Going Places

Going Places is a young adult fiction novel by Kathryn Berla. It is the story about a young man named Hudson Wheeler, during his senior year of high school, who decides to be home-schooled since he only needs two more classes to graduate. Hudson is a really good artist and he wants to use his talents to write a really good graphic novel. Hudson's father died when he was 10 years old; he was a marine who died during the Iraq war. Hudson is an only child, who lives at home with his mom. Hudson's mom went back to college after her husband died, to study nursing. She has been working as an RN at a local hospital for a number of years. Hudson comes to an agreement with his mom about what classes he will take at his high school, (Physical Education and AP Art), agrees to pay his mom $200.00 a month in rent, and he also must apply to two colleges. Hudson has two businesses that he invented to make some money. The first is a dog walking business; Hudson walks four of his neighbors/clients dogs every day. Hudson's second business is called Distress Dial, and it's a business where Hudson buys a cell phone for an elderly client to call him on, because the client has no one else in their lives to help them if they have an “almost emergency” that is not bad enough to call 911 about. Hudson ends up with three clients during this story who pay him a monthly fee to be subscribed to this service.Hudson ends up taking yoga for his PE class, in the hopes of meeting some girls, and ends up becoming very good friends with a girl named Alana. Alana has a boyfriend named Bryce, who is the quarterback of their high school's football team. Hudson develops a crush on Alana, and he sees her almost every day. Hudson really wishes Alana would break up with Bryce and fall in love with him.Hudson also meets a girl named Lauren Fritz or Fritzy, which is what all of her friends call her. Fritzy lives across the street from one of Hudson's Distress Dial clients named Mr. Pirkle. Fritzy is a star basketball player at the high school across town, and is always outside shooting hoops when Hudson visits Mr. Pirkle. Fritzy invites Hudson over to play basketball with her one day, and they end up becoming really good friends.This is a really good book that tells the story of an eighteen year old boy's life experiences during his senior year of high school. I had never read any books written by Kathryn Berla before this one, but because she is such a good writer, I will definitely seek more out. The characters in this book all had amazing depth and personalities that were very interesting. This author shows us how Hudson matures during his senior year with the help of new friends and new clients, and the responsibilities that he takes on. This is a very sweet and sincere story, and I would definitely recommend this book to everyone!

Hudson's future once looked promising, he even has a letter from one of his former teachers saying that he's going places. Now that he's a high school senior Hudson isn't so sure about this. After the death of his father Hudson stopped caring about a successful future. He sees homeschooling as the ideal solution to stop dealing with teenage drama. In exchange Hudson has to take two classes at the local high school and he has to pay his mother rent. To make money Hudson starts two businesses, dog walking and an SOS service for seniors. Is this really as uneventful as he expected it to be?Hudson meets new people. One of them, a client, is a marine veteran who fought during WWII. He also spends a lot of time with an athletic girl who's trying to get him in shape. Hudson has fallen in love with someone from his school, but will he be able to win the girl's heart? While dealing with the demands of his customers and making new friends Hudson's life becomes full and meaningful and Hudson is forced to grow up quickly, which isn't how he envisioned his senior year. Has he made the right choices?Going Places is a fabulous story. Hudson is talented and smart, but he doesn't have the same goals and dreams most other teenagers have. Staying home to study and work might seem like the easy way out, but it's actually one big life lesson. Hudson needs to take responsibility. There's hardly any adult guidance, he has to make the decisions and hard work is the only way forward. Staying home to study makes his senior year unusual, but eventful. I loved everything he comes across. He learns about love, friendship, taking care of others and doing the right thing in a wonderful open and honest way that never feels forced. I liked that a lot and for me that made Going Places a true gem.Kathryn Berla has a gorgeous writing style that is easy to read. I love her vivid descriptions of emotions, people and settings. I could effortlessly picture everything she writes about. I read Going Places in one sitting, it's a beautiful heartfelt story. I love it when a book manages to move me so much. Hudson is a fantastic original main character and I enjoyed reading about his friendships and the obstacles he has to overcome. Going Places is a terrific story that I highly recommend.

Going Places by Kathryn Berla is an emotional Young Adult story. This is not my first book by this author, it does rank up there in my favorites of hers. I enjoyed this book and the creative plot this author has written. She has created an emotional character that has been through quite a bit. The characters will take you on an emotional roller coaster ride that had lots of ups and downs. This is a story about a young man who when he was in fifth grade was told he was “Going Places”. He is now a senior in high school. He has two classes left so he convinces his mother to let him be home schooled. He also is trying to be a business owner with two other businesses. Of course, being the young man he is, he wants a girlfriend. This is a story that takes you through his life during this time and what he went through. I wasn't sure about his character when I started reading this book until about half way through when some of my opinion changed. He is a young man that is hurting and a little lonely. In parts I just wanted to reach out and hug him in parts. Other parts I wanted to scream at him to just get over it. The secondary characters in this book are also strong and left me a little curious about them. They do help make this story easy flowing and a page turner. I highly recommend this book. Find out what happens to these young adults as they fight their way through adolescences.

