Welcome to the Ark (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "PARIS (AP)-Fifteen-year-old Miranda Ellenby, known to the world though her mother's best-selling book, Phenom in the Family, has disappeared from an academic conference on land..." (more)
Key Phrases: baby genius, therapeutic family, Laurel Mountain, Miranda Ellenby, Harlan Turnbull (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This science fiction adventure features four highly gifted but troubled teens brought to an experimental group home. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9?This story is set in the near future at a facility for troubled youngsters in upstate New York. Two boys and two girls, ranging in age from 8-17, have been selected to take part in an experimental program. Living together as a family with two doctors as parental figures, the four highly intelligent young people are encouraged to learn from one another and reach out globally to other potential geniuses via the Internet. They soon recognize a shared concern about the increasing violence in the world and a compelling desire to halt it. Shared paranormal powers amplify the bond among the four and give new meaning to the "world wide web." When the director of the institution discovers the exciting new "paradigm shift" of the experiment, he plans to manipulate it to his own advantage, until he sees it as a liability and rapidly disbands the program. Years later, three of the four subjects have become functioning adults, still dreaming that psychic networking will save humankind. Tolan's skill with language, plus the dramatic tension between six sympathetic, if incomplete, characters and their nemesis make the novel readable. Its weaknesses, however, are greater than its strengths. The functional but unaesthetic format is a patchwork of journal entries, memos, e-mail, medical records, etc. A more serious problem is the shape-shifting focus. The ideas and issues raised are interesting and thought-provoking, but quickly dissolve into sentimentality.?Margaret Cole, Oceanside Library, NY
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1St Edition edition (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688137245
• ISBN-13: 978-0688137243
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,124,017 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Extremely real in some ways, extremely not-real in others, September 8, 2003

By	roguealleycat "roguealleycat" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Welcome to the Ark (School & Library Binding)

I was designated as 'profoundly gifted' as a child, had some unusual abilities, and spent much of my adolescence in psychiatric institutions. As such, my identification with the 'gifted but troubled' kids in this book was extreme at times. I could understand the things they were saying, why they were saying them, and the ways in which they interacted with each other. I understood how deeply disturbed they were by the condition of the world around them, and I saw reflected in some of the characters my own tendency to connect with my non-human surroundings.

However, as someone who spent a lot of time in psychiatric wards and special education with people who did not carry this designation of giftedness, I found some of the ideas disturbingly inaccurate.

First of all, every single one of the gifted children was portrayed as misdiagnosed, while the other children were portrayed as properly diagnosed. While I have problems with the conventions of psychiatric labeling, these problems extend far beyond just gifted children. At one point, a character refers to the other children -- the non-gifted ones -- as "broken". So there is this unsettling dichotomy between the gifted-but-misdiagnosed kids and the broken kids. Reality is not that simple, and the book leans in the direction, as many institution-based books unfortunately do, of implying that some people should have been in such an oppressive environment and others should not have. The ones who should not have are the heroes of the book.

Another concern is the stereotype -- which has gotten truly old by this point -- of the child diagnosed or misdiagnosed as autistic, who is really just extremely traumatized and possibly has special gifts or powers as well. I remember someone I knew, who was also autistic, reading this book and identifying strongly with it, up until she came to this character. Her response when they came to the point of describing autistic children who could read as not really understanding what we read was an exclamation of "What???" A large minority of autistic people are reading -- truly reading -- at an age well below the average reading age, yet this book uses the fact that a character is doing that as proof that he is not autistic (being autistic would, presumably, make him "broken", a stereotype a lot of autistic people are trying to fix). However, in all fairness, most clinicians don't realize that and would be as likely as the clinicians in the story to dismiss early reading as a meaningless splinter skill.

The biggest problem I had with this whole area was the idea that these various characteristics being described existed in "gifted" children, but not in "broken" children, and that any diagnosis given to a gifted child was a sign of brokenness and therefore probably untrue. I have seen these same characteristics and skills in people with all kinds of diagnoses (for which the characteristics were often accurate, whether or not I agreed with the social implications of the diagnoses), and people with low IQ scores who would never be classified as gifted. My experiences as a psychiatric inmate and a special ed student led me to meet a lot of people who were like the people in this book, but who would never receive such a classification.

Despite these misgivings, I found myself wishing, while reading this book, that I had a place like the Ark group home in the book to go to, much as I hate such environments in real life. To be somewhere where I am understood and not ostracized would be very nice, and to make the world a place where nobody -- not even those who are currently viewed as "broken" -- were ostracized, would be even better. I look forward, albeit with some uneasiness, to reading the sequels, and seeing where all these familiar characters go.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars There Are Reasons Why This Idea Is So Cliched..., November 24, 2005

By	Felina Casso "Kat" (Bklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Welcome to the Ark (Paperback)

It completely captivates you. I have read many books with a similar idea; gifted, misunderstood children on a quest to save the world. And yet, as unoriginal and overused as it is, this book still drew me in. The only answer I can think of is that we simply like to read about this sort of thing. Who doesnt feel smarter then they are thought by others? Who doesnt feel misunderstood at times?

Set in the not-so-distant future, we follow four "problem" kids as they embark on a quest to rid the world of evil. Each with their own painful past and a mental diagnosis, they are brought together in the "Ark", a group home where highly intelligent mental patients live together with two "parents", a couple with twin PHDs. Miranda, Doug, Elijah, and Taryn discover more about themselves, each other, and the world that is collapsing around them.

This book is well-written and makes you think, and I have always enjoyed books where they switch from one character to another. This is sure to appeal to child or young adult sci-fi addicts, though older readers might find it too shallow. A hesitantly reccomended read.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SHE GETS IT, December 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Welcome to the Ark (Paperback)

I'm going to be frank--I read this book because I am smart, and I wanted to know what the author's take on the world of smart people was.
I'm tired of stereotyping. You know who I am. There's one of me in every school. The Kid Who Makes A's On Report Cards--100s, even. The Smart Kid. The Geek. I'm that person, but I'm not like an stupid steroetype. I don't wear glasses, and I'm not a kiss-popular-butt-pushover. I'm loud and like to have fun.I just think a lot. I don't really like math or science--I like writing. I'm thirteen, and I'm writing a book. Unfortuantely, most people have bought into the Hollywood image of smart people: "geeks", interested only in facts. I'm not a geek. Facts are OK, but they're not that great.And I don't try to learn them. They just happen. It's not my fault, but most people think it is.
This is why I liked "Welcome to the Ark" so much. Stephanie S. Tolan completely understands how smart people think. We are normal. You just have to get to know us. Sure, we're a bit extraordinary, but we're still people. It was refreshing to read a book that depicted smart people as real.
I highly recommend that every teenager, intelligent or stupid, read this book. It will help you gain understanding for the smart kid in your school. We're really not all that bad, and Miz Tolan reveals that fact far better than I could. So please, read this book. It's an easy read, and at the end, you might just understand more than you did when you started it.
P.S. If you want a real review, read the Editor's Reviews. I've got better things to do.