Jumped

( 20 )

Overview

Acclaimed author Rita Williams-Garcia gives readers an intimate, gritty portrayal of three very different teens on the day when everything collides.

Trina: "Hey," I say, though I don't really know them. It's okay if they don't speak. I know how it is. They can't all be Trina.

Dominique: Some stupid little flit cuts right between us and is like, "Hey." I slam my fist into my other hand because she's as good ...

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Jumped

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More About This Book

Overview

Acclaimed author Rita Williams-Garcia gives readers an intimate, gritty portrayal of three very different teens on the day when everything collides.

Trina: "Hey," I say, though I don't really know them. It's okay if they don't speak. I know how it is. They can't all be Trina.

Dominique: Some stupid little flit cuts right between us and is like, "Hey." I slam my fist into my other hand because she's as good as jumped.

Leticia: Girl fights are ugly. Girl fights are personal. And who's to say I wasn't seeing it from the wrong angle?

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Editorial Reviews

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Williams-Garcia deftly creates portraits of each of the girls as the narration moves from one to another, with the triangulation of view resulting in some fascinatingly complex characterization.”
Chicago Tribune
"This nail–biter of a tale, told from the girls’ three viewpoints, has great insight into the lives of teenage girls and how they interpret and perpetrate bullying."
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Williams-Garcia deftly creates portraits of each of the girls as the narration moves from one to another, with the triangulation of view resulting in some fascinatingly complex characterization."
Horn Book Magazine
"The latest novel from Williams-Garcia offers a piercing snapshot of three girls in an urban high school, their daily struggle to realize their hopes and dreams, and the threat of school violence to shatter them all."
ALA Booklist
"Williams-Garcia makes the drama feel not only immediate but suffocatingly tense, as each tick of the clock speeds the three girls toward collision. Most impressive is how the use of voice allows readers to fully experience the complicated politics of high school; you can sense the thousand mini–dramas percolating within each crowded classroom."
The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books
“Williams-Garcia deftly creates portraits of each of the girls as the narration moves from one to another, with the triangulation of view resulting in some fascinatingly complex characterization.”
Publishers Weekly

