough topic of alcoholism and the way in which it impacts those in contact with the alcoholic, Bauer appears to know this topic well.

As the oldest child of an alcoholic father, Jenna has learned the games involved, the lies, the deceit and the shame. She has learned all too well how to feel responsible and guilty. When her near do well father breezes into town drunk once again, she decides to take advantage of a unique opportunity.

Working as a shoe sales person in Gladstone Shoes, when the owner and elderly Mrs. Gladstone requests that Jeanna drive her throughout the country to some of her shoe stores, Jenna gladly accepts the challenge of life on the road behind the wheel of a large Cadillac.

Meeting a host of likeable characters who together work to defeat Mrs. Gladstone's slimy son who attempts to take over the company.

When Jenna returns home, she is richer for the journey and is able to confront her father. Sadly, as is the case with some with addictions, daddy loves the bottle more than his family.

Jenna learns to put a stop sign in front of the man who has harmed her and her father. ( )
  Whisper1 | Dec 24, 2012 |
Showing 1-5 of 27 (next | show all)
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I leaped onto the sliding ladder in the back room of Gladstone's Shoe Store of Chicago, gave it a shove, and glided fast toward the end of the floor to celing shelves of shoeboxes.
Quotations
“What right do you have to yell at me? You are never home when I need to talk to you, and you don’t even know me.” --Jenna

“This is a meeting only for stockholders. I appreciate your care for my mother but I think I can handle her myself.” ---Elden

“I’ve been on the road with Mrs. Gladstone this summer…and I can tell you those economy brands aren’t doing this company one bit of good. I understand we need profits…but you don’t have to sacrifice quality with that. The people Harry Bender sold shoes to came back to him over and over again…because they trusted him to do the right thing by them…So I’m taking my fifty shares of stock and I am voting that Mrs. Gladstone stay with this company somehow.”---Jenna

“If you set your mind and heart toward a healthy way of living and thinking, you’ll find a way to climb out of the biggest pit life throws your way.”--Harry Bender

“Jenna, you have very attractive eyes. Some bangs would really frame your nice eyes.” ---Alice

“Even though I had only known Henry for two weeks, I loved him like he was my father,” --Harry Bender



"The best thing you can do for your dad is love him and pray for him and don’t let him step on you or let his disease infect you any more than it has…"---Harry Bender

“I took your drinking on my shoulders, Dad! But I can’t keep it there anymore. I’ve changed. I love you, but I can’t be with you unless you change because seeing you so out of control, seeing you waste your life is too hard for me. You need help, Dad! You’re an alcoholic. There’s help everywhere for what you’ve got. I need a sober father and Faith does too.”--Jenna

“Do you know what built Gladstone’s Shoes? An unmovable insistence on quality and fair pricing. An insistence on the finest, most shoe educated sales force in the business. It’s a sad day, Jenna, when profits and greed alone influence quality. It’s an even sadder day when honor in business is close to becoming a thing of the past.”--Madeline Gladstone

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Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of successful shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to confront the son who is trying to force her to retire, and along the way Jenna hones her talents as a saleswoman and finds the strength to face her alcoholic father.

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 1) The main idea is how to overcome adversity -- Jenna faces that with her father's alcoholism and she learns how to keep going when the going gets tough.
 2) The book also talks about corporate responsibility -- Mrs. Gladstone is a responsible execute, but her son, Elden, is not. And Jenna has to step up to this battle as well. We also see Jenna being a very responsible employee -- she has such a strong work ethic.
 3) Another issue the book addresses is about alcoholism in a family and how to live with that. Harry Bender tells Jenna that "if you set your mind to a healthy way of thinking, you'll be able to climb out of the biggest pit life throws your way."
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