Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Description
Jack is practically invisible at home, but when his parents send him to Hazelwood, Iowa, to spend a summer with his odd aunt and uncle, he suddenly makes friends, is beaten up by the town bully, and is plotted against by the richest man in town.
User reviews
LibraryThing member delphica
My problem right out of the gate is that this a genre I have never been much fond of to begin with. I've never bought into the entire Midwestern town being fueled by magic ... maybe I'm too pragmatic, but it starts raising a whole lot of TQM flags for me, a entire town, that's a lot of
And there's too much magic in this book for my taste. I guess this is ... Nearly every plot turn is driven by magic. Why did that happen? Oh, magic! I always wonder what the point of the book is (it's sort of like how I feel about basketball - everything always happens in the last five minutes of the game, what's the point of playing the first part of the game then, just play five minute games) when the courage or intelligence or kindness (or lack of) of the characters takes such a significant back seat to the magic. You could cut right to the end, where it all gets resolved by ... magic!
And I don't think I'm the sharpest knife in the drawer by any means, but I had a challenging time keeping up with the "rules" of how this magic was supposed to work. I couldn't keep the magical players or the timeline straight in my head, and I had to go back and carefully read several of the descriptions related to this in order to suss everything out.
Finally, what kind of nonsense is it to publish a book with a title so similar to a recent Newbery Honor book (The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg)? Was the runner up choice From the Mixed Up Files of Mr. Horace Avery?
I am giving it a generous three stars because I know that I am never going to like this style of book but I respect the possibility that others might not be as biased to start with.
Show More
infrastructure to deal with.And there's too much magic in this book for my taste. I guess this is ... Nearly every plot turn is driven by magic. Why did that happen? Oh, magic! I always wonder what the point of the book is (it's sort of like how I feel about basketball - everything always happens in the last five minutes of the game, what's the point of playing the first part of the game then, just play five minute games) when the courage or intelligence or kindness (or lack of) of the characters takes such a significant back seat to the magic. You could cut right to the end, where it all gets resolved by ... magic!
And I don't think I'm the sharpest knife in the drawer by any means, but I had a challenging time keeping up with the "rules" of how this magic was supposed to work. I couldn't keep the magical players or the timeline straight in my head, and I had to go back and carefully read several of the descriptions related to this in order to suss everything out.
Finally, what kind of nonsense is it to publish a book with a title so similar to a recent Newbery Honor book (The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg)? Was the runner up choice From the Mixed Up Files of Mr. Horace Avery?
I am giving it a generous three stars because I know that I am never going to like this style of book but I respect the possibility that others might not be as biased to start with.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ref27
Reminiscent of Greenwitch, etc with magic deriving from the natural power inherent in the earth and a focus on the appropriate balance of good and evil. Scrappy characters, slightly underdeveloped villians, appealingly descriptive language.
LibraryThing member AmyLovsBooks
Jack has been invisible almost all his life, even in the eyes of his family. after his parents divorce he was sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his aunt and uncle. all h expected was boredom but found friendship instead. Mr. Avery, the richest man in town seems to plotting his death. The
I enjoyed the book. I found it to be a story, a good one at that. But not one that is made much of an impact. Nevertheless, a good read.
Show More
question is why? Why is everyone interested in him all of a sudden?I enjoyed the book. I found it to be a story, a good one at that. But not one that is made much of an impact. Nevertheless, a good read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member cay250
Jack has lived much of his life feeling invisible, beneath the notice of bullies, friends or even his family. Yet when his parents divorce and he’s sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Hazelwood, Iowa, Jack is shocked to discover that everyone in the town notices him. What’s more, some of
I'm sure if kids will have the patience to stick with this book until it starts to make sense. There are very sophisticated mythology concerning "mother earth" and the duality of "good" and "evil" within the same person
Show More
them seem to want to kill him. As he befriends some of the local kids, Jack reluctantly looks into the town’s past and unravels the mystery behind why children have been disappearing there for decades and what his connection may be. I'm sure if kids will have the patience to stick with this book until it starts to make sense. There are very sophisticated mythology concerning "mother earth" and the duality of "good" and "evil" within the same person
Show Less
LibraryThing member ALelliott
Jack has always felt invisible. Which is a normal way for a kid to feel sometimes, but what if your own mom forgets who you are? When Jack is sent away from San Francisco to live with his kooky aunt and uncle in Iowa while his parents undergo a divorce, he is nervous and angry. After all, what is
But what Jack doesn't know is that this town has things happening below the surface, growing, boiling, slithering, things that could threaten everything he learns to care for. A mysterious book and some oddball friends are the only things there to point Jack in the right direction and find out what his (mostly) true story is.
