Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
For John "Jack" Sutton, life is made up of two things--when the meds he takes for ADHD are streaming through his system, and when they're wearing off. For as long as he can remember, he's taken medication at regular intervals throughout the day to help with his ADHD, otherwise known as Attention Deficit hyperactivity Disorder. Although there are still plenty of times when his mind wanders, or when he can't answer a direct question, or when he's in his own world and doesn't even realize that someone is speaking to him, these times are fewer and farther between when he's taking his Ritalin.
Jack has a pretty close-knit group of friends: Mary, who also has ADHD, and Sam, who takes medication to keep him from having seizures due to epilepsy. Along with a few other students at Busby Memorial High School, they make up Club Meds--the students who arrive at the nurse's office daily for their mid-day dose of medication.
Jack's life isn't only made up of Club Meds, though. There's also his mother, a stay-at-home mom who has the art of worrying down to an exact science. For someone who is a freshman in high school, Jack has very little freedom. He's not allowed to talk on the phone after eight p.m., especially to Mary, who for some reason is persona non grata to his mother. He doesn't go out to parties, or stay out late, or date. And when and if he does get in trouble, which happens a lot when he deals with his father, his punishment is to have his computer taken away. Since Jack's idea of light reading is a Mac manual, this is torture. For his father, a former jock who doesn't even truly believe in either ADHD or the need for medication, dealing with Jack is something he tries to avoid at all costs.
And then there's Chuck Williams, the bully of all bullies, who gets off on tormenting the members of Club Meds. For Jack, things get even worse when Chuck starts demanding he turn over some of his weekly medication for his own purposes. How is Jack supposed to deal with everyday life without his medicine? As things go from bad to worse, it's up to the members of Club Meds to come up with a plan to end Chuck's assault.
CLUB MEDS is a great, entertaining, quick read. I've been fortunate to read some of Ms. Page's previous releases in the adult mystery market, and have to say that the same fast-paced style is in play here. A great read about being different, tolerating cruelty, and having what's mentioned in the book as "a disability that no one can see."
For John "Jack" Sutton, life is made up of two things--when the meds he takes for ADHD are streaming through his system, and when they're wearing off. For as long as he can remember, he's taken medication at regular intervals throughout the day to help with his ADHD, otherwise known as Attention Deficit hyperactivity Disorder. Although there are still plenty of times when his mind wanders, or when he can't answer a direct question, or when he's in his own world and doesn't even realize that someone is speaking to him, these times are fewer and farther between when he's taking his Ritalin.
Jack has a pretty close-knit group of friends: Mary, who also has ADHD, and Sam, who takes medication to keep him from having seizures due to epilepsy. Along with a few other students at Busby Memorial High School, they make up Club Meds--the students who arrive at the nurse's office daily for their mid-day dose of medication.
Jack's life isn't only made up of Club Meds, though. There's also his mother, a stay-at-home mom who has the art of worrying down to an exact science. For someone who is a freshman in high school, Jack has very little freedom. He's not allowed to talk on the phone after eight p.m., especially to Mary, who for some reason is persona non grata to his mother. He doesn't go out to parties, or stay out late, or date. And when and if he does get in trouble, which happens a lot when he deals with his father, his punishment is to have his computer taken away. Since Jack's idea of light reading is a Mac manual, this is torture. For his father, a former jock who doesn't even truly believe in either ADHD or the need for medication, dealing with Jack is something he tries to avoid at all costs.
And then there's Chuck Williams, the bully of all bullies, who gets off on tormenting the members of Club Meds. For Jack, things get even worse when Chuck starts demanding he turn over some of his weekly medication for his own purposes. How is Jack supposed to deal with everyday life without his medicine? As things go from bad to worse, it's up to the members of Club Meds to come up with a plan to end Chuck's assault.
CLUB MEDS is a great, entertaining, quick read. I've been fortunate to read some of Ms. Page's previous releases in the adult mystery market, and have to say that the same fast-paced style is in play here. A great read about being different, tolerating cruelty, and having what's mentioned in the book as "a disability that no one can see."
