Search This Blog
June Reviews Link-Up
July Reviews Link-Up
August Reviews Link-Up
September Reviews Link-Up
October Reviews Link-Up
November Reviews Link-Up
December Reviews Link-Up
2024 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois (1)
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (2)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (2)
- North Carolina (2)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma (1)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (2)
- Utah
- Vermont (1)
- Virginia (1)
- Washington (2)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (7)
- France (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (2)
- Italy (1)
- Scotland (2)
- The Netherlands (1)
2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Slow, Snore of a Story Too Dull For My Tastes
9:24 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Still reeling from the unexpected death of his mother, the last thing 13-year-old Jack Baker wants is to be shipped off to boarding school. But that's exactly what has happened. Jack longs for Kansas and the home he's left behind. Maine just isn't the same. Even with his Navy captain father stationed nearby, Jack couldn't feel more adrift. It's not like he really knows his father—a strict man who's been fighting in the European Theater for the last four years—but he'd rather be in Kansas with him than living on the shores of the Atlantic with a bunch of boys he doesn't know. Jack's mother would have listened to his concerns; his father doesn't care.
It doesn't take long for Jack to realize he'll never quite fit in at Morton Hill Academy for Boys. He's a hick, who gets nauseous just looking at the ocean. Boats are as foreign to him as the moon—he certainly doesn't know how to row like the other boys. And that's just the most noticeable difference between him and the others. When Jack meets Early Auden, a strange kid who's mostly ignored by Morton Hill's staff and student body, he knows he's finally made a friend. No one else hangs out with this oddest of boys, but with Early, Jack feels tolerated, if not accepted.
When Early hatches a crazy plan to track an (allegedly) extinct bear, Jack wonders if his new pal might be not just weird, but actually insane. And yet, Jack finds himself following his crazy friend on a wild adventure along the Appalachian Trail. On the way, they'll encounter pirates, mountain men, and all sorts of other strange characters. Will they locate the great Appalachian bear? Or will the startling truths they discover about themselves be enough of a treasure to satisfy the young adventurers?
The best words I can think of to describe Navigating Early, a new middle grade novel by the Newbery Award-winning Clare Vanderpool, are the same adjectives with which the boys of Morton Hill labeled Early—strange, odd, weird, etc. It really is a different kind of book, one that I'm just not sure its target audience is going to appreciate. The story starts slowly, drags through the middle, and finally picks up at the end. The question is, will young readers stick around that long? Because, like I said, it's a strange little book. And the tale pretty much centers around math. I mean, its real themes are friendship, loyalty and overcoming grief, but there's a lot of talk about the number pi. Odd for a children's book. The writing itself isn't bad, it's just that the story scoots along at such a snail's pace that I grew bored with it very quickly. Honestly, if I hadn't been reading it as part of my volunteer work at my kids' school, I wouldn't have gotten past the first couple chapters. I just can't imagine young readers seeing it through to the end either.
(Readalikes: Reminds me a little of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain)
Grade: C+
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for scary images and violence
To the FTC, with love: I borrowed a copy of Navigating Early from my children's elementary school library as part of my volunteer work with the school's homegrown reading program.
4 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)
Reading
Listening
Followin' with Bloglovin'
-
-
The Wild Lavender Bookshop by Jodi Thomas50 minutes ago
-
Daily Prompt 15 May Wednesday3 hours ago
-
-
-
World of Books ~ Review11 hours ago
-
Review: One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke14 hours ago
-
-
100 Best Books Written by Women21 hours ago
-
-
-
Spoon To Be Dead By Dana Mentink1 day ago
-
Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum1 day ago
-
Displaced Persons - Joan Leegant1 day ago
-
Reading Recap April 20241 day ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Bridge to Bat City2 days ago
-
A Game of Hearts2 days ago
-
-
-
Blood Rubies by Mailan Doquang5 days ago
-
-
-
-
47. The One and Only Family1 week ago
-
A bit of catching up1 week ago
-
-
May TBR2 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
March Monthly Wrap-up1 month ago
-
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?7 months ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra10 months ago
-
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ▼ 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)
Have you read Moon Over Manifest? It's amazing. Don't let this one put you off.
ReplyDeleteNo, but I'm still planning to, even though NAVIGATING EARLY definitely wasn't for me.
DeleteOh, I'm so disappointed to hear this! I absolutely loved Moon Over Manifest and was hoping this would be as good. I'll still read it for sure but with a little less excitement. :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah, a slow book for middle graders...not good. What a bummer.
ReplyDelete