Rules of the Road by Joan Baur - Book Report/Review Example

Jenna Boiler is pleased with her job, selling shoes after school at Gladstone's Shoe Store in Chicago, Illinois. While she is happy with her job, however, Jenna is not necessarily happy with her physical appearance. She is tall, and she does not like her weight or red hair. Regardless of her feelings about her appearance, she is very good at selling shoes. Her customers likes her, and she takes much pride in getting the right shoe and right fit for her customers. Her hard work and ability gets her noticed by Mrs. Madeline Gladstone, the CEO and president of the company. The CEO thus asks Jenna to become her personal driver for a business trip to Dallas, Texas, where the yearly stockholder meeting will take place (Baur). Jenna is reluctant when she sees the Cadillac she will drive. She overcomes her own trepidation and her mother's refusal to allow her to take the responsibility and launches out on a summer long, cross country adventure. She leaves her troubles, which include an alcoholic father, behind. As Jenna gains confidence behind the wheel, she learns about the rules of the road that were never in the student driver's manual. She sees the similarity between these rules and the rules of life. Her self-confidence grows as she meets the demands of Mrs. Gladstone, and a unexpected friendship and fierce respect grows between the two (Bauer). Jenna's business acumen becomes a valuable asset to Mrs. Gladstone. As she visits store managers, Jenna sleuths to gain information about the merchandise and the stores for Mrs. Gladstone. They try to influence voters to help them thwart a business takeover in the upcoming stockholders' meeting. Mrs. Gladstone's son, Elden, and a shoe warehouse owner are planning a takeover, turning Gladstone's Shoes into a warehouse style operation with inferior merchandise, an idea Mrs. Gladstone cannot tolerate (Bauer). All through the long summer days, Jenna thinks about her father and the events in her life that he missed and his broken promises. She resents the burden she feels for his welfare, worrying about where he is living and whether he is he eating right. In addition, Jenna feels responsible for shielding Faith, her younger sister, and dislikes her father for the pain he has caused her mother. She is angry that he will not admit he has a problem and seek help even though alcoholism has destroyed his marriage (Bauer). In Dallas, she meets the legendary Harry Bender, a good friend of Mrs. Gladstone and a recovered alcoholic who faithfully attends weekly Alcoholic Anonymous meetings. He gives unreservedly of himself and his time to help others who are trying to recover and stay sober. Jenna is drawn to Harry's friendly nature. When he dies, she finds herself wishing he had been her father. It is Harry's good advice and guidance that help her stand up to Elden Gladstone at the stockholders' meeting. When she returns to Chicago she realizes that feeling sorry for herself and her situation will not stop her father from drinking. Though she still loves him, Jenna understands that her father alone can decide whether or not to drink (Baur). Many themes are present in Rules of the Road: parent-child relationships, difficulty dealing with growing up, loyalty and responsibility, etc. Jenna wishes desperately that her father could beat the alcoholism. Until Jenna meets Harry Bender, a recovered alcoholic, she feels unreasonable responsibility for her father's safety and well being. Although she had attended Al-Anon meetings to help her deal with the situation, it was not until a short, but deep friendship developed with Harry Bender that she understood her responsibility for her father. From Harry she learned that her father's behavior and choices were his responsibility and not hers. That knowledge gave release to Jenna, a freedom she had never experienced before (Bergstrom). Loyalty is a theme which occurs throughout the novel. Jenna feels strongly about her job, doing her best, selling the best product, giving the customer full satisfaction and value for his money, and upholding the ethical tenets of business established by Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone. Bauer creates many realistic opportunities where Jenna must make ethical decisions and be willing to put her convictions on the line. Because of her loyalty to her boss and job, she meets adversity unwaveringly. Contrasted to the character of her father and Mrs. Gladstone's son, Elden, Jenna is a good role model for young people wavering in their choices (Librarything). Teens are sometimes unhappy with the person they see in the mirror, Jenna being among them. She thinks she is too tall-five feet, eleven inches-and is dissatisfied with her red hair and her weight. She went through a slump in her sophomore year, gaining seventeen and a half pounds, moving from center forward to second-string guard on the girls' basketball team because she just could not jump, and only earned a C minus in history, which knocked her off the honor roll. Schoolmate Billy Mundy made her the brunt of mean jokes and called her "Ms. Moose." Although these situations cause her self-esteem to shrivel, there is one place where Jenna knows she is fully adequate and her self-esteem soars- when she is selling shoes at Gladstone's Shoe Store. In this place, she is a professional, treated with respect and dignity. Because of Jenna's demeanor and competence in her job, she receives the opportunity to become Mrs. Gladstone's driver and personal assistant for the summer, a tremendous boost to her morale. The reader watches Jenna's self-esteem grow by leaps and bounds as she meets adversity with enthusiasm and courage. Alice Lovett takes Jenna under her wing in Dallas and performs a makeover on the self-conscious teen. Alice cuts Jenna's hair and takes her shopping for clothing in styles and colors that compliment her height and red hair. Most teens want to be seen in a positive light by their peers, both male and female. In fact, Jenna thinks about Matt Wicks, a boy from school, and what he would think of her if he could see her now. Her new perception of her appearance is affirmed when a handsome stranger swings her onto the dance floor at the mall where a band is playing. When Jenna protests that she does not know how to dance, the stranger refuses to take no for an answer and teaches her (Penguin). Mrs. Madeline Gladstone, president and CEO of Gladstone's Shoe Stores, is the supporting character in this story. She and her deceased husband built a shoe sales business into a chain of stores stretching from Dallas, Texas, to Chicago, Illinois. She grew up in the home of a Baptist preacher and, consequently, possesses a strong sense of right and wrong. At first glance, she seems a curmudgeon, but proves to be a very level headed and giving individual, although she does not want it to show. Undoubtedly, she sees something of herself and her values in Jenna. Though outspoken, Mrs. Gladstone is loyal to her employees and sees that loyalty in Jenna. She and Jenna make a formidable team as they leave Chicago behind and push towards Dallas and a confrontation with her son, Elden Gladstone ("Rules of the Road"). Often away from the house, Jenna's mother works long hours as an emergency-room nurse on the night shift. Divorced from her alcoholic husband, she must support herself and her two daughters alone. She is protective of them but must rely heavily on Jenna to care for Faith. Too young to know her father before her parents divorced, Faith has a distorted view of who he is and what he is like. Faith really believes her father loves her and cares about her, but learns differently when she must deal with him in Jenna's absence ("Rules of the Road Review"). An important person in the book, Harry Bender is a dear friend of Mrs. Gladstone and the best shoe salesman in the world, working in the Gladstone's Dallas store. An alcoholic, he has been sober for twentythree years. A gregarious and giving man, he takes Jenna under his wing and teaches her about shoes and selling. Harry Bender lives life with gusto and shows Jenna that it is possible for alcoholics to change, but only if they have the courage and the determination to quit drinking. Works Cited Baur, Joan. Rules of the Road. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 19998. Bergstrom, Robert. "Rules of the Road Analysis." 23 July 2009. http://www.joanbauer.com/rulesguide/readroad.pdf Librarything. "Rules of the Road." 22 July 2009. http://www.librarything.com/work/489596 Penguin. "Rules of the Road." 22 July 2009. http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/joan_bauer.html. "Rules of the Road Review." 12 July 2009. http://www.buildingrainbows.com/bookreview/reviewid/1789 "Rules of the Road." 22 July 2009. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/joan-bauer/rules-of-road.htm Read More