Customer Reviews

Hidden Talents

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

David Lubar presents a bleak situation for one young Martin Anderson. Martin has been to many schools, all of which he has been kicked out of for smarting off. He is sent to his last chance for an education, Edgeview Alternative School. He tries his best not to irritate his new teachers, but finds that he cannot help himself. Soon, he finds others who cannot help themselves either.

This book is a great story for kids who are struggling with authority, difficulty making friends, dealing with angry parents, or who are looking for a sequel to "Holes" by Louis Sachar. I found it entertaining, and interesting.

For years, I've watched David Lubar fine tune his writer's craft. He's moved from his "Kidzilla" series for TOR to his "Monster" series for Scholastic to this distinctive YA novel, "Hidden Talents." With each step he takes along the writers road, Lubar gets a little better...a little stronger...a little closer to the mark.

I loved the character's David created for "Hidden Talents." I love the way his quirky kids interacted. And I love the way they joined together to prove at least two things --- that kids are not without power, and that David Lubar has his finger on the pulse of just what those powers might be.

Well done, David. I can't wait to read "Monster Road."

Kelly Milner Halls, Freelance Writer/Reviewer

When it comes to adult authority. junior high school student Martin Anderson cannot keep his mouth shut as he rejects the constant advice with smart answers and insults. He has been expelled from six schools, the boy scouts, and the little league. He rides the bus to his final destination the prison-like Edgeview Alternative School, an institution used to lock up the violent and other losers (where is Pink Floyd when you need them?)

Martin realizes he must be on the cutting edge to survive the ready fists of bully Bloodbath and the shock therapy of Warden, (make that Principal) Davis. On the plus side Martin meets four fellow weirdoes with special psychic powers. Torchy lights fires without matches or lighters; Cheater copies test answers from anyone sitting anywhere; Lucky steals anything; and Trash trashes stuff. Martin believes his only power is what adults label acerbic while he would say satirical tongue. The five losers band together as Martin discovers his HIDDEN TALENTS and try to stop a plot to shut the school of last resort down.

Though the climax seems out of character for the magnificent five, the Harry Potter crowd will enjoy their misadventures. The quintet is at their diabolical best when they interrelate with one another. Although much of the key secondary cast seems stereotypical, readers will enjoy sharing a pizza with Martin's beleaguered parents as they and the young audience will wonder what will he do or say next.

Harriet Klausner

The book Hidden Talents by David Lubar is a story of six boys who have been kicked out of every school they have ever been in. For different reasons that are normal to troubled young people they have all wound up at Edgeview Alternative School where they meet and become friends. The character that this book centers around is Martin. The other five boys, "Torchie", "Cheater", "Trash", "Flinch", and "Lucky" were at the school prior to Martin's arrival, however, it is when Martin arrives and notices something strange about his new friends that everything starts to get interesting. As Martin goes about his daily routine of getting yelled at by teachers and avoiding the bully, "Bloodbath", he observes that his newfound friends act slightly differently than the average kids. Eventually he does some studying on what he thinks are their conditions and confronts them with the possibilities. Appalled by the thought that they might be as "freakish" as Martin suggests, the other boys shun him. He is eventually reconciled to them as they band together to use their special gifts to save the school from being destroyed by "Bloodbath" and closed by the Board of Education. In the end it is Martin's own "hidden talent" that he did not even notice that saves the day, and the school.

The themes of this book are very applicable to many young people, I believe. The major theme that can be seen throughout the story is that everyone should accept their differences. The importance of doing so is shown through another theme of working together and synergy. When the boys finally accept their "hidden talents" and strengthen them, they are able to use them as a group to perform a task that they never would have been able to do on their own. At first the boys were afraid of being different and being seen differently, but when they realized that being different is not a bad thing then everything is better than ever between them. Each one of them has a part in the final conflict that is very important and leads to the final resolution.

What was most striking about this book was a few stylistic things that Lubar chose to include. The most obvious thing is the addition of small pieces of writing such as school assignments or notes at the end of each chapter. These little notes give us as readers an insight into the inner mind of one of the characters, a foreshadowing of things to come, or a clarification of events that have already occurred. One such example occurs in two chapters toward the end of the book. There is a short assignment written by "Lucky" saying that people like him because he is a generous boy and such. In the following chapter we see that perhaps "Cheater" does have a special power to read peoples' minds as he writes the exact same thing for his assignment. Another stylistic thing that Lubar does is he keeps the chapters short. I was very impressed at how he brought small pieces of information into each chapter and then moved on to another chapter while at the same time keeping the pace of the story going. I also liked how he introduced characters to the story. Lubar does a very good job of easing characters in to the story and giving the impression that there is something special about them without beating the reader over the head with this fact. He hides the "gifts" of each student behind a normal characteristic that a troubled child would have and then later brings it out as a positive thing. It is little stylistic things such as these that help make Hidden Talents stand apart from a typical story for this age.

As I read Hidden Talents by David Lubar, I was reminded of another school for special students who were outcasts from normal society, the X Men. This being said, there are many differences between this story and the X Men, but I can see how a young reader would equate the two and feel an impulse to continue on with the book because of it. I would recommend this book for young adults because they could connect with the boys in the story and what they are going through. Because the story is based around six boys as the main characters, I think this is a book more suited for the male population, but not exclusively. Hidden Talents is a book that combines good lessons and strong moral value with an enjoyable plot to create a book that I would recommend to any reader who likes a story that breaks a little bit from reality.

Hidden talents was a educational but thrilling book. The book spoke about friends sticking together and never judge anyone by what they look like or what they do.It also spoke about trusting each other no matter what.The story line was wonderfully done with skill and craftmanship.I gave this book four stars not five because of its lack of detail which made it seam shorter then it should have bean.

If you're down in the mouth, and you believe you have no talents, read this awesome book. In Hidden Talents these kids are sent to an alternative school for things they say they didn't do. Martin is the new guy and thinks that everyone has a talent. They don't believe him. He's a loner. If you don't think you have a talent, you might discover you do. --Jacob Virzi, Matthew McMinn and Brandon Stover in Ms. Marik's 6th grade class

It's all about a boy who gets sent to a school with tons of kids that have been rejected from other schools. This boy Martin makes friends with other friends who are truly good, but secretly have powers that get them in trouble. Coming here causes Martin to realize his true talent and helps him lead a better life. In the end, he realizes what is truly important to him and tries to set everything right that he had set wrong before.

Hidden Talents is a great book. Although it is for older chidren (8th grade and up), students in 5th or 6th grade will love it if they're above reading level and like to read. It's a mixture of real life and science fiction. It really is a good book.

If you liked Holes by Louis Sachar, you will love this book! You will really come to know and like Martin and his friends, empathisize with them, and root them on. Great cast of characters from the teachers, the students, etc. As a matter of fact, this would make a great movie!

Hidden Talents is by far the best book I have read. (And I've read plenty!) This book is so great because the chapters never end, they always keep you on the edge of your seat so you want to go straight to the next chapter. I liked it mainly because it was about kids who had special powers but didn't know it. I read this book in school and I just couldn't put it down. I read it twice before the teacher finished-it's that good! This is a book that you would definitely want to add to your bookshelf to read again and again and again! I hope they make this into a movie!