Boys, Bears, And A Serious Pair Of Hiking Boots by Abby McDonald

Book:  Boys, Bears, And A Serious Pair Of Hiking Boots by Abby McDonald

Release date:  April 13, 2010

Number of pages:  304

Publisher:  Candlewick

Source:  Publisher

Summary:

Jenna may hail from the ’burbs of New Jersey, but Green Teen activism is her life. So when her mom suggests they spend the summer at Grandma’s Florida condo, Jenna pleads instead to visit her hippie godmother, Susie, up in rural Canada. Jenna is psyched at the chance to commune with this nature she’s heard about — and the cute, plaidwearing boys she’s certain must roam there. But after a few run-ins with local wildlife (from a larger-than-life moose to Susie’s sullen Goth stepdaughter to a hot but hostile boy named Reeve), Jenna gets the idea that her long-held ideals, like vegetarianism and conservation, don’t play so well with this population of real outdoorsmen. A dusty survival guide offers Jenna amusing tips on navigating the wilderness — but can she learn to navigate the turns of her heart?

*****
Sadly, I didn’t like Boys, Bears, And A Serious Pair Of Hiking Boots very much.  I think it could have been so much better than it was.  There really wasn’t much about it that I did like.

First off, the characters.  Jenna was annoying, Olivia only played a small part, Fiona was a bitch most of the book, and the guys were kind of mysterious.  Jenna was all about helping the environment but she didn’t seem to know why she wanted to help.  Olivia was only present in a couple of chapters and when she reappeared at the end of the book she was completely different and I didn’t know why.  Fiona being a bitch was weird also.  She didn’t ever explain why she was so mean and she changed pretty much overnight.  Then there were the boys, Ethan, Grady, and Reeve.  I didn’t get any of them.  I kind of felt like I got to know parts of Ethan and Reeve but not Grady.  He was just there.

The plot dragged quite a bit in the beginning.  I had serious trouble getting into the book and sticking with it.  It was pretty predictable and kind of boring.  It picked up some towards the end but not enough to redeem the book.  And the ending was kind of abrupt.  I was left wanting more and not in a good way.

Overall, Boys, Bears, And A Serious Pair Of Hiking Boots is not a book I would recommend unless you have absolutely nothing else to read.  And even then I would advise checking it out from your library, not buying it.

First line:  “Re-use!  Re-duce!  Re-cycle!”

Writing:  4/5

Characters:  3/5

Plot:  4/5

Ending:  4/5

Originality:  4/5

Overall:  19/25=C

Cover:  4/5=B-

Links go to Amazon.com and are associate links.  If you buy something using this link I do get a small profit.  This does not affect my opinions on the books.  

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10 comments

  1. I loved this book so much, but i agree that I wish there was more of an ending and not just a cliff hanger. Hopefully she wil write a part two to this book 🙂