David LubarCritiques

Fantasy

A promising new series for 9-12 year olds. The usual trio of main characters: the everyman chosen one, the goofy best friend, and the brainy girl. The usual alienation metaphor: this time it's being half-dead. Pretty decent writing.

I really didn't like the line: "a solution isn't like a piece of clothing--you can't always find one that fits the way you want" because I certainly can't always find clothes that fit the way I like.

I'll admit I just read this because I really thought I'd finish the book I was almost done with afterwards so I wouldn't end the year on this. It didn't work out that way. My son first read this series when he was 10 and he's 13 now and still holding onto them...I think they're maybe too dark for 10-year-olds and too juvenile for 13-year-olds having read this one. The one thing I did really like though was at the back of the book where Lubar explains his thought process for each story. I thought that was interesting and cool to read.

Adventure and science fiction aren’t exactly in my comfort zone, they’re genres I just occasionally dip my toe into and maybe it’s for that reason that this felt a little on the long side, but for the most part, I was entertained.

There were moments where I wondered at lead character Nicholas scarcely reacting to the increasingly bizarre situations he’s thrown into, like winding up in outerspace, creatures talking who ordinarily wouldn’t, being the target of a pursuit, etc., there was a lot of unusual stuff happening here and it barely phases this kid. I did at times crave a little more of a response from him to these strange events, but the actual intended middle-grade audience will probably have an easier time identifying with Nicholas’s ability to go with the flow than I do as an adult.

This isn’t a graphic novel, but I could see this potentially appealing to those readers with its light sprinkling of illustrations and the frequent and often quite smart laughs all throughout this adventure.

Since my reading sensibilities lean toward the emotional, the friendships were my happiest place in this book, I loved Nicholas’s bond with his gerbil Henrietta, and to my surprise, the author even had me sharing Nicholas’s fondness for Jeef, a package of ground beef, not only a uniquely memorable character, but one I cared about more than anyone else. They’re a group that I’ll look forward to catching up with in the other books in this trilogy whenever I’m in the right mood for a little something different.½

Scott Hudson and his 3 best friends are about to start high school... YIKES!! Scott has no clue what he's in for when the first day starts. He soon learns that his friends are all in tech-prep while he's in honors classes. He also finds out fairly quickly that upperclassmen are to be avoided, unless you want a smack in the head or relieved of your extra change. This book follows Scott as he navigates his freshman year of high school including: his mom's pregnancy announcement, his friends from middle-school drifting, his older brother Bobby seeming lost, his crush on Julia which prompts him to join too many school activities, gym class from HELL, and a few new unexpected friends....

I enjoyed this book way too much!! I say that because about halfway through I was laughing to myself and I realized that I was relating to this nerdy 15-year-old boy way more than I should. And is he ever a 15-year-old boy! The author totally captured the voice of a young male. Sometimes I would be all into it, and then he would say something completely gross and immature and I couldn't help but smile.


As Scott's life becomes more complicated, so does the choices he has to make. First his mom is going to be having a baby, his friendships from middle-school seem to be falling apart left and right, none of his after-school activities turns out as planned, and his crush on Julia just gets him in deeper and deeper. Then there is a suicide attempt by somebody in his life and it sort of puts things into perspective for Scott.


One of my favorite parts of the book is that since Scott finds out that his mom is having a baby right at the start of his school year, he starts writing "survival" tips for his younger sibling to follow when he/she gets there. It was really cute and even though he was trying to be a tough guy in most of the letters, he really wasn't really anything close to that. He calls the unborn baby all kinds of horrible names and tells it that all it's going to do is drool and puke on everything. But then he give it life lessons on girls, friendship, and high school, and tells it he's always going to be there for him/her. It was really gimmicky, but it worked.


I was really into the relationship that Scott had with his English teacher. Scott was a reader and a writer and sort of an oddball, so for him to have a mentor like that was extremely important. And I also think it's important for kids to see that these relationships exist. Not all teachers suck (just a few).

I was definitely reminded of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and was totally picturing the kid who played Fregley in the movie as Mouth.

Quotes I liked:
"See Scott run. Run, Scott, run. See Scott die. No such luck..."

"Meet the Hudson kids- one had split, one hadn't arrived, and the other didn't have a clue about where he was going."


I even think I learned some stuff too... like I don't think I was ever introduced to Tom Swifties before, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to come up with as many clever one's as Scott did:

"The first quarter is over and we haven't scored", the crowd said pointlessly.

"I've been sliced in half", Tom said intuitively.




Overall: It was a realistic male POV of a high school experience. Definitely recommend to anyone who likes funny middle-grade type books. And for boys especially. This book shows boys that it's okay to like to read. It's cool to be smart sometimes :)

My Blog:
http://pinkpolkadotbookblog.blogspot.com

CW: physical abuse, revenge murders

2.5 Stars

I laughed, I cried, I thought deeply about the deep-rooted racial injustice that our permeates our culture. Mostly, I love the book. Each moment feels real, and you experience it right along with Starr. It gives those of us who might not understand exactly what it feels like to be a black person in the United States a small glance at some of the emotions and experiences.If you know anything about how the US has handled police shootings in the past few years, you know how this book ends. And honestly, it's disheartening, especially when you consider that this is far from the last time a black person will be killed at the hands of the police because they're black. The end is sad, but the ending is so hopeful, and it's just what we need right now.

