One Lonely Degree

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Teen deals with rape, divorce, and friendship issues. Kelly Martin Coming of Age Sign in or join to save for later. Parents say No reviews yet Add your rating. Based on 1 review. Get it now Searching for streaming and purchasing options Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.

Get it now on Searching for streaming and purchasing options A lot or a little? The parents' guide to what's in this book. Frequent use of swear words like "s-t" and several uses of" f-k. Some mentions of music bands. What parents need to know Parents need to know that there are some serious scenes in which divorce is discussed, attempted rape is described, and some sexual situations are portrayed.

Continue reading Show less. Stay up to date on new reviews. Get full reviews, ratings, and advice delivered weekly to your inbox. User Reviews Parents say Kids say. There aren't any reviews yet. Be the first to review this title. Teen, 13 years old Written by Beliefs-Wonder May 1, Number 1, there ain't nothin wrong with being gay, it ain't 'my' cup of tea, but they ain't hurting anyone.

Second, when I have kids, t Is it any good? Talk to your kids about Coming of Age Book type: Random House Publication date: May 26, Number of pages: For kids who love teen angst. Gert Garibaldi's Rants and Raves: One Butt Cheek at a Time. Hilarious high school angst with frank sex talk.

One Lonely Degree

The Secret Life of Prince Charming. Teen's quest for truth is compelling; some strong profanity.

Accurate and heartwarming story about tween friendship. Next chapter in popular series deals with teen pregnancy. The reader does not learn precisely what transpired until quite a long ways in, allowing time for guesses. This both builds suspense and lets the reader see just how much Finn refuses to deal with what happened. She avoids talking about it to anyone, and even thinking about it to herself. As always, I respect Martin so much for not shying away from how terrible teens can be.

They have sex, they drink, they do drugs, and they generally hurt one another constantly. Finn is so incredibly selfish throughout One Lonely Degree, and, honestly, I'm finding that I really love the main characters that admit their own selfishness and indulge anyway, because that is being a teenager, or, really, a human. On top of her personal difficulties, Finn's parents have been going through something, and she fears that divorce is on the way. Already so unstable, she throws bratty temper tantrums and ignores her obviously upset parents, hoping that, if she fights back hard enough, the current of change will retreat back whence it came.

With her friend Audrey, too, Finn always focuses on herself first, her personal dramas counting much more, largely because of The Event. At this point, I'm going to have to venture into spoiler territory, because I just don't see any other way to talk about what happens and why I didn't like this book more than I did. As happens in about 75 percent of YA novels set in a school, a new guy comes into Finn's class. In this case, her turns out to be a childhood friend, Jersy.

Though at first annoyed by him, she quickly starts to crush on him, but tamps those emotions down when Audrey expresses interest, because broken as Finn is, she doesn't think she could handle a relationship anyway. Jersy's presence destroys the friendship between Finn and Audrey in so many ways, none of which were his fault, but I still never cared for him as a character largely because I feared where the novel was going and I was right about that.

I did think it was awesome that he is shorter than Finn, though, because that pretty much never happens in fiction. Anyway, his presence in their lives breaks down their friendship, first because Finn pretends never to have wanted him, second because he and Audrey end up having to sneak around while dating because of her father's disapproval, and third because, when caught sneaking around, Audrey gets sent away from the summer, leaving Jersy and Finn free to bond and hook up.

I know nobody likes cheating, but I seriously hate it, because I've always had a very black and white sense of justice, and, to me, such things seem stupid and so easily avoidable. In this modern age of communication, send your girlfriend an email and end things, so that you can launch on your new relationship as something other than a cheating loser. Similarly, talk your feelings out with your best friend before you ever lay a finger on her boyfriend in a sexual manner, and, ideally, don't tell her he's fair game when you've already got feelings for him.

Audrey would have backed off immediately had Finn mentioned her burgeoning attraction, because of all of Audrey's lingering guilt about her part in what happened. Sadly, I would have liked Finn and Jersy well enough as a couple had they not been betraying someone else.

Maybe you can't help who you fall for, but you can at least try to be less awful about it than they did.

Editorial Reviews

While my heart ached for what Finn went through, that does not excuse her behavior here. Plus, once the characters are in that place, there aren't really any endings that will satisfy me. Pretty much as soon as the cheating occurs, I cannot like those characters as much as I did before, and I can't root for them to have a happy ending, at least not for a long while.

Forgiveness and empathy are not emotions that I'm especially good at. In no way would I say that One Lonely Degree is a bad book, but if you have huge issues with infidelity as a theme like I do, you may not love it either. I feel, too, that I might have appreciated this more had I not read several novels with similar themes that spoke to me more than this one happened to. As a writer, Martin's best strength is being able to immerse herself in the head and voice of her narrator.

She has a knack for creating complicated main characters, and being able to understand not only who they are, but how their insecurities play a part in shaping their lives. Many authors attempt to create life-like narrators; Martin is one of the few who succeeds. Jersy is a boy that Finn used to know when she was six.

She remembers him as a high-antic annoyance, but when he comes back to town, she finds herself strangely drawn to him. However, due to an earlier experience with another boy at a party that left her damaged beyond repair, Finn sits by as she watches her best friend fall for this newcomer from her past. This tests Finn's relationship with Audrey, the only person she can rely on, as her life at home begins to fall apart.

While Finn remained consistently angsty and confused throughout the novel, the character of Jersy changed dramatically from the beginning of the book when school was in session, to the second half of the novel, which took place over the summer break.

ONE LONELY DEGREE by C.K. Kelly Martin | Kirkus Reviews

His motivations and the way he interacted with Finn changed dramatically, leaving the reader confused over who he really was. Overall, I would say that the novel is far from perfect, but worth a read. The suspense of the second half of the novel is worth the time it takes to stick through the sometimes bumbling beginning. However, I did think that Martin's take on this tired premise was refreshing and realistic.

Follow the Author

Martin did not allow her characters to avoid the consequences of their actions and the inconclusive ending kept me thinking about the characters long after the story had reached its conclusion. Martin does not allow her novel to fall into the category of a typical teen romance, which would have been easy to do. Instead, she has crafted a complex story that is remarkable in it's unpredictability.

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