The Adventures of Flash Jackson [Unabridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

William Kowalski (Author), Julie Dretzin (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2003

Haley is a precocious and adventurous young woman given to climb anythin worth of her skills. when she falls through the roof of a barn, breaks her leg and embarks on the summer that will forever change her life

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Recorded Books LLC; unabridged edition (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402518188
• ISBN-13: 978-1402518188
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,777,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An authentic voice and a new kind of character, September 6, 2005

By 

Angela C. Kelly Klaassen (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Adventures of Flash Jackson : A Novel (Hardcover)

Haley Rombauer aka Flash Jackson is a new kind of character in American literature. Both she and her story are about as far from ordinary as can be, but there is a surprisingly familiar archetypal resonance between the thinking reader and this story in which the unusual seems awfully familiar. Kowalski has managed somehow to imbue Haley with an authentic voice, guided by old wisdom and new experiences, and -- somehow -- with an ear for the thoughts in a young woman's head, words that are rarely spoken anywhere. If you go into this book expecting a light coming-of-age story, you may call yourself disappointed when you are overwhelmed by the Coming of Ages denouement. I hope that early confused expectations among Kowalski's readers and critics do not doom this treasure of a novel to obscurity, as this is a voice in the wilderness that deserves to, almost has to, be heard -- and really should be talked about, too. Highly recommended, especially to be read together by book clubs or by mothers and daughters.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Kovalsky book, July 2, 2005

By 

A. Moore (madera, ca) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Adventures of Flash Jackson: A Novel (Paperback)

After reading Eddy's bastard and it sequel I thought that there couldn't be any better. But I was pleasantly surprised at the magic and wonder of his third book. The best he has written so far.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not What I Expected, But Still Good, June 9, 2003

By 

Cameron M (Toronto, ON) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Adventures of Flash Jackson: A Novel (Hardcover)

Unlike most stories using "Book 1" and "Book 2" as an arbitrary way of dividing the story into sections, in The Adventures of Flash Jackson, Book 2 seems like almost a completely different girl and story than before.

Haley Bombauer is a feisty and lovable heroine, who has always been a tomboy and plans on staying one for life. She's sick of her mother and gossipy small town neighbours trying to get her to be more ladylike. I found her views on everything amusing and fresh.

When Haley falls off the roof of her barn and breaks her leg, she's looking at a long, boring summer. I thought this book would be about her coming to terms with her injury, her father's death, her friend Frankie's schizophrenia. It's not. This is not just a coming of age story. It morphs into something reminiscent of "Nell", where she moves into the woods with her reclusive grandmother and shuts herself off from society for almost a year. As much as some readers will probably be weirded out by the drastic changes in plot and character, I was fascinated by the stories about herbal lore and how her grandmother is actually an age old spirit inhabiting the magical woods (I will say it once again: This is not your average coming of age story! It looks like general fiction, but it becomes fantasy almost).

If you told me how it ended when I first started the book, I would have been shocked beyond belief, but by the time I got there, I was used to the changes and found it really interesting. This book is certainly different, but this reader enjoyed it immensely.