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Safekeeping: A Novel of Tomorrow
Safekeeping: A Novel of Tomorrow
Safekeeping: A Novel of Tomorrow
Audiobook4 hours

Safekeeping: A Novel of Tomorrow

Written by Karen Hesse

Narrated by Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this audiobook

Radley's parents had warned her that all hell would break loose if the American People's Party took power. And now, with the president assassinated and the government cracking down on citizens, the news is filled with images of vigilante groups, frenzied looting, and police raids. It seems as if all hell has broken loose.

Coming back from volunteering abroad, Radley just wants to get home to Vermont, and the comfort and safety of her parents. Travel restrictions and delays are worse than ever, and by the time Radley's plane lands in New Hampshire, she's been traveling for over twenty-four hours. Exhausted, she heads outside to find her parents—who always come, day or night, no matter when or where she lands—aren't there.

Her cell phone is dead, her credit cards are worthless, and she doesn't have the proper travel papers to cross state lines. Out of money and options, Radley starts walking. . . .

This is a vision of a future America that only Karen Hesse could write: real, gripping, and deeply personal.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 18, 2012
ISBN9781427227218
Safekeeping: A Novel of Tomorrow
Author

Karen Hesse

Karen Hesse has received numerous honors for her writing, including the Scott O’Dell Historical Fiction Award, the MacArthur Fellowship “Genius” Award, the Christopher Award, and the Newbery Medal. Ms. Hesse is also the author of WISH UPON A UNICORN, LETTERS FROM RIFKA and PHOENIX RISING, both available with new cover art. She lives in Brattleboro, Vermont.