3.5 stars

That was rather sweet. A bit tidy, but not all YA novels need to be horrifying and wrenching.
The story takes us through the main character's freshman year of high school. He's smart but not incredibly popular, has a crush on a girl he's too afraid to talk to, and is finding that his group of childhood buddies is growing apart (that's OK-most of them are dummies. And that Kyle? What a tool). Mostly, his experiences are the normal growing pains of a person starting high school.
The story is written in the first person, and since Scott's favorite class is English, we are treated to a variety of writing styles and vocabulary words as he's learning them. I thought this was fun, and it made the book stand out more than it otherwise would have. The journal entries/letters to his unborn brother were also a nice touch.
Early on, I called the friendship he would develop with Wesley, but that was still one of my favorite aspects of the book.
As far as the incredible amount of self-awareness and the life lessons Scott managed to learn by the end of his freshman year-maybe that was a stretch, as was his being able to translate for his Dad after an exaggeratedly bad run of Spanish teachers.
Besides a few other quibbles, I liked this character and his story, and this is one I will probably recommend at the library.

This is a Young Adult (YA) novel I'd give to any kid or any adult who was a kid like I was - loner, lonely, outcast, etc. If you weren't popular or one of the bullies, you'll probably enjoy how these kids figure things out and manage to carve out improvements despite the many obstacles facing them.

I just learned there's a sequel that takes place a year later; I added it to my to-read list. :)

What a great book 2! It's been awhile since I read Hidden Talents, but not only did I fall right back in with these kids, the way Lubar wove the story together was impressive - and fun. I did not see that final scene coming. It was perfect.

What a great collection! Every story's at least three stars and a couple are a solid five stars. Overall, yes, read this collection if you're a YA fan regardless of your age.

"Shockers" - loved it. Got a couple LOL's out of me.
"War is Swell" is... beautiful, in a terrible way. Oh, my heart.
"The Heroic Quest of Douglas McGawain" is very short and sweetly hilarious.
"Bread on the Water" This one is perfect.
"Onway Otnay otay eBay?"I laughed at the end. (Selling on eBay did used to be that simple. I miss that.)
"Duel Identities" - while the learning curve with a non-fencer teacher was hard for me to believe, I did love the hero moment, and all the pluses and minuses around it.
"Here's to Good Friends" CW underage drinking - but holy cow, powerful. A dark gem.
"Claws and Effect" is awesome, and got an actual LOL out of me.
"Words of Faith" Well done, but my least favorite.
"Habitat for Humanity" *nods* :)
"Pulling Up Stakes" Cute.

The last thing this story made me do was smile. That's the fifth star. The other four are for unique voice, engaging characters including teachers and parents, compelling plot points, and that last plot point in particular. I knew it was coming and it still affected me.

This book jumped out at us last weekend at the bookstore. It looked right up Griffin's alley and the author is award winning, plus there is a handful of these books...something we love to find usually. Nope, bomb. I read a few of the stories to Grif that night. The first one he thought was ok (better than I gave it). We kept going...after all sometimes an almost 11 year old boy has different things he enjoys in a book than his Mama...but it got worse. After a few stories we both gave up....should have picked up another Dahl. They are not creepy to our sense, nor is the writing at all engaging.

12/05/2013
I really enjoyed the third book in the series, so I look forward to reading this one, too. I hope it has more of the great illustrations!

03/02/2015
Note: I received a hardcover copy from the publisher.

I enjoyed the book, although I was confused by the couple references to when Angie's brother, Sebastian, turned into a vampire -- it didn't happen in this book, and as far as I can tell, this is the first book in a new series. Other than that little bit of confusion, it's a fun read, and the line drawings are great. (I imagine more than a few kids will color in the illustrations!)

Note: I received an advance reading copy through the Goodreads First Reads program.

Nice little book, with excellent thought exercises wrestling with power and morality. Also, smart solutions in the end.

A quick read, full of unexpected and endings that readers will not expect.

I was expecting this to be a bit sillier...I guess there is some dark humor, but it's pretty dark. Like, I'd say a solid 80% of the tales end in death. Good for the Goosebumps crowd. Classic horror, Sally-learned-her-lesson-for-being-so-bratty-with-this-totally-gruesome-death sort of thing.

I was sadly disappointed with this novel for young people. It teaches that "power is bad." The girl in the story destroys her magic given power even though much good had already been done. She destroys the power permanently so no other witch can ever be given the power. Power is bad, the lesson goes.

The author also teaches that eating meat is bad, even though meat is the evolutionary healthy food for humans, and especially for teenagers. Vegetarian living is fundamentally unhealthy, but his heroine promotes vegetarian and sneers at meat.

I would not recommend this book for any teen or young adult.

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