Customer Reviews

My Life, Take Two

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

 

 

Neal's longtime girlfriend Emily is right. They are stuck in a rut. What she really means is that HE is stuck in a rut, which is also right. His father died years and years ago, but Neal still can't seem to get over it. Nothing really matters much to him, and he floats through his life, disconnected. He takes jobs and is soon fired from them, and his mother worries that he will be like his father, only doing what he feels like doing instead of taking responsibility for things that need to be done.

Emily has her entire life worked out. She and Neal were born in the same hospital on the same day and have practically been dating ever since. She is going to be an accountant and is pushing Neal to go to business school so when they finish they can get married. This summer after his junior year in high school, though, Neal is changing.

It started with a film class Neal took, in which he was supposed to create a documentary. He wanted to make a film about his father, but couldn't seem to get to the truth he needed. He received an incomplete in the class, with the requirement he finish the film over the summer. Neal decides to do the documentary at the old estate where his father was caretaker when Neal was young. This is the place where Neal has his fondest memories of his father, and he also has fond memories of a girl, Claire, whose mother owned the estate. Through this summer project, Neal begins to realize that maybe he doesn't want the well ordered life he is heading toward.

Neal's investigation of his memories was interesting, and his rediscovery of Claire was a good story, too. I thought Neal's relationship with Emily was unbelievable, and the filmmaking part of the book was a bit distracting.

This book is about finding your place in the world. When you look at adults, they all seem to have found somewhere that they fit. This book is about how Neal finds where he fits. It isn't where his mom or his girlfriend thinks, though. He finds it out for himself by making a film and finding out the secrets about his dad and meeting a new girlfriend who supports him instead of telling him stuff "for his own good." The film parts were good and it's a good story and I like the way it all came out.

Neal Thackery is a sixteen year old high school student that is required to re-do an assignment for his film class before he graduates. His teacher was nice enough to give him an incomplete for his grade instead of a failing grade because his film teacher knows that he can do a better job. Neal has to spend his summer working at a warehouse and also trying to re-do his documentary. Neal is a young boy that has a lot on his mind, especially since his father passed away from a massive heart attack. Neal's mother and long time girlfriend Emily seem to be really supportive, until they find out that Neal--once again--lost another job!! While working for a short time at the warehouse, he meets up with a girl he knew when he was younger. With her help he finds out some interesting things about his father and gets reacquainted with her.

This book has a very creative format...most of it is written as a novel, while other parts are like a script...kind of like the book, Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Honestly, I was expecting more at the end of the book.... I liked it, but wouldn't read it a second time.

This book is a good read for someone that has been real close to a loved one and lost them. The age range for this book would be ages 13-18 and even older....

In My Life, Take Two, Paul Many writes the story of sixteen-year-old Neal Thackery's journey to self- understanding. Neal 's documentary about his deceased father has just bombed; he has mixed memories of his father with his dreams. Now Neal must spend the summer before his senior year revamping his documentary, and to appease his practical mother and girlfriend, working at a construction warehouse, making money for college. Neal struggles at work; he can't seem to hold down a job or accept the future that others seem to have already laid out for him. At work he becomes reacquainted with childhood friend Claire and her mother who help him come to know his father. Neal learns that he has a great deal in common with his father, both artistic and creative, and with this knowledge must now make important decisions concerning his future.
Neal's voice is both witty and sarcastic, though sometimes his observations seem a little far-fetched. That lack of connection, though, may just put the reader with the practical, uncreative people who, in Neal's world, also find him hard to understand. Likewise, those readers may find that the documentary script sections slow the story and prefer Neal's humorous narrative. Overall, middle school and young adult readers will recognize Neal's feelings of inadequacies and understand his need to determine for himself what his future will hold.

In My Life, Take Two, Paul Many writes the story of sixteen-year-old Neal Thackery's journey to self- understanding. Neal 's documentary about his deceased father has just bombed; he has mixed memories of his father with his dreams. Now Neal must spend the summer before his senior year revamping his documentary, and to appease his practical mother and girlfriend, working at a construction warehouse, making money for college. Neal struggles at work; he can't seem to hold down a job or accept the future that others seem to have already laid out for him. At work he becomes reacquainted with childhood friend Claire and her mother who help him come to know his father. Neal learns that he has a great deal in common with his father, both artistic and creative, and with this knowledge must now make important decisions concerning his future.
Neal's voice is both witty and sarcastic, though sometimes his observations seem a little far-fetched. That lack of connection, though, may just put the reader with the practical, uncreative people who, in Neal's world, also find him hard to understand. Likewise, those readers may find that the documentary script sections slow the story and prefer Neal's humorous narrative. Overall, middle school and young adult readers will recognize Neal's feelings of inadequacies and understand his need to determine for himself what his future will hold.

Nice job. If you like art, it will mean something to you. If you don't, maybe you'll just scratch your head. I liked how the art/film theme tied together the other issues in the book--death, separation, dealing with childhood so one can move on to adulthood.

The protagonist's wisecracks and trenchent throw-away lines beat out the plot for originality, but all in, it's a thumb's up. I dare you not to smile at Many's subtle sarcasm and sly sense of humor.

The author attempts some clever story-telling devices with his life-as-imagined-on-video technique,but the gimmics get in the way of the narrative. The 17-year-old protagonist carries some baggage into young adulthood, but I'm not sure readers who might identify with that "baggage" will stay with the story.

Maybe I'm just an old-fashioned guy "reader."

Two stars.