Review - Dented Cans by Heather Walsh

Title and Author: Dented Cans by Heather Walsh

Publisher: CreateSpace

Publication Date: November 2nd, 2012

Paperback/Hardcover: 150

Genre: Young Adult,

Find it at: Goodreads /

Summary:

A family secret is revealed during an ill-fated—yet hilarious—trip to Disney World.

Sixteen-year-old Hannah Sampson knows her family is not what you would call normal. Her father compulsively buys dented cans and has a particular fondness for cans without labels, which are extremely discounted because their contents are a mystery. Her mother takes countless pictures of her family and then glues them down into the pages of her scrapbooks, but does not allow anyone to look at them. Ryan, Hannah’s mischievous fourteen-year-old brother, is headed straight for the remedial track at the local community college, if he’s lucky. Ben, her eight-year-old brother, is a walking sound effects machine, who prefers to communicate with noises rather than words. While Hannah is focused on escaping her working-class Connecticut suburb, she also finds herself being tugged back home as she worries about her brother Ben.

Hannah’s parents inflict one last family vacation on the Sampson children, a trip that goes comically wrong almost from the get-go. Hannah is forced to confront her family’s past in Disney World, of all places, when an emotional argument prompts her parents to disclose a secret they have been keeping from the children for sixteen years. Ultimately, she must decide whether to leave her hometown and not look back, or to focus on helping her family.

  

Review:

I have received this book from the author in exchange of an honest review.

Dented Cars is the story of Helen and her very different family.  Her family members all have a quirky habit like choosing dented cans from the supermarket instead of the normal ones.

When her parents decide to take the whole family to Disney world, the trip doesn’t exactly go as expected.

The characters in this book are very interesting, especially Hannah. She knows her brothers and parents aren’t exactly what one would call normal and she can’t wait to escape her town and go to college. She’s a good main character and easy to relate to. She’s funny and smart and a good narrator.

Her family, as a said is a little weird. They have weird habits and are not ashamed of them. I enjoyed the dynamics between them.

When it comes to the plot, in the beginning I thought it was a little weird this family had decided to go to Disney world but I enjoyed reading about them there. The story revolves around this trip and the dynamics between the family members.

All in all, I enjoyed Dented Cans and thought it was an interesting take on a different family. The story is fast-paced and well-written. I wouldn’t have minded if there had been more of plot but I still like the story.

Rating: Readable (3 Stars)