Surviving the Applewhites: A Newbery Honor Award Winner (Applewhites, 1)

Surviving the Applewhites is a hilarious book about an eccentric household of wildly different but all apparently crazy artistic geniuses. Inject one juvenile delinquent (rumored to have burned down his previous school), add a mad goat, a butterfly "school project" (sadly lacking only one butterfly), and a production of the Sound Of Music, and what you get is an insanely funny romp through the Applewhite household.

Surviving the Applewhites is a fantastic story about a troubled teen who has been shipped from home to home and school to school. "Jake" finds an identity as the troublesome teen and even when he isn't the cause of trouble he takes the blame for the attention and because he knows that no one would believe him if he denied having caused the problem. When Jake takes less than two weeks to be kicked out of a small town school the Eccentric Applewhite family take him into the homeschool they've set up for their talented children. Jake learns self reliance, self esteem, and how to take responsibility and care for others in his time with the Applewhites. Most of all he discovers himself in an extremely surprising and very non-cheesy way. The book is a fantastic read that every middle school-high school student should read. It's fun, different, and subconsciously teaches lessons. I can not stress this enough. This is a FANTASTIC book.

This is a review my son, Shawn Scampoli (Age 10) completed for a school assignment.I liked the book, but at times there was too much description of events and unneeded topics. There was a lot going on that just didn't need to be in the book. It seems to me that the story should have stayed focused on the two main characters, E.D. Applewhite and Jake Semple.The story is mainly about a boy named Jake Semple. Jake does not behave. He smokes, curses and is disrespectful to teachers.Jake is sent to North Carolina because all of the schools in Rhode Island don't want him because of his behavior and because he burnt his old school down. In North Carolina, Jake lives with his grandfather and goes to a new school called the Applewhite's Art Academy.Jake feels that he doesn't fit in at his new school and neither does another student named E.D. Applewhite whose parents run the school. The Art Academy decides to put on a play called the Sound of Music and Jake takes a part in the play. The theater they will use kicks them out because of a minor fire that they blame on Jake.E.D. has an idea that they could use the barn at the Applewhite's Art Academy to be their new theatre. After a lot of work putting the theatre together, the play is a success. E.D organizes the whole production. E.D now feels needed because she saved the play from failing and Jake finds his talent in acting.

This book centers around Jake, a 13 year old troublemaker who finds himself at the unconventional school on the Applewhites farm. As Jake stays there, he learns the value of respect and acceptance not only of others but of himself as well. This is a good book that unobtrusively sends the message of finding and accepting oneself. I read this when I was 15 and enjoyed it (I am now 23). My 11 year old sister just read it and loved it. This book is an easy read for the older kids, but still a story worth reading. The younger kids will enjoy the story as well. There is a reason this book won a Newbery Honor!

Daughter read this book for a book club and she was very pleased with it and would love to read more from the author or that same series. She loved that it portrayed a homeschool family.

Jake, 13 year old delinquent and incorrigible, meets a family that challenges his perceptions of himself. The Applewhites, creative and seemingly fragmented into individual pursuits. team together. First, Jake finds love from Winston, the basset hound. Close on the heels of Winston follows the hero worship by Destiny, the Applewhites, four year old son. When one family member requests the help of the others, Jake is mystified how these individual people pull together. Thrust into a life of people who celebrate individualism, but understand that families care and support each other, Jake finds success. A great read, optimistic and hopeful.

Audio book reading was excellent. Plot was fun and accessible to my daughter. I enjoyed reading it as well!

Meet an amazing family — We adore the Applewhites and hope there’s a book number four coming in the future!

kid loves it

The only thing I will have to say is the cover is not the original one as I expected from the picture; it was the reprinted version. Other than that, I would say the buyer was great with communication and notifying me when the item was shipped, etc. When I asked for a refund, they were quick to respond. I would recommend this seller.