Keep Holding On (vuoden 2012 painos)

Fell in love with Noelle and with this book. ( )

A heartbreaking and moving read, Keep Holding On deals with the all-too-current topic of bullying. Though at times it seemed to go just a bit over the top, overall it was a book that can definitely give hope to all those teens out there who feel that they just don't fit in (and really, isn't that just about every teen, at one time or another?). For adults, it's a disturbing and eye-opening look at what really goes on in the world today--just in case they've forgotten junior high and high school, or somehow went through them both with complete blinders on. Although most of what Noelle faces daily is "real world" bullying, technologically-enhanced bullying is touched on briefly in the book as well, and Colasanti provides readers with a wealth of resources at the end of the novel where they can go to get help or at least feel like someone else out there understands what they're going through too.

Susane ends the book with a personal message--that she too was bullied, and that there is a point in one's life where most of us really do come to find that we really don't want to be just like everyone else and that our differences are to be celebrated, not hidden. Unfortunately, it usually doesn't happen until after high school--all those adults who try to tell you that high school years are the best of your life are for the most part dead wrong. I think this book can do a great job of reaching its target audience, and am definitely planning on adding it to my classroom library for next September.
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After reading blurbs of Keep Holding On, I was expecting an issue book about bullying. Now that I've read the book, I'd say that's not exactly accurate. Keep Holding On is more a book that advocates having the courage to be yourself, to change the things about your life that are in your power to change, and to tough it out through bad times.

Other YA books like Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson or Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers definitely pack a stronger emotional punch in their portrayal of the life of high school outcasts. Keep Holding On seems to take more of an inspirational approach, reminding teens that while high school might sometimes seem like endless torture, there's a whole wide world waiting on the other side.

For complete review: Review of Keep Holding On!

Good use of teen lingo. May help some troubled teens but needed more real world circumstances. Took offense at the idea that bullying and troubled teens were mainly in small towns. Also there was no aspect of responsibility for the teens themselves in their situations. ( )

Keep Holding On dugs on deep emotions. While reading it, I thought I didn't like it. I was frustrated with the characters and events. Everything was bothering me. When I finished it, I realized that's how I know Susane did an amazing job. She pulls you to feel for her characters. I've loved every single book I've read by Susane, and this book is no exception. Typically I've found her books to be for older teenagers, but this one seemed to be directed slightly toward younger teens. ( )