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After
by Francine Prose
Product Group: Book
Publisher: HarperTeen (2004-05-01)
ISBN: 0060080833
EAN: 9780060080839
Binding/Media: Paperback - 352 pages
Edition: 1st Harper Tempest PB Ed
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: 2004-05-11
SKU: 95120
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Good condition with some shelf wear. Previous owner's name inside front cover.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
School has become a prison.
No one knows why.
There's no way to stop it.
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Customer Reviews
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After
Rating  (4)
Date: 2010-05-25
I loved every minute of this book. The subject matter is so scary based on the fact that something like this could actually happen, and how easily it would be to accomplish something like this. The only thing that I would say I didn't like was the ending of the book. It seems as though it was left open for the possibility of a sequal, but I don't think it was. Now, if a sequal ever does come out, I'll be the first one there to buy it. Basically, this book is worth your time to read.
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Unrealistic but Interesting
Rating  (3)
Date: 2009-11-21
This is a very tricky book to deal with young adults.
The book revolves around a school shooting and how it affects neighboring schools.
The main problem with this book is that the antics of the adults tend to be overwhelmingly unrealistic. The characters take on a "pod person" effect that makes them care less about the children in the book.
The author takes a very serious subject-- school shootings and mixes it with an outlandish plot -- an overzealous administrator who wants to rule the school.
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Creepy Yet Wonderful
Rating  (5)
Date: 2009-05-06
It is a very creepy (yet at times hilarious) and serious book. It is recommended for teens. It was a little disturbing for me because I was 10 when I read it. It isn't too creepy though... The ending isn't happy, so for those of you who are sick of happy endings, read this book! It doesn't have a sad ending... but it's not a happy ending. I LOVED this book so much, I just wish there was a sequel.
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Aside from Camp-Turn-Around and the ending, "After" was a great book
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-07-13
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Before I praise After, I will admit that I did have two issues with the book. The first was that you never learn exactly WHAT happens at Camp Turn-a-round, which is where they send the "bad" kids that won't conform. I mean there are some clues, but I would have liked it if we had been able to see first hand what goes down there. I also didn't like the ending because it felt like a cliffhanger. I wanted to know what happened to the protagonist and his family. It seemed like there should have been either an epilogue or sequel.
NOW, the good stuff -
I really don't understand why there are so many bad reviews of this book. I liked that it was written in first person, so the reader learns what's going to happen next at the same time the main character, Tom, does.
I admit, reading After was a little scary for me because it seemed so realistic. As someone who was in High School when Columbine happened, I remember when a grief counselor came to our school and how things changed. For instance, we had to start carrying plastic, see-through bookbags, we got metal detectors, cell phones were banned and long, black trenchcoats were against dress code.
It makes you think about how we take our freedoms for granted and that America is slowly becoming a culture fueled by fear. If we continue at the rate we're going, it would not shock me if the things that seem so far-fetched in "After" become a reality. In fact, I believe After will become one of those classic novels like 1984.
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A book I hate to like...
Rating (3)
Date: 2008-06-13
I LOVE the premise of this book. The idea of the school lock-down, the loss of freedoms, and kids getting sent to "prison camps". The writing left something to be desired. I've read better young adult fiction. I felt let down by how the story was written, It could have had so much more to it, and so much more "meat" to the story. There was an implied relationship between Tom and his dad, but Tom didn't trust his dad at all to talk to him. I couldn't understand this, especially when his dad would constantly ask him if he needed to talk. I continually got frustrated with this book. I had to put it down a few times. But persisted through it. I was unhappy with the end too. As a parent, I wouldn't just run away... Nor would I let my kids just be taken away, I would tend to them as I see fit.
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