Customer Reviews

Son of Someone Famous (Peacock Books)

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The Son of Someone Famous was written by M.E. Kerr, and it is a fictional story. It was written in the first person from two people's views, Brenda Belle and Adam Blessing. The setting is in the small town of Storm, Vermont, where nothing much happens. The local drugstore is the after-school hangout, dances and other people's affairs are everyone's business. The characters are believable and have real feelings. It seems as if you could know them and identify them in your own neighborhood. Tension rises as the teens discover things about each other that they didn't need to know. At the end most conflicts are resolved, but not as you would expect them to be. Because the resolution fits in with the rest of the story, it is believable. My favorite part from the book is Brenda's and Adam's first fight. Brenda had found out about the incorrect initial on Adam's ring. The relationship was over. "I don't care," she says. "You don't have to explain anything." You can almost hear the tightness in her words as you read them. "You sound nervous," he says. "I'm not nervous," she replies. Brenda's and Adam's "nothing power" is dissolved. "You said yourself life isn't fair, even, or equal," Brenda finishes. The story ends on a good note: don't pretend to be who you are not. That is something we should all try. The following excerpt expresses the theme of the book: "We'll travel light - I like that. I'm not ready for anything heavy. I want to start out slow and easy while I get used to the advantages of being the son of someone famous. That is just a part of being me. But not the biggest part. I know that now." As I said earlier, the book is written in the first person. But it is from two different people's point of view, Adam's and Brenda's. It is written like a journal in Adam's part, and "Notes for a Novel" under Brenda's. In some parts it is hard to go from one section to another, though. The language mostly simple on a probably seventh grade level. The author doesn't describe anything in too thorough detail, but it is enough to get the main idea. "It is possible that all the hurts have made him so good at what he does; it is equally possible that such a man is only good at what he does, and not good at the things most men do easily. The only thing I'm really sure about my father is that he's different. Special, you might say. An extraordinary man." From Adam Blessing.

The Son of Someone Famous was written by M.E. Kerr, and it is a fictional story. It was written in the first person from two people's views, Brenda Belle and Adam Blessing. The setting is in the small town of Storm, Vermont, where nothing much happens. The local drugstore is the after-school hangout, dances and other people's affairs are everyone's business. The characters are believable and have real feelings. It seems as if you could know them and identify them in your own neighborhood. Tension rises as the teens discover things about each other that they didn't need to know. At the end most conflicts are resolved, but not as you would expect them to be. Because the resolution fits in with the rest of the story, it is believable. My favorite part from the book is Brenda's and Adam's first fight. Brenda had found out about the incorrect initial on Adam's ring. The relationship was over. "I don't care," she says. "You don't have to explain anything." You can almost hear the tightness in her words as you read them. "You sound nervous," he says. "I'm not nervous," she replies. Brenda's and Adam's "nothing power" is dissolved. "You said yourself life isn't fair, even, or equal," Brenda finishes. The story ends on a good note: don't pretend to be who you are not. That is something we should all try. The following excerpt expresses the theme of the book: "We'll travel light - I like that. I'm not ready for anything heavy. I want to start out slow and easy while I get used to the advantages of being the son of someone famous. That is just a part of being me. But not the biggest part. I know that now." As I said earlier, the book is written in the first person. But it is from two different people's point of view, Adam's and Brenda's. It is written like a journal in Adam's part, and "Notes for a Novel" under Brenda's. In some parts it is hard to go from one section to another, though. The language mostly simple on a probably seventh grade level. The author doesn't describe anything in too thorough detail, but it is enough to get the main idea. "It is possible that all the hurts have made him so good at what he does; it is equally possible that such a man is only good at what he does, and not good at the things most men do easily. The only thing I'm really sure about my father is that he's different. Special, you might say. An extraordinary man." From Adam Blessing.

I tried to read this book as a young teen and abandoned the effort pretty quickly because one of the main characters, Adam Blessing, was not very appealing. (Note that the character's name seems to have been lifted from a much older pulp novel called "The Damnation of Adam Blessing" which was later the name of a regionally successful late-60s band.) Adam is the "son of someone famous" who often sees his father on TV doing very important things (such as shaking hands with the Vice President) but doesn't seem to have much contact with him. Adam is living with his grandfather under an assumed identity in a pretty ordinary New England town, where he gets involved with a local girl, Brenda Belle, but doesn't tell her who he really is.

My problem with this book is mainly that, like other Kerr books involving "famous" teens (such as "I'll Love You When You're More Like Me"), the story told from Adam's perspective seemed beyond my experience and farfetched, and his attitude towards it was annoying. On the one hand, Adam is hiding his identity; on the other hand he obviously gets a big charge out of being the secret "son of someone famous" and refers to that, and his father's achievements, in his first-person narrative (presented as a diary). I didn't understand why he couldn't just be straight with Brenda or why it is such a big deal for him to be associated with a famous father. I don't like people who coast on their parents' accomplishments - why couldn't he set that aside and focus on accomplishing things for himself? He also seemed to perceive himself as not really having a relationship with Brenda, while she thought of it as "going steady" and he didn't bother to set her straight. Really kind of an unlikable guy. I could understand why Brenda got mad at him but wondered why she bothered in the first place.