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    Three Quarters Dead
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    Three Quarters Dead
    Unavailable
    Three Quarters Dead
    Audiobook4 hours

    Three Quarters Dead

    Written by Richard Peck

    Narrated by Ariadne Meyers

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Kerry thinks life has finally begun when she is noticed by the three coolest girls in the school. For once she's in on the jokes and sitting at the right table, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to be part of their clique.

    But how much will it take? And after her life with the popular crowd starts to feel as cruel as death, what will she decide to do about it?

    Chilling, this is a new kind of ghost story-one that's as terrifying as today's headlines.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 26, 2010
    ISBN9780307745828
    Unavailable
    Three Quarters Dead
    Author

    Richard Peck

    "I spent the first eighteen years of my life in Decatur, Illinois, a middle-American town in a time when teenagers were considered guilty until proven innocent, which is fair enough. My mother read to me before I could read to myself, and so I dreamed from the start of being a writer in New York. But Decatur returned to haunt me, becoming the "Bluff City" of my four novels starring Alexander Armsworth and Blossom Culp. When I was young, we were never more than five minutes from the nearest adult, and that solved most of the problems I write about for a later generation living nearer the edge. The freedoms and choices prematurely imposed upon young people today have created an entire literature for them. But then novels are never about people living easy lives through tranquil times; novels are the biographies of survivors. "I went to college in Indiana and then England, and I was a soldier in Germany -- a chaplain's assistant in Stuttgart -- ghost-writing sermons and hearing more confessions than the clergy. In Decatur we'd been brought up to make a living and not to take chances, and so I became an English teacher, thinking this was as close to the written word as I'd be allowed to come. And it was teaching that made a writer out of me. I found my future readers right there in the roll book. After all, a novel is about the individual within the group, and that's how I saw young people every day, as their parents never do. In all my novels, you have to declare your independence from your peers before you can take that first real step toward yourself. As a teacher, I'd noticed that nobody ever grows up in a group. "I wrote my first line of fiction on May 24th, 1971 -- after seventh period. I'd quit my teaching job that day, liberated at last from my tenure and hospitalization. At first, I wrote with my own students in mind. Shortly, I noticed that while I was growing older every minute at the typewriter, my readers remained mysteriously the same age. For inspiration, I now travel about sixty thousand miles a year, on the trail of the young. Now, I never start a novel until some young reader, somewhere, gives me the necessary nudge.. "In an age when hardly more than half my readers live in the same homes as their fathers, I was moved to write Father Figure. In it a teenaged boy who has played the father-figure role to his little brother is threatened when they are both reunited with the father they hardly know. It's a novel like so many of our novels that moves from anger to hope in situations to convince young readers that novels can be about them... "I wrote Are You in the House Alone? when I learned that the typical victim of our fastest growing, least-reported crime, rape, is a teenager -- one of my own readers, perhaps. It's not a novel to tell young readers what rape is. They already know that. It's meant to portray a character who must become something more than a victim in our judicial system that defers to the criminal... "Two of my latest attempts to keep pace with the young are a comedy called Lost in Cyberspace and its sequel, The Great Interactive Dream Machine. Like a lot of adults, I noticed that twelve year olds are already far more computer-literate than I will ever be. As a writer, I could create a funny story on the subject, but I expect young readers will be more attracted to it because it is also a story about two friends having adventures together. There's a touch of time travel in it, too, cybernetically speaking, for those readers who liked sharing Blossom Culp's exploits. And the setting is New York, that magic place I dreamed of when I was young in Decatur, Illinois..." More About Richard Peck Richard Peck has written over twenty novels, and in the process has become one of America's most highly respected writers for young adults. A versatile writer, he is beloved by middle graders as well as young adults for his mysteries and coming-of-age novels. He now lives in New York City. In addition to writing, he spends a great deal of time traveling around the country attending speaking engagements at conferences, schools and libraries... Mr. Peck has won a number of major awards for the body of his work, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award from School Library Journal, the National Council of Teachers of English/ALAN Award, and the 1991 Medallion from the University of Southern Mississippi. Virtually every publication and association in the field of children s literature has recommended his books, including Mystery Writers of America which twice gave him their Edgar Allan Poe Award. Dial Books for Young Readers is honored to welcome Richard Peck to its list with Lost in Cyberspace and its sequel The Great Interactive Dream Machine... Twenty Minutes a Day by Richard Peck Read to your children Twenty minutes a day; You have the time, And so do they. Read while the laundry is in the machine; Read while the dinner cooks; Tuck a child in the crook of your arm And reach for the library books. Hide the remote, Let the computer games cool, For one day your children will be off to school; Remedial? Gifted? You have the choice; Let them hear their first tales In the sound of your voice. Read in the morning; Read over noon; Read by the light of Goodnight Moon. Turn the pages together, Sitting close as you'll fit, Till a small voice beside you says, "Hey, don't quit." copyright © 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.

