Leftovers

Leftovers

By: Heather Waldorf

Fifteen-year-old Sarah Greene''s father-chef by day, camera buff by night-choked to death on a piece of steak. It was the best day of Sarah''s life. But a year later, Sarah still struggles with the legacy of her father''s abuse.

After a brief skirmish with the law, Sarah is sentenced to do community service hours at Camp Dog Gone Fun, a summer program for shelter dogs. With the love of a big goofy dog named Judy, the friendship of Sullivan, a guy with problems of his own, and the support of a few good adults, Sarah begins to understand her past and believe in a brighter future.

summary from goodreads.com


My Rating: 3.5/5

I really enjoyed this book. I'll admit that it took a few chapters to draw me in but once it did, I couldn't place it down for very long.

I really liked the premise of Leftovers. Although many forms of abuse have been covered in past YA novels, I found Heather Waldorf's take on a familiar and difficult subject to be refreshing and different especially the idea behind Camp Dog Gone Fun which introduced the reader to a multitude of interesting characters and scenarios.

As far as characters go, I really liked Sarah. I thought her emotions and actions to be realistic. I also really enjoyed some minor characters as well, especially Sullivan who I thought to be very quirky and adorable.

My only complaint is that I wish this book would have been longer. I felt like there could have been more development as far as some characters were concerned. I don't think Sarah was lacking but I do feel that a lot of the minor characters (other "volunteers" at Camp Dog Gone Fun and so on) would have been really fantastic had they been drawn out more. I also feel that many scenarios and situations could have been further played out as well.

Aside from that, I really liked this book. One little plus is that Leftovers takes place in Canada which is always great for me because when the author mentioned particular landmarks or locations, I knew exactly what she was referring to. It was a nice change. :)