Fifteen and Change

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 01 Oct 2018 | Archive Date 01 Nov 2018

Talking about this book? Use #FifteenAndChange #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

Zeke would love to be invisible. His mother is struggling to make ends meet and stuck with a no-good boyfriend. Zeke knows he and his mom will be stuck forever if he doesn't find some money fast. When Zeke starts working at a local pizza place, he meets labor activists who want to give him a voice--and the living wage he deserves for his work. Zeke has to decide between living the quiet life he's carved for himself and raising his voice for justice.

Zeke would love to be invisible. His mother is struggling to make ends meet and stuck with a no-good boyfriend. Zeke knows he and his mom will be stuck forever if he doesn't find some money fast...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781538382608
PRICE $19.95 (USD)

Average rating from 13 members


Featured Reviews

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. This was a great book.

Was this review helpful?

This is what is considered “hi-lo” fiction—short books that are designed to encourage young, reluctant readers to read more. This one seems like it is aimed for a late middle school to early high school audience, so basically late middle grade and early young adult. In this novel, we follow a teenage boy named Zeke who is struggling quite badly in life. He lives with his mother, who is trapped in an abusive relationship, and they are all barely making ends meet.

So Zeke wants to make some money so he and his mother can escape this situation and he finds a job at a local pizza place. While there, he meets a group of labor activists who are fighting their unfair pay and offer Zeke a chance to stand up and have a voice. Because of this, he is left with the decision of whether to remain in his quiet life, focusing on work and an escape or to stand up for an important cause.

Of all the hi-lo fiction I have read recently, this was not one of my favorites. The idea for the plot is great and definitely deals with some extremely important and timely topics. I think it is something that would teach readers quite a lot about the unfairness in the workforce and how it is good to raise one’s voice for a just cause. However, I have to say I didn’t really get into this story. The writing made it feel jumbled and all over the place. It felt sort of disjointed and I never felt a sense of completion at the end. The characters also fell a bit flat. There is not enough time in a story this short to build these characters and fully develop the storyline given the deep topics it deals with. Overall, it wasn’t my thing, but I do think some reluctant readers may really enjoy it.

Was this review helpful?

Although Zeke would like nothing more than to be invisible, he gets a job at a pizza shop. His only goal is to earn enough money to move him and his mother back home to Blue Way & away from his mother’s current boyfriend. As tensions arise at the pizza shop, Zeke learns how to stand up for himself and may even enjoy not being invisible.

I enjoyed this book and Zeke’s journey but was left wanting more from his overall story. The elements of social justice were relevant and relatable for young adults, but I would’ve liked to see the story of Zeke’s family and the supporting character’s stories be more developed.

Was this review helpful?

The story was written in poem form and was a very quick read. I really liked the format because the author was able to paint a pull picture with very little words. My heart broke for Zeke and was healed again by his generous spirit. A very good read indeed.

Was this review helpful?

This book is done in verse and I really enjoyed it. It's honest and real life viewpoint of minimum work is worth the read.

Was this review helpful?

Fifteen and Change
Max Howard
(West 44 Books)
4 stars
Zeke, Zekers, Z would much prefer himself as invisible. His mother is in a relationship with a horrible man and Zeke just wants to go back home to Blue Way. The only way to help his mom get away from her abusive boyfriend is to get a job and save the money to leave. Things don’t go as planned and he must be visible to do what he feels is right.
The story was written in poem form and was a very quick read. I really liked the format because the author was able to paint a pull picture with very little words. My heart broke for Zeke and was healed again by his generous spirit. A very good read indeed.

Was this review helpful?

The idea of a novel told in verse is a great one. Howard combines not only two worlds of writing that are often firmly separated but were combined seamlessly in Fifteen and Change. Furthermore, Howard was able to write about the typical teenage love and heartbreak that one finds in a YA novel while also bringing in much more serious issues such as homelessness and domestic abuse. The everyday (and sometimes petty) becomes interwoven into the socially impactful.

Fifteen and Change is a great book with great content and composition.

(Note: Longer post will appear on my blog on September 28)

Was this review helpful?

I thought this would be interesting in the beginning but I quickly lost passion in this book and felt that it would be better for a different reader.

Was this review helpful?

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. A book completely written in verse. I have never read anything like this before. It took a little getting used to but it was a very effective way to write this. There is a lot going on in this novel that is only really touched the surface of these issues like domestic abuse, activism, homelessness and more. Zeke is trying to survive and help out his mother who is in an abusive relationship so he gets a job and soon comes to the conclusion that money is not going to solve their problems or issues. I kind of wish there was more to this novel. It has left me with a lot to think about now that it is done.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Netgalley for this Advanced eGalley of “Fifteen and Change” by Max Howard.

Zeke wants a way out of the miserable life he lives with his mother and her jerk of a boyfriend. He hopes a new job will help him earn enough money to go back to Wisconsin where everything was seemingly better for them both. However, he quickly realizes money won’t solve all their problems.

Written entirely in verse, this is a book that strives to address several issues: poverty, labor unions, love, social activism, domestic abuse, and homelessness.

However, in trying to do so much, it manages to barely break the surface of any one of those topics. Leaving you with the shell of a story.

Zeke likable but it was difficult to connect with him in any meaningful way because he was so poorly developed. He felt alien to me. And while a few of his actions did humanize him somewhat, he was mostly a bystander and didn’t seem very important to the story—even though he was its central character!

The same could be said of his supporting cast. They were empty vessels. Ghostly in their lack of development.

Perhaps the decision to write use verse made depth difficult but I’ve read other stories, which used that format, with more success than Howard does here.

Honestly, it was as if Howard threw introduced the basic makeup of a particular person (the single mom, the devoted dad, the horrible boss, the well-meaning rebel, etc.) and left the reader to fill-in the blanks of what they were like based on the situation in which they were placed.

He expected empathy and sympathy without having to establish a connection.

It didn’t work.

It could’ve been a good story, if Howard had centered on one particular aspect—especially given the decision to utilize verse—but as-is it falls flat.

Was this review helpful?

A YA told in verse, we follow Zeke (or Zekers as he is affectionately known) as he navigates home life with his mother’s abusive boyfriend and the job he took as a means of escape, which turns out to be difficult in its own ways. The prose was both refreshingly different and also very readable and the book was rather insightful. It doesn’t dumb down the harsh realities of those working at the pizza shop and says a lot with very few words. Although heavy, I encourage readers to give it go.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

A little gory/gross, but a quick and insightful read. I kind of hoped for someone on the side of not wanting to provide a higher minimum wage to add to the conflict. The growth of the MC was definitely appreciated and felt realistic due to the circumstances. I was surprised at how much I liked the book considering it was written in verse.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to Netgalley and West 44 Books for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm on the fence about this one. On one hand, I liked the story about the fight for higher wages, and how Max Howard showed that low minimum wages affect many people, and many families. On the other hand, I don't think all of the characters were as developed as they could have been, because of the verse format.

I enjoyed the side characters, and I sympathize with their struggles as they try to change their workplace environment. The only problem was that I wanted more of everything. I wanted to hear why Olivia decided to take a job at the pizza place. I wanted to see Hannah opening up and making friends, and I wanted Mary to be able to find a good place to live with her kids.

Zeke obviously had a hard time with his family, and has a rocky relationship with his mother. He always mentioned going back to Blue Way, the town he used to live in, but I had a hard time finding depth in this because I don’t think there were enough comparisons between his life in Blue Way and his life now.

I’m giving Fifteen and Change 3 stars, because the bones of a great story are clearly here, they just need some extra detail.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: