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10/26/2004: "BOOK REVIEW: So you've read To love Veronica Bee!!"

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Replies: 27 Comments

on Tuesday, March 22nd, the green lantern said

hi sarah how are u, it's me g.l a.k.a rhys vallence miss you lots

on Thursday, March 10th, katie anderson said

suze thinks life is about fate but Veronica thinks her life is jinxed.
FATE:
A lot of people put up their lives and accept what happens to them in life as fate.

Q would you like crystal ball for your birthday?
No I wouldn’t like a crystal ball for my birthday. I want my future to be a surprise. And what if you saw something really bad that’s going to happen to you and then you would spend you’re life worrying about when it’s going to happen. And you would see when and how you’re going to die, what if you’re young and it’s a terrible death.

You can’t change how you’re life is going to turn out, because when you are born your life is already planned out for you. Sure you can make decisions but that decision that you made was already planned in your fate.

Q what does it mean to be Jinxed?
I don’t think that people are jinxed, it’s just people’s outlook on life. Sure I know some people that have had a hard lives and bad things have happened to them. But you have to put on a brave face and get over it, You have to make the best of what you have been dealt

Katie Anderson.

on Thursday, March 10th, Rhys Vallence said

I haven't finished the book yet but this is what I reckon will happen at the end....

Well. She's at the all girls' school and she might not find a boyfriend. Right? Wrong! I bet she will go against her 'no boy' policy and bump into a boy of her dreams. His name will be... Jason and they will fall in love deeply. But now the dark times dawns on Veronica when she gets a phone call that Suzie has been accidently killed. She goes into deep depression and locks herself away from everyone until her Mum and Dad announce that they are moving back to Yarra Valley. Susie dies by her step dad coming home and starting a fight with her Mum. Susie intercepes the dad and the dad knocks her back hitting her head on the table which kills her instantly.

Cool!

on Thursday, March 10th, Molly said

Dear Veronica, I know what you are going through, it might be tough but get over it. Boys will still be on the earth they just can't leave the world even though sometimes we want them to. Who cares if your parents get divorced it just matters that they both love you. Try to go to school and have fun, yu will see Suzie, Eb and Maje soon. Just imagine if Penny was nice instead of being mean. Perhaps just listen to her and try to get along. I know it is very hard to move houses, leave your friends and leave your school. i would be upset too if I had to be in your shoes. Just try to have fun, you can still tak to suzie on hotmail and telephone. Good bye, talk to you soon, yours truly, Molly

on Thursday, March 10th, anthea said

Dear veronica
I am aware of the difficult time you are going through. Your parents are breaking up; penny is being mean to you. It would be hard to move from Yarra valley to Kew. It would be hard fit in. I wouldn’t like to leave my pets, so I can understand how sad you are to leave your horses Ebony and Major. I would be upset if my friend and I had to go to different school. You will miss Susie and the chats you had on the internet. Going to a private school called Lagilla convent where there are nuns and rules would be difficult.
Good bye for now take to you soon
Anthea

on Thursday, March 10th, Johnny Wilson said

hi I love your book

on Thursday, March 10th, Tahnisha Ford said

Dear Veronica,
I am aware of the difficult time you are going through.
I know life sucks.
I heard about you moving schools, your parents getting separated, moving homes and your family not getting along.
I also heard that your friendship with Susie is not working out.
I heard THAT YOU ARE NOT RIDING YOUR HORSES.
ANYWAY G2G.
WRITE BACK! LATER

FROM YOUR FRIEND
TAHNISHA

P.S I AM SORRY ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH, IT IS HARD.

on Wednesday, March 9th, Glenn Brown said

Dear Veronica,
I am aware of your difficult family problems. You could be positive. Lots of people have problems too! You need to help your mum as she is starting a new job. At your new school, you could make new friends and learn new things. You could also meet new teachers and do different activities. You need to be strong for Amy because she learns from you.

Good Luck from Glenn.

on Wednesday, March 9th, Adam said

Dear Veronica, I understand what you’re going through because I’m going through the same thing when my Dad and Mum broke up. I was young so I just found out yesterday. You can run away from home then if they come looking for you, you can tell them that if you can behave you will come back. This worked for me so I wish you good luck on your journey through life.

From your friend, Adam

on Wednesday, March 9th, rhys vallence said

To Veronica, I feel your pain. I also know the hurt of parents separating but time heels all wounds. You have to be more grown up about the situation and stop blaming your self and your mum. And call Susie, she misses you. Now ‘GROW UP!!!’And learn to live with your new life and by the way I’m a guy and all guys aren’t that bad. And a world without guys would be boring so lay off.
From your’s truly
Rhys Vallence.

on Monday, March 7th, Sarah & Coral said

Veronica steals the cab charge plus $50 from her dad’s wallet so she can go and see Susie in Yarra Valley (out the front of the Igloo).

Theft:
Theft is a criminal offence. It’s a crime and it’s illegal.
There is sometimes a difference in theft, and what you steal. There is also a difference in the affects to the people around you.

It doesn’t matter what you steal, yet it does and can make a real difference to your life with who you steal from. Stealing is still stealing and the definition doesn’t change it’s still a crime. Just because you steal from a family member doesn’t mean its ok, the outcomes might vary a bit, but it’s still classified as a criminal offence.

“STEALING IS A CRIME, REGARDLESS of WHO FROM”

Scenario 1
Lets say your 16 and you are a female. You’re getting ready for a good night out and you’ve got no money left. You have a quick look around the house and on the kitchen bench you spot you’re mum’s leather purse. You walk over to it and open it up. You’ve looked inside and have found a stack load of cash. There’s approx 900 to 1500 dollars inside. You know this money is the rent and food money yet you still decide to take 600 dollars and you have no intention whatsoever, in returning it. Now as you’ve put your hand in and taken out your desired amount you quickly close the purse and run to your bedroom. As you’re running to your bedroom, you bump into your mum. She asks you where you got all that money from, you lie to her and tell her it was in your moneybox. She believes you. You now decide to get out of the house and go out. A few minutes after you have left, your mum heads off to go and pay the bills and do some food shopping. When your mum is at the post office paying the rent and electricity bills she notices a few hundred dollars missing. At this point it’s safe to say you have been busted for stealing the money.

What happens now, the consequences are:
Your mum returns home and calls the police on you, due to the fact you’ve stolen from her and you’ve lied to her face. It hurts your parents to know that you could hurt them so much, the lack of respect and there is no care factor on your behalf. This indicates that you are out of control. The police come over and wait until you are present. You get home only to be taken away and charged with theft. Your future is now in a magistrate’s hands. In this case, not only are you being judged for a criminal offence, but you have lost the trusted relationship of your family, you have lost their support as well as their love. On top of all this you now have a criminal record.

Being a first offence it is unlikely to proceed this far in relation to the police presence. The relationship with your parent however, is very different.

Scenario 2 (Same scenario different person to steal from, different outcome}
Lets say your 16 and you are a female. You’re getting ready for a good night out and you’ve got no money left. You thought about what you can do to get this money; you’ve decided to steal the money from Priceline. So you go to Northlands shopping centre. You enter Priceline, pick up a bar of soap and then proceed to the register to supposedly pay for it. As the lady scans the item and then proceeds to say, that will be $4.95 thank-you. You get out a $5 dollar note and hand it to her. She proceeds to slide open the register. Once it was open, you quickly grab a whole heap of $20’s, $50’s, $100’s dollar notes, and run off as quickly as you can. On your way out of Northlands you get picked up at the front door by a police officer . He charge’s you for the theft due to you being caught on a security camera and the evidence in your hand.

What happens now, the consequences are:
You are taken to the police office where he contacts your parents and charges you with theft. In this case you still have your parents even though they can’t believe that you would of done such a thing, You haven’t personally violated your relationship with them because you haven’t stolen directly from them. This shows that you care for them and have respect for them.

The reasons why people steal are:
1. Negative attention seeking behaviours
2. Risk taking behaviours
3. No money
4. Peer pressure
5. Nothing else better to do

1. Negative attention:
Instead of seeking positive attention from people such as parents, some kids seek negative attention. So it’s attention seeking basically, but not in a good way. Although some times they don’t even know that there doing it for attention, in actual fact that’s exactly why they are doing it, this is an unconscious act on their behalf.

2. Risk taking behaviour:
These people get thrills from stealing, it’s an adrenalin rush for them, and they get off in doing it. If they get away with stealing an item, it’s an even bigger adrenalin rush so they keep going back for more.

3. No money:
These people can’t afford it and they can’t see any other way so basically to them it’s their only option to gain the item they have found.
OR
There are people that steal for money. They steal things then sell the items for money.

4. Peer pressure:
These people steal because every one else is doing it, so to fit in, they think that they have to still as well. Or they just might think that it’s cool because all the cool people do it, so to be cool that’s what they have to do.

