Customer Reviews

Story Time

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This darkly sparkling satire on the foibles of the American education system is not at all what we'd typically expect from a YA novel. While brighter and somewhat less acidic than Lemony Snicket's unfortunate oeuvre, the characters herein soar not only in Peter Pan-esque bravado and elan, but also in smartly targeting right on its turgid mark. When combined, a haunted library, completed with way quirky librarians; a family where eccentricity and egomania are a long-standing and requisite condition, and lots of goofy fun weirdness make for an incredible reading experience. While this would be a great addition to the "while we're waiting for the next Potter/Snicket/Funke/Paolini, etc." list, there's a lot here for reluctant readers and generally fans of the kooky. This would also be great for classroom use in teaching the joys of satire.

Story Time, the brand new novel by the author of Tangerine and Crusader, is chock full of wonderfully crazy details in the lives of Kate Melvil and her Uncle George, who end up attending the very strange Whittaker Magnet School together. What makes this novel a gem, I think, is how fully realized all the characters are, even the minor ones. These realistic details only add to the surreal fun of the shenanigans at Whittaker. Yes, there are some satirical elements about schools and standardized testing, but you don't need a protein drink to enjoy the bizarre, very funny, world Bloor has concocted.

George Melvil, certifiable genius, and his niece Kate Peters, certifiable shoo-in for the lead in Lincoln Junior High's production of "Peter Pan," are offered spots at the prestigious Whittaker Magnet School. Whittaker Magnet, known for having the highest standardized test scores in the country, is housed in the same building as the supposedly haunted county library. While Kate has zero desire to attend a basement school full of brainwashed test-takers, George is intrigued by the opportunity to attend a school where he won't be judged unfairly on his small stature and interest in academics.

Their careers at Whittaker Magnet begin with an orientation from the domineering, treacherous Cornelia Whittaker Austin and sightings of a madwoman with a chainsaw in an upstairs window. Things only get stranger from there, involving secret passages, a librarian who only speaks in nursery rhymes, weapons of mass destruction and priceless books that house demons.

Fans of Edward Bloor's quirky settings, self-sufficient characters and strange-but-nearly-possible conspiracies will find this story enjoyable and thought provoking. Without beating the reader over the head with messages about standardized testing, literacy, intelligence, wealth and ignorance, Bloor manages to make the reader consider all of these topics and how they pertain to schools today.

So whether you're one of those people who can get a perfect score on the SAT with both eyes closed or if you chew number-two pencils to bits at the very thought of filling in all those circles, STORY TIME will make you think. And smile. And think some more.

--- Reviewed by Carlie Webber

This book was awesome i read all 420+ pages in 3 days. Its basically about standardized test, ghosts in books, demon possesion and musicals. age 13+

"Story Time" was a fun book with an impossible but not fantastical plot. The Whittaker Magnet School is in the basement of the Whittaker Library and at the Whittaker Library the books are haunted... But this is not a horror story; it's actually fairly subdued and almost plausible. Much of the book is not even about the ghost, it's about the awful Whittaker-Austins who run the school and the testing the students endure every day. But there is a mystery, unexplained deaths, possessions, people going crazy, and Pogo, the librarian who speaks only in nursery rhymes and who may hold all the answers to the mystery.

This is the first book by Edward Bloor that I read, before going on to read "tangerine" and "crusader". Where other reviews called this book horrifying and un-funny, I found it to fit in perfectly with the rising style in Young Adult novels of "funny, but dark", an almost gothic story with the central idea of "school is hard, but can be much MUCH worse". If you have read even one of the Lemony Snicket series or consider Harry Potter to be too happy of a book for you, this book should be on your must read list. The cast is well developed without over developing, as many other authors tend to do; and the plot is quick and suspenseful, while maintaining the mindset that "anything that may happen, will, but not the way that you think it will" It's true that there is a high body count, but there is very little violence and the characters that die are treated as though they deserved it. And most of them do. As a fantasy, it is not to far from reality that it is unbelievable. But it is just that: a fantasy, so it should be treated as such.
This book will throw your ideas of how hard school can be out the window, while keeping you held in place but its thorough but speedy plot. And the endings not bad, either.


P.S. Enjoi the protein shakes!

