Customer Reviews

In the Middle of the Night

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Summary:
On Halloween, eight years before Denny Colbert was born, his father was involved in a tragic accident at a Halloween show that killed twenty-two children. His father was blamed for the cause of the accident because he was the one that started the fire. Although it has been awhile since the accident, some have not yet forgotten about it.

Phone calls start every October when the anniversary of the accident is near. Year after year, the Colbert's receive phone calls late at the night. Mr. Colbert simply just picks the phone up, listens calmly to the angry voice on the other end for several minutes, and then hangs up. Because of these phone calls, Denny isn't allowed to answer the phone-ever. But now he is 16 now and just wants to be like other kids, so he disobeys his parents and answers one of the phone calls. Denny is surprised when he hears what is on the other end of the phone. He is drawn into a deadly relationship with the mystery caller who has haunted his family for years.

Recommendations:
I thought that this book was very good. It wasn't the best book I have ever read, but it was worth while to read. The beginning of the book was slow but by the end it kept me on the edge of my seat. This book will teach you a very good lesson, which was to always listen to your parents. If you like mysteries, adventure, horror, drama, and suspense you should read this book. I don't recmomend that kids under 10 read this book. It had some faul words in it and mature situations. If you are looking for a good scare...go out to the library and get this book!

This edge of your seat thriller will leave you looking over your shoulder, everywhere you go! A young man named Denny Colbert is the main character of this tale. Twenty-five years prior to the time of the story John, Denny's father, was involved in a tragic accident on Halloween night leaving twenty-two people dead. Every night, around Halloween, John receives some very disturbing phone calls. For this reason Denny was, and still is, not allowed to answer the phone, ever. When this rule is broken Denny suddenly becomes the man on the run, or does he?

This book is a book for anyone who loves suspenseful plots and twists of fate. In the Middle of the Night is a book that I would recommend to those who love to read, and for those who don't, I doubly recommend this book. You won't be able to put it down. In the Middle of the Night was, by far, one of Robert Cormier's best work

` The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first, unlike, say a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping smile.' These are the famous words by the author Robert Cormier.
In his book In The Middle Of The Night he has it right. It is filled with twists and turns that are suspense- filled. The book is about a boy named Danny who could never answer the phone because of an incident that happened in his father's past. Someone in the world can't forget what happened and wants revenge. Now, Danny being 16 has the guts to answer the phone. The effect for answering the phone is that Danny has to face a lot of challenges. The theme of this book was that you shouldn't be afraid of new things and that you should be brave no matter what.
Robert Cormier, born in 1925 in Leominster, Massachusetts, was influenced by one of his teachers who told him he was a writer and he believed that. I believe that Robert Cormier wrote In The Middle Of The Night because of stuff that teens experience nowadays. He also wanted to teach something valuable and moral.
The quote ` The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first, unlike, say a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping smile.' expresses a lot of rich information. It means that you should keep on trying no matter if it doesn't come perfect the first time. It also means to not be afraid to try new things. It takes time to find out the right word or sentence, but in the end it comes out worth while.
After I read the book In The Middle Of The Night, I figured anyone would enjoy the book, but mostly teens who have a high level in reading and those who like action books with a lot of mystery in them.

A 16-year-old boy named Denny has a father who was involved with an incident 25 years ago, which killed 22 children. Every year since the tragedy, Denny's family receives random calls and letters and threats blaming Denny's father for the deaths. Denny is told not to answer the telephone when he is at home, but one day his curiosity becomes overwhelming and he answers the phone and many problems arise because of it. I really enjoyed this book because it was suspenseful. It really got me involved with the story. However, it was a little confusing at some parts because it jumped from person to person. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and who can handle more then one angle of the story being told to you.

This is just one more of Robert Cormier's gripping tales of teenage controversy. Like many of his other books, such as "The Chocolate War," and "I'm the Cheese," Cormier will once again bring you into the mind of a teenager who is somewhat of an outcast. This time it is Denny Colbert, who was brought up in a strict household. His father told him never pick up the phone, but as the saying goes,"curiosity killed the cat." His father, John Paul Colbert, was a new citizen to the United States at the ripe age of 16, and just when things were looking up it all came crashing down. While John Paul worked for the Globe Theatre the balcony came down and he was the only one to blame in this tragic accident. Twenty-Two children had died and countless more were injured. It's the 25th anniversary of the incident and they must learn to deal with these problems,which are a direct result of John Paul's past and ignore the phone calls in the middle of the night.

A Review by Ellie
This story was about a boy who caused an accident when he was sixteen at a circus. The boy was harassed by people on the anniversary of the accident, (Halloween), every year. One woman in particular always calls in the middle of the night. Now, it's the twenty-fifth anniversary and the boy is all grown up and has a family of his own. It is a few weeks before Halloween and the calls start again. But now the caller wants to talk to his son, Denny, and she starts messing with his head.

I thought this was a really good book and it keeps you interested and makes you want to keep reading. The author described the scenes really well so it made a picture in your head of what was going on. He also described the characters very well. For example, when Denny waited at the bus stop every morning there were these little bratty kids that were always really annoying and the author described them so well that you kind of get annoyed by them yourself. One thing that the author did that I didn't like was that he didn't make the main character, Denny, very interesting. He made him kind of a dull person. But, I think that maybe he was supposed to be kind of boring, but it still annoyed me because he didn't have any friends. Overall, I really liked this book and I would recommend it.

A great mystery. I'd reccommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries

Robert Cormier is a fantastic author.The night of the terrible accident, which killed 22 children,is what the antagonist, Lulu can't forget.Denny should have never lifted up that phone.

In the Middle of the Night is yet another wonderful book by Robert Cormier. In the story, Denny's father was involved in an accident that killed 22 children. He didn't cause it but not everyone believes that...especially a woman by the name of Lulu who believes that the sins of the father will be visited upon the son... A wonderful book, something you can't put down, it exercises a hypnotic force that consumes your entire being in its intensity.

John Paul Colbert used to work at the Globe Theater when he was a young man. On the night of the big magic show, that was coming to the Globe, he was sent up to the balcony, that was full of old boxes and stuff, because he heard a noise. When he got up to the balcony it was too dark and he couldn't see. So he lit a match. But he didn't get the flame far enough away from the matchbox and the entire thing lit on fire and he dropped it which caused the entire balcony to ignite in flames instantly. The balcony then collapsed on the unexpecting children below, killing 22 people. Now John Paul is grown and has a family of his own but he gets calls in the middle of the night and his teenage son Denny is determined to put a stop to all of this. So one say Denny hears the phone ringing so he picks it up, which he is told never ever to do. Then it all begins. to find out what happens next you will have to read the book. This is an amazing book. I would recommend this book to people between the grades of 7th-12th. But it was an overall very good book. Robert Cormeir did an excellent job, as usual.