The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes [Library Binding]

Kelly Easton (Author), Greg Swearingen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Everyone has a destiny. Sometimes it takes an adventure to find it.

Liberty Aimes has spent all of her ten years captive in her parents' crooked house on Gooch Street. Her spry father, Mal Aimes, is a crook who sells insurance, while her overweight mother sits at home in front of the TV, demanding that Liberty cook nonstop. Liberty’s only knowledge of the outside world comes from the secret stash of children’s books and fairy tales she discovers beneath the floorboards. One day, Liberty enters her father’s forbidden basement laboratory. There she discovers a world of talking animals and magic potions. With the aid of one such potion, Liberty escapes into the world in search of her destiny.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3–6—Ten-year-old Liberty has never been let out of her decrepit house on 33 Gooch Street, and her massively obese mother, Sal, doesn't dare leave either. Only Liberty's dreadful father, Mal, a self-described "friggin' genius," comes and goes. As Liberty discovers one day, he really is a genius (the evil sort) and has invented, among other things, potions for communicating with animals and for levitating. Using these devices to escape, Liberty sets off on a search for what she feels must be heaven on Earth—a boarding school called the Sullivan School—meeting friends, dodging scoundrels, and having adventures along the way. Liberty's reactions to the quirky folks and talking animals she meets and the strange situations she finds herself in are naive and full of wonderment, but also commonsensical. While the circumstances are reminiscent of those in Roald Dahl's work, particularly the many intensely nasty grown-ups, the understated humor and friendly, imperturbable tone of the narration bring to mind the fantasies of Eva Ibbotson. The charming illustrations sprinkled throughout add immense appeal to this warm, delightfully odd fantasy.—Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Review, Family Fun, September 2009:
"The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes evokes the work of Roald Dahl and Lewis Carroll."


From the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Library Binding: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (June 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375937714
• ISBN-13: 978-0375937712
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,651,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kelly Easton grew up in Los Angeles, California. From the time she can first remember, she was obsessed with the destruction of the beauty of the area, orange groves and strawberry fields and charming downtowns, by the suburban sprawl of the seventies. Her search for the perfect place has sent her all over the place, most recently North Carolina and now New England.

Kelly has an MFA in playwriting from UC San Diego. She teaches in a low residency MFA program in writing for children and young adults at Hamline University, and lives on islands in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She also teaches creative writing to kids in summer workshops, and helps other writers edit their books. Kelly lives with her husband, Michael Ruben, and their children: Isaac, Isabelle, Mollie and Rebecca (plus their dog Garfield). She has just finished her first adult novel, Dreams in the Land of Photographs. You can reach her through her website: www.kellyeaston.com

Kelly's novels have won many awards, among them, the Asian/Pacific American Literature Award, the ASTAL Middle School Book of the Year Award, NYPL Book For the Teen Age, Kentucky Bluegrass Masterlist (Hiroshima Dreams); an ALA Quick Pick listing, and nomination for the ABE award, 2010 (Aftershock); Atlanta parents Best Book, and NYPL Book for the Teen Age (White Magic); a Boston Author's Club Award, Westcherster's Choice Best Book, CCBC Best Books selection (Walking on Air); and a Golden Kite Honor, Booksense Top Ten (The Life History of a Star). Her newest book, The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes, is a Jr. Library Guild selection.

She loves to hear from readers!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, Fun and Smart!, June 22, 2009

By 

Joanne Baines "Manic Design" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes (Hardcover)

"The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes" is a fantastic, fun, smart book. It should be in everyone's library, young or old. Liberty Aimes has the makings of a classic, sitting alongside Lemony Snicket and Dr. Seuss. If this isn't made into a movie, I'll be very surprised because the characters are so alive and vibrantly leaping out of the book.

Greg Swearingen has done a marvelous job with the illustrations, adding another layer of warmth and depth to the whimsical adventure.

The story is engaging and exciting and a lot of it is laugh out loud funny but there are also many themes running through the book that provide opportunities for intelligent conversation:

"In Eastern philosophy, breathing is the key to enlightenment. For the next half hour, Libby was very unenlightened: She was holding her breath."

These opportunities are so sensitively written that it never feels like a lesson, only a new word or concept. The above phrase is almost a puzzle with the laugh at the end being the prize for working it out.

I need to find a kid to read it with because it's just too good not to share.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Find enchanment and laughter with your child, June 9, 2009

By 

D. "booklover" (Long Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes (Hardcover)

Not since Alice in Wonderland, has a book so delighted my son. A whimsical and funny story, full of imagination had us talking for days about the adventures of one daring and smart young girl and her goofy and strange parents. Liberty's journey is full of fun and fear. My son learned a lot about values and ethics wihtout preaching as we followed Liberty's journey. Phenonemonal drawings kept us entranced

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful adventures, September 22, 2009

By 

Alice Berger "Bergers Book Reviews" (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes (Hardcover)

Life at 33 Gooch isn't exactly what most children dream of. In fact, it more resembles the life poor Cinderella had, before being rescued by the prince. "Homeschooled" by her parents, Liberty Aimes is not allowed outside, and does all the cooking and cleaning.

But one day, life changes more than she could have imagined, and Liberty finds herself outside her odd, little home. With the goal of reaching the renowned Sullivan School, she makes her way across the city, running into strange characters - some of which she learns the hard way are scoundrels.

Unlike Cinderella, Liberty doesn't meet a prince. But she does meet some very nice people who try to help her on her adventure. And ultimately, one of the meanest scoundrels finally meets justice.

This fun story will keep children involved from the first moment they meet Liberty. Although beaten down verbally, she shows remarkable pluck and determination to make something of herself. And the wacky cast of characters she runs into will keep kids chuckling at their antics. I highly recommend The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes.

Reviewer: Alice Berger