twinleafs's review
4.0
Even though people reviewed this book to be predictable, I thought it was just the right about of obviousness and surprise. A little slow in the beginning, following Jake's fast-paced mind and the run-on and choppy sentences to describe what he's hearing or feeling kept me reading the entire time. I thoroughly loved the book.
Oh yeah - and I loved the relations to The Wars and Robert Ross. It's one of my favourite books.
The one negative I have: character development. There was a good amount for Jake, given that he's the main character, but there wasn't enough detail for me to get a proper picture of Skye or Mrs. Derucci or Jake's dad.
Oh yeah - and I loved the relations to The Wars and Robert Ross. It's one of my favourite books.
The one negative I have: character development. There was a good amount for Jake, given that he's the main character, but there wasn't enough detail for me to get a proper picture of Skye or Mrs. Derucci or Jake's dad.
lucillemeeps's review
4.0
Jake Upshore dyslexic. He also has some serious anger management issues, doesn't function well in conventional classes, and has been branded a trouble-maker by local law enforcement and his principal. But there are people that believe in him. his father, despite all of the trials of raising a difficult son by himself, loves Jake and tries to help him overcome his problems. Shep, one of his teachers, defends Jake against those that label him and treat him differently from the other kids. And of course, there is Skye. Beautiful, wealthy, stuck-up Skye. She embraces his darkness and tries to bring out the good that she knows is in him. Except, Skye decided that they should keep their relationship a secret. To Jake, her motivation for secrecy seems to be rooted in embarrasment. She's at the top, and he's at the bottom. Jake thinks that she's too good for him. She's the type of girl more likely to be going out with the football star than the trouble-maker, especially since her father is a policeman.
Pluto's Ghost is told by Jake, I believe as an auto-biographical work to explain to others what he went through. It jumps around between the past and the further past, giving snipets of information and then returing to the main story line. Sometimes, the style makes him dyslexia and quirks more apparent, but Fitch loses his voice from time to time. I imagine that it would be hard to write a story in a voice that disregards conventional grammatical structure. In a way, Fitch covers for this by saying that Jake's story was edited by Shep.
Essentially, Jake finds out that Skye and her mother have left suddenly for Halifax without telling anyone. The rumour mill starts churning, and then everyone is telling Jake that Skye is pregnant, and their secret relationship is out in the open. Jake is shocked. He tries repeatedly to get in touch with Skye, but she never answers her phone. Jake finds her binder with her diary in his locker. He is extremely impulsive and decides that he must go and find her. He has heard that she is going to get an abortion. He doesn't know what he wants or what he should do, but he knows that he has to find her. A lot of his decisions and fits of rage come back to bite him, but all that he can think about is Skye. No matter what, he is determined to find her, and he goes through a lot on the way to get there.
Pluto's Ghost is told by Jake, I believe as an auto-biographical work to explain to others what he went through. It jumps around between the past and the further past, giving snipets of information and then returing to the main story line. Sometimes, the style makes him dyslexia and quirks more apparent, but Fitch loses his voice from time to time. I imagine that it would be hard to write a story in a voice that disregards conventional grammatical structure. In a way, Fitch covers for this by saying that Jake's story was edited by Shep.
Essentially, Jake finds out that Skye and her mother have left suddenly for Halifax without telling anyone. The rumour mill starts churning, and then everyone is telling Jake that Skye is pregnant, and their secret relationship is out in the open. Jake is shocked. He tries repeatedly to get in touch with Skye, but she never answers her phone. Jake finds her binder with her diary in his locker. He is extremely impulsive and decides that he must go and find her. He has heard that she is going to get an abortion. He doesn't know what he wants or what he should do, but he knows that he has to find her. A lot of his decisions and fits of rage come back to bite him, but all that he can think about is Skye. No matter what, he is determined to find her, and he goes through a lot on the way to get there.
More...