This book was simply wonderful. I did not think that it was just a book for ages 9-12, I think that older kids will like it too. It deals not only with kid stuff, but in its own way some adult matters like racism and being overly-protective. The story had me hooked. I couldn't put it down! I just kept reading and reading page after page. The charactors are so real. It was like I met them while reading it! It is a REALLY good book, I enjoyed it thoroughly, cover to cover. I hope this review makes you want to read this book too. I really liked it!

I am a 14 year old male. I needed to read an easy short book in one week for school, so I picked up this piece of [junk]. This book revolves around a "normal, average, every-day" girl (like we need another one of THEM). She and her friend experience an earthquake. Big deal. This was pure torture trying to get through this garbage. As if us teenagers don't get stereotyped enough, this author describes a "cool" teenager as the head-phone-wearing, couch-potato, MTV-loving punk. I laughed out loud. Joe Cottonwood, the [person] that wrote this, is horrible at dialogue. He describes teenagers talking: "Like Totally for sure whatever!" Does he even have kids!? I don't mean to be a little wise-[butt], but I think I could write better sub-plots. I'm a writer, and this book actually inspired me more. If there are novels out there that are this bad.. I could write an Epic! Compare this to someone like Harper Lee.. it's kind of funny. But in the more younger category, this one ranks way below Lois Sachar. This guy tries to be descriptive, like he knows he's good. Sometimes it's okay. But mostly it just makes you want to slap some sense into him. He needs to learn how to build better characters. Too plain, and too original. This is coming out of a 14 year old too.. so does this tell the author something?

This book is about two former friends who see each other for the first time in a long time. Their parents are going to the world series together. While they are visiting there is a massive earthquake. What will happen?

I liked this book because of the intense description. Another reason is because of the plot of the story. My favorite character was Sydney because he acts just like a little boy should. He likes bllod, guts, and war movies. The best part of the book was when the earthquake hit. The reason is because the author made it very real. It made you feel like it happened to you. The ending is disappointing because I wanted something else to happened.

This is the best book for all ages to relive the disastrous Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. As you read this book or any of Cottonwood's novels it easy to bond and relate with the characters. This book makes you feel like you are living out the disaster with the family. A must read!

Adventures of Boone Barnaby is a classic for boys and girls alike. Boone and his friends trying to raise money for the their soccer team to go to the champianship by holding a Trashathon was the funniest part. The quick whit of the characters and the creative twist of events left my class wondering if it was wrong to think unkindly about the old miser in the story. A great tool for discussions about fairness, truth, and justice. I read this to my sixth graders and they ALL recommended it to the fifth grade class!

Joe Cottonwood's "Famous Potatoes" is an "on-the-road" story uneasily weded to mystical elements more at home in a Richard Brautigan novel. Vietnam vet Willy Middlebrook is framed for a murder he didn't commit and becomes a fugitive forced to explore the bright and dark sides of human nature in the seedier parts of America's cities. Middlebrook sinks into the faceless society that America has become. Middlebrook efforts to escape the authorities reveals the kindness of those who aid him and the ugliness of those who thwart him or just view him indifferently.

This would have been a good novel reflecting the anger and frustration of the post-war 1970s, but Cottonwood disrupts the flow at times with ghostly encounters that muddy the narrative. Even taking that shortcoming into consideration, this book will make you think. Cottonwood has a gift for story telling and for capturing America's mood in the early 1970s.