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Reviews for Safekeeping

Rating: 3.7187500825 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

80 ratings13 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    you have teen homelessness but this time it’s in a not so distant future America that’s run amok. And they hide out in the same place I plan on hiding when the USA goes crazy.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    SAFEKEEPING is a breath-taking journey of self-discovery and survival taking place in a near future United States that has been taken over by the American People's Party which has instituted martial law and is jailing any sort of protester. Seventeen-year-old Radley Parker-Hughes had been volunteering at an orphanage in Haiti but, when the APP took over, she was determined to get home to her parents in Vermont. The United States Radley returns to is not at all like the one she left. She stripped herself of all her possessions because the orphans in Haiti needed them more. She was confident that her parents would be waiting the arrival of her flight and would take care of her. However, her parents are not waiting when she arrives. And, not having the necessary funds or paperwork to take public transportation, Radley determines to walk from Manchester, New Hampshire to Brattleboro, Vermont. She is alone, penniless, and afraid of being arrested. She learns to look for food in dumpsters and find abandoned buildings for shelter at night. She lives on the hope that her parents will be waiting for her when she gets home. However, when she gets to Brattleboro, her parents are not there. There house is standing empty. The director of the orphanage in Haiti had encouraged her to go to Canada instead of Vermont. So she decides to keep walking and get to Canada in the hopes that her parents have done the same thing. Along the way she meets and befriends Celia and her dog Jerry Lee. Gradually, as they travel, they learn each other's stories and help each other survive. The girls come to rest in an abandoned school house near Sutton, Quebec where they are helped by an old woman who lives nearby. But Radley's journey is not over. The story is told in the first person and, at first, Radley seems sort of spoiled. She has always had her parents as backup when she loses her phone charger or doesn't keep any money to feed herself. But Radley also has a very good heart. She is a caretaker - first of the orphans in Haiti and second of Celia as they travel to try to find safety. Through her narrative, we also learn about her relationship with her parents and all the things she learned from them about survival and about life. The story is told in four parts. There are many photographs (taken by the author) that go along with the short vignettes that make up the story. Hesse paints marvelous, poetic pictures of what Radley is seeing and doing. I found the story to be very moving and emotional.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    VOYARadley Parker-Hughes has been in Haiti volunteering at an orphanage. She returns home to the Northeast, but home is not the same. During the time she was gone, the president of the United States was assassinated, and political turmoil has ensued. Radley cannot reach her parents--few phones work--her credit cards do not work, and she has no money. Her only choice is to journey on foot from the airport to her home. Along the way, she must avoid soldiers and criminals while trying to survive on scraps of food from strangers and what she can find in Dumpsters. Radley encounters Celia during her journey, and they walk to Canada for safekeeping, hoping to eventually be able to return to home and family. Safekeeping is similar to the hero’s journey we have seen throughout literature. Here, a teenage girl wants to return to home and family, but home has changed and family might never be there. This novel is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (Knopf, 2006): Something has happened in the United States, and we learn little of what occurred, but the journey and self-discovery along the way is what is important. The prose is very atmospheric--one can really imagine a very bleak reality for Radley during her journey. This atmosphere is reinforced with the inclusion of photographs. These wonderful photos become part of the narrative only after the prose sets the tone during the first part of the novel. Mature high school students will especially appreciate this book, perhaps as they embark on the next step in their journey of life. Ages 15 to 18
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Although billed as a YA story, I think Safekeeping by Karen Hesse would appeal far more to adults than teens. This story of a world “gone wrong” doesn’t feature romance, daring actions or adventure. Instead it is a quiet story of one young woman who returns to America from her volunteer job in Haiti to be with her family after the assassination of the President of the United States and the government takeover by the right wing American People’s Party. She arrives home to a changed America of vigilantes, strikes, and police raids. She also finds her parents missing. She decides that her parents may have struck out north for Canada and feeling like she is in danger, she also sets out north and crosses into Canada. Along the way she befriends another young woman who is travelling north with her dog and they decide to stick together. Once in Canada they find a small abandoned schoolhouse and make it their home. As they scavenge for food, they find that they have a benefactress from a neighbouring farm who leaves them supplies that ensure their survival. After a number of months pass, it looks like America is stabilizing so our main character returns home to find her parents.This book feels very personal to the author who enhances the story with her own photographs of the Vermont countryside. The story is rather depressing and I was sorry that there wasn’t more detail about how the conditions in America were allowed to happen. As a Canadian though, I was happy to see my country shown as a sanctuary. The story is beautifully written but I felt this complicated plot needed more political background. The author does ensure that the ending although rather abrupt, leaves the reader with a sense of hope for the future. Overall, although I personally loved this story, there are flaws that I am not sure could be overlooked by most people.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Radley is doing volunteer work in Haiti when the totalitarian American People's Party gains control of the USA. She catches the first available flight back in order to be with her parents again, but they are not awaiting her arrival at the airport, and the USA she lands in is not the one she remembers from her departure a few months ago. Her cell phone charger is lost, she has no cash on hand and credit cards no longer work, and she doesn't have the proper paperwork to cross the state line in order to get home by bus. When she can't even get in touch with her parents by scrounging coins for a pay phone, Radley decides to set out on foot across New England. She makes the journey to her hometown only to find her house standing empty. There are police and soldiers enforcing curfews -- have her parents been arrested, or did they flee to Canada? Hoping for the latter, Radley sets out once again, this time heading north. Can she stay safe from the military, gangs who attack lone travelers, wild animals, and the elements? And even if she does, where will she go?This is a dystopia written on a human scale. Radley isn't out to save her country or overthrow the government -- she's just doing the best she can to stay alive and safe, hoping to connect with the people she loves, waiting out the storm. It's probably what most of us would do in similar circumstances. The near-future setting and the focus on the individual makes this an excellent book for readers who enjoy realistic stories of survival. Recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Radley,a young lady who has been out of the country doing volunteer work in Haiti learns about the chaos going on back in the United States. She makes plans to go home to be with her family, but along the way she finds that cells phones no longer work, she has no cash on hand or "proper" traveling papers. Radley must learn to find food, shelter and to stay alive while she looks for her family.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book surprised me in so many ways--and the ending was so uplifting so beautiful in its expression of compassion and love and mothering. I think using the photographs was daring (sort of worked, mostly because I love b&w photography). And I liked the way the apocalyptic America wasn't the story; the story is about human survival and the imperative of valuing human connection. Lovely!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A teenage girl returns to the United States from a humanitarian trip in Haiti to find the country in a state of chaos and in the grip of an oppressive government ruled by something called the American People's Party. It's a story of a bleak, possible near-future that centers on maintaining meaningful, compassionate human connection. An interesting, frequently engrossing tale illustrated with some striking photographs by Hesse but readers may find the many unresolved loose ends frustrating and unsatisfying.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    So what would happen if your country went to crap while you weren't in it? If a radical political group took over, if dissenters were arrested, if the president were assassinated? If you finally made it home after walking across a good chunk of New England, only to find your parents gone without a trace? That's what happened to Radley. Getting to Canada is her safest option, and it's not an option that's all that safe.

