Print List Price: | $9.99 |
Kindle Price: | $2.99 Save $7.00 (70%) |
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After Dakota Kindle Edition
Dakota meant different things to Cameron, Bryce, and Claire. When she disappears in a plane crash, they each have to face their own mortality, along with the secrets they still carry about her.
Cameron Casey’s goal for senior year of high school is to maintain his 4.0 GPA so he can escape to his dream college. Then he meets a new girl, who he comes to see as his second chance with the recently departed, a second chance he’s determined not to waste.
Bryce Rollins, Cameron’s best friend and fellow senior, has big dreams that include being a professional artist and not going through high school dateless. When he becomes convinced he has a terminal illness, he realizes these both may be hopeless causes, the kind he does best.
Claire Rollins, Bryce’s sister, finds herself alone and adrift freshman year. Seemingly guided by messages from beyond the grave, she seeks solace in a boy who challenges her beliefs about life, happiness, and God. But if her mother ever found out what her little girl is up to...
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateNovember 28, 2012
- File size830 KB
Product details
- ASIN : B00AF09K3S
- Publisher : (November 28, 2012)
- Publication date : November 28, 2012
- Language : English
- File size : 830 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 340 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #5,040,965 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #61,544 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- #2,148,099 in Nonfiction (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Kevin Sharp is a New Mexico native who currently lives in Northern California, where he teaches high school English. He is the author of numerous screenplays and two award-winning short stories. While he has technically grown up, Kevin has yet to outgrow Looney Tunes, The Price is Right, fantasy novels, or comic books. Deep down, he still thinks that working with apes would be the best job in the world.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the writing style descriptive and vivid. They describe the book as a good, delightful read with well-developed characters. The story is captivating and told from multiple viewpoints. Readers appreciate the humor and authenticity, describing the characters as real and genuine. Overall, customers find the book refreshing and suitable for young adults.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers appreciate the descriptive writing style. They find the scenes vivid and well-told, with great detail without being overdone. The book is described as powerful and character-driven.
"This is a quiet, carefully rendered and beautifully realized story, one of those books where the small mundane things become large and loom over the..." Read more
"...I had a clear picture of every house, every classroom, every situation in my head. Tremendous detail without being overdone...." Read more
"...Full of beautiful descriptions and written with a honest, refined writing style, After Dakota brings a new voice to YA literature that reminds us..." Read more
"...Sharp has a to-the-point descriptive style, laying out the setting of a scene with no muss, no fuss. Bam!..." Read more
Customers find the book easy to read and engaging. They describe it as a delightful, funny, and moving story with hilarious moments. The details make the book enjoyable to read and keep readers hooked until the end.
"...There were some really hilarious moments in the story, and some lovely, very character-driven writing...." Read more
"...After Dakota manages to not only be a great YA novel, but has an original story, a complex character web, and a unique writing style...." Read more
"...The book draws you in. And that makes a good read. Sorry about the title of the review - I couldn't resist." Read more
"...It's a great read and thoroughly captivating." Read more
Customers appreciate the well-developed characters. They find the story engaging with each character change, and the writing is compassionate and vivid.
"...Her character arc is particularly interesting--she goes from a girl mostly absorbed with her best friend to someone whose world gets much bigger and..." Read more
"...I could identify with parts of each character, but also be disappointed or frustrated with their decisions...." Read more
"...to not only be a great YA novel, but has an original story, a complex character web, and a unique writing style...." Read more
"...That's just one example. The characters were written in great detail so we could truly visualize the moussed boy hair and girls with their feathered..." Read more
Customers enjoy the captivating story. They find the stories well-told, simple, and powerful. The story is told from multiple viewpoints and is described as a trip.
"This is a quiet, carefully rendered and beautifully realized story, one of those books where the small mundane things become large and loom over the..." Read more
"...After Dakota manages to not only be a great YA novel, but has an original story, a complex character web, and a unique writing style...." Read more
"...This novel is a trip, and like all great trips it presents the small, forgotten, unexpected detours that make up a life and blaze in the memory...." Read more
"...age 13 - 18, yet also for readers from 18 to 100, who love a captivating story, well told, about characters who will stay with you for a long time." Read more
Customers enjoy the humor. They find it engaging and sardonic, keeping them smiling even as melancholy touches are present.
"...There were some really hilarious moments in the story, and some lovely, very character-driven writing...." Read more
"...His sardonic humor keeps you smiling even as the touches of melancholy seep through the floorboards...." Read more
"...It is moving, deep, and at times very funny. The characters are well-developed and real...." Read more
"A delightful, funny, and moving novel..." Read more
Customers appreciate the authenticity of the book. They find the characters realistic and genuine, reacting in authentic ways.
"...The characters are well-developed and real...." Read more
"...music, lifestyle, and products of the time frame add an extra measure of authenticity, especially to those of us who lived through that era...." Read more
"...inconceivable, devastating challenges and reacting in imperfect, genuine ways. In the least condescending way possible, they act like real teenagers...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's teen appeal. They find it refreshing young adult literature, with characters who act like real teenagers.
