Whirligig

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Whirligig is a very good book for teenagers who feel or have felt lost and alone. Brent Bishop, the main character in this book, makes a fatal mistake and winds up in the four corners of the United States building whirligigs. After you get into the book and figure out what's going on it makes pretty easy reading. The only hard part is the beginning of just about every chapter. It switches you to a new place and it takes about three pages to figure out where you're at. This book has a very good plot and it makes very interesting reading. It's cool to watch how the character changes throughout this book. I would recommend it for anyone.

Rating:
Summary: THE STORY OF A TENAGE BOY
Review: WHIRLIGIG BOOK REVIEW

Whirligig by Paul Fleischman is a interesting short story about society and a teenager being reborn by a startling series of events. The author Paul Fleischman main themes in the book Whirligig was the life of a American teen Brent Bishop and his view of the world hand how it dramatically changed in a single night.
He awoke the next morning to find that his world had been turned up side down. Brent Bishop had gone to a party the night before and had gotten drunk this led to him following a school mate crush of hi until she burst out and yelled and him to stop harassing her. In his embarrassment he left the party and drove off. he decided to buy the farm,the cow, and the oxen but instead he had killed Lea a teen that happened to be taking her nightly stroll. In the wake of Lea her mother had asked not for money or labor but just for Brent Bishop to construct four whirligigs in each corner of the united states so Lea's spirit would live on for ever. This unusual task Brent Bishop set out to do armed only with a forty-five day bus pass and a back pack full of supplies he went under a extreme mental metamorphosis and reawakrning after the tragedy of his past life.
I have found this book to be very well written and effectively powerful for the beautiful short story. Over all I would have to say the Whirligig by Paul Fleischman is as interesting as it is compelling and would recommend the moving short story to any one who has a hunger for a well whiten story that encompasses the spectrum of Brent Bishops homage to right the wrongs he has done and start a fresh new life as a adult.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: This book was stellar. A teenaged boy who feels unable to fit in, and is embarassed at a party, opts to take his own life by crashing his car. However, it is not his life he takes--it is the life of another individual: a young lady named Lea Zamora. Lea's mother's only request: to build a whirligig, in the image of Lea, in each of the corners of the US--Washington, California, Florida, and Maine. Each of these wind toys somehow helps to enhance the life of someone, in some way. This beautifully written work will bring joy to your heart as the story unfolds and Lea's spirit, set moving blissfully in the wind, brings positive factors, never before experienced, to the lives of a few individuals who truly needed them.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: "Whirligig" is the story of Brent, a typical teenager, who, in frustration at not fitting in, tries to take his own life via crashing his car. In his drunken state, he only succeeds in taking the life of Leah, an eighteen year-old. The mother of Leah has but one request for Brent: that he builds four whirligigs, all with Leah's image, and places them on the four corners of America. Each of these whirligigs helped someone in some way by bringing beauty to their life.

If Paul Fleischman were trying to create a heart-warming tale, he failed. By building the whirligigs and traveling around the country to place them, Brent was supposed to have improved his character and become a better person, and to have made up for his killing of Leah, and in the book, this happens. However, I found the events of the book hardly feasible. Taking a trip around the country will not make you a better person. However, in the book, Brent underwent a drastic change which was unrealistic. Also, I fail to see how placing whirligigs around the country is retribution for Brent's terrible act. Each of the whirligigs, in the book, did help someone with something in some small way. However, I think that the connection between the people's problems and the whirligig was weak at best. Brent could have improved people's lives much more by volunteering at an organization in his hometown, instead of a long journey around the country. The whirligigs didn't make a huge impact on anyone, and could have been better substituted with natural beauty. Over time, Brent would have learned from his mistake, not all at once because he went around the country. On the whole, I found this book unrealistic and too sappy, at an attempt to be heart-warming. I do not recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Dissapointment
Review: "Whirligig" is the story of Brent, a typical teenager, who, in frustration at not fitting in, tries to take his own life via crashing his car. In his druken state, he only suceeds in taking the life of Leah, an eighteen year-old. The mother of Leah has but one request for Brent: that he builds four whirligigs, all with Leah's image, and places them on the four corners of America. Each of these whirligigs helped someone in some way by bringing beauty to their life.