Alternating among the perspectives of three girls at an urban high school, Williams-Garcia (Like Sisters on the Homefront) shows once again her uncanny ability to project unique voices. Benched by the basketball coach for her low grades, Dominique is trying to bite back her rage when "some stupid little flit comes skipping down B corridor like the Easter Bunny.... Skipping. In all that pink" and walks between Dominique and her "girls," "like she don't see I'm here and all the space around me is mines." That's it-Dominique vows to "kick her ass" at exactly 2:45. Her intended victim, Trina-already full of herself over her looks, and pumped up because she's about to hang her latest masterpiece of art in a hallway)-does not hear, but Leticia does, and she can't wait to tell her best friend ("That would be something to see.... Trina getting stomped on school grounds"). And when Leticia's friend argues that Leticia ought to warn Trina, the plot quickens rather than taking a simple path around should-she/shouldn't-she. So well observed that the characters seem to leap off the page, the novel leaves a strong and lingering impact. Ages 12-up. (Mar.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
VOYA
When Trina brushes past Dominique in their high school hall, it seems like nothing. But Dominique is looking for a fight, and Trina gives her the chance for one. Leticia overhears Dominique tell her friends that she plans to go after Trina at the end of the day. Will she tell Trina what she knows or let it play out? Williams-Garcia tackles girl-on-girl violence in a novel told in alternating first-person chapters by each of the three girls involved. Observing one day at a New York City high school, readers see how seemingly disconnected events and students can come together with tragic results. The randomness of the event that leaves Trina targeted is accurately described as "trifling" by Leticia's friend Bea, an intriguing "off-camera" character who gets the story from Leticia via cell phone and who urges Leticia to tell Trina what she knows to prevent the incident. What all three girls have in common is their adolescent self-absorption, and as the story plays out without a forced happy ending, readers will be left to consider how things could have been different. The voices of the three girls, unique and distinctive through much of the book, seem to blend for a bit past the halfway mark, but teens who live the reality of girl fights and getting jumped every day will surely see themselves and their friends in these girls whose lives change forever because of a chance contact in the hall. Reviewer: Vikki Terrile
Children's Literature
Trina is lost in her own selfish world in which she thinks everyone loves her and wants to be her friend. One day at school, Dominique and her friends are in Trina's way, so she pushes through as though unaware of their presence. But Dominique isn't about to let anyone treat her that way, and she decides to jump Trina after school. Leticia overhears Dominique's plan and is torn between what she should do. If she warns Trina, she's breaking the silent high school code that says she should mind her own business. Finally, Leticia decides to keep quiet. At 2:45 p.m., Trina is unexpectedly trounced by Dominique. For months, Trina is in a coma from the brutal beating she experiences. Upon awakening, she is a different person. Her speech is delayed and she is no longer energetic. This novel accurately portrays how one moment can affect many lives permanently, for better or worse. As it follows these three characters through one day at their diverse high school, the story realistically portrays the drama, crude language and events to which all students can relate. While fast-paced, this novel doesn't provide a satisfying conclusion. None of the characters are remorseful for their actions, or lack thereof. While the book is extremely realistic and tightly-written, the author leaves the reader wanting more from the characters. Reviewer: Ashleigh Vanada
Kirkus Reviews
It's more than just three high-school girls-self-centered Leticia, skipping the last few minutes of her before-school, repeat Geometry class; angry Dominique, begging her teacher for five more points so she can play in the next basketball game; and overconfident Trina, hanging her Black History Month artwork in the corridor gallery-in the wrong place at the wrong time. When Trina cuts in front of Dominique and her girls, Dominique threatens, "I'm gonna kick that ass at two forty-five," and Leticia witnesses it all. Short, nuanced, alternating first-person chapters reveal the truth behind each girl's motivations throughout the day and challenge readers to ponder the culpability of each teen when Dominique carries out her threat and Leticia refuses to intervene. References to A Separate Peace and other literary and historical allusions help fuel the riveting debate. With a realistic look at girl-on-girl violence and gripping characterization, Williams-Garcia masterfully builds tension to the momentous ending. Although readers can anticipate the tragedy that transpires, it is shocking and agonizing nonetheless. (Fiction. YA)
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Williams-Garcia deftly creates portraits of each of the girls as the narration moves from one to another, with the triangulation of view resulting in some fascinatingly complex characterization.”
ALA Booklist (starred review)
“Williams-Garcia makes the drama feel not only immediate but suffocatingly tense, as each tick of the clock speeds the three girls toward collision. Most impressive is how the use of voice allows readers to fully experience the complicated politics of high school; you can sense the thousand mini–dramas percolating within each crowded classroom.”
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
“Teens who live the reality of girl fights and getting jumped every day will surely see themselves and their friends in these girls.”
School Library Journal
Gr 8–10—Before writing this novel (Amistad, 2009), Rita Williams-Garcia carefully observed students in a number of inner-city high schools, intent on creating this authentic story of self-absorbed, sociopathic teens. Teen voices narrate the actions of students during one day at their urban high school in this exceptional production. Leticia, privileged, spoiled, and shallow, is only interested in the excitement of the social drama surrounding her. Instead of becoming responsibly involved, she is absorbed in Celina, her "baby girl" cell phone, and the loss of her designer fingernail. Nique will not admit that she is responsible for the low grades that are keeping her off the basketball court. She insists her "troubled kid" label is unfair and that she has control of her temper. The catalyst in the story is Trina, a conceited, petite girl with personality and looks that all the girls envy and all the boys can't resist. When Leticia overhears Dominique threatening to beat up Trina, she really doesn't want to get involved and warn the girl to divert disaster. In alternating chapters, the story is told in three first-person accounts by the girls. The expert performances by various narrators enhance the author's characterizations of the teens and the adults who supervise them. Lyrically expressed in street talk with similes and metaphors, the strong characters have a lot to say. This insightful, realistic, and expertly written novel is a language arts teacher's dream, offering unlimited potential for active discussion.—Jennifer Ward, Albany Public Library, NY
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780060760939
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 12/21/2010
  • Pages: 169
  • Sales rank: 110822
  • Age range: 12 - 17 Years
  • Product dimensions: 4.90 (w) x 7.10 (h) x 0.60 (d)

