Customer Reviews

Gold Dust

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book I read was "Gold Dust" by Chris Lynch. What drew my attention to it was that it was based on a kid who was obsessed with baseball. I love baseball, so i figured it was a goods book to read. Richard Riley Moncrief lives in Boston and is going into seventh grade. He loves everything about baseball and his favorite team is the Red Sox. The year that Richard enters seventh grade , a new boy moves to town. He is from Dominica and his name is Napoleon Charlie Ellis. The only sport he knew how to play was cricket. THroughout the story, Richard teaches his new best friend, Napoleon, how to play baseball and get rid of his old cricket habits. They go to the batting cages to work on their skills. They also play around in the schoolyard and go to Fenway Park a lot. If you're wondering how the term "Gold Dust" comes in, it all starts out with two Red Sox, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice. Their nicknames are the gold dust twins, which encourages the two baseball loving boys to change their nicknames to the gold dust twins. I really liked this book and I would give it 4 stars. It was well written, and Lynch does a good job of describing Richard and Napoleon's experiences when they are playing baseball together. He talks about how the crack of the bat feels, and many other things that baseball related people will know. At first, I wasn't liking the book because it moved slowly, but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. I would definately reccomend this book to anyone who likes baseball. This book is suitable for all ages.

Even though this is another coming-of-age book I like the style and the setting in which it is written. The author writes the book from a first person point-of-view, just the way you would think a 12 year old boy would think and talk. The main characters are well described and round characters. To cause conflict and to further the plot, there are a few flat characters who antagonize and help the main character Richard Riley Moncrief to be dynamic and see the situation that Napolean Charlie Ellis is in. Napolean Charlie Ellis, however, is fairly static, the only ways in which he changes is the fact that he develops a real friendship with Richard and is willing to play and enjoy baseball. Richard, on the other hand, undergoes an extremely drastic charcter change. He goes from being closed and simple-minded to being able to think for and stand-up for himself and begins to realize how much race and status quo play in his life and community. He also, for the first time, develops a meaningful friendship that involves feeling for someone else and having someone challenge him to think.

Overall this was an interesting and well-written book. It would be a great book to use with middle-school aged children to urge them to be their own person, think for themselves, and not listen to peer pressure or take other's thoughts and feelings as the truth.

I bought this book as a Christmas present for my 10-yr old son. He was just beginning to get interested in reading. He read it in one sitting. A beautiful story about two young friends that had my son's smile lit up for days!

Gold Dust is about a kid named Napoleon Charlie Ellis who moves to Boston. He didn't know anyone at the time, so he had to make some friends. He first met Richard, who ended up being Napoleon's best friend. They like to play with each other a lot.

Richard loves the game of baseball and always wants to play it. Napoleon has never played baseball before so therefore, Richard doesn't have a very good baseball partner at the start. Napoleon does however, have great potential in baseball, and could possibly become the next Jim Rice, but he doesn't know it. Richard still puts Napoleon up to the test of trying to become a great baseball player. Napoleon does get to go to a Major League Baseball Game though, to se the Boston Red Sox with Richard.

I would recommend the book to many people because it is very good. It has a lot of suspense and wants to keep you reading. It also had some humor in it. But on the down side, it does have some racist parts. If you love the game of baseball, then this book is almost a must read for you.

This book was very well written in my opinion, and I think a friend of mine also thought this book was very good. Even if you don't really like baseball a whole lot, I think that this book would really inspire you to at least think about baseball. And you can still enjoy this book, due to the suspense and humor. Now this is just what I think about the book, so go out there and see if you agree with me.

The book Gold Dust is a great book for kids and even adults to read! It has a good introduction and it gives spacific details about the characters. The main characters are two boys named Richard and Napoleon. The book is told in Richard's point of view, so it has what Richard sees and not all that Napoleon sees. Napoleon is from Dominica and likes to play cricket,but Richard is from Boston and loves to play baseball. Richard teaches Napoleon how to play baseball and he thinks that they sould be called the "Gold Dust Twins". Then they become best friends.

