Customer Reviews

FOG

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Losing Christina: Fog is the reissue of Caroline B. Cooney's original book The Fog. Why they decided to retitle the three books I have no idea, but the pages are set up just like they were in the original versions, so really the covers just look a little more slick. The Losing Christina trilogy details a year in the life of thirteen-year-old Christina Romney from Burning Fog Isle, who moves onto the mainland of a small town in Maine so that she can continue secondary school. She and three other students board with the Shevvingtons, the school principal and his wife, who delight in destroying the souls of young women. Christina has no choice but to fight the Shevvingtons, which isn't easy when she has no friends and her parents believe the Shevvingtons, not her.

Fog, as well as its counterparts Snow and Fire, is a chilling story because it presents a child's worst nightmare: for adults to ignore you when you're telling the truth. The Shevvingtons' evil power lies in the fact that they are the adults in charge whom everyone believes, rather than Christina. Their actions will make your blood boil because it is so easy to see how wrong, and how sick, they are, but it is also easy to understand how the townspeople would believe the polished faces they present.

Caroline B. Cooney's gothic horror trilogy is not just about evil, though. Christina experiences all kinds of emotions that most people can relate to: the fear when she has to move away from her family and friends, being nervous about making friends, wanting a boyfriend, facing unfair teachers and assignments. She is a normal, well-drawn thirteen-year-old who unfortunately has to face something that most thirteen-year-olds do not.

The age range in this book would probably appeal most to people between the ages of 10-15, but the fight between good vs. an unconventional evil is something that everyone should learn from.

Caroline B. Cooney has a certain eerieness to Fog. The book grabs you in the first chapters and relates you to the main character, Christina. While following the life of an island girl named Christina on her first year attending school on the mainland of Maine, the author reveals an evil in her boarding house. This evil does not come from an usual source but, rather, the warm caring arms of her boarders and also her administraters at school. Christina is in a frantic struggle to overcome all odds and break the hold they have on her friend, Anya, as well as on her community. This novel, written for young adults, has a sense of suspence that keeps the young reader interested. It has fancinated me and I can't wait to read its sequal Snow.

The book Fog, by Caroline B. Cooney, is about a group of kids, Christina, Anya, Ben, and Michael,that are taken up by a mainland principal to go to school. They are from an island on the coast called Burning Fog Island. The mainland kids don't like islanders very much. Everything seems to be going well until Anya starts to lose her mind. Christina knows that the principal and his wife are behind it. They try to force Christina towards the same fate but they fail. Christina also saves Anya from her mental and physical death. She convinces Anya, at the last second, to turn away from the principal and come towards her friends. This book was great because of its very suspenseful pages, perfect story, and very realistic characters.

This book was extremely suspenseful and seems to beg you to turn the page. Every word seems more grabbing than the last. For example, when Anya is about to jump off a bridge to "sacrifice" herself to the sea, which is also an example of how she almost physically died and how she is going insane, you couldn't wait to see what happened next. Another example, is when you actually discover that Anya is going insane. You are so interested that you want to read what her fate is.

This book, also, seems to have a perfect storyline. Everything molds together when you discover that the principal is behind all of this. It also leaves you wondering how they did it. This encourages you to read the next book. The storyline, also, is very interesting. Especially at intense parts, such as the bridge scene.

Lastly, I liked this book because of its very real characters. It almost seems like the characters are popping out at you because they do realistic things. Another thing, is that the setting blends with the characters' personalities. For example, the main characters are from an island, so they are very tough and stubborn. Some kids from the mainland seem to get everything they want so they are mean to those who don't. Even the kids that are teased are always depressed and don't talk to others.

My final reason for liking this book is because of its position in good versus evil. It shows this when Christina ruins the principal's plans and "defeats" them. It also shows this when Christina "handles" the bullies at her school. I would recommend this book to anyone. I liked this book because of its position in good versus evil, realistic characters, suspenseful pages, and almost perfect story.

C. Copeland

FOG is a top thriller!
Evil surrounds Christina in her new home and seems to drain the life and spirit out of the girls who live in it.
Headstrong Christina fights against this, but her biggest challenge is her struggle to convince adults of the evil that exists.
As in most good YA thrillers, they refuse to listen or believe her.

I love the Losing Christina books... they're very suspenseful (which is probably the most overused word for describing a story, but they really are). Christina is a very likeable main character; not overly whiny and girly, or too "nice". You can really identify with her, and you can imagine how she feels in most of these situations (her first day at the mainland school, having nobody believe her, etc) and I was impressed by how strong she remained. The Shevvingtons are very evil; and both in different ways (Mrs Shevvington is visibly evil and her true personality is more or less out in the open, and Mr Shevvington acts very kind and everyone loves him, when really he's just as evil as his wife.)

