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withthebanned's review against another edition
3.0
How We Roll was a great book filled with great representation. I loved the familial relationships the most between Q and her family and Nick and his brother. The friendships, cliques and middle school setting felt very real to me. Q's little brother was adorable and I loved that he had so much time on the page. The "issues" in this book were handled appropriately and were very realistic. Highly recommended.
I do want to add that in the beginning of the book the characters at Q's new school talk with Boston accents and it was very jarring for me to read. Stalker = stawkah, etc. I hated this.
I do want to add that in the beginning of the book the characters at Q's new school talk with Boston accents and it was very jarring for me to read. Stalker = stawkah, etc. I hated this.
jugglingpup's review against another edition
3.0
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I got an ARC of this book.
I was all about this book. Do you see that cover? YES! I was all excited for characters with varying degrees of mobility. I was all excited for my first character with alopecia. The book didn’t quite deliver on what the description said, which is shocking that I noticed since I actually read a description fully this time.
The main plots of the book can be broken down into four plots:
Quinn dealing with her alopecia/her past.
Nick dealing with his accident (and his brother for causing it)
Quin and Nick’s potential romance
Julius being a nine year old with autism.
So the back of the cover talks about 1-3. However the main plot just always felt like it was 4. There was so much focus on Julius that all the other drama felt secondary. Nick dealing with his brother causing the accident (which was why this mentioned in the small description, took away an emotional punch) happened around an incident with Julius trying to set a world record. Quinn dealing with her past, again revolves around Julius since her mother is so wrapped up in trying to keep Julius calm that Quinn doesn’t feel like her issues matter. Quinn is also incredibly embarrassed by her brother, so that impacts how she can interact with Nick, she only lets Nick know about Julius because she was hiding her hair loss.
So while I wanted to love this book, I only liked it. It was fun. It was sweet. There was sexual assault and sexual harassment talked about frankly. Quinn handled it on her own and wasn’t emotionally traumatized by it. Instead it read as a way for people to see a range of responses to sexual trauma. Quinn’s mother ad father were beyond upset and she was like “it happened. Move on”. It allowed for people who aren’t traumatized to see themselves in a character. It allows people to see that sexual assault and harassment can exist in many forms and seventies. The main downside to this book was the romance. Nick and Quinn’s romance was very mild and very blah. There was nothing that sold the relationship to me. It happened, without effort. It happened in a weird way. I just couldn’t buy into it. If Quinn and Nick were just friends in the end, then I wouldn’t feel as let down by the book. It would have gotten extra points for focusing on friendship. I would have loved to see Nick get back with his ex. I wanted him to make amends and I wanted her to realize that Nick was coming to terms with everything. It would have been a more fulfilling ending for me.
I got an ARC of this book.
I was all about this book. Do you see that cover? YES! I was all excited for characters with varying degrees of mobility. I was all excited for my first character with alopecia. The book didn’t quite deliver on what the description said, which is shocking that I noticed since I actually read a description fully this time.
The main plots of the book can be broken down into four plots:
Quinn dealing with her alopecia/her past.
Nick dealing with his accident (and his brother for causing it)
Quin and Nick’s potential romance
Julius being a nine year old with autism.
So the back of the cover talks about 1-3. However the main plot just always felt like it was 4. There was so much focus on Julius that all the other drama felt secondary. Nick dealing with his brother causing the accident (which was why this mentioned in the small description, took away an emotional punch) happened around an incident with Julius trying to set a world record. Quinn dealing with her past, again revolves around Julius since her mother is so wrapped up in trying to keep Julius calm that Quinn doesn’t feel like her issues matter. Quinn is also incredibly embarrassed by her brother, so that impacts how she can interact with Nick, she only lets Nick know about Julius because she was hiding her hair loss.
So while I wanted to love this book, I only liked it. It was fun. It was sweet. There was sexual assault and sexual harassment talked about frankly. Quinn handled it on her own and wasn’t emotionally traumatized by it. Instead it read as a way for people to see a range of responses to sexual trauma. Quinn’s mother ad father were beyond upset and she was like “it happened. Move on”. It allowed for people who aren’t traumatized to see themselves in a character. It allows people to see that sexual assault and harassment can exist in many forms and seventies. The main downside to this book was the romance. Nick and Quinn’s romance was very mild and very blah. There was nothing that sold the relationship to me. It happened, without effort. It happened in a weird way. I just couldn’t buy into it. If Quinn and Nick were just friends in the end, then I wouldn’t feel as let down by the book. It would have gotten extra points for focusing on friendship. I would have loved to see Nick get back with his ex. I wanted him to make amends and I wanted her to realize that Nick was coming to terms with everything. It would have been a more fulfilling ending for me.
thebooknerdscorner's review against another edition
3.0
A story about two ninth graders who have been through a bunch of changes in their life that form an unlikely friendship that features an overwhelming amount of diversity.
This book follows a young girl name Quinn who has a autoimmune disorder called alopecia, which causes the hair on her scalp to fall out. Ever since she developed this disorder, she's felt like an outsider. Now, she has a new chance to start over when her family moves to Gull's Head, Massachusetts. There, she meets a young boy named Nick who has lost both of his legs in a terrible snowmobiling accident. Against the odds, these two begin to develop a unique friendship filled with a deep understanding of each other's life events.
The best parts of this book has to be the friendship between Quinn and Nick, and then the amount of diversity. Quinn and Nick come to understand each other as the novel progresses and I found reading their banter very enjoyable. They had a very positive relationship and I the romance element was hinted at, not delved into, which I think is perfect for a book about high school freshmen.