If Paul Fleischman was trying to create a heart-warming tale, he failed. By building the whirligigs and traveling around the country to place them, Brent was supposed to have improved his character and become a better person, and to have made up for his killing of Leah, and in the book, this happens. However, I found the events of the book hardly feasible. Taking a trip around the country will not make you a better person. However, in the book, Brent underwent a drastic change which was unrealistic. Also, I fail to see how placing whirligigs around the country is retribution for Brent's terrible act. Each of the whirligigs, in the book, did help someone with something in some small way. However, I think that the connection between the people's problems and the whirligig was weak at best. Brent could have improved people's lives much more by volunteering his time in his home town, instead of a long journey around the country. The whirligigs didn't make a huge impact on anyone, and were unnecessary to people. Over time, Brent would have learned from his mistake, not all at once because he went around the country. On the whole, I found this book unrealistic and too sappy, at an attempt to be heart-warming. I do not reccomend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Whirligig
Review: Paul Fleischman's Whirligig is a story that depicts a young adult's problems with not fitting in. Brent Bishop is humiliated at a party and tries to deliberately kill himself, but the only problem is he fails only to kill another lady by the name Lea. Her mother doesn't ask Brent of anything but to travel to the four corners of the United States and place one Whirligig at each corner in honor of Lea's name. He must travel to California, Maine, Florida, and Washington placing one Whirligig at each place to remind others of his incident. While traveling to the four corners of the United States Brent finally realizes life is worth living despite his actions in the beginning and he starts living life to the fullest. This book is worth reading, it shows how valuable life is, even though it may not seem it at times. It is definitely worth reading to make you appreciate life.

Rating:
Summary: WOW What a great book
Review: I simply read this book for a class project along with 6 other books. this was the first one i read. I could not put it down. Just waiting to see who he would help with his next whirligig kept my fingers turning the pages. if you want to read about how someone reclaims their life and discovers who they are, this is the best book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Book review for Whirligig written by Paul Fleischman
Review: I loved this book. It really motivated me to live life to the fullest. As the summary said, (at my school I had to write a summary) Brent tried to kill himself at the very beginning. Towards the end of the book though, Brent realized that even if he did make a mistake, he can either try to patch it up or go on with life and learn from his mistakes. He began to start life all over again, with a new understanding of it. my quote is from Lea's mother: "this is my only request. that you make four whirligigs, of a girl that looks like Lea. Put her name on them. Then set them up in Washington, California, Florida, and Maine- the corners of the United States. Let people all over the country receive joy from her even though she's gone. You make the smiles that she would have made. It's the only thing you can do for me." She exhaled. "That's what I ask." When Brent was on the trip he made his life change. He felt good about himself and began to live life to the fullest.

Rating:
Summary: Whirligig, a strange, but good book.
Review: Whirligig by Paul Fleischman is a good book. It is partially real while on the other hand it has fiction woven into its pages. The boy, Brent, that the story is about, is as real as a teenage boy can get. He has his good times and his bad times. The story is written and put together in a strange way. It finishes one chapter of Brent traveling. Then in the next chapter, it tells about a totally different character that is living in the city Brent is visiting next. Then the chapter after that is about Brent in that same city.
I enjoyed the book, but the character chould have had more interesting encounters. The story just goes on and on. The beginning was better than the rest of the book. The story line was written well in detail, but in my opinion, it just seemed boring. Otherwise, the book was good.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books about people who have mental problems or who have killed people in automobile accidents. This book's character deals with these two problems.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome book!
Review: I had to read it for school, also, and at first i was dragging my heels...our school picked out the book, what joy! My school seems to pick out bad books. Well, i read the first chapter, and thought it was pretty good. At first i was reading it at the class speed, but then i got sick of taking so long*we still haven't finished it!!!* so i just read it on my own. I loved the book, and i'm thinking about adding it to my personal collection. Recommend it to all! It is a bit confusing, but it all ties in in the end.