Full Ride by Margaret Peterson Haddix

                                  

                     Full Ride byMargaret Peterson Haddix

Realistic Fiction

Age – 12 and up

Grade – 9 and up

352 pages c. 2013

           Fourteen year old Becca's relatively uncomplicated life is suddenly turned upside down when her father is convicted of embezzling many people. The case gets national attention and the fact that her father doesn’t seem at all sorry for his crimes, “How else is a guy like me supposed to put his kid through college?”, makes life unbearable for Becca and her mom. The fact that Becca had always been closer to her father than her mother adds to her anguish. Encouraged by their lawyer they decide to leave their Home in Georgia by night and settle in a small town in Ohio with new identities.

            Finances are very tight and afraid that someone will recognize her; Becca spends the next three years trying not to attract attention, making few friends and keeping them at arm’s length, and studying more than is normal. As senior year approaches Becca and her competitive, nerdy friends are experiencing the anguish of college applications. The situation is compounded for Becca because her mother tells her she cannot apply for financial aid because that will reveal their true identities. She discovers a full-ride scholarship but while applying accidentally reveals the truth of her identity. This may have put her and her mother’s lives in danger. There are many plot twists and suspense mounts as the story continues.

            Becca’s character continues to develop through the story as she finds herself having to make a lot of hard decisions on her own. The story presents many thought-provoking ideas about friendship, communication and forgiveness. I found the ending satisfying and hopeful as Becca takes the risk of being truthful with her friends and continues to deal with her conflicting feelings about her father. As Becca continues to discover new facts about her father’s situation she comments on page 224, “What is grace? Being saved - and forgiven for everything, even when you don't deserve it, especially when you don't deserve it.”