People who liked Face on the Milk Carton shouldn't just pick up this book because it's by the same author; the story is very different (I read the first FotMC book and was very bored; this girl was kidnapped, GASP, we've established that, get on with the plot!) and while FotMC is more of a mystery, this series is more of a horror/suspense series, with some supernatural elements in it (the "evil" of the Shevvingtons, etc). I don't think you should judge the Losing Christina series after only getting through half the book (like that one reviewer did), because it is kind of slow at the beginning, but then the story gets much faster (that WAS my hope for Face on the Milk Carton, but sadly it remained boring the whole way through).

All in all, "Fog" is a wonderful beginning to the story, though my personal favorite is "Snow" (the second book). "Fire" was also a good ending.

Fog is the first book of the series Losing Christina. It's about a girl named Christina who lives on an island, but has to move off it to go to 7th grade. She lives with her princable and his wife who is the 7th grade english teacher.
Everyone on this island loves these people, the princable and the english teacher. Christina however isn't but, wonder's why everyone likes these people. You'll have to read the rest of the book yourself cuz' i can't tell you everything. The series gets better especially the part about the diary.

The beginning of seventh grade is something spectacular for 13-year-old Christina Romney, who has spent all her life on Burning Fog Isle in Maine. Now she is preparing to go mainland and attend junior high with the other three island teenagers--14-year-old Michael Jaye and his 15-year-old brother, Benjamin, and beautiful 17-year-old Anya Rothrock. Although Christina is aware of the prejudice mainlanders have for poor, white trash islanders, that's not going to stop her from trying to make new friends, do well in school, and possibly have a boyfriend. That is, until she meets her guardians--Mr. and Mrs. Shevvington--, who also work at Christina's school as the principal and her English teacher. Not only are they sadistic and manipulative, Christina is certain they're trying to play mind games with fragile Anya by fixating on her fear of the ocean. What can Christina do to help her friend? And what will she do next when they decide to focus on Christina instead?

I had started this series years ago when I was in middle school, but, even then, I couldn't finish one book. I decided to try them now--more than ten years later--mainly out of curiosity. I wanted to see if I reacted to them the same way.

Well, all I can is that I wanted to like "The Fog"; I even got myself psyched up for it. But it just didn't happen. I was expecting a tightly written suspense/horror story, but there's hardly anything fear-inducing in this book. The older teen (Anya Rothrock) who is supposed to be psychologically damaged by the evil principal and his wife was already bonkers to begin with. So no suspense there when her sanity starts to slip. And how or why this couple preys on young women is never thoroughly explained. Maybe--hopefully--that will be discovered in the following two books.

The one thing I did like in "The Fog" was the main character, Christina Romney. She was strong and made of "granite", as she put it--and she would have to be to survive the Shevvingtons.

If you're a Caroline B. Cooney fan or a Point horror fan, you might enjoy this trilogy: "The Fog" (#1), "The Snow" (#2), and "The Fire" (#3). However, I'm both and I was still disappointed in this book. I'm hoping the other two books are an improvement over this one.

When I started to read this book, i was like, "okay...this is a weird book." But then I started to really get into it, and now i am happily reading the sequel: The Snow. So basically, I think you will like this book if you just stick with it for a couple chapters. See you L8er!!!

Christina is a 13 year old girl who has gone to Maine from her homeland island to stay with the evil Shevvington's who manage to take over people's minds. She tries her best to fight back but fails to save Anya's sanity. The Shevvington's have the power to turn her own parents against her and seem innocent the entire time. Christina is the only one who knows and believes that they're evil . This is the first book in the series of three (the other two are The Fire and The Snow).
I personally thought that this was a very suspensful and page turning book. Nowadays it's hard to find books as good as that with out the nonsense. This was honestly one of the best books I have ever read. I know that I'm defenitly going to read the other two, probably multiple times. So, if you want a good read then read The Fog by Caroline B. Cooney.

If you haven't read this book, I urge you to do so!!! This is the first book of an awesome trilogy that you must read! This is the first Caroline B. Cooney book I read and it got me hooked! Christina is an extremely brave and determined 13 year-old that refuses to give up, even after being wrongly accused of unimaginable things. No one believes her, not even her friends. She's on her own in an intense battle against the Shevington's (teachers at Christina's school and the people taking Christina and her friends in for the school year). The Shevington's are minipulative, so minipulative that even Christina's parents believe their wild accusations!!! The Fog, The Snow, and The Fire is a GREAT trilogy! This book is definately worth your time!!!