The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
jefflilly's review against another edition
4.0
This short, compelling book, which ties into Myers's other Fellwater fiction but also stands on its own as a complete tale, is written for younger readers, but is also entertaining and interesting for those of us who've raised some younger readers ourselves. I picked this up hoping for a light introduction to Myers's work, and perhaps to find something I could recommend to my own children.
There was a lot to enjoy here. The protagonist (Jillian) is an active, likable, intelligent girl who doesn't always follow the rules, but has her own ideas and goals, doesn't rely on a boy to save her (or the day), and resolves her problems on her own terms. The other characters are well drawn -- I particularly enjoyed reading about her mother and father, who were quirky and humorous, and consistently violated my expectations delightfully. Myers also does a great job of tantalizing the reader with hints and glimpses of the larger fictional world; he leaves you with a sense that there's more -- a lot more -- and you're eager to find out about it.
I did have some issues, however. Probably the most difficult thing for me was the narrative voice: it seemed to me that Myers was trying to write for a pretty young audience (perhaps 7-8 year olds, or even younger?) but not really nailing it. The phrasing was sometimes awkward; it felt forced, simplified, even simplistic, rather than just simple and direct.
Jillian sometimes seemed to be emotionally much younger than her eleven years. Since I have four children aged 10-16, I know that age pretty well, and it felt like Myers could have given his protagonist more maturity, longer sentences, and a larger vocabulary. This, in turn, would have given Myers a larger toolkit to bring depth and subtlety to the story.
I also felt that the story was a bit predictable. It's true that children probably won't find it so, but for this adult there were enough common tropes to make parts of the story tedious.
Finally, I found the ending rather unsatisfying; there was a lack of thematic cohesion. The "trick" that Jillian uses to bring the story to a happy conclusion is not really related to the main themes of the story (which I took to be independence, curiosity, and self-determination). Put another way: it's not clear that Jillian really learns a lesson that allows her to win out in the end; she wins by cleverness and courage -- and she's clever and courageous throughout the book.
Oh, and Myers notes at the end that the original title for the book was "Jillian Brighton and the Wonderful Cosmographic Telescope." Personally I think that title is awesome and should be kept! (Can a book have two subtitles?)
But the bottom line is that the story was a fun and interesting read, and made me interested to find out more about Myers's fictional world. I'll definitely be picking up more of his books, and sharing this one with my own kids!
There was a lot to enjoy here. The protagonist (Jillian) is an active, likable, intelligent girl who doesn't always follow the rules, but has her own ideas and goals, doesn't rely on a boy to save her (or the day), and resolves her problems on her own terms. The other characters are well drawn -- I particularly enjoyed reading about her mother and father, who were quirky and humorous, and consistently violated my expectations delightfully. Myers also does a great job of tantalizing the reader with hints and glimpses of the larger fictional world; he leaves you with a sense that there's more -- a lot more -- and you're eager to find out about it.
I did have some issues, however. Probably the most difficult thing for me was the narrative voice: it seemed to me that Myers was trying to write for a pretty young audience (perhaps 7-8 year olds, or even younger?) but not really nailing it. The phrasing was sometimes awkward; it felt forced, simplified, even simplistic, rather than just simple and direct.
Jillian sometimes seemed to be emotionally much younger than her eleven years. Since I have four children aged 10-16, I know that age pretty well, and it felt like Myers could have given his protagonist more maturity, longer sentences, and a larger vocabulary. This, in turn, would have given Myers a larger toolkit to bring depth and subtlety to the story.
I also felt that the story was a bit predictable. It's true that children probably won't find it so, but for this adult there were enough common tropes to make parts of the story tedious.
Finally, I found the ending rather unsatisfying; there was a lack of thematic cohesion. The "trick" that Jillian uses to bring the story to a happy conclusion is not really related to the main themes of the story (which I took to be independence, curiosity, and self-determination). Put another way: it's not clear that Jillian really learns a lesson that allows her to win out in the end; she wins by cleverness and courage -- and she's clever and courageous throughout the book.
Oh, and Myers notes at the end that the original title for the book was "Jillian Brighton and the Wonderful Cosmographic Telescope." Personally I think that title is awesome and should be kept! (Can a book have two subtitles?)
But the bottom line is that the story was a fun and interesting read, and made me interested to find out more about Myers's fictional world. I'll definitely be picking up more of his books, and sharing this one with my own kids!
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