Going Places is a standalone young adult novel that focuses on a teenage boy coming to accept his new life as an adult. Written in first person, we meet Hudson Wheeler, a seventeen year old who is determined to live life his own way. An interesting premise, I really enjoyed this book and have already recommended it to others!This book showcased humour from he very beginning and I loved this. Our introduction to Hudson not only made me laugh, but also set up the whole plot of the book perfectly. The author writes his emotions brilliantly, as he changes between being confident about his future, to feeling hopeless and lost about what he should do next. Like Hudson, I’ve too found myself having wasted a day doing very little, so this makes Going Places believable AND relatable!We meet a whole range of characters in this book, some fitting that ‘teenage’ stereotype perfectly and others totally breaking the mould. I can’t decide who my favourite is (although Gus made me laugh, a lot!) but this just shows what an interesting array of characters this author has created. Seeing Hudson’s relationship with them change of the course of the story was fun and I especially liked his interactions with his mother. As well as this, the author chooses to tackle some more difficult themes and does so with respect and sensitivity. Hudson hasn’t had the easiest of rides (although much easier than some!) so I enjoyed seeing how he dealt with these and turned them into positives.While not the most exciting plot in the world, this is what makes Going Places so good. It is a true fictionalised version of what teenagers go through during some of the most important years of their lives and I completely fell in love with Hudson and his story. Another brilliant read from this author and I cannot wait for the next one; more of the same, please!

Hudson Wheeler is ‘Going Places’. At least, that’s what one of his grade school teachers said in his end of term report. Now at seventeen, almost eighteen, Hudson is entering his final year of high school and isn’t very sure of how he is going to manage to ‘go places’.In Going Places, Kathryn Berla gives us a fantastic account of what goes through the head of a teenage boy, although it can be said that Hudson is not a typical teenage boy. Choosing to be home schooled for his final year of high school, Hudson is concentrating on his two businesses, a dog walking business and ‘distress dial’, where he looks after the welfare of several elderly people in his neighbourhood. He is also a fantastic artist and wants to write a graphic novel.Much of the story is based around his friendships with two girls: Alana who he has a serious crush on, and Fritzy who he plays basketball with. It’s fascinating to see the thoughts that go through his head in his interactions with the two girls.Another main storyline is his ‘relationship’ with one of his elderly clients Mr Pirkle. Mr Pirkle is a 90 year old man who seems to be suffering from sort of dementia and is continually calling on Hudson’s services. The heartwarming grandfather/grandson relationship that forms between them is amazing to read.This type of book is typically out of the normal genre that I would choose to read but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Going Places.

Going Places by Kathryn Berla is a coming of age book about a young man, Hudson Wheeler, who has dreams of writing a graphic novel but nothing particularly to write about. It has a cast of loveable characters including one or two love interests, Hudson’s clients at his Distress Dial service for elderly people, and some rather eccentric dogs.I was reminded of a number of other young adult books that I’ve read, including Looking For Alaska, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ and Me Being Me Is Exactly As Insane As You Being You. The main love interest is something of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl but is refreshingly balanced by the rest of the characters, including the fantastically cool and down-to-earth Fritzy.There were some moments that particularly stood out to me as very moving. We see Hudson forming friendships with older people, including a few in their 90s, and it is fascinating to see their age through his young eyes. Particularly moving are the scenes in which he discusses his father, who was killed whilst serving in the military, with a WWII veteran.For me, it’s a four star read. Enjoyable, and easy to get through, whilst dealing sensitively with issues including PTSD and dementia. I’d recommend it to teen and young adult readers who enjoy coming-of-age stories. I’d particularly recommend it to dog-lovers!

Going Places is a stand-alone novel from author Kathryn Berla. This is my third read from this author and will be in the lookout for more of her future books! Kathryn defiantly knows how to write characters that are relatable and give us details that we can portray in our minds while reading.I can I start off by saying how refreshing it is to have a male as our lead narrator and telling it from his POV. Again this book took me a while to really get into, but the one thing that drew me in most was Hudson. Once I was finally into the story I found Hudson’s story one that could be related to for many people. It was a heart-warming, eye opening read.We follow Hudson on his journey in which he faces many obstacles all teens face at some point. But along with this, we meet some secondary characters that really help bring Hudson’s story together, and brought more to this story, Mr Pirkle & Fritzy are the two that stand out the most.I think the most important point to this story is the self-discovery that Hudson does along the way he gains new things and learns things he didn't know before or even knew about himself before. He finds it in himself to believe and comes out the other side with a new perspective all while going through the process of becoming an adult.This is a great heart-warming read, that I'm glad I got the chance to read!

Going Places by Kathryn Berla5 Stars!!!!! This author is new to me and I must say that I am quite impressed and glued to the pages of this book. I love finding new authors that grab you from page one and keep you interested throughout. The book had a unique storyline. I found my heartstrings being tugged with the relationship between Pirkle and Hudson. There is something to be said about non related family and second chances at helping someone. I really liked how the author used the backstory of Pirkle to build his character and in the end I found a little tear in my eye. I like also how the title of the book plays a big part in the storyline cause at the end of the day we are all Going places but its the ones who really make a difference that really Go Places!! I also really sort of related to Hudson as I too was homeschooled in highschool and I am also homeschooling my youngest who is in high school. I was really happy to see that the author was able to show that it isn't taboo and it is a viable option. I would really like to read more by this author .