3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Feed me a cliche--no, don't!, December 11, 2007
If you have ever read a human interest story about someone you knew, and said to yourself, "That reporter either got snowed or wrote the story before meeting the guy," this is a book for you.
Bart's mother's life is saved because he's home sick from school. "Miracle boy," as the papers call him, gets a mercy scholarship to an elite school and life is perfect forever.
Well, no. The papers don't tell (and Bart doesn't want them to) the icky other side of the story, of how and why his father was not saved, of the long and horrible grief of Bart's mother, of how prep school is a living hell. Without giving too much away, every time the author has you set up for a tired old cliche, she pulls the rug out from under you in a cynical, realistic, refreshing way. But speaking of cliches--I really felt as though Bart were a real person, and one I'd be proud to know.
What a great book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, October 9, 2008
This review is from: Bullyville (Paperback)
When Bart Rangely's absentee father is caught in the North Tower and killed on September 11th, he thinks that life can't get much worse.
Unfortunately, he thinks too soon.
Because of the public nature of his tragedy, Bart is offered a scholarship to the exclusive Baileywell Academy, an institution better known to its students as "Bullywell" for the rampant bullying that takes place behind its expensive doors.
Upon his arrival, Bart is assigned his own personal tormentor, Tyro Bergen, and his life descends into hell. But when he tries to retaliate, and is assigned volunteer work at a hospital for punishment, he finds a friend in an unlikely place, and discovers that sometimes a bully is hiding more from the world than his venom, and that things are not always
precisely what they seem.
The idea most compelling to me in BULLYVILLE is the world of the bullied, a world all but invisible to the adults responsible for the safety of its inhabitants. It is easy to imagine the story descending quickly into darkness and remaining there for the duration of the book.
Instead, Francine Prose presents a story that is at its core violence and personal disaster while still maintaining an uplifting tone. Bart Rangely is a funny, charming protagonist who keeps the story light even when dealing with its most serious concepts. I enjoyed Bart's tale immensely, and anyone who has been touched by bullying will identify with his dilemma.
Reviewed by: Rebecca Wells
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dull, Lifeless, and Grossly Underwritten, January 10, 2008
Francine Prose has been one of my favorite writers of adult fiction, but this book is a weak novel that seems to write down to young readers. It's dull and downright silly. I have been TRYING to finish this book and I have never had to work so hard. It's an "easy" read, too easy in fact, but it's just so damn uninteresting and cliche that I can't bring myself to finish the last 50 pages.
The main character has a sad and unique (I guess) backstory, but that is not enough to carry this plot. This is a slow-moving bore that really disappoints. I really believe that Francine wrote "to an audience" instead of "for an audience" and she missed the target entirely.
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