3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
New children's fantasy series, October 22, 2009
This review is from: The Blue Umbrella: A Novel (Paperback)
There is an age at which children discover that their parents cannot always prevent Bad Things from happening. Through the gaps in the umbrella of parental protection, they discover the existence of Evil. Childrens' fantasy literature is popular with school age children because it allows them to explore their own power and competence in dealing with life. The Blue Umbrella (and the books that will follow it) is an excellent example of the genre. Kids will enjoy the series immensely, and so will their parents.
Zachary Sparks never knew his father and, as the book opens, his mother has just died. She was walking in the rain when a bolt of lightning struck her umbrella and killed her. After her funeral, two Aunties Zac has never met before, Esmeralda and Priscilla, whisk him off to their stone mansion at Five Corners, promising to take care of him and provide a home for him.
Five Corners is a star-shaped intersection, with a building occupying each intersection. In addition to the Auntie's mansion are the Church of St. Heldred and All Angles, Porter's General Store, Eldy's Balloons and Flowers and The World's Smallest Business Establishment.
The characters who live and work in Five Corners are even stranger than the businesses. Butler is the Aunties' miniature minion. Eldy, of the balloons and flowers, is old and wizened and so bent that you look him in the top of his bald head, and The World's Smallest Business is run by a cranky, dwarfish Barber. The Reverend Cholmondeley and his dysfunctional family live in the church's parsonage. Sky Porter runs the General Store and lives upstairs, along with the ghosts--or whatever they are--who flash lights through the windows at night.
And then there is Dada, the Aunties' Darth Vader-like father, who lives in a mental hospital and is the focus of evil in the book. He is wheelchair bound and paralyzed, but that does not keep him from exerting his will. Unlike Vader, Dada does not have a good heart.
Very Bad Things, indeed, happen to Zac and other residents of Five Corners and the surrounding area. Zac is powerless to right the wrongs on his own, and he does not know who to trust. One adult--Sky Porter--seems trustworthy...until Zac learns that Sky may have killed Zac's mother. As the layers of the story are revealed, however, Zac finds other children who have been caught in Dada's web. Chesterton and Chelsea Chomondeley, Pethybridge and Iris join forces with Zac to defeat Dada and the Aunties.
Weather provides the backdrop for the entire story. From the lightning bolt that kills Zac's mother, through hailbows and wind and rain and sunshine and snow, to the lightning bolt that kills...mmm, you'll have to read it to find out what happens in the end.
The Blue Umbrella is well-written and fast paced. Like other children's fantasy literature, it is a morality play where children are the main actors who overcome evil. It is, however, unique in the genre because it goes deeper than simply good versus evil. There is a sub theme of self-awareness and self-acceptance and being true to oneself, another area pre-adolescent readers are dealing with.
The characters in The Blue Umbrella are unique. Esmeralda and Pris are caricatures. Esmeralda is tall and thin and always wears furs; Pris is very large and wears lurid pink dresses with weird hats. Sky is homely. Iris is a girl who doesn't want to be a girl. Pethybridge is such a homely child that his parents and grandparents abandoned him without naming him. Chesterton is ...odd, and Chelsea lost her power of speech by asserting herself and refusing to participate in Dada's evil plots. The only "attractive" character in the book is Sky's father, who is pretty sure people don't like him because he is attractive.
Each of the children finds something valuable and strong within himself or herself, and together they find the strength and power to fight Dada and the Aunties. They learn that people can be trustworthy even when they are unable to prevent Bad Things from happening. Zac, especially, even begins to learn compassion when he sees how Dada treats his daughters, the Aunties and almost feels sorry for them. These are complex life lessons that school age children are beginning to learn.
The Blue Umbrella is the first book in Mike Mason's children's fantasy series. Book 2 will be Chesterton's story, and Book 3 will tell about Chelsea. I'm hoping there will be books 4 and 5, about Pethybridge and Iris, too. Readers will be grateful that more books are coming; there's so much more of the story we want to know. This book was a great read and I'm eager for the next one.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Blue Umbrella, September 29, 2009
This review is from: The Blue Umbrella: A Novel (Paperback)
Have you ever read Job 38? I had, but it had not caught my attention until I read this book, it is lovely scripture, poetical even, questions that God asked Job. Questions about the weather. And that was the preface of this book.
Poor Zachary Sparks, his father died when he was but a young toddler, and now he is an orphan at ten years old. His mother gone, in an instant, struck by lightning as she walked on the golf course near their home. What is going to happen to Zac? Hang on to your seats and fasten your seat belts for the story to come of what become of Zac is a wild ride!!
Two ancient Aunties, sweep down and take Zac home with them, and the first thing he realizes, is they did not allow him to bring any of his things, even his clothing. The second scary thing is, they refuse to call him by his name, he is called Boy. The third thing he realizes, is he is not in a loving home, they lock him in his room, they beat him with a cane and they are evil and cruel old women.
Five Corners, the town the Aunties live in, is a very strange town indeed, as if there is a horrible secret, that all the townspeople are keeping. There is!! A secret so wild, that Zac is having a hard time believing it. Strange lights over the store across the street fascinate him, and begin the downward spiral. Drawn like a moth is drawn to light, Zac is caught trying to investigate, and nearly beaten by the aunties, because they think he is trying to steal a fur coat and run away.
A visit to Dada, the even more ancient father of the Aunties, is a horrifying experience that lives Zac physically ill. Told by the old man, that he must steal a blue umbrella owned by the store across the streets, proprietor, Zac begins to learn he is in the middle of a nightmarish reality. Little old people the size of children, strange vendors who do not speak, but you can hear them talking in your mind. Yes life is strange at Five Corners.
This book will keep you enthralled, it is not your typical fantasy book, it is a book full of imagination and it is a story most definitely to read with your children. The book ends with an author interview and discussion questions with Mike Mason. A four star rating is well deserved of this book. 425 pages US $14.99
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Titus 2 Woman-review, October 28, 2009
This review is from: The Blue Umbrella: A Novel (Paperback)
This is a story of Zac, a young boy whose mother is killed by lightening and he is then sent to live with his aunts. The aunts are cruel to him, and their father, "Dada" is cruel to the aunts.
It has a "Lemony Snicket" flavor to it, as anything that can go wrong seems to. Zac is charged by Dada with stealing a blue umbrella from a neighbor under mysterious circumstances. The anticipation of what is going to happen next keeps you turning the pages over and over.
Although I enjoyed this book, I felt that it would be a little "dark" for my children in the recommended age range. There is a part where Zac is told he will get beaten and have to ask for another as it is happening. In my opinion, it would only be appropriate for older teens because of that.
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