    A weirdly sort of political apocalypse that feels more realistic than any of the technological or environmental ones that are swirling around. A slow, eerie tone and a plot that will appeal to fans of other long-journey-on-foot books (Small as an Elephant, Homecoming, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
     Karen Hesse has always been one of my favorite authors, so I thought I would give her newest a read. Overall, I think that the book is pretty good. The photographs, while interesting, don't help to tell much of the story. Sometimes they almost seem forced. Set in a world (the United States) where the government has completely toppled, the characters have to find a way to survive. I think that the believability of the plot helps to make this an interesting book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was very interesting. Radley spent the first part of the book so alone, you could almost feel her despondance. I was relieved once she met up with Celia and Jerry Lee. As she begins to piece together a life and work her way back home to try to set her old life right again, she learns what has happened in her absence and comes to understand just how strong she really is. While not for everyone, I liked the book well enough. The pictures that accompanied the story were lovely.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "All passengers must submit to a security check before boarding. Travelers wishing to board must first present a completed travel request form. Please have valid ID ready to show. There will be no crossing of state lines without prior government approval.""Travel request forms?" I ask. "No crossing state lines?"..."Where've you been? Under a rock? You're not getting anywhere without authorized travel papers..." This is madness. This is the United States. This doesn't happen here. But it is happening. Radley has been volunteering at an orphanage in Haiti, until the new American president was assassinated. Worried over the news reports of unrest, looting and rioting, Radley insists on leaving for her New Hampshire home. After traveling for more than 24 hours, Radley arrives to find no one there to meet her, and no way to get closer to home unless she walks. Cell phone dead, credit card useless, no money and no approved travel papers mean that Radley is out of other options. This is her survival story, of walking home, finding nothing, and then doing as the kindhearted Monsieur Bellamy at the orphanage directed: if it is too dangerous, you must go to Canada. But walking to Canada when you have no shelter, no weapons, and no food other than what you scavenge from dumpsters is also dangerous. This is a political story through the eyes of a single person who expects her rights as a citizen of these United Statese to be respected. But as many other nations have found, in times of desperate turmoil and revolt, those rights are often the both the most precious things we have and the most vulnerable. Anyone who's spent time in the northern woods of Vermont and New Hampshire will appreciate the setting, and the political questions are perfect for 8th grade's study of the Constitution.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was not what I was expecting. The premise is that the United States has gone crazy after an extremist party has come to power and the president has been assassinated, leaving one girl to set out on her own in a search for her parents and safety. This led me to expect more action and more politics, explaining how we got from our current world to the broken world of the future. Neither of those things was really present, though. Radley doesn’t have a lot of encounters with the looters and vigilantes who are roaming the country, and the course of events leading up to the current state of affairs is never fully explained. We don’t learn any details about how the American People’s Party gained power in a political system that doesn’t exactly favour third parties, for example.None of that turned out to matter, though. What this book mainly is, is a quietly introspective look at the things that we value. And it works very well. Radley reflects on how her parents gave her everything she needed, and wishes deeply that she had shown more appreciation. She wonders how she can make a contribution to society. And she cautiously develops new relationships in a dangerous and unfamiliar world. Looking at the themes that are developed, and how Hesse manages to do it in a way that doesn’t feel heavy-handed, I can understand why she’s won a Newbury medal for her previous work.This book also includes an element that I personally always love: setting up a home in an isolated place with minimal supplies, and developing it from a basic shelter where one struggles to survive to a comfortable place that really is a home. It reminds me of stories about homesteading, and the Boxcar Children, and people shipwrecked on desert islands. Again, the survival element is done quietly, without a lot of intense struggle, but I found it very satisfying all the same. This is a powerful book in its understated way.