Customer Reviews

Crusader

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

That sentence is on the cover of the book. I cannot think of any better way to describe the plot of this absorbing story. The main character is a 15-yearl-old girl named Roberta. Roberta is frequently mistaken for a boy because she hasn't quite gotten out of puberty yet, her father is an ego-centric looser whose idea of parenting consists entirely of leaving a bag of rental videos by the door and frozen dinners in the freezer, and her only "friends" are the people who work in her family's arcade in a run-down mall on the not-so-nice side of town. The only person who seems to take an active interest in Roberta's life is Mrs. Weiss, the elderly owner of the greeting card shop across from the arcade. Mrs. Weiss is the only person who cares enough to ask if Roberta had breakfast or if she has seen her father for more than five minutes in the past couple of days. Mrs. Weiss also does her best to teach Roberta the one lesson she feels will help her the most as she tries to play the hand she has been dealt: No matter how bad life gets, you have got to survive. Never just lay down and die.

Some parts of this book are very dark and very few are extremely light-hearted, yet the overall message is an encouraging one. It's not the Disney kind of encouraging, where if you only believe long enough then all of your dreams will come true. It's the Real Life kind of encouraging. If you keep trying to succeed, life will be better than if you give up. Roberta doesn't get to live Happily Ever After, but she has hope that she will live Happily Enough.

This is possibly one of the most well-written books for young adults that I have found in a very long time. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys the more introspective styles of storytelling.

I'm serious. I am an avid reader, and I think this book sits right up in the ranks of Gone With the Wind and The Outsiders. Set in a steamy and perilous urban area of Florida, Crusader starts very slow (like Tangerine) and then roars to a final, shocking, and horribly ironic climax. I nearly cried when it was over, because I wanted to keep reading it all the time. The characters are sharply drawn, and you are forced to form your own opinions about them, they are not simply given to you.

Perhaps the most beautifully crafted character is Roberta Ritter, the main protagonist in the story. When you first begin, Roberta is very indifferent to the complex world around her. However, as the story moves on, you begin to see that nothing is as it appears, another characteristic of Tangerine.
The final, terrifying, shocking ending will take your breath away as Roberta confronts the demon in her life. Also: Don't be surprised if someone whom you've never suspected turns out to be a killer. You have to read this book.

This award winning novel by Edward Bloor was unsuccessfully challenged by a group of parents whose students attend my school. The parents objected to racism, violence and by the father's lack of morals.
I read the book and thought it was great. The main character was the moral center of the book. Sure, everyone was making unwise decision around her but Roberta rose to the challenge and really, set everyone straight. What an empowering book for teenagers....

I know people always say, "I couldn't put it down," but I am serious, I literally couldn't. When I first picked up this book I planned on reading it over the course of a month, and finished it in just one day. The Characters each have certain mysteriousness's, and quirks that keep the book interesting. Bloor cleverly mixes together all the strange things going on in this Florida community, including a failing Mall, a violent game, the loss of loved ones, a series of hate crimes, a neglected teenager, a 7-year-old murder, and a girls journey of self-discovery. You can really relate to the characters; I found myself comparing each character to someone I knew. With it's racial tension it may be to intense for some readers, but serious young adult readers will definitely appreciate it. I would highly recomend this book, not only is it an elaborate, roller-coaster ride mystey, but in every incident there are hidden moraals, and secrets revealed if you bother to look closely. Don't hesitate, it's not a waste of money, BUY THIS BOOK. I gurantee you you'll be glad that u did.

Okay, first of all, don't be turned off by the name. When I first saw the book, i was like Crusader? I hate fantasy books, but this one was by the author of tangerine, and i needed a good read. I READ THIS BOOK IN JUST ONE DAY! If you have seen it or read it you know that this comes close to the harry potter books in length! I just couldnt put it down! I thought that Roberta was a really intriguing character. This long book kept me hooked by MORE and MORE surprises i couldnt get over. Read this book! And take your time with it!

Crusader was a very fun and interesting book. It was very realtistic. It was about a young girl whos mother was murdered at their aracade shop. She is very curious to know who killed her mother. Later she comes to find out the real killer by doing some research herself. It was really good. Crusader had me hooked. I really enjoyed reading this book because it has alot of action to it. it wasnt just some book. I really couldnt put the book down. It was very interesting. It learned so many things from reading this book. And it brought alot of things to my attention.
Overall this was a very good book.

Roberta is a shy, plain girl who spends most of her free time working at a failing arcade in a failing mall. She dosen't have many friends and spends most of her time being silent. She looked upon as a normal girl but she's not. Seven years ago her mother was murdered in her family's old aracde and Roberta still hasn't recovered. When a spree of hate crimes against a store owner Samir breaks out, it's only the beginnging of a few very painful and equally powerful months for Roberta and everyone around her. As she works hard to save the arcade, find out who's committing the hate crimes, and find out her mother's murderer she picks up friends and learns things that she never thought she would learn.

When I first saw the gigantic book sitting on the shelf in a local bookstore I was shocked. I've seen very few books of this size in the young adult section that weren't fantaasy books. The back of it looked interesting so I bought it. I was not dissapointed. This was a powerful book. It told the story of racism, murder, a glimps into the dark world of polotics, and journalism, and the story of one girls courage and growing up. I reccomend this book to any young adult. It's really an amazing book. It definatly deserves 5 stars.

I thought this was a great, fantastic book. It is for older readers since there were some swear words and it covers a mature subject. If you can handle that, then I definitely recommend it.

People who complain that this book isn't about a crusader are missing the point, I think. The book is about how the main character, a girl named Roberta, learns to become her own crusader--fighting for the things she believes in and righting the wrongs that she's lived with all her life. Like bloor's other book, Tangerine, this one has dense plotting and incredibly well constructed characters. And like that book, it reads a lot faster than you would expect when you look at how thick it is. I wasn't expecting to like this book, but once I got a little ways into it, I couldn't put it down. It's a funny novel, and a moving novel, and has a mystery or two. It would make a great movie.

This book is about Roberta who works at her family's arcade. At the arcade and at home Roberta faces many challenges and trys to figure them out or solve them. The book was great! It had a realistic plot and characters who where believable. I was a little dissapointed about the story not centering on the Crusader but other than that it was a real page turner. Anyone who likes mysteries will like this book.