Book Review: Dented Cans by Heather Walsh

The story of one family's life with a frugal father.  The Sampson family is known for their cheapness.  The father loves to buy dented and unlabeled cans at discount prices.  Sixteen year old Hannah knows her family is not normal.  She can't wait for the day she can get away.  Her fourteen year old brother, Ryan, is on the fast track to nowhere getting by by doing the bare minimum.  Her eight-year-old brother, Ben, prefers to talk in sound effects and eat only chicken nuggets.

The major part of the story takes place in Disney World.  None of the siblings want to go, but their father makes them enjoy a vacation in October in this Orlando hot spot.  The entire time they are there they argue over what to eat (the peanut butter sandwiches their parents made each morning), what to ride, and what to do.  What the kids do not know is the secret their parents have been holding all their lives.

I found the narrator, Hannah, to be a major brat.  All she does is complain.  She complains about her father being frugal and buying dented cans (which is something to complain about).  When their house is being fumigated for termites she complains about having to share a room with her brother.  She complains about going to Disney World for the second time.  She complains about having to watch a Disney movie on the plane ride to Orlando.  What she should be thankful for is that her cheap father decide to shell out money for the headphones.  She complains that going to Disney World is the worst thing in the world.  Um no.  My gosh, what an ungrateful little brat.

She complains about the dumbest things, in my opinion.  She complains about five people in their party being troublesome for the Disney World employees working the rides.  Give me a break!  I come from a family of five and we've never encountered trouble or anxiousness when dividing up the family for rides.  She calls the Magic Kingdom infantile.

I was ready to give this book a low rating when the ending came along.  It is surprising to say the least.  It did change my feelings on wanting to smack Hannah for being so negative about Disney World, but it did provide me with some feelings of sympathy.

I read this book as a review request via the Kindle app on my laptop.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for this review in any way.