House Arrest by K.A. Holt

FIC HOL
Reaslistic Fiction

Absolutely loved this beautiful little book. Very quick read about brotherly love, regret, survival, and redemption. Although I wanted a different ending, I can see why the author chose what she did at the end. Sometimes endings have to be real and not just realistic. 

Who might like this?  Well, it has a boy as a main character and it is a novel done in verse.  You don't have to be a poetry person to get into this kind of book, people!  Come see me if you want to know more about these kinds of books.  They read like a regular book, but with fewer words on the page it means there is a bigger punch when the chapter is over.  It's a quick read, and it is very well done.  Guys AND girls would like it.  You just have to be ready for a nice family story about a family like no other.

Don't forget to read the Acknowledgments at the end of the book!  You find out that the author actually has a son who suffers from the same disease as the little brother, Levi.  After I found that out, it just made the whole book mean something a little different.  When you know an author is writing from a heart that knows the pain and struggle of the main character because it is a part of his/her everyday life, it just makes the writing seem that much more . . .

Here is a snippet of one of the poems from the beginning of the book.  It gives you an idea of the writing style and the plot.  Give it a try!

"Stealing is bad.

Yeah.

I know.

But my brother Levi is always so sick, and his medicine is always so expensive.

I didn’t think anyone would notice,

if I took that credit card,

if, in one stolen second,

I bought Levi’s medicine.

But someone did notice.

Now I have to prove I’m not a delinquent, I’m not a total bonehead.

That one quick second turned into

juvie

a judge

a year of house arrest,

a year of this court-ordered journal,

a year to avoid messing up

and being sent back to juvie

so fast my head will spin.

It’s only 1 year.

Only 52 weeks.

Only 365 days.

Only 8,760 hours.

Only 525,600 minutes.

What could go wrong?"