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Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal follows the story of outcast high school senior Carson Phillips who blackmails the most popular students in his school into contributing to his literary journal to bolster his college application; his goal in life is to get into Northwestern and eventually become the editor of The New Yorker.
At once laugh-out-loud funny, deliciously dark, and remarkably smart, Struck By Lightning unearths the dirt that lies just below the surface of high school.
The film Stuck By Lightning features Colfer's own original screenplay. Colfer also stars in the film alongside Allison Janney, Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Hyland, and Polly Bergen.
Chris Colfer is a Golden Globe-winning actor best known for his role as "Kurt Hummel" on Glee. He was recently honored as a member of the 2011 TIME 100, Time magazine's annual list of the one hundred most influential people in the world. The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell was his first novel.
Anonymous
Posted November 24, 2012
I am way past my high school years but got this book for my niece and wanted to read it before giving it to her. I laughed out loud and remembered the Carson in my class. I think every American High School had at least one! I absolutely appreciate Chris as a actor on Glee and he is now becoming one of my favorite young writers to share with the young ones in my family. Bravo Chris! BRAVO! He speaks from the heart!
11 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 21, 2012
Only one complaint....not NEARLY long enough!!
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 26, 2012
I got this book mainly because Chris is my favorite actor on Glee, what I didnt aspect was the heartfelt journey of an aspiring journalist trying to breakfree from the ignorance of the small town of Clover. I loved every moment I spent reading this and I look forward to seeing the flim verison of this.(:
Also I love all the witty political jokes, Clovergate! Haha
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 21, 2012
I got this book HOPING to like it and found that I LOVED it. The writing is full of such a biting dark humor and such drive and passion that I could not put the book down. While Carson is not a sympathetic character at first, he grows on you. He is sarcastic and full of resentment, as many teens are - and many adults, for that matter. I don't want to ruin the "read", but when I finished, all I could think was "Wow". I'd recommend this to ANYONE of ANY AGE who has had difficulties to survive, quite frankly. One caveat: this IS written at a HS teen level; the language is definitely indicative of that.
5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 1, 2012
Struck By Lightning was amazing. It was comparable to a John Green novel.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 23, 2012
It was an amazing book and im sure it wont disappoint as a film. Chris Colfer has now shown me that not only is he an amazing actor and singer but an outstanding author as well.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 16, 2013
At first I liked the voice of Carson but it was too depressing.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 9, 2013
This book was laugh out loud haliours and had the best characters it was definatly worth my money
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 1, 2013
Awesome book! Very funny and an easy read.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 27, 2012
This book was really funny and I loved it! Chris definitely portrays high school accurately.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 26, 2012
It was refreshing! Most teen books are about "getting the boy/girl". It was to read about a teen trying to reach his goals despite the hatred he recieves from his peers.
It was inspirational,witty, and utterly heart breaking.
A+ to Colfer! :)
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 13, 2012
I love glee and when i saw this i had to read it but i think the author should stick to acting...
1 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 4, 2012
Chris Colfer is one of my idols. I love Glee, Kurt has been my favorite character since the beginning, and I love reading and writing. His success at such a young age is so inspiring.
I love this!<3
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 21, 2013
Let ne first start by saying Chris Colfer is awesome and that is one of the reasons I read the book and watched the movie. The movie followed the novel very well (Who would have guessed it, Chris made the movie) and my two current favorite actors are in it Chris Colfer and Rebel Wilson, They both did a great job in the film and I recommend both of them for anyone who has a huge sense of humor and someonewho loves Glee. The book was very good and really explained Carson's thoughts in a more greater perspective than the film would ever be able to.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Reviewed by Brenda Ballard for Readers' Favorite
Carson Phillips lives in a small town where the people do not understand or appreciate his brilliance or one-of-a-kind personality. The most important person in his life, his grandma, suffers from Alzheimer disease and no longer remembers who he is. Despite that, he still sees her every single day after school. After all, it is better than going home to his chronic alcoholic mom who is more often than not passed out on the couch. His father split long ago and seems to have forgotten his existence. But despite these adversities, Carson is determined to reach his goal of becoming a fantastic journalist. Northwest is his university of choice and none other will do. He knows they will want him. Why wouldn't they? If it weren't for him, the school would not have any sort of literary offerings. His flippy-dippy career counselor informs him that the newspaper is not considered good enough for acceptance. He decides to publish a literary magazine and uses his "in the know" to coerce fellow students to contribute.
This book is not for younger readers and if you are offended by dirty words, this is not the one for you. Having a teenager of my own and having spent countless hours listening to her peers discuss the aspects of their own small town high school, this book hit right home. My daughter and Carson could be one and the same in many of the scenes. She especially enjoyed the fact that although Carson had something to say about every club in school, FFA was not one of them. Thank you, Chris Colfer, for being part of a wonderful road trip and the laughter it provided.
Anonymous
Posted May 14, 2013
This is by far the best book I have ever read. Great ending and hilarious. You should read this. Chris Colfer is an AWESOME author! :)
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Posted May 8, 2013
When I finished this book I cried because it nade me realize how life is unfair. I originally read this book because it was written by chris colfer but I did not expect it to be written so well. I like that carson is a little obssesed with his dream. I do wish the people who were black mailed had a little more development but I this a great read. I look forward to the movie.
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Posted April 30, 2013
Loved! Chris Colfer is great! Great reed for teens!
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Posted April 15, 2013
You only live one so why not live it up
By
Toasty(my nickname)
Anonymous
Posted March 31, 2013
This book was terrible! It felt like I was reading a screenplay, it wasn't written the way a novel is supposed to be written. The eriting wasn't nearly descriptive enough amd the difficulty is so low a fourth grader could read it. Also, the end of the novel was so stupid SPOILER ALERT when a character dies in a novel the auther does it for a meaningful reason but in this case it was just because the author felt like putting in an unexpected twist, I could go on but these are just the main problems in this novel.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal follows the story of outcast high school senior Carson Phillips who blackmails the most popular students in his school into contributing to his literary journal to bolster his college application; his goal in life is to get into Northwestern and eventually become the editor of The New Yorker.
At once laugh-out-loud funny, deliciously dark, and remarkably smart, Struck By Lightning unearths the ...