5. Nothing else better to do:
Some people are just totally bored and they steal for thrills!

on Tuesday, March 1st, Rhys Vallence said

Veronica Bee is a 14 year old who is living in a disfunctional family. She feels she is not very popular apart from her best friend Suzie and she is dreading moving away from Yarra Valley to Kew. She has a very mean old sister named Penny. A Canadian family is buying their Yarra Valley home. she has a four leaf clover (She doesn't like boys). She had to leave her favourite horses at her old home (made of glass) in a shape of a fishbowl.

on Tuesday, March 1st, jogalu0001@hotmail.com">jackson said

The book is about vb and she is going through a rough stage in he life her parents are divorcing and her sister is always running away from home but she finds a way to cope with lagilla suze and all her problems and her family going in all directions and she thinks no one can love veronica bee but she soon changes her mind.

My favourite character is suze because she is always in the book and she plays a major role in this book and she is like always trying new stuff unlike vb

on Sunday, February 27th, Gabrielle said

i would just like to tell about how good your book is i mean i read it first and i strait away knew it was the book for me

on Wednesday, February 9th, Elle said

Im not a big reader, it takes me a while to get into a book without having to read the first page at least 5 times!! However it only took me three days to read 'To Love Veronica Bee'! I literally couldnt put it down.. I loved it. My favourite character is Penny maybe because im close to her age and can relate to her and know what she is going through.. though i assure u im not that violent!!

on Tuesday, February 8th, WOG said

i don't really like reading but i think it was a really good book. i'm also looking forward to rapping and making rhymes. WOG BOY signing Off

on Tuesday, February 8th, jessy hayes said

It's a great book and i love it because I’m a bookworm

on Tuesday, February 8th, Nicole Brennan said

I think that the book is fantastic.
Our whole school has got into reading To Love Veronica Bee. So far im enjoying it.

on Saturday, February 5th, Gabrielle said

Oh my gosh i am so pesed at my teacher she wont let me read the book just because it has dick in it.

on Thursday, November 25th, Nina Diaz said

To Love Veronica Bee: Taking Books to a Whole New Level

In our new generation, many teenagers have no interests in books whatsoever, thinking that they are boring and such a waste of time. Even the most popular books like the Harry Potter series, are left in the bookshelves, sitting there, waiting for someone to read them. Sadly, teenagers spend more time with their mobile phones, sport, videogames and many other things. Now these things are affecting their reading skills, even their spelling skills.

The books can’t be left sitting there, so some brilliant people came up with a very good idea to take books to a whole new level; where teenagers would be interested in reading it. The idea they came up with was “Pop Fiction”. One of the soon-to-be-many pop fiction books is called “To Love Veronica Bee”, written by Sarah Boland.

At my first glance of this book, I thought it was going to be the same as the other books that I had failed to read completely. But, like what they say, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

This story is about a girl named Veronica Bee. She had the perfect life in the right place: she had a friend she could count on; she doesn’t have to worry about her school; she has 2 horses and big dreams. But it all went down the drain when her mother had decided to move to Kew in Melbourne. Of course, leaving your best friend and your beloved horses is a hard thing to do. It is still a big mystery to her though: why do they have to move? There are many things that she still didn’t understand, and her older sister Penny seems to know what’s going on. And her mother and father fight a lot more often. Now it’s up to her to solve this mystery. Will she be able to put the pieces of the puzzle in place? Or will she forever life in a life of complete mystery?

This book is like no other. I think that this book would be perfect for teenagers to read because it has a modern feeling to it. Teenagers don’t like boring stuff and do not like reading the same thing all over again, so maybe, pop fiction books like “To Love Veronica Bee” might give them interest to read again.

I would really advise people to read this book.

Nina Diaz from 7P

on Tuesday, October 26th, Gurhan and Aaron said

Hi, my name is Gurhan Goz. I'm here with my partner Aaron Claringbold. We would like to say that your book is very good. If there was not as much of course language and less adult themes it would be suitable for all ages. But now, as it is, it targets mature youge adults and teenagers. Which is fine. It truly shows the dilemmas of young adults today. We think it especialy shows the problems of high school and parental break-ups. It can show many views of life for children today. And we think that is great.

