Comment

Mar 30, 2014
“Sketches” follows young Dana, a girl who ran away from her home and ends up living on the streets. She and her two new friends, Brent and Ashley, must survive on their own without anyone to help them. When Dana discovers an art program for homeless teens, all seems fine, until her past quickly comes back to haunt her. This novel will pleasantly kill a few hours of your time. While it is not bad, it is also not anything earth-shattering. The characters are likeable, the plot is alright, and the setting is gritty and real. However, “Sketches” does follow the outline for almost every other book that Eric Walters has written. There is a young teen that has had something awful happen in their past, they do something drastic (like run away), family is very important, and then an abrupt, happy and somewhat unrealistic ending occurs. While “Sketches” is a good novel and an interesting read, it is like reading most of Walters’ other novels. The author of this review recommends “Sketches” for students that are ten and up. There are no real scary bits, and swear words are limited. This novel wouldn’t be a good ‘book talk’ or essay book, as there are no hidden meanings. No ‘reading between the lines’ is needed to understand “Sketches”, as everything is eventually explained. Overall, the author of this review probably wouldn’t leap to this book when asked to suggest a novel, but “Sketches” is an okay read.