Jack's New Power: Stories from a Caribbean Year (Jack Henry Adventures) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "We were not allowed to swim in the ocean far below the Edgewater Hotel because we were on the rough side of the island..." (more)
Key Phrases: forty bucks, divining rod, Wade Block, Castle Rock, Captain Ward (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-8?Jack, 13, keeps a diary of his family's year in Barbados, the next stop after Florida?chronicled in Heads or Tails (Farrar, 1994). These entries are his adventures, observations, sketches, and perceptions of this mid-1960s Caribbean environment where pubescence, family disputes, and a fire all combine for a compelling read. Each episode stands on its own, but taken together they create a tropical world that is at once different and universal. Gantos covers pretty much all the bases: death, love, disease, and cock-fighting. Readers may not always like his quasi-autobiographical characters, but they're not likely to forget them anytime soon. In particular, Jack's dad can be a hero when he saves a drowning couple, but more often he's a mean-spirited bully who won't tolerate failure in his son. There's an edge here noted by events as mild as chicken beheadings or as graphic as the discovery of the decomposing body of a missing kid. Throw in humiliation (his true love disdains his "immaturity"), macabre hilarity (Jack's mom is convinced that her errant night shot has nailed a bystander), and surrealism (the drive-in movie screen catches fire while Paul Newman's Luke vandalizes parking meters), and you've got a rich paradise tempered by the wonderings of a confused adolescent.?John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TX
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 5^-8. In this follow-up to Heads or Tails (1994), Jack finds plenty of new material for his journal when his family moves to the Caribbean. Populated with some eccentric island folk as well as the powerful personalities that make up Jack's family, the eight stories here convey with sharp humor Jack's uncomfortable yet exhilarating early adolescence. Jack's father creates much of the summer's difficulties, in one story, deciding that each family member must conquer a fear and in another, battling with Jack for masculine power. Laugh-out-loud moments punctuate the book, but serious thoughts also force their way in, as when Jack realizes that the money he is lending to his father's sleazy friend is sponsoring cruel cockfighting. Although the book ends on a somber note, readers will still anxiously await the next installment in Jack's life. Susan Dove Lempke

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (September 19, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374336571
• ISBN-13: 978-0374336578
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,455,862 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #71 in

  Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( G ) > Gantos, Jack

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jack's New Power : Stories From A Caribbean Year, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

What a truly great book. I read this when I was in 4th grade.It has a beautiful mix of comedy and just plain interesting writing.It's the best book that I've ever read in my entire life. I also own my own copy of it. I would automatically recommend this book to anyone who wants a good laugh. This is a great book for all ages. I would also like to recommend "Heads Or Tails" which is also in the same series. I am also currently reading the third book in the series, "Jack's Black Book". It's great. Everyone should go out and buy copies of all three books and read them.

4.0 out of 5 stars Jack's Power, April 28, 2009

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Jack's New Power: Stories from a Caribbean Year (Jack Henry) (Paperback)

Jack's New Power, Stories from a Caribbean Year, is a good book. I like the way the boy is about my age, is an American and talks about his experiences living in Barbados. I especially liked the part where the drive in movie theater screen catches on fire when Jack and his family are watching a movie. I think it's funny that Jack's dad just waits for everyone else to leave before he moves the car. Jack thinks that it was too bad that someone had to set the screen on fire because he liked going to the drive in. Jack and his sister, Betsey, were always arguing about everything. Jack thought she was a know-it-all, and in the end she did turn out to be right about pretty much everything they argued about. By Evan D. (6th grade, Aspen Creek)

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book, October 19, 2006

By	Laura H. Lane - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Jack's New Power: Stories from a Caribbean Year (Jack Henry) (Paperback)

Jack's New Power is great. The best chapter is at the end when he goes to the cock fight and loses a piece of money. Even though his sister is annoying, she ends up being right. I felt bad for Jack, kind of, at the end. He's off to Florida and he doesn't know what that is going to be like.
The funniest part was when he is totally purple and is trying to hide that fact by running around the neighborhood at night when it is dark. Even though he doesn't want to see anyone, someone else is running at night too. He ends up being his friend.