Richard is a die-hard baseball fan. He lives in Boston in 1975, and has grown up watching the Red Sox year after year. His dream is to play professional baseball, to be the best guy out there on the field. He has the dedication to do it, too, and spends all of his free time even during the winter practicing.

This year Richard is excited by the two new Red Sox rookies, Jim Rice and Fred Lynn, who are already being called the Gold Dust Twins in the media. They are going to be fantastic, and they spark Richard's imagination. He thinks of himself as someday being like Fred Lynn, and he is determined to find himself a Jim Rice--someone who is a good baseball player who will go all the way to the pros with him.

Napoleon is new in school, recently arrived with his father from Dominica. He has never played baseball, but with some urging from Richard, he begins to pick up the game quickly. Richard is certain that he has found his Gold Dust Twin.

But Napoleon doesn't share Richard's enthusiasm for the game. He seems more interested in the Boston Symphony and in singing in the choir than in playing baseball. Even more irritating to Richard is the way that Napoleon can't seem to get over the issue of race. He thinks everyone is constantly out to get him or is treating him badly because he is black. Richard is certain it is just Napoleon making too big a deal out of things, but is it possible that Richard's school isn't as welcoming as he thinks?

I liked all of the details about Boston and about the Red Sox. I also liked the contrast between Napoleon's character and Richard's. They were incredibly different, but were able to get along well with each other. However, I thought Richard was blind not to see the racism directed toward Napoleon, and he was insensitive to ignore Napoleon's hurt feelings about how he was treated.

This book is about a boy named Richard, a fanatical baseball player. When a polished Dominican boy named Napoleon comes to his school, the two misfits quickly become an odd pair. Somewhere along the way, baseball-playing Richard gets it into his head to transform cricket-playing Napoleon into a star baseball player, and together, become the next set of Gold Dust twins (two player Fred Lynn and Jim Rice, who were really good).
The book keeps its plot while the `big' actions, like Napoleon's arrival, take place. Afterwards, the book just wanders through a tiny section of already explained plot, as if it is lacking some sort of train track. The book then is explained in the second to last scene.
The ending is what disappointed me the most. It seems as if the author just wanted to get rid of Napoleon, so he threw in the new fact the Napoleon is a star singer, and he knows it. This leads him to join some fancy private singing school, and leave Richard's. The entire idea that Richard doesn't care very much about his friend leaving, and Napoleon being this amazing singer would seem alright in a story with unexpected twists along the entire plot, but the plot before this is incredible dull and cliché.
I would definitely not recommend this book to anyone, unless they like real world scenarios gone stale.

I really enjoyed this book! There were so many in depth issues, like rascism and friendship. It really awakened me as to how prevalent rascism is today and how we can prevent it. As you proceed, some things don't happen as you expect it to be, which leads me to say that Chris Lynch is a great author. Even though the summary mentions baseball, the book has barely anything to do with it - it mainly focuses on issues that everybody understands. Great book!

This is a wonderful book! It's a fast, fun read with hidden depths. One of the most masterful uses of an unreliable narrator in children's books. It's just packed with insight and emotion and impossible, important questions about race, friendship, sports, and being a fan.

Gold Dust is a well depicted story from the viewpoint of a kid(Richard) who loves baseball. He wants everyone to love baseball just as much as him, even his new friend Napolean. It's like being put straight into the head of a boy who is crazy about baseball. It's even written as if you can hear his thoughts.

Since I don't like baseball very much it was hard to keep reading. If you loved baseball as a kid I highly recommend this book to you. You will re-live your childhood and it will make you laugh at your own mentality that you had. It's an excellent read from young even to adult, for those who love baseball.

I loved the relationship growth that the main character goes through. Anyone can relate with Richard's character change and progression into a young adult, even if they didn't like baseball.

Gold Dust is very well written and is a quick read (I'm not a quick reader either). I would not recommend it for those who don't care for baseball.