Review and Blog Tour Dates: This Is Not a Drill

 This is Not a Drill by Beck McDowell (hardie Grant EGMONT)

PB RRP $22.95

ISBN 9781742973845

Reviewed by Lillian Rodrigues-Pang

This is not a Drill is an engaging book written in first person from the alternating perspectives of Emery and Jake.

Emery has volunteered as a tutor for grade-one. She loves the kids and teaching language. She is essentially a shy girl who loves people, she is inspired by the classroom teacher and wants to be a teacher.

Jake is Emery’s ex. He is a likeable, charming boy who wants to sleep in two mornings a week so volunteered to tutor French. The two of them didn’t expect to be put together but sometimes these things cant be controlled. We meet them trying to make the best of the situation. Jake wants to befriend Emery again, he still likes her but knows that he did wrong by her. He is using this class as an opportunity to show he isn’t all that bad and maybe the two of them still have a chance. Emery is happy to be friends but wants time to get over Jake.

The trickiness of being together is outweighed when an unstable war veteran father shows up in class demanding to take his son away. The teacher stands firm and protective of all her students and refuses permission even when the father pulls out a gun.

The pace and action of this story change consistently. We learn about Emery and Jake through flashbacks and memories of childhood, their relationship, summer holiday events etc. We follow the two of them as the situation escalates and people are shot. Also as they learn to trust and work together despite their past. It is up to Emery and Jake to find their strengths and work past their fears to save the kids.

The student’s father is a soldier home from Iraq who is no longer fit for duty. As time passes his character is fleshed out and is very interesting. We learn a lot about his difficulties and our sympathies develop for him and his family situation. In all this is an exciting book that takes us into territory that is not usually covered.

****

Buzz Words is thrilled to be involved in the THIS IS NOT A DRILL blog tour with author Beck McDowell and involving over 16 book blog sites from around the world. Beck will drop by Buzz Words on October 31 and there will be a book give away as well. Here is the full list of blogs involved in the tour:

Thursday, Oct. 25

CYNTHIA LEITICH SMITH    http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/

Friday, Oct. 26

A LIFE BOUND BY BOOKS http://alifeboundbybooks.blogspot.com/

Monday, Oct. 29

THE STORY SIREN  http://www.thestorysiren.com/

Tuesday, Oct. 30

YA BLISS  http://www.yabliss.com/

Wednesday, Oct. 31

 BUZZ WORDS BOOKS    http://www.buzzwordsmagazine.blogspot.com.au/

Thursday, Nov. 1

YA LOVE BLOG http://yaloveblog.com/

Friday, Nov. 2

ICEY BOOKS    http://www.iceybooks.com/

Monday, Nov. 5

NERDY BOOK CLUB     http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/

Tuesday, Nov. 6

THE NAUGHTY BOOK KITTIES http://naughtybookkitties.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, Nov. 7

THE COMPULSIVE READER http://www.thecompulsivereader.com/

Thursday, Nov. 8

TEACH MENTOR TEXTS   http://www.teachmentortexts.com/

Friday, Nov. 9

CONFESSIONS OF A BOOKAHOLIC http://www.totalbookaholic.com/

Monday, Nov. 12

KATIE’S BOOK BLOG http://www.katiesbookblog.com/

Tuesday, Nov. 13

ALLURING READS http://www.alluringreads.com/

Wednesday, Nov. 14

PAGE TURNERS BLOG http://www.pageturnersblog.com/

Thursday, Nov. 15

MY BEST FRIENDS ARE BOOKS  http://bestfriendsrbooks.wordpress.com/