The Secret Life of Owen Skye [Paperback]

Alan Cumyn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2008 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

The Skye brothers — skinny, quiet, big-eared Owen and his smart older brother Andy — live in a rural village with their parents and weird Uncle Lorne, a shy bachelor who sleeps on a cot in the basement and takes out his teeth at night. On his way home from hockey practice one evening, Owen catches a glimpse of a girl named Sylvia. He falls hopelessly in love, and Valentine’s Day turns into one big disaster. Thank goodness for life at home, where there's a brother to talk to and plot adventures with. Yet the Skye boys somehow manage to turn every innocent plan into a full-scale ordeal. A search for a hammer turns into a brush with the deadly Bog Man, a midnight visit to the snow fort to meet with aliens becomes a near-death experience. This funny, magical novel celebrates the everyday joys and drama of being a kid and, especially, being a boy. Owen’s small-town childhood may be simple, but his days are rich indeed as he ponders the secret mysteries of death, life, and love.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-With a zany style and deep insight into the secret lives of boys, Cumyn tells a series of connected stories about young Owen Skye and his two brothers, Andy and Leonard. Their adventures are, by turns, funny, frightening, and genuinely dangerous. All are fully engaging, although at times readers might wonder where reality stops and fantasy begins. Are there really aliens that can be contacted by radio from Dead Man's Hill? Does the Bog Man really suck out the juice from cattle? Is their archenemy the giant squid doing more evil deeds? But beyond the supernatural, Owen is bewildered by ordinary things, including his sudden attraction to Sylvia, which leads to a Valentine's Day fiasco and a visit to the dreaded principal. The boys have hilarious conversations about many subjects, including God: "Well, if God is everywhere, then he must be in toilet paper too! And cheese broccoli soup." Cumyn's prose is lively and liberally sprinkled with sparkling turns of phrase: "On that march home the cold slipped inside the boys' snowsuits and drained away all their heat like a plug had been pulled from the bathtub." The characters are fresh and genuinely fascinating, from Owen's clueless parents and his strange but wise Uncle Lorne, who lives in the dank basement, to kindly Nurse Debbie and others who enter the lives of these unruly siblings. This book is very funny, and it would be a splendid read-aloud or read-alone choice.
Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Groundwood Books (April 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888998678
• ISBN-13: 978-0888998675
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,429,431 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Stand By Me" (rated "G"), December 29, 2002

By 

C. J. Black (Fort Collins, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret Life of Owen Skye (Hardcover)

Author Alan Cumyn, in his debut writing for children, returns in "The Secret Life Of Owen Skye" to the theme of the 1980s when so many movies like "Stand By Me" nostalgically celebrated the charm of the antics and fantasies of boyhood. I applaud him for doing so--let no critic complain he has chosen overused material. It is a worthy one to celebrate and to give a fresh opportunity for today's children to find relish and bemusement.

Writing in the 3rd person--novel to me for this theme--Cumyn shares the story of three brothers of grade school age living in a snaringly appealing, rustic setting with an eccentric family. The"remembrances" are so quaint that as an adult you readily suspect Cumyn is at least sharing bits of his own boyhood with embellishment. But this author knows his audience. Keeping outside of the story allows him to be adept with minimizing description, word choice, and to focus instead on event. I judge his writing to begin to be accessible to children who are fluent at the 4th grade level. And the audience will easily include that stereotypical boy who prefers information over fiction--he'll devour the antics in this story hook, line, and sinker. Brothers like Owen are ones you want as your "buds."

Two features of Cumyn's writing show keen craftsmanship. One is that the brothers' perspectives of the world seem strikingly age appropriate. The other is that Cumyn constantly returns with a flashbacks to past episodes as a memory to revere with action in the present. In the last chapter, Cumin weaves a fast forward of the entire book, which together with tenderly bringing to conclusion Owen's infatuation for classmate Sylvia, leaves you smiling--wanting to shout, "YES!"

"Owen Stryker" is wholesome, good-natured storytelling that will be versatile either as a read aloud or in literature circles in the classroom--as well as independent reading. But Dads--AND Moms--read this one at home with that boy who "hates" to read. Life's messages in this delectable story may not be as readily discernable for your child as for you, however, I assure you, you will both be charmed by Alan Cumyn's gift.