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    Escape Velocity
    Escape Velocity
    Escape Velocity
    Ebook186 pages2 hours

    Escape Velocity

    By Robin Stevenson

    3/5

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    About this ebook

    Lou's dad has been addicted to painkillers since an accident left him unable to work. He's a good, loving dad, but kind of useless. Lou's mother, Zoe, a successful novelist, abandoned Lou at birth and showed no interest in her until three years ago, when Lou was twelve. Their relationship since then has been strained, but when Lou's dad has a stroke, there is nowhere else for her to go while he recovers. Lou struggles to find her bearings and figure out why her mom left her all those years ago. She is convinced the answers are in Zoe's fiction, but when Lou's grandmother, Heather, appears at a reading, Lou realizes she may have misjudged her mother.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrca Book Publishers
    Release dateOct 1, 2011
    ISBN9781554698684
    Escape Velocity
    Author

    Robin Stevenson

    Robin Stevenson is an award-winning author of books for kids and teens. Her writing has been translated into several languages and published in more than ten countries. She lives with her family on the west coast of Canada.

    Read more from Robin Stevenson

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    Reviews for Escape Velocity

    3/5

    20 ratings9 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Lou's mother abandoned her immediately after her birth and her disabled musician father has been taking care of her ever since. When he suffers a heart attack Lou is forced to live with her mother and try to understand the motivation behind her actions. Lou must also figure out how she feels about her mother and her father as well as what she wants from life.
    • 3/5
      Lou's story started off fine; a little cliche, but it just never really got any better. I had some trouble getting into the book and believing in the plot and the characters. While everything was realistic enough, something always seemed a bit off. I did start to enjoy Lou's story near the end, but it was too little too late - when I finally got interested, the book was over. Most of the plot twists I saw coming, and Lou's stubborn insistence on viewing her mother's book as an authority started to get to me after awhile. Not sure if it was because I was too old for the book, but I just failed to ever really get interested.
    • 3/5
      Lou's story started off fine; a little cliche, but it just never really got any better. I had some trouble getting into the book and believing in the plot and the characters. While everything was realistic enough, something always seemed a bit off. I did start to enjoy Lou's story near the end, but it was too little too late - when I finally got interested, the book was over. Most of the plot twists I saw coming, and Lou's stubborn insistence on viewing her mother's book as an authority started to get to me after awhile. Not sure if it was because I was too old for the book, but I just failed to ever really get interested.
    • 2/5
      Escape Velocity was the book I won for the early readers group.I tried to start it right away, but the beginning, frankly, just bored me. Lou's life sounded so depressing that everytime i tried to read it, I would just feel bad, and whats the point of reading a book that only makes you feel bad? Well, you know how people say those books that are hard to read because they are sad are really good books once you finish them? So, taking on that mind set, I started again. I got through it but I was not impressed. Lou has a horrible life. A dad that tries but doesn't really do anything. A mom that left her, and doesn't want her, but occasionally calls her up to chat about her latest boyfriend...no friends, drug use, etc. I felt bad for her, but at the same time I just really could not connect with her mind set. Her personality seemed kind of unreal, and how she reacted to things seemed pushed. I got mad at the other charcters in the book so much-especially her mom-and so I felt bad for Lou. But here's the thing. When you take on writing a book about hardship, about someone who has little to love and be loved, and has a practically horrible life, you have to make the charcter a strong person. You have to show the growth and maturity that comes from being in that situation and surviving it. And I didn't even feel that Lou was extremely victorious anyways. I wish I could of connected with her more, but unfortunatly because I didn't, this book was rough, and unsatisfying. On the bright side it made me go hug my mom. Tough subject matter; maybe my reaction is different than others will be though. Definitely older teen age group. Could be good for someone going through a hard time with parents divorce, etc.
    • 4/5
      Lou just wants to know the truth. She does what she can to find out about who her mother really is and why she left Lou and her dad. Through a heart-wrench journey about finding the truth, learning about yourself and coming into your own, Lou may discover things she wasn't expecting to find. Lou is a lovable and relatable character that you want to cheer on to a better life than what she has. A good read for teens that are struggling with identity. This review refers to an advanced reader copy.
    • 3/5
      Lou is a teenager living in Alberta with her father, and she's miserable. She has no life, no friends, and her father's deteriorating health and prescription drug addictions are driving her mad. Her mother, a famous poet and author, left minutes after she was born. They reconnected when she was a older, but things have happened since that makes it difficult for them to speak to each other. When the unthinkable happens and Lou's dad ends up in the hospital after a stroke, she is shipped off to live with the mother she hardly knows. Lou decides to make the best of the situation and tries to figure out why her mother left. She is convinced the answer will be found somewhere in her mother's writing, but the conclusion Lou draws is not a happy one.Lou rubbed me the wrong way. The author seemed to be trying to make her optimistic and hopeful, but it just didn't seem to come across the pages right. She had few original ideas and it often seemed like she just didn't get it - any of it. The situation between her and her father seemed extremely unrealistic and I had a hard time relating to them. The strain between Lou and her mother really held the story together for me. With both of them trying to figure their lives and themselves out, they keep missing what really matters most in their relationship.I saw most of the final twist coming, but it was a bit more dramatic than I anticipated. The book ended nicely for me - it left things open to continue in the imagination, but closed enough to give me resolution.3/5
    • 3/5
      This book exceeded my expectations to be honest. After Lou, a Canadian girl's dad has a heart attack, she is forced to live with her mother that she barely knows whos a well-known author. Out of curiousity and yearning to know the truth of why her mother gave her up to her dad the day she was born, Lou begins to search for the answer in her mother's books and what she finds is an interesting twist she never expected. A good read, I'd defintley recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book, and had a hard time putting it down. This book is about a sixteen year old girl named Lou who lives with her Dad, and Lou's dad has some health issues that have been a strain on their relationship. Lou's father suffers a heart attack and she is forced to go live with her mother, who abandoned her at birth. Lou has had very limited contact with her mother, who is a writer, and has a hard time adjusting to living with her mother.I have to say, this book had a few parts that were very predictable, but the author didn't let it drag on too long, which I was very happy with! All in all, I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to my friends.
    • 3/5
      This review is based off an advanced reader copy.I guess I could give this book anywhere between 3 and 4 stars. There was very little, technically, wrong with the book. The writing was strong and clear. The storyline was quite well thought out, and everything was paced just right. I never felt either rushed or bored. The plot was interesting, and I was definitely entertained the entire time I was reading. I found that most of the characters were pretty well fleshed-out as well.The notable exception to the nice characterization was the main character, Lou. I felt like I didn't really know her, aside from obvious things, and therefore never felt really connected to her. She's upset and confused about her mom, who abandoned her, and worried about her dad, who's sick. These are rather obvious feelings, nothing surprising. As for more personal feelings, her moods kind of flip throughout the book. At first she seems really happy with her father, then she starts listing a bunch of things that are not just semi-wrong, but really uncomfortable. She seems to want to befriend Justine, but no heartfelt or honest connnection is ever made there. She can't stand that her mother abandoned her, but wonders why her mother doesn't feel warm and fuzzy toward her own mother.Overall, the book held my attention, but nothing about it reached out and grabbed me on a personal level. I never felt really connected to the characters or what they were going through. I liked it enough, and love the beautiful cover, so I'm happy to have read it and have it on my shelf. But I probably won't read it again.

    Book preview

    Escape Velocity - Robin Stevenson

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