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Showing reviews 11-15 of 35
 Courtesy of Teens Read Too June 4, 2009
TeensReadToo.com (All Over the US & Canada)
A junior in high school without the burning desire to possess and drive his own car? Yep, that's James Hoff.
He believes cars are part of what is wrong in this world focused on consumerism and material wealth. He'll walk to the mall and bike to school, and he doesn't understand how everyone else can't see how they are contributing to the destruction of the planet.
James is a bit of an outcast. He shuns consumer goods as much as possible, choosing to wear old clothes, worn-out tennis shoes, even going so far as to cut the elbows out of his sweater to make it look even older and more worn. True, this earns him the odd comment or casual sneer from his classmates, but James does have friends who appreciate his different opinions, and he even had Sadie as his girlfriend for a while.
Sadie has her own set of "causes," like saving the whales and running the canned food drives for the hungry. Unfortunately, she left James for Will, but rumor has it that she's broken up with Will recently, making James reconsider his feelings for her. She seems interested in renewing their friendship, but James is sort of hoping for more.
Problems on the girlfriend front are just the tip of the iceberg for James. Parental pressure has been increasing recently, as well. He's never really cared much for his father, and when the man left a few years back it seemed that maybe he and his mother would be better off without him. Unfortunately, he returned.
Now that James is a junior, his father is asking the college questions. Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? James has been thinking maybe college isn't for him, at least not right now. His father definitely has other plans.
In an effort to convince James college is the path to choose, his father offers to buy him a car as soon as he applies to a college. How can his father know so little about his oldest son? Why would someone who believes in the destruction of all cars actually want one?
Blake Nelson works his literary magic as he creates the perfect picture of teenage turmoil. Using dialogue, journal entries, and Junior AP essay assignments, he reveals the world of James Hoff. Clever, witty, sarcastic, moody, love-struck, and confused are just a few of the adjectives that will come to mind as readers enter his world.
DESTROY ALL CARS offers an unforgettable roller-coaster ride through one teen's junior year.
Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
 A Guy's Book May 21, 2009
Orianna (TN, USA)
This book was okay. It really isn't my genre of choice, so I didn't adore it, but I found it mildly entertaining. My father, on the other hand, absolutely loved it. He demanded a sequel! So perhaps it's more of a guy-thing.
 Destroy All Cars May 17, 2009
Yan
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Destroy All Cars was quite a liberal piece of work. James is irrational and rational at the same time, with his cut-off sweaters, he reminded me of the kid in the back row. The one that makes you wonder, is he doing that on purpose or just for the heck of it? And with his ways of not shampooing his hair, and talk about the corrupt nature of humans you tend to shy away from characters such as he.
One of the strongest points of this book has to be James's essays. The reader gets a great sense of his personalities from his monologue. And let me tell you, he does have a lot of things to say. From hobos to soccer moms James tells all on how this society works. Which brings me back to the question if James is as real as it seems.
Outside of his snide humor, the actual book was lack-luster. I really did not care for Sadie nor the other girls. The teacher, I have to admit, added some type of humor besides James.
Overall: Destroy All Cars seemed to be more of random assortment into a guy's mind. Odd humor, thought-worthy topics, Destroy All Cars was a book to be read on a whim.
 Relevant but poorly presented May 8, 2009
The Book Muncher
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
James Hoff is a long term pessimist--he believes humans have consistently trashes the planet and aren't doing enough to reverse that trend, thus leading to ecological disaster. Her rejects American consumerism, materialism, and popular fads. And he particularly hates cars, as he views automobiles as the root of today's environmental problems. He talks big, of change the world, but his AP English teacher is getting fed up with James' "manifestos." And his ex-girlfriend Sadie, a supposed activist, seems content to organize food drives and build bike paths, even though those methods won't save the planet from impending disaster. But James is just out outcast teenager; what can he do? And what happens when other people get in the way of his big plans?
Destroy All Cars, while a good attempt to educate teens about current issues such as the drestruction of the environment all for the sake of "me, me, me!" and "stuff," was ultimately a failure for me. Firstly, the narrator, James Hoff, is a pessimistic extremist who can't see good in virtually anything. I agree with many of his thoughts, that American culture seems to be more about commodities and making money than actually thinking individually for the betterment of the world; however, James struck me as annoying, especially in his frequent insults of what he views as mindless American morons, and "all talk." Despite his passionate rants, James never makes one legitimate action to further his cause. James' AP English essays are unbelievable as well, and not in a good way; I'm in an Honors English class in the same year as James, and the essays I write have significantly more substance than James' disguised ranting journals. Second, Destroy All Cars was unsuccessful in conveying its message because I am already aware of the current issues this novel presents as well as many more. In fact, I found it slightly insulting how James lumps all Americans together as being ignorant, particularly teens, because I am a living contradiction to that. And honestly, I think most avid readers are also pretty aware of the world and people just browsing through bookstores would probably avoid this type of novel, thus defeating its purpose. The only redeeming part of this novel is James' relationship with Sadie and how if opens his eyes further, but other than that, Destroy All Cars was just strange and awkward for me to read.
While not for me, Destroy All Cars may be enjoyed by political and social activists that double as readers. Those who liked So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld may also like this novel.
Great book with a unique voice! April 27, 2009
Mint910 (USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ok, this book totally rocked my world. I kept cracking up over and over again. I loved being inside of 11th grader James Hoff's world, listening to his rants and watching him pine over several girls. His observations about the world were just too good. This was definitely my kind of book. I felt like I was sort of laughing at how extreme he was but at the same time kind of got him. While he was obviously a lot of talk and not a lot of action I loved where he was coming from and would love to have a friend like that.
While I loved James rants and sort of easier said than done thoughts about the world I could see how he might get on other people's nerves. I really liked the way the book was written, how it was a mix of James rants, journal entries, and conversations with other people. There is an especially insightful essay about nature towards the end of the book which I really liked. I also liked the different relationships he explores with a few girls throughout the book. It was definitely harder for him to be Mr. Tough Guy when he was around Sadie his ex-girlfriend.
It was nice to see how James kind of mellowed out and found a place where he belonged towards the end of the book instead of trying to stand out from everyone as much as he could towards the beginning of the book. I'll definitely be checking out some of author Blake Nelson's other work!
Showing reviews 11-15 of 35
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