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    Reviews for Three Quarters Dead

    3/5

    40 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Though I'm only half of the way through this book, I find the lyrical language and complicated emotions in this book astounding. The fact that Peck, a well-aged gentleman (and he is a true gentleman, which you can tell upon meeting him), can channel the thoughts and voice of a teenage girl is incredible. I'm looking forward to finishing this book, and you can be sure Richard Peck has found a new fan.
      —Michelle
    • 1/5
      Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.Quick & Dirty: This was a coming of age book that really fell short for me. The main character was very weak and the plot was really boring.Opening Sentence: Actually, this isn’t about now.The Review: Kerry has just started her sophomore year of high school. Her best friend was shipped off to boarding school so she is quite the loner now. She sits by herself at the lunch table but on the other end of the table the most popular girls in the school sit. There are three girls that rule Pondfield high: Tanya Spangler, Natalie Davenport, and Mackenzie Kemp. Mackenzie is a junior with ginger hair and she has a cute Scottish accent. Natalie is a senior that is by far the most beautiful girl in the school with long brown hair and violet eyes. Tanya is also a senior and she is the leader of the group. She is gorgeous and she has an attitude to match it.One day at lunch Kerry is invited to sit with them. Kerry can’t believe it and she soon becomes a part of the group or at least she thinks she does. On Halloween night she is invited over to Tanya’s house for a get together, but they ask her to play a cruel joke on another class mate. Kerry wants to fit in so bad that she goes ahead and does it, but she feels guilty about it. Not long after that there is a horrible accident and Tanya, Natalie, and Mackenzie are killed. Kerry goes into a depression and has a hard time getting over it. Then one day in the spring she gets a text from Tanya, to come and hang out with them. Did they really die in that car crash — Kerry is about to find out.Kerry is a very weak character. She is so naïve that it is irritating. I get she has no friends and she wants to fit in, but she will basically do anything the girls ask, whether she wants to or not. She blindly trusts these girls that she barely knows just because they are popular and they sort of include her. She had no personality of her own, and she never really develops one. I thought that she was a boring character and there was really nothing that I liked about her.This was a really boring read for me. The plot was really under developed and honestly I felt that nothing really happened in the book. It jumped around and the paranormal part of it really didn’t seem to fit in. The characters were all pretty weak and I didn’t really like any of them. Honestly, I understand wanting to fit in, but this book took mean girls to the extreme and Kerry was so naive that she just went along with everything. This is my first book by Richard Peck and honestly I think it will be my last. I can’t really recommend this book to anyone since I really didn’t enjoy it.Notable Scene: The sun glared on the screen, and the message melted. I hadn’t been keeping my phone charged. But the important thing is that Tanya texted.The bell went, and the courtyard filled up with classes changing. Not a big bunch. It was the Friday before prom, and a lot of people had manicure appointments.It was warm now, way past crocuses, and people were looking ahead to summer. The guys were in Lacoste and long shorts, and the girls were less layered. Everybody back in flip-flops. Their quick glances bounced off me. I was back to being invisible these days. I wanted to be.But I was there, more or less. On the bench with the phone in my lap, thinking about the first train into the city after seventh period. The crowd flowed on like I was gone already.Then I remembered. Tanya was dead.FTC Advisory: Penguin provided me with a copy of Three Quarters Dead. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
    • 1/5
      This book was a hot mess... I think it partially could have been fixed if it had been set in the past, but the strange mix of dated names (high school characters named Sandy [guy], Bob, Tanya...) and modern technology makes the setting muddled. The characters fell flat for me and I was totally confused halfway through, so I ended up putting it down.
    • 5/5
