published: 2018
pages: 260
read: 5/14-16/2019
book: 39 in 2019
Welcome to Nowhere, Arizona, the least livable town in the United States. For Gus, a bright 13-year-old with dreams of getting out and going to college, life there is made even worse by Bo Taylor, Nowhere’s biggest, baddest bully. When Bo tries to force Gus to eat a dangerously spiny cactus, Rossi Scott, one of the best racers in Nowhere, comes to his rescue—but in return she has to give Bo her prized dirt bike. Determined to buy it back, Gus agrees to go searching for gold in Dead Frenchman Mine, joined by his old friends Jessie Navarro and Matthew Dufort, and Rossi herself. As they hunt for treasure, narrowly surviving everything from cave-ins to mountain lions, they bond over shared stories of how hard life in Nowhere is—and they realize this adventure just may be their way out.
MY THOUGHTS
SHORT VERSION
loved this read. good quick read.
LONG VERSION
i came across this when i read this book and i think i checked it out around that time but its been sitting on my desk and i've renewed it time after time and because apparently this is what i'm all about, i finally raced to finish it to beat the clock.
this book was.....cute! i feel like saying cute diminishes it and i don't mean to do that, im just having trouble describing it. im not sure why. but it was a good read. and i am glad that i read it and this is also another one of those books that if i ever have children, id like to read this with them.
its about Gus taking back some of his power to help Rossi out even though he's always getting his ass beat by Bo.
its about rebuilding a broken friendship.
its about bonding together and realizing that you are more when you help than you are when you talk down to others.
its a story about kids who don't really know each other, each others stories (with the exception of Jessie & Gus since they were friends before) and how they assume that no one else can really have it as bad as they do. and i don't even think they think like that, its just that.
once they start revealing what their lives are all about, it broke my heart because gah! whyyyy!!!?
they're 13 year old kids. i feel like what they go through is just heartbreaking.
i definitely feel that Matthew has the shittier end of all their lives together, Jessie being the one that's the best off but even then, it doesn't matter who has what and how good they have it; everyone still has their own thing going on.
aside from that little heartbreak (for me anyway because apparently im a huge softie!) this book was pretty funny.
i loved the dialogue they all had with each other.
i love that they all "discovered" each other and that in the end, they band together because they realize that they can all be friends and that they can all be there for each other.
i also love how they all stand up to Bo in the end. and yes, Bo has an even shittier stick but gah! i wanted to sock that kid.
he was such a dick. im so glad he got his ass served in the end.
BY A G I R L ! ! !
(bit of a spoiler but meh, not really)
overall, im glad that i read this book.
i absolutely loved it.
i don't think there really is anything to spoil. i don't know its weird.
but i will write what its about if you wanna read below.
thanks for reading!
Bo is making Gus get close to a cholla cactus when Rossi comes to save the time sorta on time but it costs her her bike.
gus goes to Bo to try to bargain for her bike and Bo tells him that if he wants her bike back he needs to go to dead mans mine to get a piece of gold. he goes to the mart to buy stuff to dig for gold but he only has $7 so he settles for i forgot what but lets just say that a miner it does not make.
at the mart, he runs into Jessie and he ends up telling Jessie that he is going into the mine to get back the bike.
Jessie asks him not to because its dangerous but there is no changing Gus' mind.
Jessie asks him not to because its dangerous but there is no changing Gus' mind.
Gus goes home to "prepare" and Matthew jumps out the closet.
Matt tells him that he's going with him because Bo sent him to make sure that he doesn't just paint a random rock gold.
so they go and they're in the mine when they hear noise.
it turns out to be Rossi and Jessie.
Jessie told her what Gus was going to do and she couldn't let him go on his own.
so they are excavating and Gus breaks through and it turns out that its an entrance to a cave.
for the next amount of hours, they wander through the cave.
they discover that the watch that Gus has been carrying since he arrived to nowhere actually belongs to Matt.
and Rossi discovers a piece of paper inside the watch behind the false back that had "broken" off when Bo had tossed it after Gus had offered it to him.
they also discover their stories, per say.
Gus: his mom took off and dad took over. then on their last day, unbeknownst to him, his dad took him to Disneyland and they had the best time ever.
then, the next day when he wakes up, his dad has dropped him off in Nowhere with his grandmother that he didn't even know he had.
Matthew: his mom beats him for basically anything
Rossi: her dad up and moved them and now her dad is there for all other kids except for her and for all the riding they used to do. hes a counselor or some sort.
Jessie: uh,...other than just basically getting by, i don't think he had any real life issues like the rest.
they're wandering around looking for the gold when they end up in this part of the cave that allows Rossi & Gus to get out (this was after Matthew had fallen in between a crack that luckily he was a little too plump to fit through otherwise he would have died & also having a mountain lion come after them (which, lets be honest, in this scene i feel like if she really wanted to, she could have) since they're the smallest.
they make it out but it turns out that they are up waaaaay too high to jump off of and they're way to far from their hometown for anyone to hear them. so they sit there and talk and discover what the maps says. they lay back for a bit and end up passing out. Gus wakes up to Rossi shaking him.
they go back down and Jessie & Matt are nowhere to be found....only to come back running into the room because of the javelinas.
they manage to get away-ish, they decide to follow the map which means going back the way they came and then they discover the "Abe Lincoln" face. Jessie being the tallest sticks his hand in, grabs something, freaks out when he realizes its a gun, drops it and shoots his toe off.
they turn back to walk the way they first came but Gus wasn't really paying attention so they got lost.
they end up coming across a lake sorta water thing and realize its probably one of the only other ways out. so Gus goes first.
everything is okay so the rest join.
they walk and walk and come across some bones underwater and it looks like it was probably Matthew's grandpa (yikes) and then BOOM! they find the bag of gold. the reason they went in.
they agree to keep it between them after giving Bo his piece.
they're in the lake, and they manage to make it but Rossi has drowned.
she didn't know how to swim and at one point it got too deep for her.