Quinn and Nick's relationship seemed so much healthier than Quinn and her friend's relationship. I thought that her friend group was kind of a bad influence on her, so I was skeptical of them. Luckily, they never backstabbed her or anything, but I still have my doubts about them.
"How We Roll" features characters in wheelchairs, those with autism, down syndrome, alcoholics and amputees. This book tries to cover an immense amount of topics in such as short amount of time. Therefore, I feel that all of these are skimmed over rather than truly explored minus alopecia. I also found the representation of autism and those who use wheelchairs to be a bit interesting. I'm not sure how much exposure Friend has with these things, but I just felt that the characters were a bit. . . off. I thought a bad example was being made when people constantly touch Nick's wheelchair without asking and that Julius' autistic behaviors seemed rather extreme. I know that some people that rank high on the autistic spectrum do exhibit extreme behaviors, but I feel like his obsessions borderline on something else.
Overall, this book was mostly a sweet read about two kids trying to rediscover themselves after some tumultuous changes in their lives. I liked Quinn and Nick as characters, but I pretty much didn't care about anyone else, which made the story a bit lackluster to me. I appreciate the attempt to make a very diverse cast, but I feel that some issues arose due to this. "How We Roll" isn't terrible, but I took it with a grain of salt.
This book follows a young girl name Quinn who has a autoimmune disorder called alopecia, which causes the hair on her scalp to fall out. Ever since she developed this disorder, she's felt like an outsider. Now, she has a new chance to start over when her family moves to Gull's Head, Massachusetts. There, she meets a young boy named Nick who has lost both of his legs in a terrible snowmobiling accident. Against the odds, these two begin to develop a unique friendship filled with a deep understanding of each other's life events.
The best parts of this book has to be the friendship between Quinn and Nick, and then the amount of diversity. Quinn and Nick come to understand each other as the novel progresses and I found reading their banter very enjoyable. They had a very positive relationship and I the romance element was hinted at, not delved into, which I think is perfect for a book about high school freshmen.
Quinn and Nick's relationship seemed so much healthier than Quinn and her friend's relationship. I thought that her friend group was kind of a bad influence on her, so I was skeptical of them. Luckily, they never backstabbed her or anything, but I still have my doubts about them.
"How We Roll" features characters in wheelchairs, those with autism, down syndrome, alcoholics and amputees. This book tries to cover an immense amount of topics in such as short amount of time. Therefore, I feel that all of these are skimmed over rather than truly explored minus alopecia. I also found the representation of autism and those who use wheelchairs to be a bit interesting. I'm not sure how much exposure Friend has with these things, but I just felt that the characters were a bit. . . off. I thought a bad example was being made when people constantly touch Nick's wheelchair without asking and that Julius' autistic behaviors seemed rather extreme. I know that some people that rank high on the autistic spectrum do exhibit extreme behaviors, but I feel like his obsessions borderline on something else.
Overall, this book was mostly a sweet read about two kids trying to rediscover themselves after some tumultuous changes in their lives. I liked Quinn and Nick as characters, but I pretty much didn't care about anyone else, which made the story a bit lackluster to me. I appreciate the attempt to make a very diverse cast, but I feel that some issues arose due to this. "How We Roll" isn't terrible, but I took it with a grain of salt.
camikubie's review against another edition
4.0
This book is adorable and such a fast read! I loved the lesson it taught on the power of friendship and not judging a book by its cover. It also reiterated to me the importance of forgiveness and being unapologetically yourself. Great read!
molly_dettmann's review against another edition
3.0
A solid quick pick with a big dose of empathy and understanding at its heart. I would love to read more of Quinn’s and Nick’s story.
brenna_reads_books's review against another edition
4.0
This book is one of my absolute favorites now! I loved learning about AAT and more about Autism. I highly recommend this book!
sc104906's review against another edition
4.0
Quinn and her family relocate to be closer to a special school for her brother who deals with sever challenges on the autism spectrum. She is completely ready for the move because she was bullied in her last school, partly due to her alopecia and partly because a boy spread sexual rumors around the school about her. Quinn plans to completely change her image at her new school. Her plan starts with wearing beautiful wigs. It is hard to know who to trust at her new school because she was burned in the past.
Quinn meets surly Jake, who recently lost his legs. He is having trouble navigating school with his new identity. He doesn't feel connected to his old football friends, doesn't want to be pitied by his ex-girlfriend, and doesn't want to stick out at all with his new wheelchair and prosthetics. These two have had to deal with very real problems, which many of their friends have no experience with. Perhaps it is through these tough issues that they connect, find friendship, and maybe something more.
Quinn meets surly Jake, who recently lost his legs. He is having trouble navigating school with his new identity. He doesn't feel connected to his old football friends, doesn't want to be pitied by his ex-girlfriend, and doesn't want to stick out at all with his new wheelchair and prosthetics. These two have had to deal with very real problems, which many of their friends have no experience with. Perhaps it is through these tough issues that they connect, find friendship, and maybe something more.
sarah_david1979's review against another edition
3.0
I appreciated that this was a story that focuses on people (teens in particular) with health issues that aren’t talked about often in books. The core messages are positive.
A lot of YA readers will enjoy this. I felt it was a good story, albeit predictable.
A lot of YA readers will enjoy this. I felt it was a good story, albeit predictable.
bestdressedbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyable. Had a large array representation for different medical deficiencies.