ltg584's review
4.0
There's a long story behind this review, but I'll try to keep it short. I first read this book in grade 8, although, in typical teenage fashion, quickly forgot the title or author. I spend the next 20 years remembering it fondly, but with an increasing amount of frustration. My memories were too vague. I wanted to read it again!
I asked dozens (or more!) people if they had any memory of this book, but apparently it was not common required reading. In the end, I was scanning through lists of a Goodreads group dedicated to identifying forgotten books. And there it was. Just sitting there for me to find. Unbelievable.
The journey didn't end there, however. Now I had to find the book! The city library didn't have a copy, and it's out of print. Whatever will I do?! Lucky for me, my dad tracked down an old educator's copy at the university library. I feel like this was a whole community effort to get the book in my hands. And as an added bonus? There's a sequel! My dad snatched that one up for me as well, so I get to delve in a little deeper than I initially planned. I'm ridiculously excited! ;)
In the end, the second read through was not as outstanding as I remembered it to be. I think my initial love was all about timing. At the age of 13, I was reading a lot of Ray Bradbury, and this book was an ideal fit with my mood. It was a little outdated with the speculative technology, considering it was written 50 years ago. Also, a little more optimistic than would be realistic (yes, I know it's sci-fi, and doesn't have to be realistic, but we're talking about human nature!).
Overall, a great middle-grade read.
I asked dozens (or more!) people if they had any memory of this book, but apparently it was not common required reading. In the end, I was scanning through lists of a Goodreads group dedicated to identifying forgotten books. And there it was. Just sitting there for me to find. Unbelievable.
The journey didn't end there, however. Now I had to find the book! The city library didn't have a copy, and it's out of print. Whatever will I do?! Lucky for me, my dad tracked down an old educator's copy at the university library. I feel like this was a whole community effort to get the book in my hands. And as an added bonus? There's a sequel! My dad snatched that one up for me as well, so I get to delve in a little deeper than I initially planned. I'm ridiculously excited! ;)
In the end, the second read through was not as outstanding as I remembered it to be. I think my initial love was all about timing. At the age of 13, I was reading a lot of Ray Bradbury, and this book was an ideal fit with my mood. It was a little outdated with the speculative technology, considering it was written 50 years ago. Also, a little more optimistic than would be realistic (yes, I know it's sci-fi, and doesn't have to be realistic, but we're talking about human nature!).
Overall, a great middle-grade read.
lyriclorelei's review
5.0
The first time I ever read a part of this book was during a reading comprehension section of a standardized test in Middle School. I fell in love with the excerpt in the middle of the test and remembered what it said the book was so that I could look it up later. When I finally read the whole book, I was not disappointed. This will always be one of my favorites.
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