Were the adults in this book a little far fetched?

[Scorsee]

Speaking of the English teacher...I had an English teacher in middle school that would consistently mispronounce all sorts of words-especially the "Word of the Week". These antics led to my mispronunciation of cacophony for most of my life. It took me quite a while to warm up to Andi's Dad...but I think that perhaps that was because we initially see him through Corey's eyes and it appears that Corey has not interacted with someone so concise and logical before. Seeing him from Andi's perspective helped to paint him as a more comprehensive and developed character.

Lastly, the principal was simply atrocious for most of the book.

[gatorgirl_823]

Reminded me of the way adults act on most Disney live shows these days - where the teens and tweens are the most smart and parents and authority figures are scatter-brained (sigh).

[Lisalovecraft]

Reminded me of the way adults act on most Disney live shows these days - where the teens and tweens are the most smart and parents and authority figures are scatter-brained (sigh).

I thought the exact same thing when I read this! I don't think that a story like this has to be realistic. Having characters that are a little over the top can be more effective in the telling of the overall story.

[MissJane]

The author said herself that the book was meant to show a kind of "middle school girl utopia," a world with approachable adults (this is probably why the adults are portrayed as a little far fetched), no bullies, no troubles. The book is not entirely realistic, but it is rather interesting to see the world as a middle school girl thinks it should be

[zeldas_lullaby]

That's very true, thank you! I wanted realism in an emotional sense, but not in a setting/world sense. If I'd aimed for a realistic world, then Corey would be dealing with girls on the school bus who pull her hair out in individual strands, a mother who treats her terribly, a little brother who tells everyone at school that she wets her pants, etc. How depressing!

Honestly, as for why the adults are far-fetched, I have no idea. Probably has something to do with my psychological outlook! Hey, my mind is a mystery, even to me!

[cgoss74]

First of all, the word fiction comes to mind so I think a writer when writing fiction can use a bit of imagination when writing about their characters. I don't think the characters were that unbelievable or "far-fetched," I believe she did a wonderful job of describing the characters from the perspective of a twelve year old. I really enjoyed the book and cannot wait to continue the story line.

[debo9967]

I didn't find the adult characters too far fetched, though maybe in some places they appeared too good to be true. That said, I think the adults in the story were portrayed based on the perception of two twelve year olds, and what they thought of their interaction with the adults, in the book.

[HalcyonFlower]

I did struggle a bit to come to terms with how the adults were portrayed, especially the parents. Initially, the mom was hard to accept since she was so...cool? But when I did, the story became so much better. As previously said, I found it so strange that the case worker didn't know about Dharma running away for so many days - that's a serious concern. Also, the principal I found to be a bit of a twat, speaking to Corey in the way he did when the fire incident occurred. I found that to be disturbing since that behaviour could be a liability to the school overall. Dr. Greene was hilarious though, I wouldn't mind reading more about him haha.