When Flash's plane crashes in the wilderness, he finds himself injured and alone, armed with nothing but a cheap instant camera. Then out of the sunlight appears a girl in a scarlet dress. Sutira and her brother take Flash home to their remote village, where the people have never met a photographer--or seen a photo. Flash has ten pictures left, but what should he take a picture of? The most beautiful girl in the village? An irreplaceable piece of art? A cow? Flash has always known the magic of photography, but not until he takes those last ten pictures does he realize just what wonders can be worked with light, love, and a camera.
“With its streamlined, easy-chapter text and thought-provoking subject, this would make an intriguing read-aloud for older audiences as well as a chapter book to take readers off the literal and literary beaten path.”–The Bulletin
It's 30 years now since I first got published, and 50 since I found out how writing let me step outside my little, everyday world and go wherever I chose - way back in Time, to far distant shores, towards my own, home-made happy ending. Not that all my books are an easy ride. I write adventure, first and foremost, because that's what I enjoyed reading as a child. But since I have published over 150 books now, there are all manner of books in among that number - gorgeously illustated picture books, easy readers, prize winners, teenage books and five adult novels. The White Darkness won the Printz Award in the USA, which, for as Englishwoman, was the most amazing, startling thrill. Then there was Peter Pan in Scarlet - official sequel to J M Barrie's Peter Pan, written on behalf of Great Ormond Street Hopsital for Sick Children. I won the chance to write that in a worldwide competition, and because Peter Pan is loved everywhere, my book sold worldwide too. I can't say I expected that when, as a child, I dreamed of being like my older brother and getting a book published one day. These days I have a husband (who's good at continuity and spelling) and a daughter who is an excellent editor. But she's at the Royal Academy of Dramtic Art now, studying to become an actor. So, naturally, I have turned my hand to writing plays. (So many actors, so few plays!) My Mum told me, "Never boil your cabbages twice, dear," which was her way of saying, "Don't repeat yourself." So I have tried never to write the same book twice. You'll find all my novels quite different from one another. I have also done lots of retellings of myth, legend, folk and fairy tales, and adapted indigestible classics such as El Cid, the Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, Moby Dick, Shakespeare and the Pilgrim's Progress. Something for everyone, you see, my dear young, not-so-young, eccentric, middle-of-the-road, poetical, sad, cheerful, timid or reckless reader. All they have in common is that they all contain words. If you are allergic to words, you'd best not open the covers.
I loved the book. I thought the lesson or big idea in the book was great. I used this book in my 4th & 5th grade literature groups. Although, they could read the book they had a difficult time grasping the big idea. They didn't seem to enjoy it as much as I did. So maybe it would be more appropriate for higher level students.
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This book is about a man (NOT a boy, as one reviewer states) who survives a plane crash in a remote village. He finds a tribe of people who speak English, yet do not know what cameras or photographs are. In each chapter he decides what photograph to take (he has 10 left on his poloroid). The characters are flat, there is no conflict to move the story forward, and the ending is just too easy. Not until the final photo is taken does the man remember he has a family back in London. Then, conveniently enough, a helicopter appears, litteraly a Deus ex Machina, to save him. Then the author tries to make things fun by suggesting the whole tale has taken place in his imagination.
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Geraldine McCaughrean's SMILE! tells of a boy who survives a plane crash in the wilderness to find himself alone with only a camera. His visit to a remote village, where people have never met a photographer or seen a photo, changes not only his life, but those he encounters in this gentle story of survival and change.
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