Plot:April is a junior in high school with a seemingly perfect life - she's a pretty tennis star with a great boyfriend. One day, her life takes a drastic change when she and her family are placed in the the federal witness security program, where she has to change her name and identity and pretend her old life never existed.Review:I probably would've hated April in any other book. She's frustrating, tends to make stupid decisions, and whines a lot. But I gave her a pass for three reasons. One, she's a dumb teenager and is aware of it. Two, she's been placed in an incredibly frustrating situation against her will. I mean, I would certainly be angry if I was her. She's not allowed to contact her old friends, which is worrying because they have no idea what happened to her. She's not even allowed to go to the college she's expecting because somebody might recognize her there. Three, she actually acknowledges her mistakes and goes through character development. Don't get me wrong, there are still some points where I wanted to grab her and give her a good shake, but her decisions were at least understandable given her age and her situation.The writing was also good, although simple. The thing about Lois Duncan's books is that, despite their flaws, they're still better written than most YA nowadays. The pacing was good, and despite the fact that April thinks that everything is slow-moving, I never felt that as a reader. Don't Look Behind You is a fast, easy, enjoyable read like Duncan's other books.I like the show, don't tell in this book. For example, there's the fact that April's mother has been drinking a lot to cope with her unhappiness. In any other YA book with less subtlety, April's mom would've probably had a couple drunk scenes and have April whining about how much her mother is annoying her with her drinking. In this book, it's restrained to a few scenes where April's mother begins to drink in a few unusual situations, and it's not until the end of the book that April acknowledges that her mother's been drinking because she's been unhappy, it's just that nobody wanted to acknowledge it. I feel like that one line is so telling about their family and family situation.Also, I liked how this book is most definitely not above love interests. Actually, there are two love interests in this book but it's clear that they're less love interests than representations of her old life vs. new life. April clearly pines for her old boyfriend (and by extension, her old life) while rejecting the new guy who clearly likes her in hopes that she can somehow find her old boyfriend. In the end, (view spoiler)[she gets together with neither of them, and starts a new life far from both (hide spoiler)]
I read this a million years ago in jr high, but I thought it might make a good read aloud. I used Down a Dark Hall with my lit circle groups & they enjoyed it (one of them fist pumped when he realized this was the same author!)Update from the end: not a spectacular read aloud. It might make a decent book for literature circles or something, but it's pretty slow at the beginning and nothing much happens until the last 30 pages. Also, it has been "updated" in the clumsiest fashion: everyone has a cell phone, but there's no mention of any sort of social media (which would have been freaking out when April disappeared). Hell, no one even has email! And a pivotal plot point hinges on the fact that April sends a LETTER to her boyfriend. If we're supposed to buy that this takes place in at least the aughts, you can't tell me a typical teenager wouldn't try to get ahold of a smartphone or computer to send a message. Also also, the family's cover story is that they moved to Florida for dad to manage a photo place...which even back in the 70s was not a great career move. Now it makes even less sense (there's no plot dependent reason for it either...make it a gas station or a card store or something!) Either update everything or leave it as is, but throwing in casual references to an iPod and Twilight do not actually an updated story make. I think this was done to all of Duncan's books, and I'm not sure why. If the story is good enough, they don't care that the characters don't have iPhones.
What do You think about Don't Look Behind You (1990)?
Actual rating - 2.5I felt sorry for April because of the situation she was in, but I didn't like her. She was really stupid most of the time, and quite annoying. She was told not to contact anyone for obvious reasons, but done it anyway. She moaned when she had to cut her hair to disguise herself, and moaned about giving her phone up, claiming that she would die without it. There was plenty more stupid and annoying moments throughout the book, and by the end of it I was sick of her. This wasn't an awful read, but it wasn't a very enjoyable one either. Apart from April being an idiot, there wasn't much going on, so I was bored through most of it. I'm glad it's over.
—Abbie
This book is prefect for young adults. It is a real thriller. One wonders how one would feel if one had to start one's whole life over and one lost all one has ever had.This book is about April, a teenager, who has a great life with family, a boy friend and friends. Her dad is working under cover for the FBI. A mob hitman, Mike Vamp, is trying to kill him. April, now called Valerie, has to start her whole life over when her family enters the Federal Witness Security Program. I have never thought about the Witness Protection Program, but when I read this book I realized how difficult it must be for the family.
—Judith
I already finished this book. Very interesting book. its basically about this girl called April which has a perfect life. Until one day which she found her grandmother afterschool waiting for her to tell her that they were in serious problems. Her father got in trouble which had to do something with the government and they were trying to kill him and their family. Someone was after them, and that person was called Mike Vamp. Vamp was for his eyes whiched looked like a vampire and all the things he could do. Well.. they had to change identities and April couldnt live with the fact of changing identities knowing that this was the best for her and her family. To go on with the story. They leave everything behind and go hide in a motel wothout getting ot for two months , trying to hide these people whom where looking for them well her father, April, her little brother and her mother had to survive this horible nightmare.This Mike Vamp tried to kill them once. they had a knock on the door and they didnt know whether to open it or not. So when they saw that it was house keeping and that it was not necessay for their bodygaurd to check they opened the door and let the man in. Fortunally they closed the door on time. When they noticed their was nothing the other side of the door... just the dead body gaurd they had been spenting a good quality time for months inside that hotel. All started because of Aprils letter to her boyfriend which had all the information needed to get them right were they where. That was one door opening Mike Vamp to get them. Now it sup to April to save her family.
—paola mendez