Meet the Author

Rita Williams-Garcia is the author of the Newbery Honor–winning novel One Crazy Summer, which was also a winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, a National Book Award finalist, the recipient of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and a New York Times bestseller. She is also the author of six distinguished novels for young adults: Jumped, a National Book Award finalist; No Laughter Here, Every Time a Rainbow Dies (a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book), and Fast Talk on a Slow Track (all ALA Best Books for Young Adults); Blue Tights; and Like Sisters on the Homefront, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. Rita Williams-Garcia lives in Jamaica, New York, is on the faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in the Writing for Children & Young Adults Program, and has two adult daughters, Stephanie and Michelle, and a son-in-law, Adam.

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Read an Excerpt

Jumped RB/SB

Chapter One

Zero Period

Leticia

Zero period. You got that right. Fail one math test and you're up before the first chirp of day. Up before streetlights turn off and sun rays shoot through the blinds. Fail one math test and you're stepping over a snow-covered homeless lump to get to the stop, shiver, and wait for the city bus to pull up to your boots.

None of this had to happen to me. None of it. Having to set and wrap my hair at 8:00 PM instead of 10:00. Making Celina wake me because my alleged alarm clock won't do what it's supposed to do when it's supposed to do it. Getting dressed in the dark because a hundred watts are too hard on my eyes at 5:45.

If not for those missing thirteen points, my mornings would be calm, not chaotic. A 52 on the final and they wouldn't pass me. They couldn't scrape up a point here, half a point there to make up the thirteen. They said SHOW ALL WORK in the test booklet, so I did that. I showed them my sides, my angles, line BEC bisecting line DEF. I did my part. What was the sense of showing all that work if they had no intention of doing their part? The missing thirteen are there in the booklet. Had they dug deep enough, they would have found them. I would have passed.

Mr. Jiang knows he doesn't want to see my face this spring semester. I aggravated him fall semester like he aggravated me. This was all on him. He should have done the right thing for both our sakes and passed me along to Geometry II with Miss DeBarge.

Why Bridgette or Bernie didn't handle things immediately, I can't understand. Neither took time off from their jobs to confront Mr. Jiang orstrike a deal with the guidance counselor. No. They just let Jiang fail me. Bridgette shook her head and Bernie dipped his biscuit into the gravy but no one gave Leticia a second thought when all they had to do was show up. Speak up. Do what they were supposed to do.

Anabel Winkler's grandmother loved her. Anabel's grandmother talked to the guidance counselor and fixed things so Anabel could attend summer school after this semester. That's why Anabel is still wrapped up tight in her Hello Kitty comforter crunching Z cookies.

If someone loved me, I'd be turning over in the warmth and safety of my queen-size bed. But no one thought to open the envelope addressed to the parents of Leticia Moore that offered the choice between summer school and rising at an ungodly, unsafe hour in the chill of near night. I know the school sent the letter. The school's very good about mailing letters to the house, and Bridgette and Bernie are usually pretty good about reading them and following up with the "talking to." Bridgette and Bernie knew to look out for the letter from the guidance counselor's office. They knew it was coming. They signed the blue booklet with the big 52 on the cover under Parental Signature Mandatory. But when the guidance counselor sent it, and the postman delivered it, the parents of Leticia Corinthia Moore, aka Bridgette and Bernie, didn't bother to open the envelope. They just fed it to the recycling bin like it was a bill. That's right. My do-not-pass-go card was recycled into toilet paper and Starbucks napkins, not doing anybody a bit of good.