Kelly Barnhill does a great job of creating an ominous feeling in this novel. While Jack is a likable character, and you will root for him, you will also find yourself questioning whether or not he is everything he believes himself to be. If you like mystery stories, or off-kilter fantasy, this is a great book to check out!
Show More
there for a kid to do in a small town in Iowa?But what Jack doesn't know is that this town has things happening below the surface, growing, boiling, slithering, things that could threaten everything he learns to care for. A mysterious book and some oddball friends are the only things there to point Jack in the right direction and find out what his (mostly) true story is.
Kelly Barnhill does a great job of creating an ominous feeling in this novel. While Jack is a likable character, and you will root for him, you will also find yourself questioning whether or not he is everything he believes himself to be. If you like mystery stories, or off-kilter fantasy, this is a great book to check out!
Show Less
LibraryThing member herdingcats
This story is truly captivating. It is suspenseful and well written and unique. It is the story of Jack, who has been ignored and felt invisible for all of his life, until his parents split up and he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Iowa. Suddenly, people notice him. A lot. He makes his
We follow Jack and Wendy and Frankie and Anders in this town where magic erupts in certain places, such as that of the old schoolhouse where many children disappeared in the past and Jack's Aunt and Uncle's house which warms to Jack's touch and where vines grow into his bedroom. They must stop Mr. Avery, who really is not a bad person, he only wants to save his own son. In the end, it is all up to Jack.
I really enjoyed the uniqueness of this story. So many fantasies have the same plot line. This one is pleasantly different.
Show More
first friends and learns that magic exists and he is a part of it. The setting and characters are richly and well developed and the story draws you into it just as the children are drawn in as well. We follow Jack and Wendy and Frankie and Anders in this town where magic erupts in certain places, such as that of the old schoolhouse where many children disappeared in the past and Jack's Aunt and Uncle's house which warms to Jack's touch and where vines grow into his bedroom. They must stop Mr. Avery, who really is not a bad person, he only wants to save his own son. In the end, it is all up to Jack.
I really enjoyed the uniqueness of this story. So many fantasies have the same plot line. This one is pleasantly different.
Show Less
LibraryThing member skraftdesigns
Fiction books involving magic are so popular with kids now, I better just get used to it if I want to give excellent service when recommending good books. When I finished this book I just thought 'what the freak.' But many people liked the book and I am apparently missing something.
Jack is
There is often something that saves it for me, this magic element in the current crop of children's books. In this case it was the reaction of the children in the story, especially Jack. He seems down to earth, calling the whole weirdness crazy, and I liked him for it. His aunt and uncle are crazy. This whole town is crazy. Until he discovers himself to be magic then blah blah blah this story can end now. I tried!
It is well written with well realized characters, and I'm sure kids will like it.
Jack is
Show More
brought to his aunt and uncle's house in Iowa while his parents are divorcing. He misses his mom and San Francisco very much- his aunt and uncle are weird, as is this whole small town if Iowa. Really indescribably weird. He makes some friends, who seem to know more about the goings on, and even about Jack himself. There is a parrot and cats, and a strange magic book that Jack starts reading. There is a scary, collapsing and reappearing schoolhouse and a couple of rich bad guys who own the town and the town cops, who have an unhealthy interest in Jack. The story peaks with bulldozers poised at Jack's uncle's strange house.There is often something that saves it for me, this magic element in the current crop of children's books. In this case it was the reaction of the children in the story, especially Jack. He seems down to earth, calling the whole weirdness crazy, and I liked him for it. His aunt and uncle are crazy. This whole town is crazy. Until he discovers himself to be magic then blah blah blah this story can end now. I tried!
