The Survival Kit
4.5/5
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About this ebook
When Rose's mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose's Survival Kit. Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a paper kite, for letting go.
As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will is her family's gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she's going through. Can loss lead to love?
Donna Freitas
Donna Freitas is the author of the Unplugged series as well as other young adult, middle grade, and adult novels. Donna is on the faculty at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s MFA program. She divides her time between Barcelona and Brooklyn. You can visit her online at donnafreitas.com.
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Reviews for The Survival Kit
8 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sixteen-year-old Rose Madison has it all: she's beautiful, popular cheerleader dating the captain of the football team. But ever since her mother died, these things don't matter very much. Now she can't think about anything except keeping her grieving family together...and holding on to the last gift her mother left her. Labeled "Rose's Survival Kit," it includes: an ipod, a picture of peonies, a crystal heart, a paper star, a box of crayons, and a tiny handmade kite. The kit comes with something else, too: a beautiful gown that Rose calls the Dress Made of Night because of the way it sparkles like stars in the sky. How can any of these items help her to survive? Piece by piece, Rose ponders their meaning and finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will Doniger is her family's landscaper, the MVP on the school hockey team,and, surprisingly the only person who really understands whats she's going through. Can loss lead to love?
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When Roses's mother dies, she leaves Rose a survival kit. Inside Rose finds an iPod, a picture of peonies, a crystal heart, a paper star, and a paper kite. The survival kit helps Rose and her family move on after her mother's death. But moving on isn't easily: her father drinks, she keeps her boyfriend at a distance, and her brother is at college. There are no easy answers to moving on, but she does so by making small changes starting with a new boyfriend who is still dealing with the death of his father. A well-written book for anyone dealing with loss.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love a well written young adult contemporary book. The Survival Kit is just that.Donna Freitas wrote a beautiful story about Rose. I cried, smiled, and laughed multiple times during this novel. One certain memory Rose had about a day after her mother's death had me crying pretty hardcore. I got one of those what I like to call "crying headaches." I enjoyed going on this journey with Rose and the survival kit her mother left for her after she died to help her cope with her mother's death. We get to see how different she is from page one until the epilogue.Many times in a young adult story, we see the protagonist dump her boyfriend (or get dumped) and he's a bad person. Donna wrote Rose's boyfriend at the beginning of the book to be a good guy and he stayed a good guy until the end of the book. It was refreshing to not see the girl running from a bad boy to a good guy or vice versa, but having to decide for herself between a couple of good ones.The romance between Will and Rose was so slow and so stinking cute. They started off slowly talking as friends because they both had lost a parent...it couldn't have been more perfect.There's music in this contemporary! I'm sure many of you will LOVE this! It isn't overpowering in any way. Donna has even supplied us with a playlist at the end of the novel. Thank you Donna!For those of you who have read This Gorgeous Game, the story is completely different, but I loved it just as much! I'm looking forward to reading anything else she publishes!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After her irrepressible mother dies of cancer, Rose finds a “survival kit” that her mother made for her, a paper bag containing several objects that are supposed to help Rose overcome her grief. As Rose slowly comes to terms with the tragedy, her interactions with the objects in the Survival Kit invariably affect her relationships with important people in her lives, from her father, to her ex-boyfriend, to her friends, to the boy who might be her new love.Donna Freitas is arguably YA’s best kept secret: her books are released with little fanfare, yet they are all beautifully, subtly written contemporary stories that linger in readers’ emotions for a long time to come. THE SURVIVAL KIT takes on a premise that has become unfortunately conventional in terms of contemporary YA plots, and manages to make it into a heartwarming, memorable, and utterly unique story.Strangely enough, THE SURVIVAL KIT begins with a slew of clichés: the dead mother, the alcoholic father, the ex-cheerleader protagonist with her quarterback boyfriend and token POC best friend. It wasn’t long, however, before THE SURVIVAL KIT began to set itself apart from other books containing these clichéd elements. There may be cheerleaders and football players in this book, but the characters are not gag-inducing stereotypes: they are truly nice, flawed, well-intentioned…refreshingly normal people.Rose is grieving, yes, but she’s working to get back to a place where she was once a creative and golden-hearted girl, and is thus not only defined by her grief for her mother. Other characters, too, retain that level of subtlety. Props go to Rose’s quarterback boyfriend and her former cheerleading teammates for not sounding like cardboard characters. Will is appreciably swoony, but THE SURVIVAL KIT’s strength lies in gradual and immersive character development, which puts this book a cut above other YA books about grief.A successful retelling of an easily clichéd premise and characters that feel truly real combine to make me say: Bravo, Donna Freitas. THE SURVIVAL KIT may not have the flashy synopsis that bestselling lists love, but I hope that word of mouth will help this well-deserving book find a home in the hands of numbers of appreciative readers.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When Rose's Mom dies, her enitre family is falling apart. Rose especially has a hard time living without her Mom around but things begin to look up when she finds the Survival Kit that she left for Rose with her favorite dress. In the kit are a picture of peonies, a crystal heart, a box of crayons, a paper star, an iPod with an empty playlist, and a paper kite. It takes her some time, but with the help of her friend Krupa and the senior boy from her school, Will Doniger, who landscapes the yard Rose slowly begins to heal. This book was a beautiful exploration of losing a loved one and coming to terms with life afterwards. The rawness of emotions and the sincerity of the characters and their words/actions cuts like a knife to the heart. But there are just as many gorgeous moments that are happy. This book takes you through the first year after the loss of Rose's Mom and her growing relationship with Will after quitting cheerleading and after a rough break-up with her popular football player boyfriend. Rose learns to enjoy the music in life again by taking it one song at a time and to have fun again by hanging out with friends at Will's hockey games. But that doesn't mean things are perfect. Rose's Father is getting lost in a bottle and driving drunk. Her brother is pulling away from her and her Grandmother is bristly and interfering (although with a good heart and good intentions). This whole book is about love, healing and the power of living life to the fullest. I was touched more than I can say and I would recommend it VERY highly to fans of Sarah Dessen and authors that deal with heavy subjects in such a beautiful way.VERDICT: 5/5 Stars*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*