Seeing Stars [Paperback]

Gary Barwin (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Alex Issacson's life has never been normal. His mother got into bed the day his father left, and never got back out again. Hugely over-weight, she is known to the viewing public as Starbright the phone-in-psychic. Although she spends her time consulting the stars and offering advice to others, she won't answer the questions that consume Alex. Why did his father leave, and where is he now? So Alex has turned his search to the internet. When he starts receiving strange emails riddled with bad puns, Alex thinks he might be on the right track -- but what on earth do they mean? More clues come when a "saxophone incident" leads Alex on a dangerous cross-country adventure. After dodging the barrel of a hermit's shotgun, hooking up with a band on tour, and hitching a ride with a weak-bladdered truck driver, Alex may have found out more than he ever wanted to know. And the truth may just leave him seeing stars.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7-This novel lacks an authentic voice or style. Alex Isaacson, 15, is trying to unravel the mysteries of his bizarre family life. Why did his father disappear 12 years ago? Why has his mother, a desperately obese telephone psychic, refused to get out of bed since then? Why is his Uncle Barnard always painting strange pictures of frogs? Alex eventually learns that his relatives' devastating secret concerns a sister he never knew he had, but his journey is not emotionally involving. None of the characters or relationships are fully fleshed out, and the protagonist is annoying rather than endearing. While it's fine for readers to know that The Wizard of Oz is Alex's favorite movie, it's an intrusion to have an "Oz" reference on so many pages.
Ronni Krasnow, New York Public Library
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-12. Barwin's first young adult novel has a resonance and youthful wit that teen readers will relish. Since his father abandoned them years ago, 15-year-old Alex has cared for his mother, an obese, taciturn telephone psychic who got into bed after her husband left and has never gotten out. But Alex is no longer satisfied with his daily lot or his mother's silence. He wants answers about his father and his family. His goal seems in reach after he connects with his father's strange, possibly psychotic uncle and begins a literal and figurative journey that leads to some shocking revelations. Alex is a good kid with a clever sense of the macabre, and, thanks to his family circumstances, an unusual perspective on the world. These characteristics, coupled with some ingeniously cryptic e-mail and an extended Wizard of Oz metaphor (derived from Alex's playing the saxophone for a school performance of the work), blend together to take readers on a quirky adventure through an unusual teen's unusual world. Roger Leslie
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 181 pages
• Publisher: Fitzhenry and Whiteside; 1 edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0773762272
• ISBN-13: 978-0773762275
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,043,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it!, June 6, 2002

By 

Marsha Skrypuch (Brantford, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seeing Stars (Paperback)

Seeing Stars is a wonderfully original novel!

It has been nominated by the Canadian Library Association for young adult novel of the year.

Read it. You won't be disappointed.<...