"Story Time" is a creepy, quite amusing, horror children's story. Those are a lot of descriptions, right? Well, "Story Time" is a lot of things. It's a mockery of the education system, a frightening horror story, a fun romp through the park, and an amusing read, all in one.

For readers coming from "Tangerine" and "Crusader", it may be a bit difficult to digest. "Story Time" is not quite as good as those other books, but it's not bad either. Instead of the strong character and structure that his previous books gave us, Bloor now gives us a dark, humorous book that deals with something completely different.

Moments of "Story Time" are disturbing. The deaths have little impact, though, and that's why it's not quite so difficult to absorb the first time around. Then again, when rereading, one realizes just how many creepy, frightening moments there are.

The humor, though, is quite worth it. The mind-numbing aspects of the school and their obsession with top scores on standardized tests just made me laugh aloud. It's an accurate mocking of some systems that teach purely around the "fill in the bubble" system. Can anybody truly learn from that? No, and enjoy laughs while reading those parts.

The characters are interesting, the plot fun. Overall, it's an enjoyable book, even if a bit creepy, and I liked reading it quite a bit. No, it's not a masterpiece of fiction, and no, I don't love it as I do Bloor's other works, but for someone looking to laugh at school systems or just sit down with a fat, slightly creepy book one afternoon, here's something to read.

Story Time, by Edward Bloor, is a great satire for young adults. It's funny and dark, poking fun at how highly we value test scores and taking strict schools to the extreme.

Story Time tells the tale of Kate and her uncle George (whose actually younger than her). George is a young genius, and his parents are appropriately fun-loving and dim, while Kate's mother is shy and quite, much to Kate's disgust. Because of George's intelligence, the two are transferred to Whittaker Magnet School, supposedly the best school in the nation. But the school's history is sinister, to the point at which there may be a demon living in it somewhere. Kate wants to find out, and she does, with the help of Uncle George and one of the school's caretakers, Pogo, who is supposedly mute but speaks to Kate, if only in cryptic nursery rhymes.

The funny points of the story (particularly the extremes that the demon takes his victims to and George's parents' antics) cross into just plain stupid at times, but the actual plot, complicated and made more interesting by the history behind Kate's mother and the deepness behind the principals of Whittaker. I enjoyed it, though I missed a couple of elements while reading. Still, I haven't yet been motivated to pick it up again.

I am a slow reader, and so it took me three lengthy sessions to finish this woderfully weird and weirdly wonderful tale. And
each time I stopped, I could hardly wait to hasten back to it. If this sounds hyperbolic, so be it. For, it isn't often one comes across a book that works at once as invective, satire and just plain old horror story.
Two enormously bright kids, Kate and George are lured into the Whittaker Magnet School run by a group of insanely ambitious avant-garde educators who might be refugees from a Stephen King opus. They worship "tests" administered to a hapless bunch of students with savage punishments, mind-altering brews, and threats reinforced by a few murders.
The educators are the more scary because a goodly number of their traits bear a more than passing resemblance to some real-life technology-obsessed "mentors" bent on sabotaging whatever is left of intelligent teaching..
How the brave young pair survives and ultimately defeats the evil machinations of Whittaker Magnet (including the sinister effluvium of a demon, no less) is told in fast, deadpan style that merits unflagging attention.
Edward Bloor (Tangerine, Crusader) has offered another winner. Story Time gives food for fun, food for thought, food for shivers. Quite a banquet.

Although Story Time fails to live up to Bloor's first two novels, it will amuse readers and pull them into its bizarre world. In a haunted library, the leading local family has created a joyless school where the students do nothing but cram for standardized tests. George and Kate Melvil are transferred into the school; he because of his high intelligence and she because she shares his address.

Bloor satirizes No Child Left Behind and other educational trends, but he seems reluctant to go after his targets as viciously as he did in Tangerine and Crusader. Tangerine's grotesque parade of suburban cruelty and corruption enrages and energizes the reader. Crusader does the same by showing how much easier it is for young people to find hypocrisy, racism, and sham religion than the moral leadership they need.

With this book, Bloor reminds me of Roald Dahl, who could be astonishing funny and painfully acute but was often content with merely creating an oddly diverting story. He weaves an entertaining yarn here, but the penetrating insight of his earlier books is replaced with a series of scattershot observations. Some of those are priceless, especially the portrait of Ashley-Nicole, a college student who would be completely commonplace were it not for her brilliance at creating weapons.