Surviving the Applewhites - Stephanie S. Tolan oohh i had to read this for eighth grade english. hated it. hate, hate, hate. the whole thing was such a bit cliché, like, "the punk kid becomes nice when he discovers that he is talented at acting!" barf. plus it was one of those books centering around a "wacky family" where each family member felt so forced, like the author had tried too hard to make everyone "unique". i hate that. :P