Reaching Dustin - Softcover

Grove, Vicki

3.91

190 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0698118391 ISBN 13: 9780698118393

Publisher: Puffin Books, 2000

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When Carly Cameron picks Dustin Groat's name for a class interview assignment, she feels like screaming. Almost everyone in her community fears the Groats--a gun-toting, lawbreaking clan that lives on the edge of town. Sure enough, the first few interviews confirm Carly's suspicions: like the rest of his family, Dustin is surly and unresponsive. But as time goes by, Carly uncovers the tragic truth about Dustin's home life, and realizes that behind the tough exterior is a scared and unhappy boy who desperately needs a friend."Very human. Brimming with compassion." --Kirkus Reviews

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About the Author:

Vicki Grove is the author of several middle grade and young adult novels including Everything Breaks, The Starplace, and Rhiannon. In addition to her novels, Grove has published 300 articles and short stories in such magazines as Virtue, Reader’s Digest, Twilight Zone, Teen Magazine, and American Girl. She resides in Illinois.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-8AAn interview assignment forces Carly to get to know Dustin Groat, the most unpopular member of her sixth-grade class. Dustin's unsociable behavior began at school in third grade, just after his mother died, and Carly and her friends have looked down upon him ever since. The Groats are notorious troublemakers, correctly suspected of hoarding guns on their isolated compound and making drugs. As she learns about his family background and history-not from Dustin, but through her own family and research-she gradually realizes that there's more to the boy than she assumed. Grove neatly weaves several subplots into the story, all related in some way to Carly's relationship with her nemesis. As she slowly gathers the courage and empathy to befriend the boy, she also begins to see her own friends and family with new clarity. Readers will recognize that she treats Dustin too harshly from the start, but her stubbornness rings true since she lives with the buried guilt of how she wronged him in the past. Carly's inner development is convincingly painful as she realizes the part she played in creating Dustin's problems. The resolution is nearly too pat, as Carly clears her own conscience by reading her eloquent and insightful essay about Dustin to her class. Then she writes an article about him in the school newspaper, which helps win his trust. These strategies fit the girl's personality, though, since she loves to write more than anything. The final paragraph, in which Dustin finally agrees to accept Carly's help, resonates with hope without minimizing the difficulties of the boy's family situation.ASteven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library, OR
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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