Shelter

By Benette Whitmore

"Hello, little metal box. Welcome to my world. "Sky thinks filming her sixteenth summer for a school project will end up being a lame home video, rated G for everyone. She's wrong. Her video diary is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080278884X
• ISBN13: 9780802788849
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Walker Childrens
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.1" x 5.8"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

An excellent leisure read for young adults.

Sky thinks filming her sixteen summer for a school project will prove immeasurably dull - but her video diary evolves into a record of how her family is falling apart with the center of trouble being an evolving fallout shelter. Told in 'scenes' as in a movie, SHELTER provides a moving chart of a family in trouble and will make an excellent leisure read for young adults.

Gimme Shelter

Benette Whitmore has written a fast-paced, witty coming-of-age story, with a few twists and turns that will please young adults and parents alike. Narrator Sky Baxter's single mother is kind of a ditz - not only is her name Barbie, but she writes steamy romance novels and seems remarkably clueless about her son's growing substance-abuse problem. Barbie has two solutions for dealing with her family's pending disintegration: first, she builds a bomb shelter in their back yard, and then she brings in her equally clueless new boyfriend, Ed Dickey, to fix her family's problems. Of course, the shelter can't really keep out the storm that is raging within the family, and Ed Dickey hasn't got a chance with two savvy - and deeply wounded - teenagers. Sky is smart, funny, and endlessly self-deprecating. As her 16th summer unfolds, she insists that she's a nerdy loser. But Whitmore has a way with clever turns of phrase, and you just know Sky is one of those lovable misfits who will become charming with age. My favorite Sky line goes something like this: "The ideas swam around in my head and then did the backstroke right out of my mouth." Sky is worried about her twin brother Will, who is on a collision course with drugs and alcohol. His sunny disposition can't mask the pain of an adolescent who was abandoned years before by an equally charming, self-destructive father. Sky is drawn to Will's best friend, Kurt, who is a shadow figure: attractive, mysterious, and unavailable. Sky's best friend Cat is generous and devoted, even though her own personal tragedies are in the same league with Sky's. Shelter covers a summer of turmoil, as Sky wrestles with her own demons (she's a dork, Kurt doesn't notice her, and surely she's the last virgin on earth) and tries to keep Will from falling into an abyss self destruction. Cat is the gently-supportive friend who keeps her reservations about Kurt to herself. The four are drawn to the bomb shelter as a haven, but it quickly becomes a backdrop for their downfall. Will comes close to overdosing there, and it's where Sky surrenders her virginity to Kurt, who is lacking both substance and commitment. The events culminate in a dramatic crescendo that leaves them all lucky to be alive, and hoping to move on with some semblance of preserving what they once had together. The book's underlying themes come through loud and clear. Parents will appreciate the anti-drug message, and there's a strong cautionary message about sex as well. Shelter is well-written and smartly crafted to resemble a video diary, interspersed with teenage angst and charm. Whitmore - who wrote a number of well-respected children's books as Benette Tiffault - has moved into a new realm as a young-adult writer. It's her first step into this competitive arena, but she's already displaying a winning talent.

from CHILDREN'S FRONTLIST, Fall 2006

Shelter by Benette Whitmore Shelter's screenplay set-up quickly draws readers in to explore the powerful and mystifying bond between twins. When Sky's teacher talks her into making a video diary over her 16th summer, Sky doesn't expect to be chronicling her family's disintegration. The stage is set when Sky and her brother realize that the backyard shelter is the perfect place for their summer exploits. Partying and testing their limits lead to more danger than their mother could ever have imagined. Sky's authentic, sardonic voice-overs smoothly navigate through the minefield of adolescent angst and create an engrossing video time capsule.