It's not enough that I have to get up before the world turns and watch newspaper chunks hit the streets and block-long McTrucks unload McFood crates. I'm stuck watching gears of the working world shift just so I can take an "extra help" math class I get no credit for. It's like being in school for free. Like working behind a counter without getting that five twenty-five an hour. Or five fifty-five. Whatever next-to-nothing they pay kids to dodge french-fry grease. Except you get up, risk your life waiting in the dark to sit through slow-motion Geometry and get no credit. Two periods later you're still repeating Geometry I, still looking at Mr. Jiang's face, and he's still looking at your face. You get nothing for being in "extra help" math before the world turns. For all this chaos you get zero. Period.

I dig down in my bag for my schedule but the lady cop waves me through. She knows my jail sentence and my big face by now. Zero period doesn't miraculously disappear from your schedule. Once a class is stamped in the column that's grayed out for everyone else, you're stuck. You're a zero-period regular and the cops know it and wave you through.

Miss Palenka isn't a full teacher. She's still in college getting her practice on us, probably getting paid zero, and that's about right. But she's nice, wears okay outfits, and takes her time explaining until everyone looks like they got it. For the next twenty-five minutes I'm present, taking notes, breaking down the proofs until ten minutes before the bell rings. By then everyone is arriving, congregating outside, and I can't write another given. To us stuck inside, the milling and laughing sound like a party, and who wants to be inside when the party is going on outside?

I try to sit through it, but how many ways and times can she demonstrate a ninety-degree angle in a right triangle? How many times can she say right triangles can only have one right angle? How many times can she point to the hypotenuse? Right, right, right triangle. I got it. I got it. Please don't say it again. But there she goes, working hard for her zero.

Pen down. I'm done listening to zero for zero. I need to be outside where the dirt is fresh and the gossip is good. I need to catch it all while it's clicking and flashing: what they're wearing, who they're with, and what they're saying. I need to sashay myself within twenty feet of Chem II James and let him get the ball rolling. Can't do that from inside here, so I scribble a bathroom pass right quick and raise my hand.

Jumped RB/SB. Copyright © by Rita Williams-Garcia. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 20 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(10)

4 Star

(3)

3 Star

(3)

2 Star

(1)

1 Star

(3)
Sort by: Showing all of 20 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted Sat Apr 17 00:00:00 EDT 2010

    Terrible!

    I don't know why or how this was nominated for an award! This was by far the lamest story I have ever read. It was a nightmare just trying to read through to the end. It seemed as Garcia was trying too hard to talk and think like a typical teenager. The entire storyline is unrealistic and the end is even more perplexing and odd. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. She triese to cover different controversial teenager issues and brushes on many but fails to really address any issues. Overall it's a terrible book.

    3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Thu May 26 00:00:00 EDT 2011

    more from this reviewer

    Am I Missing Something???

    I guess I get the point of the story but I don't think the author did a proper job of getting her point across. Having three very selfish girls as the narrators is a little off-putting. They don't seem like real people. The ending is just lousy. Very odd book. I would not recommend it to anyone.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Fri Feb 08 00:00:00 EST 2013

    Wack !!

    To me this book is WACK. It doesnt hold my attention.... I can barely finish it now.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Tue Sep 04 00:00:00 EDT 2012

    To begin with I would recommend the book Jumped to my fri

    To begin with I would recommend the book Jumped to my friends. One of the reasons I would recommend this book to my friends is because it teaches us that we shouldn’t disrespect other kids or put our hands on them. Another reason is because we should also know that if someone disrespects us or puts their hands on us we shouldn’t beat them up. Instead we should tell a grown up or if they shove you by mistake just ignore or if they say sorry forgive them. The third reason I would recommend the book is because we shouldn’t pay eye for eye and teeth for teeth on the contrary we should solve the problems talking not with violence. The last reason I would recommend this book to my friend is because we should be making friends not enemies and we should be better citizens.
    What I liked of this book was that it had good plot and good settings. The part I liked was when Dominque paid the consequences for beating Trina up. I also liked when Leticia went to visit Trina in the hospital. I haven’t read another book by Rita Williams Garcia but nothing disappointed me from the book Jumped.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Mon Jul 13 00:00:00 EDT 2009

    more from this reviewer

    For any age and any gender

    This book was very interesting it catches your attention from the first sentence to the last sentence. It stars three girls ones the gossip and drama queen girl the other is the artist and kind of an airhead thinking she is amazing and the last one is the basketball player and bully. Well when one girl crosses another it all breaks loose. And one of the girls who witnessed it will she tell the other girl she is going to get jumped or will she act like she never knew.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Fernlight

