Customer Reviews

Kingdom of Kevin Malone

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Had I had this novel available when I was working with "Distressed's" counterparts and teaching English some years ago, I would have been a happy camper! This little jewel of a novel makes a believably realistic case for the role that well-written and highly perceptive fantasy can play in helping teens deal with very real problems of death, loss, abuse and separation. Amy, trying to cope with the death of a much-loved cousin escapes by magic into a fantasy kingdom created by a former childhood bully. She rescues him and learns a much-needed lesson in tolerance and understanding while doing so. The issues are real; the fantasy aspects, extraordinarily well-conceived; and it seems to me that Ms. Charnas has done an absolutely superb job of helping teens "walk in another's moccasins" to see and gain valuable insight into real-life problems. As an adult, I loved this book! And I've shared it with young friends of "Distressed's" age who found it equally meaningful. I'm delighted to see it back in print for all ages to read and ENJOY!

Amy is your average 14 year old girl. One day while her family is sitting shiva for her dead Couisn Shelly, Amy escapes the house to go rollerskating. As she's wobbling around borrowed skates, who does she bump into--literally--but her old neighborhood bully Kevin Malone. When he pins her old rhinstone rose onto her sleve, she chases after him. He leads her under one of Central Park's many stone arches, and into a patchwork of other worlds from many fantasy novels--the Fayre Farre, Kevin's Kingdom, where Kevin has dubbed himself the Promised Champion of his dark and dangerous world.

But every hero has to have a villian. Anglower, a very real villian from Kevin's past, threatens to throw the Fayre Farre into turmoil--unless Kevin can defeat him first. And he needs Amy's help.

The thing is, Amy doesn't trust him or his starnge world. She doesn't even like him. But if she doesn't help Kevin, it could mean the end of the Fayre Farre.

When I first got my hands on this book, I couldn't put it down. I was sucked into the Fayre Farre as much as Amy was. Being a 14 year old girl, I could really relate to Amy. When Kevin appeared, I shared Amy's mixed feelings of doubt about him. What makes this book so believeable is that all of the characters are like someone we know (or at the very least have heard of), but they've been plunked into an incredibly difficult and seemingly impossible situation. Even our heroine Amy doesn't believe that it's completely real for much of the book.

The Kingdom of Kevin Malone is one of my favorite books. For me, it's right up at the top of the list with Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Artemis Fowl, and Ender Wiggin.

If you're a fan of fantasy novels, get your hands on this book!

Amy was in Central Park skating with her best friend when she spotted him. Kevin Malone was a bully from Amy's childhood. She followed him into a tunnel and straight into the world of the Fayre Farre. Kevin had not just run away from an abusive father all those years ago. Instead, Kevin MADE Fayre Farre and disappeared from reality into his own world. A world as real as Amy's.
But Fayre Farre has changed since Kevin's childhood. Now it is in dire need of a hero...him, of course. However, it seems Amy and two of her girl friends are part of Kevin's prophacy too. Only with their help can Fayre Farre be saved. But in order to save his world, Amy must first save Kevin...and she does not even like him.
***Oh, it was so much fun to read this one! It brought back memories of how much I loved Young Adult books when I was twelve and up. In fact, I decided to keep this fantasy always. (*wicked grin*) Teenage ladies will love this one!!!***

This is one of my fave books to read. With cool characters and thrilling monstrosities, I think it is one of the best books with a main character having such a serious past (history of abuse by his father). Normally, I wouldn't read a book that had that material. Really, YOU should read this!

This book was awesome! I could hardly wait to start reading it again after I went to school or had do something. I encourage everyone to buy and read this book. Believe me,it's on my top favorite list!! So,don't waste any time in reading this delightful,enchanting,engrossing fantasy book!!

This book was really good. I wonder what the creatures that Kevin created looked like. And I would definately buy the sequel. If there is going to be one.

I really enjoyed this book. It has a great plot and I love all the elves and other creatures. A really great book.

Suzy McKee Charnas is better known for her adult fiction and non-fiction (she is the author of _The Verbal Art of Self-Defense_). I picked this book up for a buck and thought, what could I lose?

The better question may have been, for a buck, what could I gain? That's not to say that this novel is bad. Charnas is too much of a professional to have written a *bad* book. And there are some little twists to the genre that she nicely pulls off. But, on the whole, it's rather unimaginative.

The protagonist is a girl whose favorite aunt has just died, and she's quite bummed about it. So when she finds herself slipping into another world from Central Park, she is skeptical--especially since the hero of this other world is Kevin Malone, a bully who used to pick on her.

As I said, not a bad book. There's your typical walking skeletons, and the little people, and the quests. But there's also a more gritty, personal nature to the protagonist. I'm not sure it is altogether successful, but it was at least interesting.

I am a distressed teenager. I just wasted a whole lot of money on this pathetic book! DOn't buy it! First of all, it's complatetly unrealistic. Second, it's boring. I mean, this kind of fantasy is the most common: kid goes into magic world, kid saves magic world, author struggles to make the character real and with some faults, but ends up destroying the whole thing. If you're a pre-teen or teenager, beware. I nearly died of boredom. The only reason I still have this book is because I paid six bucks for it.