Customer Reviews

The Spell Book Of Listen Taylor

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book threw me off a bit. The Spell Book of Listen Taylor begins by focusing on a seventh grader named Listen Taylor, addressing her troubles with her old friends at a new school. Listen finds an odd spell book and the spells might actually work, though Listen seems less informed than readers about the spells' outcomes. (Despite the wonderful cover, this is NOT a fantasy--it's contemporary realism with hints of whimsy and magical realism.) Anyway, I quickly allied myself with Listen as the main character, only to find that she was a member of an ensemble cast--many of whom are adult characters.

The narrative is framed by the Zing Family Secret, which impacts a surprising number of lives. Listen's father's girlfriend Marbie is a Zing, and a large portion of the book is about Marbie, Marbie's sister Fancy, and Fancy's daughter Cassie's second-grade teacher, whose name is Cath. I should note that people cheating on their spouses or boyfriends is a strong thread running through the narrative. It occurs three and a half times in key subplots--the half being an imaginary affair. (The affairs are treated as troubling, but not entirely objectionable.)

Of course, readers will spend much of the book trying to guess the Zing Family Secret; it turns out to be both ordinary and extraordinary when it is finally revealed. Moriarty's characters are likable and the humor is subtly ironic. There are also a number of fresh plot points and details, plus the author has a very appealing voice.

I soon found myself wondering, however, whether this is truly a book for Young Adults. The majority of the book is about the adult characters, which is usually a no-no when writing for children or teens. Listen's piece of the plot is certainly compelling--Moriarty captures the random cruelty of middle schoolers with laser-like precision. But Marbie, Fancy, and Cath--grown-ups understandably preoccupied with their adult relationships--are given an awful lot of page time. A reader Listen's age may be unwilling to sit through long passages about adult women's lives (mothers, teachers, and grandmothers, no less!), but perhaps older teens will.

In a way, what throws me here is the juxtaposition of the story of a cluster of affairs with the humorously cloak-and-dagger plot line of the Zing Family Secret, as well as with Listen's school troubles. These story strands feel like they could have been three different books. Connections are eventually made between the strands, but in the meantime, they make for a slightly uneven braid.

Yet I found a lot to like about the book. Certain characters are particularly intriguing--Cassie, the second grader, could do with her own book, in my opinion. And there are so many nice touches, like the thread about hot-air balloons and the role of pies in one of the subplots, also a sly, funny bit about writer's block--how writing manages to emerge in someone's life even when she thinks she's stuck. Obviously, I have mixed feelings about The Spell Book of Listen Taylor, but I'll end by happily vouching for Jaclyn Moriarty' talent.

P.S. Update: It's been a few weeks, and I just have to say, "Aha!" Last night I read a Horn Book review that says Listen Taylor is "a revised version of an adult novel." So that explains a lot!

12-year-old Listen Taylor, whose friends have decided to ditch her at the beginning of junior high, finds a spell book that claims it will mend her broken heart. Her father's girlfriend, Marbie Zing, struggles with her fears of losing her happiness and makes a terrible mistake. Marbie's sister, Fancy, speculates about her marriage as she works with Marbie to maintain their family secret. And Cath, a young teacher, falls for a married co-worker and discovers her life has a lot more to it than she ever suspected.

These four stories intertwine in THE SPELL BOOK OF LISTEN TAYLOR. Jaclyn Moriarty skillfully weaves together the narratives over the course of a school year, drawing the characters closer and closer together, and closer to a climax that is both surprising and inevitable. With each new strand, events that seemed unimportant in one narrative take on new significance. Each character's story adds to the others, creating a bigger picture that is far more satisfying than any one story would have been on its own.

Each of the characters are well-developed in their own right. Teen readers will likely sympathize most with Listen, who must overcome the unspoken rules of popularity and friendships, and Cath, who is young enough to still be uncertain of her place in the world. They may have more trouble relating to Marbie and Cath, who are dealing with issues of settling down and marital satisfaction, subjects which rarely affect teens. However, this also means the book will appeal to adults as well as children, and perhaps give teens a glimpse into the lives of their parents and teachers.

Despite the title and the spell book Listen finds, the spells which provide some framework for the story, THE SPELL BOOK OF LISTEN TAYLOR is mainly a realistic novel, with a light shading of magic. Readers expecting sorcery and special powers may be disappointed. But the hints of magic, in many ways, are far more enjoyable than if this book were outright supernatural or fantasy. They suggest that the extraordinary is possible in everyday life, even if you're not a witch or a wizard.