    Beautiful in an odd way. She has silvery white fur and black fur on her paws and tailtip. She has dazzling green eyes and slightly longer tailfur.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Frostlife

    No

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Falconclaw

    Greetings to both of you. I want to get to know you before i choose so do either of you have a clan?

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  • Posted Sat Jul 09 00:00:00 EDT 2011

    I Also Recommend:

    Illegal
    Airhead (Airhead Series #1)
    Elixir
    Audrey, Wait!
    The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June

    Great book!

    I finished this book in like 3 days, it is one of the best books I've read!

    You'll have a favorite character, mine was Leticia...

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  • Posted Sat May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010

    more from this reviewer

    I enjoyed it

    I really enjoyed this book. After i was done reading it i was found scanning through it. The characters are pretty likeable. At the beggining i was pretty confused. I didn't know the story was based on three diff girls.

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  • Posted Thu Jul 16 00:00:00 EDT 2009

    Will have your heart racing

    Urgent. This story is urgent, grabs you by the neck and plops you right inside the body and mind of Leticia, Trina, and Dominique, one by one. How much can happen in a single day in an ordinary high school? How much difference can one small event, one tiny comment make? How much can a solitary person do about violence? Jump into Rita Williams-Garcia's breathtaking story Jumped and you'll be shocked to find out how so little can become so much. Run, don't walk, to get a copy of Jumped. Read it and pass it on to your friends, neighbors, and to every youth that you love. It could make a world of difference in their lives.

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  • Posted Tue Mar 17 00:00:00 EDT 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    Every Time a Rainbow Dies
    Like Sisters on the Homefront

    An Absolute Must Read!!!!

    Jumped is a very appropriate book for today's teens to read. I enjoyed the book very much. The story is told from the perspectives of 3 different girls,Trina, Dominique, and Leticia. Each girl has a major character flaw that causes explosive results, when their lives intersect. Readers will be able to relate either personally or from someone they know with the characters. The story also shows the danger involved when teenage girls decide to take out their anger and frustration on each other. The ending will leave your mouth hanging open. Rita Williams-Garcia, as always, has her hand on the pulse of today's teens and their issues. This book is definitely a conversation starter. Great job!!!!

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  • Posted Thu Jan 22 00:00:00 EST 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Reviewed by Grandma Bev for TeensReadToo.com

    Trina is a beautiful, bouncy girl who is proud of herself and is sure that everyone envies her looks and personality. <BR/><BR/>When she is delivering some of her artwork to a teacher for a project, she walks too close to Dominique... "cuts into" her space... and Dominique, who is a tough basketball athlete, takes exception to that. She slams her fist into her other hand, and announces to her friends that Trina is as good as "jumped." <BR/><BR/>Leticia understands the implications of the threat, but she doesn't want to get involved...and well, she's not sure that she actually saw what she thinks she saw. <BR/><BR/>JUMPED is a frightening look at teen angst and bullying. This story tells how the lives of three very different teens connect with each other and how the choices they make can have dire consequences. These are very compelling characters, some likable, and some that are not. The suspense builds with nail-biting intensity to an unexpected climax. <BR/><BR/>Ms. Williams-Garcia has the ability to capture the interactions of tough, inner-city teens better than any other writer today. Their problems really come to life in this fast-paced story that I couldn't put down.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted Mon Jun 13 00:00:00 EDT 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted Sat Dec 19 00:00:00 EST 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted Thu Jan 28 00:00:00 EST 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted Wed Aug 24 00:00:00 EDT 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted Thu Apr 29 00:00:00 EDT 2010

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Fri Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2013

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