Customer Reviews

The Pinballs

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

ISBN 0064401987 - An ALA Notable Children's book, The Pinballs is one of those books that took me a little while to like. Once I gave it a chance, it turned out to be a very good read.

Carlie, Harvey and Thomas J. come into the foster care system and meet in the living room of the Masons. Mrs Mason can't have children, so she and her husband began the process to adopt. Along the way, they ended up as foster parents and they've gotten quite good at it. Harvey's there because his father got drunk and ran over his legs with the car - and that was after his mother ran away from them. Carlie's had a hard time with stepfathers and is in the system until things stabilize. Thomas J. is a mystery - a child who toddled up to a farmhouse owned by twin sisters, who took him and raised him until they both ended up in the hospital. Then the authorities found him and while they figured out what to do with him, he was at the Masons.

Carlie comes across, at first, like a girl you'd like to NOT know; Thomas J. is the loudest quiet kid in the world; Harvey just seems to be broken, in more ways than one. How they help each other and how they learn to let others help them is a touching story that every kid - and every adult! - ought to read. And who they really are, under all the hurts of their short, messed up lives, might surprise you.

- AnnaLovesBooks

One summer, Carlie, Harvey and Thomas J are forced to live together in a foster home. Harvey's father ran over his legs, the Benson twins couldn't care for Thomas J anymore, and Carlie had been abused by her stepfather. At first, they don't get along. Will they ever become friends? Will they ever be a "Brady Bunch"-type family? Besty Byars has written an intersting story about life in a foster family. The Pinballs is realistic,with believable, fast-paced, witty conversation. The sassy way Carlie talks is humorous at times, but the theme story is a serious one. The Pinballs contains some difficult vocabulary for a middle school readers, but it's easy to understand and to identify with the characters' feelings

The Pinballs is a powerful look at how living in a foster home may change your life. The setting takes place in the Mason's foster home during the summer. The characters are believible. They are Carlie, Harvey, and Thomas J. All three characters want to go gome, however their parents are in a conflict. The author of this novel is Betsy Byars. She writes in a lively way. The aurthor has great descriptive images and is a great writer of non-fiction stories.

Carlie is 13 years old, Harvy 11 years old, and Thomas J. is 8 years old. They all have certain problems. One of those three problems is that Harvey's dad abused him. He was an alcholholic and Harvey is now paralized. Thomas J., never got to know his biologicial parents. Thomas J's mother left him at he door step of the Benson's twins. Carlies's stepfather also abused her. He hit her, punched her, and did everything to hurt her.

How can these three children go beyond their problems? Read this novel The Pinballs.

We just finished reading The Pinballs in our fourth-grade classroom. Most of us thought it was a great book. We felt that we learned a lot about what it's like for someone to have to leave his or her family and go to a foster home for a while. We were interested in how Carlie changes. At the beginning she is sharp-tongued with everyone and she's angry all the time. Later on, she begins to trust and really care about the other foster kids and Mr. and Mrs. Mason, the foster parents. Carlie is not the only one who changes. We saw that Harvey reaches a deeper understanding of his father. Instead of just hating him for running over his legs with his car, he becomes more understanding after realizing that his mother never answered any of his letters (his mother ran away to join a commune). We liked what Carlie and Thomas J did at the end of the book to bring Harvey out of his depression in the hospital. We're not going to say what that is, though, because we want everyone who reads this review to read the book.

Three lonely kids are trapped in a foster home. None of them want to be there. They all wish they could be at home, but they are mistreated there. At the foster home they are loved and cared for. The foster parents are Mr. and Mrs. Mason, and they are very nice. They have had lots of foster children and they keep there pictures on the mantel place. To sum it all up, The Pinballs is a great book. Just when you think it's going to get boring something exciting happens. The author, Betsy Byars, is very descriptive in her writing, which makes the book much more exciting. This book is great! Go ahead, and please read it!

I must have read this book over ten years ago, yet I still remember the title and how it made me feel. I am now 21 and would recomend it to all ages!

The Pinballs is a book about three children who are sent to a foster home. The three children are Carlie, Harvey, and Thomas J. Carlie is a fourteen-year-old girl who is at the foster home because her stepfathers abused her. Harvey is a thirteen-year-old boy who is at a foster home because his father had drinking problem and he couldn't take care of Harvey. Thomas J. is an eight year old boy who is at the foster home because when he was two his natal parents left him at the door step of the eighty-two year old Benson twins and they broke their hips walking down a path to their house and they couldn't care for him. So those three children were sent the Mason Foster Home. At first Carlie doesn't like anybody in the house, Harvey really doesn't communicate and Thomas J. talks too loud. What will happen to Carlie? What will happen to Harvey? What will happen to Thomas J.? Find out in The Pinballs by Betsy Byars.
I think the Pinballs was very good because most of the characters were dynamic. Betsy Byars painted a vivid picture of the characters. There is a very big lesson that taught in this book and you will have to read this book to find out. I would suggest this to any person above the age of ten.

I read this book in the in the 6th grade back in 1986 and loved it. Til this day, I still remember it and will definately purchase it again just so I can read it again. It is a very good book that left me in tears through out it. Get out your kleenex if you plan on reading it. I recommend this book to all children and adults. I do consider more of a young adult book than children. It is full of drama that seems so real. I believe that an adult will enjoy it more than a child. I still do recommend it to all.

Pinballs by Betsy Byars this book is about three kids who gets put into the Mason foster home. Carlie whois joind by two other boys named Harvy and Thomasj. Ithink this book will inspire many foster childen in a fosterhome this may be for ages 10 -15.

I am writing about a book called The Pinballs.The Pinbalss is a very great and exciting book.It is about these three kids that have problems and are put in foster homes because of their parents.This book is very thrilling.when you pick it up you won't put it down until you're down with the book.I would recommend this book to people of ages 9-12 who like friendship books.This is a really really awesome book.