The Art of Preditability

I don’t know if it is because I am a 20-year-old reading a young adult chapter book or how the story is structured, but the story is somewhat predictable. Overall, the story is light-hearted, warm and creative, but it all seems to work out just a little too perfect. Surviving the Applewhites is about Jake Semple who is a troublemaker with his last chance to stay out of Juvenile Hall. He ends up at the Creative Academy, a home school system created by the artistic Applewhite family. As soon as Jake was at the Applewhites home I knew he would be transformed into a respectable young man. The transformation seemed to take less than a year for Jake with hardly any major bumps along the way. I am not suggesting this book should have had a darker side, but could have had more of a realistic struggle and triumph for possible readers who are in the same situation.

I would have to say the very end of the book was not predictable, but disappointing. I think I was expecting more of a punch line or a hint at what would happen with the main characters. Both E.D. and Jake had major changes in their lives that in my opinion would affect their lifestyle. I think the book ended abruptly and would have liked to see more ends tied up.