Post by dinadan on May 15, 2006 8:16:17 GMT -5
dinadan's reader rating: 7.7/10
Devon Brown's debut novel, Not Exactly Normal, is an interesting read and hits all the feel-good notes of my generation's afterschool specials. It's not exactly fresh and wonderful, but it is a "young reader" book (target audience somewhere between 10-13, I'd say)--however, one of the key features of it being 'not exactly normal' is that the main character's reflections on the events of his life are fed by his community's (parents, school) insistence on intellectual development. The book covers a lot of ground, from Good King Wenceslas to Meister Eckhart.
The cons are, well, that the narrator's voice is often hard to believe; Devon Brown is a smart, educated man...but he's not a 6th grader, and, in my opinion, he's not always good at writing in that voice. Plus, the bubble-gum world that he creates--Winston, Mass.--is at times utterly revolting to those of us who are aware that, as much as we'd like to believe it, little utopian suburbs don't really exist.
Still, if you're looking for a good book to read to children 10 and under, or if you want something for you pre-to-early teen to read, this one's a good one to think about.
Devon Brown's debut novel, Not Exactly Normal, is an interesting read and hits all the feel-good notes of my generation's afterschool specials. It's not exactly fresh and wonderful, but it is a "young reader" book (target audience somewhere between 10-13, I'd say)--however, one of the key features of it being 'not exactly normal' is that the main character's reflections on the events of his life are fed by his community's (parents, school) insistence on intellectual development. The book covers a lot of ground, from Good King Wenceslas to Meister Eckhart.
The cons are, well, that the narrator's voice is often hard to believe; Devon Brown is a smart, educated man...but he's not a 6th grader, and, in my opinion, he's not always good at writing in that voice. Plus, the bubble-gum world that he creates--Winston, Mass.--is at times utterly revolting to those of us who are aware that, as much as we'd like to believe it, little utopian suburbs don't really exist.
Still, if you're looking for a good book to read to children 10 and under, or if you want something for you pre-to-early teen to read, this one's a good one to think about.
