Review: Who Cares? by Krista Blakeney Bell

Who Cares? by Krista Blakeney Bell.

Kane Miller
Publication Date: September 2011
List Price: $4.99
ISBN-13: 9780734404664

Review: Krista Blakeney Bell outdoes herself in this tale of secrets and surfers. Who Cares is a must-read, so start reading. Toby and Rhys are your average 14-year-old boys. They have hobbies of their own, families of their own, and of course…there's always that one big secret hiding behind the walls of every person. Toby attends an all-boys school, which makes his love for tap-dancing something he needs to keep quiet. Rhys, who goes to school with Toby, has a huge secret of his own, something no one can know about.

Toby and Rhys' moms are old friends from college. When they accidentally run into each other at the grocery store, things for Toby and Rhys get interest. Rhys' family owns a beach house in Lorne, and Toby's mom wants him to spend the week there while she's on a business trip in Hong Kong. Toby isn't too keen on the idea, but he goes along for his mother's sake. Toby and Rhys don't know each other very well. Other than the fact that they both enjoy surfing, they have nothing in common. But when Toby tells Rhys of his passion for tap-dancing, Rhys feels the need to keep his own secret far from the ears of his new friend. The only thing is…Rhys' secret is turning ugly, fast. And he has to get Toby out of Lorne before he discovers any more about it. Everyone has secrets. And one way or another, they always come out.

When I look at any other book I have ever read about the bond between children, this has to be one of the best. The author takes some of the most incomprehensible thoughts that almost all children have and turns it into a great novel. When someone tells you to read Harry Potter or something, don't listen. Read this book. Read it, memorize it, and learn all you can from the words of Krista Blakeney Bell. Because what I only just figured out as I closed the back of this book is that a true friend won't care about what secrets you have. Every time you start worrying about what they're going to think, they surprise you by flat out saying, "Who cares?"

Review written by Amber (7th grade student).

We would like to thank Kane Miller for providing a copy of Who Cares? for this review.

Have you read Who Cares?? How would you rate it?