Flash Burnout

Flash Burnout
Author(s)
Genre(s)
Age Range
14+
Release Date
October 19, 2009
ISBN
0547194897
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Winner of the 2010 William C. Morris Award! Fifteen-year-old Blake has a girlfriend and a friend who’s a girl. One of them loves him; the other one needs him. When he snapped a picture of a street person for his photography homework, Blake never dreamed that the woman in the photo was his friend Marissa’s long-lost meth addicted mom. Blake’s participation in the ensuing drama opens up a world of trouble, both for him and for Marissa. He spends the next few months trying to reconcile the conflicting roles of Boyfriend and Friend. His experiences range from the comic (surviving his dad’s birth control talk) to the tragic (a harrowing after-hours visit to the morgue). In a tangle of life and death, love and loyalty, Blake will emerge with a more sharply defined snapshot of himself.

User reviews

2 reviews
Overall rating
 
4.8
Plot
 
5.0(2)
Characters
 
5.0(2)
Writing Style
 
4.5(2)
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A(0)
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Photography fans, this is one to read!
Overall rating
 
5.0
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
5.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
I loved this book! This was one of those books you want to read slowly. You can take in all the details of the who's who as the plot builds up and then unfolds. You want to read a bit, put it down for a bit, savor it for a bit, and then return to the pages ready for more.

Blake's got a lot to juggle: he's got the hots for his girlfriend, a passion for photography, a friend (who's a girl) to have photo adventures with, an annoying older brother (who does redeem himself beautifully as the story unfolds), a dad with a gross job, a mom who is sometimes shirtless, but always good and kind.

With all this action in his life, his internal dialogue with himself is spot-on for a teenage boy and downright hilarious! When "Houston" goes silent, I couldn't help but to howl with laughter, as you know this 15-year-old is stranded and looking for answers...like how to figure out what you did wrong when your girlfriend is mad at you and you have NO IDEA why.

Madigan hits the mark with the quirkiness of a boy trying to find his way through high school, family, and relationships. The beauty of her writing is its clarity, but what really steals the show is how she keeps the book moving. By the end of the 2nd chapter, she has delivered the goods...and wow!

From a purple streak of hair recognized in a photo, Blake's life takes on a life of its own, and he's just trying to keep up with all the changes.
Good Points
Each chapter opens with a quote or tidbit on photography, which adds greater depth to the book as a whole. The book has just enough humor to keep the tension from getting too intense, but Madigan writes in a way that is compelling. I didn't want to put this down.
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Beautiful
Overall rating
 
4.7
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
5.0
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
I always love a book where the guy is so sweet that he tries to help a girl with her problems. Blake has to be one of the most relateable characters in YA ever. He never thought that he would get caught up Marissa's search for her mom, and he also didn't think he would be falling in love with her. This is a book about loyalty and friendship, done with a beautiful twist of humor.
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