Ryan, Me, and the Mysterious Book [Paperback]

Nicole Rocheleau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2006

With the first day of seventh grade right around the corner, Emmy and Ryan are preparing for a very big year—new clothes, new classes, new situations, new friends, old rivals, and loads of homework. Yet it was what they hadn’t prepared for—a mystery that surrounds Shulie, a strange shop, a wild staircase, a red door, and a very powerful and mysterious book—that will change their lives forever!

Product Details

• Paperback: 202 pages
• Publisher: PublishAmerica (October 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1424134226
• ISBN-13: 978-1424134229
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,478,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars It captivated me and I am not really sure why, January 29, 2007

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Ryan, Me, and the Mysterious Book (Paperback)

This is one of those books where once I started reading; I found it difficult to put down and completed it in a day. And then, once I was done, found it hard to state exactly why it kept my attention. My reading began when I mounted an exercise bike at the Y. Ordinarily; I go twenty minutes per session. However, I was so engrossed with the book that I went nearly thirty minutes, stopping only when my sit-down spot began seriously protesting.
The story is told from the perspective of two children, a boy and a girl (Emmy and Ryan) in seventh grade. They are the best of friends and have been since they met in elementary school. Most of the events in their lives are quite ordinary; they go to school, have homework and challenge their rivals at school.
The unusual happens when they follow Shoo, a woman that is apparently a live-in maid for Emmy's family. Shoo enters an unusual building and when they follow Emmy and Ryan encounter an unusual woman with strange books. They borrow one and it contains two stories, one that begins from the front and the other that begins from the back. After reading both, they cannot remember anything about them other than the fact that they read them and the sex of the main character in each. There are no great challenges, no evil monster to destroy, no slashing, and no black magic, only a few unusual and unexplainable circumstances. This aspect of the plot is never really resolved and while Emmy has both parents in her home, they are a parenthetical mention at best.
The other events in their lives are typical of the middle school child. Emmy sweats through her blouse when it is near her turn to give a speech, she recounts her past experiences with her main rival Buffy and she frets over her attempt to win the captaincy of the cheerleading squad. Even as I write this review I still cannot say exactly why this book captivated me, I can only summarize the plot and say that it kept my attention throughout.