If you're looking for a quiet, thoughtful, but still suspenseful read, with a magic anyone can believe in, run out and grab THE SPELL BOOK OF LISTEN TAYLOR. It is one of the most unique books I've read this year, and one I never wanted to put down.

Reviewed by: Lynn Crow

I picked this book up on a whim at a bookstore, attracted mostly by the cover and the description, and I am so glad I did. This was probably the most enjoyable new book I've read in months; maybe years. I laughed out loud frequently, and just "had" to show my husband some of the funniest parts. I highly recommend this volume to women with a taste for magical realism and a quirky sense of humor.

Notice, however, that I say "women." As other reviewers have noted, this book centers more on adult characters than on children. Three of five main viewpoint characters are adult women. One is a suburban mother; one is a late-twenties white collar worker; one is a school-teacher. This suggests to me that the book is really intended for 20-30 something women with careers and long-term relationships. In other words, it seems more like chick-lit than YA fiction to me.

I think if you had handed this book to me ten years ago, when I was an undergraduate, I would have enjoyed it, but I wouldn't have "gotten it" the way I do now. I suspect that in another ten years, there will be a new level of enjoyment if I were to pick it up and reread. In the same way, I think older teen girls might like the quirkiness of this book, but I think they'd enjoy it even more in a decade, after more time spent playing the relationship-and-career game (and after reading Foucault, of course, as Leonie Marple-Hedginton would tell us).

P.S. I see from other reviews that this is actually a revision of an adult novel. If so, I hope Moriarty's publisher makes the original available, too!

Like another reviewer, I picked up this book because the title and cover caught my interest, which looks like a girl/woman is flying into a window. So I expected a book with quirky characters that meddle in magic of some kind. Not so. There is no magic, at least not of the fantasy kind, and the quirkiness quickly disappeared as the book dealt with more serious issues. I was also shocked that this was advertised as a Young Adult book--it definitely is not a book I would have enjoyed in my teens. As an adult, well, the story was intriguing but it was too slow and too long for what it was. I found myself reading quickly through the sections I enjoyed and then avoiding the book during the sections that fell flat for me, and there were more flat sections than not.

I love Moriarty's writing style--her colorful descriptions are pure sweetness--but I struggle with her books because they maintain a semi-monotonous, disconnected level of emotion from start to finish.

I can't give a review of the whole book because I was only able to force myself to read 80 of the 479 pages. The title makes you think this is a book about Listen Taylor and her spell book. Well, of the first 80 pages, maybe 3 have been about Listen and her spell book. The rest is about Listen's father's girlfriend, Listen's father's girlfriend's sister, and Listen's father's girlfriend's sister's daughter's teacher. None of whom have anything to do with the spell book. Boring adult themes that I frankly don't give two hoots about. This is not a children's book, nor is it a book for young adults, or a book for adults who like innocent children's stories. This book is blah, blah, blah.

Listen Taylor is a quiet girl starting the seventh grade. At the beginning of the school year her group of friends dumps her and for the rest of the year she has trouble finding a truly fitting group of friends. One day she comes upon a spell book with crazy spells in it such as "spell to make a person catch a taxi" or "spell to make someone get stung by a bee." Although it may seem fantasy-like the book is actually very realistic. As mentioned before Listen faces friend problems, just like the rest of us. Also the other main characters face many a realistic problem. Marbie Zing, Listen's father's girlfriend, makes a terrible mistake, Fancy Zing, Marbie's sister, is confused with her life, and Cath Murphy, the teacher of Fancy's second grader, has fallen in love with a married man. Along with the stories about the troubles all the main characters are facing there is the Zing family secret, which all characters will go to earth's end to protect. There are many clues within the book that lead to the eventual telling of the secret -- prepare yourself for a major shocker.

I thought that book was o.k. It wasn't my favorite, but it was definitely good. There were elements of suspense, romance, and at points it was easy to relate to.The book was also like a puzzle. Trying to put everything together so that the reader could figure out the Zing family secret before it was told in the book. At points it did become confusing because there are many sub-stories told within the book that don't really have anything to do with the book, until the final chapters.