It is well written with well realized characters, and I'm sure kids will like it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Utterly weird. And not, I'm afraid, very interesting to me. Jack is too strange, and too whiny, to hold my interest; the events are too confusing, and by the time things started connecting and making sense the book was almost over. I liked Wendy, a bit, and Anders quite a lot - but they're very
Show More
definitely secondary characters, with tiny POV parts. Frankie is also too strange, and too much of a deus ex machina. And so on. One thing that bothered me throughout was Jack's stubbornness about what was going on - he determinedly ignored everything that happened around him. And the timeline, when it's finally revealed, makes it even odder - only four years? So all his memories of normality must have been implanted...and why couldn't they be removed, or at least lightened, so that he could understand better? I guess Clive fits the stereotype of the incompetent magician...sort of. Don't know. Overall, too many things bothered me. The basic structure was mildly interesting, but where it was different from what I've seen before it seemed weaker. So...not a favorite, or one I'm interested in rereading. Show Less
LibraryThing member ljhliesl
A virtually invisible boy named Jack, trees, magic, a town called Hazelwood, and on the Staff Recommends shelf at the library: good signs. But no. Kelly Barnhill’s Mostly True Story of Jack was like The Dark Is Rising when all the world-saving mandalas are easily located within a single
I liked the premise of magic inherent in Iowa because it reminded me of my friend Sarah Prineas’s Winterling, and also of Savvy. Flyover states: not just for corn any more. However, while Sarah’s world makes internal sense, this one, not so much. Where’d the mirror come from? Where’d the cats and parrot come from? How’d the skateboard get to be the way it is? Does Jack have to be so Christ-like? Didn’t we already do the soul thing in Amber Spyglass? Did the author pay royalties to J.K. Rowling when Lancelot carried a message (to whom, anyway, or could she just not resist?) and an object with magical properties of transportation — again, from where? — was called a “Portsmouth”? Or to Joss Whedon when Jack turned out to be Dawn Summers?
It began well, with Jack’s invisibility and Hazelwood’s insulation, but it was mishmash before the halfway mark. The most I can say for it is that the story was entire within itself, and though open to a sequel you don’t need need to read a whole damn trilogy to find out whatever. And I have to mention that it had the de rigueur “pour” for “pore” error.
Show More
neighborhood of a Home County … because that’s the pedestrian range of a boy, not because evil forces have any reason to concentrate there. (Give me Over Sea, Under Stone or The Grey King any day). This was local magic, tied to the earth of a particular place, so the limited geography makes sense (unlike in the Cooper); the comparison is to clumsy rule-writing.I liked the premise of magic inherent in Iowa because it reminded me of my friend Sarah Prineas’s Winterling, and also of Savvy. Flyover states: not just for corn any more. However, while Sarah’s world makes internal sense, this one, not so much. Where’d the mirror come from? Where’d the cats and parrot come from? How’d the skateboard get to be the way it is? Does Jack have to be so Christ-like? Didn’t we already do the soul thing in Amber Spyglass? Did the author pay royalties to J.K. Rowling when Lancelot carried a message (to whom, anyway, or could she just not resist?) and an object with magical properties of transportation — again, from where? — was called a “Portsmouth”? Or to Joss Whedon when Jack turned out to be Dawn Summers?
It began well, with Jack’s invisibility and Hazelwood’s insulation, but it was mishmash before the halfway mark. The most I can say for it is that the story was entire within itself, and though open to a sequel you don’t need need to read a whole damn trilogy to find out whatever. And I have to mention that it had the de rigueur “pour” for “pore” error.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Inky_Fingers
Loved it! Nicely written, and has a new spin on the changeling idea. Barnhill has done something that is very different from your standard fantasy -- she has created a new and original mythology for Jack's town, and I really appreciate that.
LibraryThing member Birdo82
Thanks to dull, detached writing, this potentially suspenseful and darkly-whimsical tale has had the charm sucked out of it.
LibraryThing member reader1009
Children's fiction; adventure/suspense. Not sure which parts of the story aren't true, but it's a good title, and an exceedingly well-told story--hard to believe this is Barnhill's debut. Not sure if it will catch the eyes of the Newbery panel, but for what it's worth I like it more than I did
Show More
Despereaux. Show Less
LibraryThing member AnaCarter
hmmm... interesting
Awards
Oregon Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — 2014)
Locus Recommended Reading (Young Adult Book — 2011)
Original publication date
2011
ISBN
9780316175234
DDC/MDS
| Fic Childrens Barnhill |
Other editions
The Mostly True Story of Jack by Kelly Regan Barnhill (Paper Book)