"...so real to me, so beautifully written, both so totally human and so totally teen...." Read more
"...In the least condescending way possible, they act like real teenagers. Some make reckless decisions, which are not preached about nor glamorized...." Read more
"Refreshing Young-Adult Lit..." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2015This is a quiet, carefully rendered and beautifully realized story, one of those books where the small mundane things become large and loom over the characters' entire lives. After college freshman Dakota dies in a plane crash, three teens who knew her as a neighbor/babysitter find that her life and death reverberate through theirs, too, often in unconscious ways and sometimes in much bigger ones.
The story follows three teens as they navigate the following year in high school. I was so particularly taken by Claire--she felt so real to me, so beautifully written, both so totally human and so totally teen. Her character arc is particularly interesting--she goes from a girl mostly absorbed with her best friend to someone whose world gets much bigger and much starker, much more terrifying, as she starts to take much bigger risks and things that made sense to her (rules, the progression of youth into adulthood, faith) suddenly no longer make sense at all. So many details about her were so heartbreakingly perfect, like how she and her best friend each painted their fingernails on one hand so only together did they have ten.
There were some really hilarious moments in the story, and some lovely, very character-driven writing. And throughout the story, while the three main characters are going through the events of their lives--waiting for college applications, finding a testicular lump, shoplifting--there's an undercurrent of panic that laces through the whole novel. These are teens who are trying to do the best with the roles they've found themselves settled into and the lives that they have, but occasionally a sort of existential panic comes through and they start to worry it's not enough; they're forced to confront their fears and their truest thoughts about life (and death). I think this book really beautifully captures adolescence and how your whole world can turn on these small moments, how there are social consequences to everything, how you can be surrounded by people and still feel totally alone. And, too, how these totally inane parts of your life coexist with such bigger questions, too.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2012The day after Christmas, I powered through about 200 pages, not going to bed until I was done. I only mention this because while I start many books, my completion percentage is in the single digits. I couldn't put it down.
As far as it being Young Adult Literature, I actually didn't read it that way. The cultural references are obviously geared towards my generation that grew up in the 80s. To me it was reminiscent of those John Hughes movies referenced in the novel, BUT with way more depth of character. I couldn't necessarily predict what Bryce, Cameron or Claire was going to do next.
Normally, nostalgia actually depresses me, but I relished the descriptions of high school from their perspective. I could identify with parts of each character, but also be disappointed or frustrated with their decisions. It was the way Dakota's character was revealed layer by layer throughout the book was really well crafted. Getting her description from three different points of view made her a more complex character.
I had a clear picture of every house, every classroom, every situation in my head. Tremendous detail without being overdone.
There was a little work to be done to follow some parts. I get that the chapters are switches from perspective of the three main characters. Other parts took some patience to understand the setting.
I would love to revisit these characters or this era in a follow up novel.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2012Reading After Dakota is like taking that first deep breath up in the mountains on a crisp fall day after living in the heart of a big city day after day. YA literature has had its ups and downs as some really good original books try to swim upstream against mainstream topics and styles. After Dakota manages to not only be a great YA novel, but has an original story, a complex character web, and a unique writing style.
Cameron's home life is unordinary. Bryce is having trouble with girls. Claire is all alone. Cameron and Bryce are best friends and have each other, but Claire is Bryce's kid sister who he doesn't pay particular attention to, and her best friend is going to a different school. Now, all three of them have lost Dakota, and how they deal with the crushing ache of her absence transforms them. Cameron meets a girl, Claire turns to the school's bad-boy Ricky, and Bryce is just trying to figure out how to get control of his life again, because nothing seems to be going right.
The stories of Cameron, Bryce, and Claire interweave as each is forced into different directions, tempting their own mortality while they try to understand Dakota's. Full of beautiful descriptions and written with a honest, refined writing style, After Dakota brings a new voice to YA literature that reminds us that teens don't just want stories about vampires, the apocalypse, and angels, but they want something real and vibrant. Fantastic book, highly recommended.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2013I related scary well to this book. I was in high school in the early 80's, which is the setting for the book. Though I didn't grow up in Albuquerque, I visited there a lot (even in the 80's) and am familiar with things like Blake's Lotta Burger, the balloon festival, and the Albuquerque Zoo, which are all mentioned in the book. I even worked at Chuck E. Cheese during that period, as did Cameron, one of the main characters. The songs, TV shows, movies, etc. were all nostalgic.
All that 80's stuff and yet being a teenager in America, at the core of it, is being a teenager in America. Today as it was then. And you feel it: the insecurities, the rebellion, the social tensions, the role of family, school, friends.
Sharp has a to-the-point descriptive style, laying out the setting of a scene with no muss, no fuss. Bam! You're in the core of it without flowery, superfluous language that makes you forget what's going on. It's a style I appreciate.