Dented Cans is the story of Hannah Sampson’s functionally
dysfunctional family.
Her father is an accountant. Despite making a fair amount of
money, he was very cheap. He also buys dented cans because the prices on they
are always marked down, and it gives them a cheaper meal than they would have
had before. His is a bit OCD and makes sure everything is spotless. Even the
phones are basically soaked in Lysol.
Her mother worked at her little brother’s school. She is
very serious. She doesn’t laugh at jokes much, and always seems to have on a
straight face.
Hannah’s first mission is to buy a car. She reads the car
ads religiously trying to find the right car at the right price to fit her
budget. Once she finds one, she must try to talk her parents into letting her
buy one. This is no simple task because of how cheap they are with their money.
One dilemma hanging in the air is the family trip to Disney
World. The idea is brought up at the beginning of the book, and the two oldest
kids – Hannah and Ryan – are not too thrilled about going. They have already
been there, but their youngest brother, Ben, was too young to remember.
Ben is now eight years old, but he is different from other
kids. He makes a lot of sound effects and doesn’t talk much.
Ryan seems to be a normal teenager, but he is the complete
opposite of Hannah academically. Hannah strives for perfect grades, and just
getting a B on her report card upsets her. Ryan scrapes by with lower grades
and isn’t too concerned when he winds up with a D in Spanish. He claims that
the teacher sucks and everyone else got bad grades as well.
They are definitely not a normal family, but they get by.
Then the trip to Disney World finally happens.
Hannah and Ryan do not want to be there. They would rather
be off doing their own thing: Ryan – playing some video game, Hannah – studying
her SAT vocabulary words.
Ben is sort of indifferent to the whole trip. He enjoys some
of it, but most of the time he is off in his own little world.
On the way home, Hannah’s mother reveals a family secret
that changes the way the kids view their parents. It is a pretty touching scene
but also very sad at the same time.
I enjoyed reading this novel. It made me laugh at times.
Hannah’s personality was entertaining at parts, and her conversations with Ryan
added some humor as well.
It was a pretty easy read. The chapters were a little
lengthy, but they seemed to go by fairly quick.
I could see there being a sequel to this.
4/5 Stars
