Customer Reviews

Grinny

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was always a big hit when I booktalked in the schools. I usually pitched it to 4th and 5th graders. It's a slim book, but chilling. The idea that your visiting Great-Aunt Emma might actually be an alien or a robot is pretty scary. The adults in the book are oblivious, so the kids have to handle the threat on their own.
It's unfortunate that the new cover is so cutesy. That may put off older readers.
The first things they noticed that seemed odd about Great Aunt Emma was there were no creases in her shoes and she was afraid of anything electrical. Then Beth knew something was quite strange when Grinny fell on the ice and broke her wrist. There was no blood, but it was metal, not bones that showed through the break. Then the skin closed back over it and she was normal again. Beth said, "she's not REAL." If she wasn't human, then what was she? Why is she here? What is she here for?

I read this book when I was a kid, and as a 28 year New York attorney, it still gives me a chill when I think about it. The story's about a kid whose 'grandmother' comes to visit. The kid's parents notice nothing unusual, but the kid quickly realizes granny is not made of human flesh and bone. All looks bad for ever reaching next Xmas, but the kid discovers a way to smoke out granny and her alien eccentricities, with horrifying results. Somebody should make this short story into a film.

I read this book when I was about 10 and still have a copy of it now on book shelf (aged 25! ). It is a captivating and addictive read, with narrative that transfixed me from the first read. The narrative and sory telling is brilliant. This is a book that I will be passing onto my childeren. I only wish that the follow up book had been as exciting.

I read this when I was 10 years old and I found it amazing. I recommened it to a lot of my friends and they liked it as well. The part about Grinny's bone was so cool. It was amazing....really. It was like something out of a movie. A really good book, so good I've read it again and again.

It's sort of a shame that this book has fallen off the kids-lit radar, (look at how old the reviews are). It has a solid, basic sci-fi premise, it has resourceful, alert kids, and it is well-written for an early young reader. It's creepy without being truly scary. It's very satisfying for a younger reader to follow the plot and the development of the story. Vocabulary is at a good level. Siblings cooperate and problem solve. It's short enough to not overlabor the premise, but long enough to be "a real book".

So, if you run across a copy of this somewhere, it would be a worthwhile addition to your kids library.

This is a really great book for those who're into science fiction and horror. The way Grinny hypnotizes the adults is scary, but the way the kids counter with their "eyes right" treatment is pretty cool.

I never got to see a copy of this book. However, I saw "Grinny" as a 1/2 hour cartoon special on that old Saturday morning tv series "CBS Storybreak". (I think ABC still has their books-made-into tv specials series.) Every Saturday morning, there would be a book made into and animation.