Brock Pearson Pearson itibaren Burson, CA 95252, Birleşik Devletler
This is one of the all-time great YA Fantasy classics. It uses the device of "time-slip"--the equivalent in Fantasy of "time-travel' in science fiction. Time-slip does not usually use a machine but works through a mysterious, often unexplained process which causes the consciousness of the character to slip into another time period. It is a plot device which tends to emphasize the ability to transcend time rather than travel through it. "Tom's Midnight Garden" uses the device to explore the changing awareness of a young boy's friendship with a girl living in a different era. The relationship is intensely beautiful, melancholy, uplifting, and finally transcendent in a very special way. I won't give more because I don't wish to spoil the wonderful sense of discovery and growth that imbues this wonderful book with its uniquely luminous magic.
I had no idea who Jim Norton was before I picked this up. I don't think I'd like to spend any time with him after reading this. Each chapter is an anecdote where Jim ends up verbally abusing someone, paying someone to have sex with him, or bemoaning how repugnant he is. Sometimes with a combination of these three things. I did laugh a couple of times. Usually because whatever I just read was so patently offensive that I had to step back for a second. Here's a sample paragraph: "I never quite understood pedophilia; I hate being around kids, I can't comprehend wanting to fuck one of those little monsters. First of all, their hands are always sticky. And even worse than fucking them is that afterward, you have to be nice so they don't rat you out to the whole goddamn neighborhood. "I know, you little shit, I know...ice cream for breakfast again." Sounds like too much work to me. If you like smooth and hairless so much, why not just fuck Asians or cancer patients?"
I had mixed feelings about this book. I really disliked the entire first half. The entire time they were in the glass elevator in space was just boring and stupid to me. I don't have any specific reason why, it just didn't have the same appeal that the entire first book had. But as soon as they crashed back into the chocolate factory, the book did a complete turnaround and turned out to end great. The entire second half of this book was equally as good as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". If the entire book took place in the chocolate factory, I'm nearly positive I would have loved this book. 1 star for the first half, 5 stars for the second half = 3 stars for entire book.
Basic overview...9th grader Rachel has a 12 year old sister who discovers she is a witch (mom is as well, but is non-practicing). As expected, spells go awry and lessons are learned... Things I liked...clever dialogue and narration. I loved being inside Rachel's brain. She think all over the place, just like me! Some clever ideas and references. A lot of the books focus was on basic problems Rachel faces and how she deals with them (using some spells of course...) Good ending...clever and somewhat unexpected. I liked it that everything wasn't completely "happily ever after." I also really liked the Raf, the possible boyfriend. Things that bugged me...I didn't really like Rachel very much throughout the majority of the book. She is WAY too interested in getting in with the A list crowd, being popular, having a boyfriend, and going to the big dance...TOTALLY shallow...to the point where she recognizes how good a friend Tammy is, but she blows her off anyway. She doesn't seem to have a problem dropping her one true friend like a hot coal, and whenever it served her agenda, she was deceitful. I know girls dream about this kind of stuff, but I would hope that my daughter has been taught well enough about what is really important in life... The last couple of chapters did teach a lesson, but I was almost TOO happy to see Rachel get her comeuppance...I really want to LIKE the main character more than I did. I may try the second book in the series to see where it goes. We'll see...