Rose by Any Other Name

By Maureen McCarthy

Book Overview

"Don'tcha just hate the way you get caught up in stuff without really wanting to? Then it goes a bit further, and suddenly you're one of those jerks you hate because . . . you can't be trusted. " ROSE WANTS NOTHING MORE THAN TO GET AWAY. Last year she'd had it all: pre-law in the fall, a budding romance, and her best friend, Zoe. Now Zoe will never forgive her, her family is crumbling, and the secret that's been boiling up inside her is bubbling a little too close to the surface. All Rose needs to escape are an old van, her surfboard, the road, the ocean, and . . . mom? When Rose's mother jumps in the passenger seat right as Rose is about to set off, her trip takes an unexpected turn, filled with nagging memories of last year, and the looming scandal that refuses to be ignored. A twisting plot that keeps you guessing, told from the viewpoint of a realistically flawed yet snarky main character, makes this a book that just can't be put down.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1596433728
• ISBN13: 9781596433724
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 14 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 9 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

A Road Trip....with Mom?

Rose by any other name a hit! When 18-year old Rose goes on a road trip to see her dying grandmother she has a lot in store for her. She thought it was going to be a pleasant trip until her mother joins her; which she absolutely dreads. She has been moved out of the house and hasn't communicated with her family a lot in the past year, it's a surprise to her when mom wants to join her. When the trip to Port Fairy begins, a trip into all the things that have happened the last year also begins. Losing her best friend, having an affair, and parents divorce. She realizes that she has to begin to face her problems instead of running away from them. Along the way her mother and her; they begin to slowly bond again which in result she is able to overcome the obstacles that she is facing. McCarthy deals with real life troubles while creating great imagery about the setting of the book. She pays attention to details, but not so much as to where reading the book becomes tedious. Rose faces many real life problems such as her parents having a divorce. The way Rose and her sisters react seems so real, and true. McCarthy is telling it like it is, which isn't all hugs and kisses, but not too dramatic. It makes me wonder if she or one of her friends' parents had been divorced before. I didn't like all the cursing McCarthy put into the book, but I know she did it to express Rose's emotions powerfully but I think that she could cut back on it. Rose has been to, and plans to go to many places. She's slowly dealing with real life problems and reacting in a way that most people would. It's written well and realistic.