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| Driver's Ed | 
 enlarge | Author: Caroline B. Cooney
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Category: Book
List Price: $6.50
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $6.49 (100%)
New (32) Used (140) from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  108 reviews
Sales Rank: 48110
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0440219817
EAN: 9780440219811
ASIN: 0440219817
Publication Date: January 1, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Driver’s Ed was like so many things in school. If the parents only knew . . .
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| Customer Reviews: Read 103 more reviews...
Teens' Pastime = Nightmare February 20, 2000
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
Everyone can't wait until they are able to take driver's ed in school. Sometimes stealing road signs seems like our only connection to our future careers in driving. Then we think the class is a bore, and we just cannot wait until that license is in our hands. Then of course, Mom & Dad will be buying us that brand new car. Everything will be peachy. Not so in this book. It is a reflection of true cases where teens have stolen road signs and death has resulted. And as with those present day dramas, peer pressure plays a big role in Cooney's story. Once the accident occurs, the teens are forced to live with guilt and uncertainty of their futures. Ultimately, do they admit to their involvement and live with this being public knowledge? Or, do they keep the secret amongst themselves and take the guilt with them to their graves? Which is worse? The reader shares the characters' anger and fear as the suspense grows. A great read for students on the verge of desiring a driver's license.
A novel with impact - October 28, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a book I read some years ago. I'm reviewing it now because I was thinking about it this morning. And any book that makes you think years after you've read it deserves a review, I think. I don't remember a thing about the structure of the story or the style in which it was written. I do remember feeling a certain distance from the story as I read it. Cooney is a fairly dependable writer; perhaps the distance had to do simply with my own particular taste. Regardless, the book has tremendous impact. If you read the other reviews, you will get the spoilers; I see no need for me to outline the plot here. What I want to discuss is the very effective, very real tension that arises out of what could seem like a very simple decision--a choice kids make, thinking it's going to be funny, thinking that what they do tonight has no connection to anyone else's life, or to their own futures. I have very good kids - I'm not at all worried that they'll do something easily definable as wrong. But I am afraid of their youth and inexperience, which has to result in a fair amount of short-sightedness, and of the level of silliness the best kids can hit when they are out together and egg each other on.
I still remember the horror I felt as this story unfolded. As a mother, way past any such temptations myself, I still became the kids as I read. Cooney creates in the reader that sort of nightmare experience: in your dream, you have done something terrible, something really terrible and your life will never be the same. From the dream, you wake. The impact of this story is that there can be no waking. The terrible thing is there, and will always be there. My reaction to the story still lingers, after all these years. And so I save this book, when so many others make way for the new stuff on the shelves. I would sit a kid down and make him or her read this book if I felt like the lesson needed to be learned - or I would read it to a family out loud. This said, the book is not written in a didactic manner (preachy). The facts are simply laid out. When you read these other reviews, you will find plenty who note that the book is "hard to get into," which, with a writer like Cooney who knows her business, means that the book has some serious things to say and is not simply entertainment. There is a feeling of portent from the beginning. If only more people understood that so many stories in our own lives, if told by a storyteller, would start weeks before the mistake or accident or choice with a feeling of portent and forshadowing.
Read it as a horror novel, if you like. Certainly, that's what it was for me. I still carry with me the imprint of its impact. It is a true cautionary tale. And if reading it can give any kid just a moment's pause before making a stupid choice, then God bless it.
 A Disappointing Book By a Good Author October 16, 2000
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
As soon as I saw this book in the book store, I grabbed it. Caroline B. Cooney usually writes exciting, suspenseful books that you are hard-pressed to put down. However, I felt this book was written simply as a money-maker. After quickly skimming through it, I saw that it was a piece of fluff with none of the suspense or good writing that I expect from Caroline Cooney. The characters were shallow, unrealistic, and unlikable, and you never really found out much about what they were like. I hope that Caroline will return to her former writing style in her future books. This book was a prime candidate for a garage sale.
A book worth your time! February 5, 2003
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
As a university student, I chose to read this book as part of a Young Adult Literature class. I enjoyed it for several reasons. First, the characters in the book are realistic and ones that readers can easily relate to. The book took me back to my teenage years when driving and dating seemed to be the most crucial aspects of life. The characters are not fluffed up to become some heroes they aren't. For example, even when Remy and Morgan, the protagonists, get into trouble beyond anything they could expect they still worry about their newfound relationship. These are real kids trying to make the best of a bad situation.
Another aspect I enjoyed was the way Caroline Cooney built up the suspense throughout the book. I experienced the same anticipation as the main characters and was never quite sure what they would ultimately decide to do. The ending is such that it leaves you meditating because the story does not feel quite finished. While some may view an unfinished story as irritating, I see it as an opportunity for the reader to make the story his or her own by personalizing it with his or her opinion of how the characters' lives will play out.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has experienced the torture of keeping a secret or has done something wishing no harm but later regretted the action. If you like this book, I would also recommend The Face on the Milk Carton by the same author.
STEER CLEAR OF THIS BOOK! August 3, 2000
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is a disappointing story about irresponsibity with a fatal turn. Remy is a spoiled, stupid girl and Morgan certainly isn't any prize either. They are a pair of selfish birds of a feather. The story was upsetting and the characters left you cold. I found the part about stupid Remy's brother not even being named upsetting. This book shows a bad side of people -- the kind who have no regard for human life. Steer clear of this book.
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