YOUR BOOK IS VERY GOOD!!!!!!!!!!
From, Gurhan Goz & Aaron Claringbold
P.S. Please write back soon

on Tuesday, October 26th, Marian said

hi i'm marian, it's tuesday in the holidays & i am having fun r u? i think ur book is really good & will enjoy working with u next term i think it will b super kool. from ur friend marian xoxo

p.s u can call me maztaz or maz or mazzamataz or mazza all my friends do cuz i luv those names they r super kool.
DOI!!!!!!! thats such a supa kool word

on Tuesday, October 26th, Chuck said

we all think the book is flucking great and i reackon its cos
because we can all relate to it, im sure everyone goes thru at least one
rough spot during childhood, mostly when you go thru the teenage era, and
being aussie barstards we know what bushfires can do... we all just love it
and we are only up to like page 70-100..!

goodluck with the website, books and trying to stay sane wounce youve meet
us!

on Tuesday, October 26th, Tamuz said

hello my name is Tamuz we are reading your book "to love Veronica bee" it is cool!! must go -due to bell(Evil Evil bell)

Tamuz/Muz.

on Tuesday, October 26th, Anna Boddenberg said

Hi,
My name is Anna Boddenberg and I'm 13 years old. I go to Princes Hill SC and I'm in year 8. I like reading (mainly fantasy but other stuff as well), horse riding (but I don't get to go much), playing on the computer, watching TV and movies, listening to music, hanging out with my friends etc etc.

I just finished reading To love Veronica Bee and I'm going to tell you what I thought of it.  I thought it might turn into a cutsy Saddle Club sort of thing. But then I kept reading and it started getting better.  I thought the last half was really good, but I had guessed what was going on with her Dad at the end of part one, after the fight with Penny near the pool, so I thought Veronica was a bit slow to realise.
I like the fact that they're not all perfect and that it doesn't end up with them all one big happy family and everything magically forgotten about. They all have there problems and I think that's good. It looks like there's a possibility that your going to make Penny the perfect daughter, but I don't think that should happen. I don't think I've got anything else to say right now, but if I think of anything I'll email you.
How many bumble.com.au books are you planning on writing? I think you should choose a number and stick to it, because personally I hate it when people keep on adding to a series  with way too many boring books after the first few were good and sold well or for some reason like that.

From Anna

on Tuesday, October 26th, Molly Lukin said

Hi,
My name is molly lukin and im 13, and i happened to come across your book in a teens libary club i am in at carlton libary! i was wrapped when i found out we were going to read your story before anyone else! I love books, im a total book fanatic! a book worm. And ever since i was...maybe 4,5? ive wanted to be a writer. i love writing! sometimes i come across a writers block and cant get anything down on the page, but sometimes, if im
lucky enough to have a pen in my hand, i get huge brainwaves and just have to write it down! was that how writing 'To love Veronica Bee' was to you? Or was it just an idea that developed over time?
Anyway, I started reading your book about 3 days ago and just finished
it this morning about ten minutes ago. all morning ive been scrunched up on
the couch in my PJ's, listening to my dad play some 80's music, totally involved in the pages of this book. in fact, i have it here with me this very second, useing it as a mouse pad.
I live in melbourne, but i love the country. the place where veronica lived in sounds fantastic! She was so lucky to live there, and have 2 horses! i
love horses, i love riding horses as well! ive only ever ridden a horse once, and that was at year 7 camp. I can remember that day so clearly, and
riding on that horse ( i think my one's name was george) was just about the most exilarating thing ive done! Espesially cantering, i only did it once, but it was like flying!
Anyway, im getting off the track again. I really liked your book. I thought it was so realistic and fresh. it sort of left me with a fizzy and happy
feeling. i dont know why, but it was like i had to smile. You know that boy at the end that veronica was talking too? Chuck? I think him asking veronica for her number to give to his sister was a total set up for romance. You have to get them together in the next book!
I had a few ideas, they might be a bit dumb, but they might help. I was thinking for the next book you could do the story of someone else like suzie
or cas or sam. sam sounds like she's got an interesting life, with her mum running over her dad's mailbox and everything! Like you could do this series of books about each of these girls lives. But then again you dont
want the series to turn into some cheesy 'Sweet Valley High' thing.
Anyway, thanks for listening to my ramblings and ideas, and i hope if your
life isnt to jam packed you can replie. I'd love to know how i can get
myself noticed out there in the big wide world of books and writers. Maybe i can send you some of my short stories to see what you think?? anyway, my
conclusion ( and the point ) of this email is, I loved your book, and keep up the good work!
Mollyxx
PS. Because im apart of the readers at carlton libary, i might be seeing you
at the shooting of the documantary! Keep your fingers crossed, cause i know
your just dying to meet me!! ;-)

on Tuesday, October 26th, Rose Houghton said

hi my name is Rose houghton
and i'm 12 years old and i just finished reading your book to love veronica
bee. i gota hold of it through the teen library club
what i thought of it:
well i have read a lot of books and i thought it was pretty good! i thought it wasa good secret with the dad and all
ideas for book 2:
i think maje should die or get really sick and maybe the dad should marry
pauline/paully
any way i gotta go i'll tell you more later
from Rose
p.s please send back an email i'd love to hear from you