I haven't read this book yet, but I just wanted to give others a heads up, so they don't make the same mistake I made. Others have mentioned that this is a revised edition to an adult novel. The other novel is called "I Have Made a Bed of Buttermilk Pancakes." It was only released in Canada, but there are some people selling it used on Amazon. I didn't know that they were both the same book and ordered them both thinking there were two Moriarty books that I hadn't read yet. I don't know how much, if anything, was changed between the two editions, but from reading the descriptions on the back of the books they sound essentially the same. Regardless of the mix up, I'm looking forward to reading the book, because I've really enjoyed all of her others.

The Zing family is one of very eccentric people. But their strange quirks don't completely set them apart from normal; what does is their big secret, the Zing Family Secret, something so big that the entire family meets every Friday night in the garden shed to discuss it, a secret that possibly involves illegal activities. In addition to this wacky cast of characters, there are Listen Taylor and Cath Murphy. Listen is a lonely, friendless girl whose father is dating a Zing. She always wonders what the Zing Family Secret is, but doesn't spend too much time worrying about it. But she does stumble upon a spell book made by a Zing (though she's unaware of that last fact) and decides to perform them, hoping they'll ease her dreary life. As for Cath's connection to the Zings, well, that's what this story's all about.

I was interested in reading The Spell Book of Listen Taylor because it sounded like a cool story in a strange way and because I absolutely loved two other books by Jaclyn Moriarty, The Year of Secret Assignments and The Death of Bindy Mackenzie. However while all the different points-of-view and random events work for those two novels, it didn't function as well in The Spell Book of Listen Taylor. There were so many characters that I had a difficult time keeping track of all of them and even mixed them up a couple of times. On top of the numerous characters, there was just so much going on. It also became confusing when two connected events that occurred simultaneously were told from different perspectives in different places in the book. The different parts didn't fit together seamlessly as a while. One thing I found off was that every adult female member of the Zing family either had an affair, talked about an affair they had, or contemplated having one over the course of the story (I found that shocking). Also, some of the details are incomplete; for example, the reader never finds out if Listen's spells were actual magic or if the results happened by chance. The one thing I did enjoy about this story was gradually discovering the Zing Family Secret. However, the rest of the book was just a mass of confusion.

I recommend reading The Spell Book of Listen Taylor only is you have a great memory and a lot of patience or if you are absolutely enamored with Jaclyn Moriarty's writing. Otherwise, I only suggest reading The Year of Secret Assignments and The Death of Bindy Mackenzie, also by the same author.

One word of warning: this isn't a book for young kids, although the first two characters we meet are in fact young kids. Many are adults and adult themes are certainly central to this story.
That said, I thought it was great. Creative, odd, realistic. If you live in a cold climate you will die laughing over the reaction to the "blizzard" that incapacitates Sydney, Aus. (It's meant to be funny, too, of course).
Listen is a lovely girl, and the story of her challenging year is at the heart of this story. It's certainly a marvelous depicton of how one girl's challenges are only part of the swirling world around her--how easy it is for her problems to get lost, then found. I highly recommend this book to women and to older teens.

I must confess to being a huge "Year of the Secret Assignments" fan. I don't know what it is about that book, but it kept me laughing for weeks and weeks, and gave me enthusiastic anticipation for "The Spell Book."

Moriarty (how can you not love that name?) has a zany way of writing that changes your thought patterns, makes you ponder the significance of The Random. She's not afraid to wait until you've read 300 pages to start revealing important, subterranean aspects of her characters. This quote sums her up: "The coincidence comforted her. It suggested a world in which everything was connected by faint dotted lines. There was a grand scheme to things, a gentle, controlling destiny." I am devoted to stories with grand schemes connected by faint dotted lines, because that's what real life is all about.

Despite an auspicious beginning, however, "The Spell Book of Listen Taylor" did not click. Listen Taylor is a twelve year old girl with problems at school. The rest of the book revolves around affairs--real and imagined--between twenty and thirty-somethings. I have absolutely no idea who the book's audience is supposed to be. Moriarty's writing is brisk and alive, but the story isn't one that will interest many teenagers I know. What fourteen year old cares about a bunch of grown-ups having affairs?

I'm still a fan of the way Moriarty strings words together, of her firecracker dialogue, of her faint dotted lines that all match up in the end. But Story rules, and this one just didn't swing.