Gus goes back and finds her thanks to her hair, he gets her out and manages to resuscitate her.
they manage to climb out and low and behold Mayor Beautiful (i think that was his name) is there so he is able to help them out with Jessie anyway since he cant walk.
he leaves them his water and they take off running to make it to the dirt race.
.....they manage to get to Bo and give him the gold in exchange for the bike.
Matt turns his back on the gang and tells them that they have more.
(they cant believe him! i couldn't either!)
Matt tells Bo that Gus has diamonds at home (fake ones from Disney) and Bo tells Gus to hand it over. (Gus & Rossi are like oooh, oh shit)
Bo gives the bike back but breaks it, Matt gives his bike up to Rossi, Rossi shows up to the race, Bo is like what the fuck!? Rossi tells him that the jewels and the gold is fake, he gets mad and throws it and Matt & Gus are all woah, wtf!
the race starts, for a while Bo is first but after being a piece of shit and literally beating Rossi, Rossi manages to win first place. securing her a new bike and a trip to some bike thing camp.
they go to the hospital to get checked out and it ends up with all of them passing out in front of the market.
---
Mayor gorgeous, beautiful (i think it might be gorgeous actually!) or whatever got the shrimp from the people lake. loool.
this whole time, Gus was wondering where he got all that shrimp from to sell and it turns out he was fishing them out from the people lake.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL! <3
for the next amount of hours, they wander through the cave.
they discover that the watch that Gus has been carrying since he arrived to nowhere actually belongs to Matt.
and Rossi discovers a piece of paper inside the watch behind the false back that had "broken" off when Bo had tossed it after Gus had offered it to him.
they also discover their stories, per say.
Gus: his mom took off and dad took over. then on their last day, unbeknownst to him, his dad took him to Disneyland and they had the best time ever.
then, the next day when he wakes up, his dad has dropped him off in Nowhere with his grandmother that he didn't even know he had.
Matthew: his mom beats him for basically anything
Rossi: her dad up and moved them and now her dad is there for all other kids except for her and for all the riding they used to do. hes a counselor or some sort.
Jessie: uh,...other than just basically getting by, i don't think he had any real life issues like the rest.
they're wandering around looking for the gold when they end up in this part of the cave that allows Rossi & Gus to get out (this was after Matthew had fallen in between a crack that luckily he was a little too plump to fit through otherwise he would have died & also having a mountain lion come after them (which, lets be honest, in this scene i feel like if she really wanted to, she could have) since they're the smallest.
they make it out but it turns out that they are up waaaaay too high to jump off of and they're way to far from their hometown for anyone to hear them. so they sit there and talk and discover what the maps says. they lay back for a bit and end up passing out. Gus wakes up to Rossi shaking him.
they go back down and Jessie & Matt are nowhere to be found....only to come back running into the room because of the javelinas.
they manage to get away-ish, they decide to follow the map which means going back the way they came and then they discover the "Abe Lincoln" face. Jessie being the tallest sticks his hand in, grabs something, freaks out when he realizes its a gun, drops it and shoots his toe off.
they turn back to walk the way they first came but Gus wasn't really paying attention so they got lost.
they end up coming across a lake sorta water thing and realize its probably one of the only other ways out. so Gus goes first.
everything is okay so the rest join.
they walk and walk and come across some bones underwater and it looks like it was probably Matthew's grandpa (yikes) and then BOOM! they find the bag of gold. the reason they went in.
they agree to keep it between them after giving Bo his piece.
they're in the lake, and they manage to make it but Rossi has drowned.
she didn't know how to swim and at one point it got too deep for her.
Gus goes back and finds her thanks to her hair, he gets her out and manages to resuscitate her.
they manage to climb out and low and behold Mayor Beautiful (i think that was his name) is there so he is able to help them out with Jessie anyway since he cant walk.
he leaves them his water and they take off running to make it to the dirt race.
.....they manage to get to Bo and give him the gold in exchange for the bike.
Matt turns his back on the gang and tells them that they have more.
(they cant believe him! i couldn't either!)
Matt tells Bo that Gus has diamonds at home (fake ones from Disney) and Bo tells Gus to hand it over. (Gus & Rossi are like oooh, oh shit)
Bo gives the bike back but breaks it, Matt gives his bike up to Rossi, Rossi shows up to the race, Bo is like what the fuck!? Rossi tells him that the jewels and the gold is fake, he gets mad and throws it and Matt & Gus are all woah, wtf!
the race starts, for a while Bo is first but after being a piece of shit and literally beating Rossi, Rossi manages to win first place. securing her a new bike and a trip to some bike thing camp.
they go to the hospital to get checked out and it ends up with all of them passing out in front of the market.
---
Mayor gorgeous, beautiful (i think it might be gorgeous actually!) or whatever got the shrimp from the people lake. loool.
this whole time, Gus was wondering where he got all that shrimp from to sell and it turns out he was fishing them out from the people lake.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL! <3
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