Customer Reviews

Green Boy

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a die-hard fan of Susan Cooper. I have read all of her books multiple times and never get tired of her incredible talent of weaving flawlessly together the elements of myth, fantasy, magic, and the timeless fight between good and evil. I was very excited to read "Green Boy"...and was very disappointed. Terribly disappointed! The story is basically a heavy-handed environmentalist tract, flimsily placed in a fantasy plot. I can't imagine what she was thinking. It is difficult to connect to any of the characters, and Cooper's usually flowing and descriptive prose is jarring and disconnected. The plot is contrived and clichéd, and I finished the book with a relieved sigh because I got through it, not because I had a desire to read it again. Though I will never pick up this book again, it hasn't tarnished my opinion of her other works, which are definitely worth reading over and over again.

I am a big fan of Susan Cooper's work, and Green Boy did not disappoint. The style differs slightly from her other books I have read, but well it should, as it is set in the Bahamas. The plot is compelling and the descriptions of the Otherworld left me haunted by the environmental possibilities of our own world. Clearly she has a message here. However, the story works on its own and is a good read.

Trey and his silent younger brother love to visit their special Bahamas cay, but when they discover that their visits are bringing them to a frightening future world, linked to their own, their become involved in fighting off an environmental threat to their own beloved home. Fantasy blends with more than a touch of realistic settings in this fast paced fantasy.

Susan Coopers vividly imaginative book Green Boy is perfect for anyone who has an ever-wondering imagination.

The setting of this book is in the Bahamas on an island called Long Pond Cay, but it also takes place in an alternate dimension that looks like Long Pond Cay. The main characters are a twelve-year-old boy named Trey and his mute seven-year-old brother Lou. They are both round and dynamic characters in the fact that throughout the book their personalities constantly change.

I think this book is interesting because Trey and Lou jump between worlds to try and save one while their own is being destroyed. They have to deal with their divorced parents; their dad is the head of one of the construction companies trying to build Sapphire Island resorts on Long Pond Cay. While they are in the other world for around a day it is only about an hour in their world.

The main conflict of the book is that Trey and Lou have to find a very rare star shaped shell to unlock a door to save the other world. The problem with this is that they are very hard to find and Lou is the only one who can open the door. If they find it or not that is up to you to find out.

I would not recommend this book to some on who does not like books with strange plot. This book is a good book for someone who has a very unlimited imagination. There in lies the question do you join Trey and Lou on their adventure to save their world as well as the other or leave it to the next person, but by then it could be to late.

Trey, who is 12, and his muted brother, Lou, who is 7, are hanging around by a pond in the Bahamas. It seems like such a normal thing but they somehow enter a somewhat scary new world called Pangaia. It is very dirty and is filled with buildings. The brothers come back to this mysterious place various times in this book. They face many unusual things throughout this book, which if you want to know you may read this book.

Now to some people this may seem exciting, but to me, not really. It is a somewhat well written book but it is a little bit too... hard to explain but environment obsessed. I had to keep myself reading this book, which is never fun. If you are going to read a fantasy or Science Fiction book, I would not recommend this being your answer.