      Kerry's a sophomore at Pondfield High School. She sits at lunch pretending to talk on her cell, because her best friend transferred schools and she has no one to hang out with. One day she's swept in THE circle of girls: Tanya-a Senior, beautiful, in charge, organised and so knowledgeable about everyone and everything. Natalie -a Senior, the prettiest one. Makenzie - a Junior, 'ginger' hair, tiny and full of life.Right from the beginning Tanya repeatedly says to Kerry "Try to keep up". At first Kerry wonders if maybe they are the 'mean girls', then decides that they aren't, I mean Tanya keeps in communication with EVERYONE. Besides, they took her in, right? They can't be mean girls. I found myself saying 'they're using you!' to Kerry as I read, but Kerry is telling the story of what DID happen, so she already knows the ending and can't change it.From the first day she hangs with the girls, Kerry notices that time...stretches...when you're with Tanya. Lunch goes on forever, or at least until Tanya's ready to move on. Natalie and Makenzie come across as the beloved pets next to Tanya's Queen. What does that make Kerry? The chambermaid, perhaps?One day at school Kerry gets a call from Tanya, but she doesn't answer in time. She tries to call back, but there's no answer. It turns out that the girls have been in a car accident and all three were killed. Tanya was calling Kerry when she went off the road into the ditch. Kerry slumps into grief, but I couldn't decide if it was really for the three girls or if it's for herself and her social standing.A month later, Tanya texts Kerry telling her to meet them at Aunt Lily's in New York. What?! She's DEAD! I know, right?! But does Kerry question it? Nope, she picks up and takes the train to New York. Here's where it gets weird. The girls greet Kerry at Aunt Lily's apartment (Aunt Lily is in Paris, apparently). They order food, dress in Aunt Lily's amazing old fashioned dressing room and go out to party. By this time I was annoyed by Kerry. But then I remembered what it's like to be the shy girl, the new girl, the girl without friends and for the first time in the story, understood what Kerry was thinking. How could she let these girls go? They were her only friends! Who cares if they're bossy and kinda snooty and always saying "Try to keep up". Not Kerry. At first.I was a little surprised at the ending and I think you will be too. By the end, Kerry has learned something valuable and looks at people in her life with a new perspective. I finished the book in one sitting, which I haven't done in awhile, but I just couldn't put it down. I was too busy Trying to Keep Up.
    • 4/5
      The new girl at school is befriended by the three most popular girls, one of which she swears has the strangest ability to make time speed up or slow down. When her three friends die in a car accident, she discovers she was right.
    • 3/5
      Kerry is a lowly sophomore when the three top girls at her school befriend her. She is too dazzled to question their behavior. Then things take a paranormal turn.Unlikeable characters and implausible events make a bad combination. Peck's high school stories are usually much better than this.
    • 3/5
      I really tried to get into this book but for some reason it fell flat for me. Maybe it was that I didn't really like the narrator, Kerry. Or that the themes in the story were not unique and, in the end, predictable. But to me, this book was just okay. Let me explain:The first half of the book really dragged for me. In this first half you meet Kerry and how she wants to be popular and will do anything to get noticed by the three most popular girls (Tanya, Natalie and Makenzie) in her school. Of course, the mean girls - the one's we all love to hate. They're rude, they're snobby, obnoxious and yet, they somehow notice Kerry. Just when she thinks she's finally going to hit the big time... these three girls die in a car accident.Kerry finds herself in a slump - feeling three quarters dead (if you must). That is until she gets a call from one of her dead friends. Now, this second half of the book picked up for me. Call me a masochist, but I like a good scare and, although the book was not scary per say, it did have a few moments that were goosebump worthy. What can I tell you? I dug the ghostly mean girls. It was mildly gory, had some violence and even touched on some adult themes, but it was still a rather tame read. I enjoyed this latter half of the book and I found the ending to be surprisingly good. I find that I still think about it from time to time - so that definitely brought it up a notch in my book.All in all, this was a fast-paced read that you'll find yourself smiling over one minute and then freaked out a few pages later. Although it really was not my cup of tea, I can definitely see its appeal and know there are many readers who will enjoy it. I'd say if you like contemporary/paranormal YA lit, with a hint of horror thrown in, then you might want to pick this one up.