Amy's Eyes

Rating:
Summary: A *must read* belly laugh fable for kids and adults.
Review: Amy's mother died while she was a baby. Her father, a tailor, leaves her at an orphanage to seek his fortune at sea. His one gift to her is a hand-made sailor doll, the Captain, which Amy loves. Accidentally, Amy discovers a way to bring the doll to life. As the situation at the orphanage becomes more unbearable, the Captain runs away to earn enough money to come back and rescue. When he doesn't return on time, Amy begins to turn into a doll herself. Add in swashbuckling pirates, mutineering rubber ducks, and a treasure at the bottom of the sea, and you have, ... well, Amy's Eyes.

Kennedy's plot is ingenious, his characters hilariously outrageous, and his wit biting and sharp without being cynical. It was a wonderful read-aloud to our kids, but I must admit that I had finished the book a couple times before the kids heard the last chapter

Rating:
Summary: The whole world within one book
Review: I am a mother of three daughters to whom I read Amy aloud - for the first time about ten years ago. Now my oldest is 19 and still often finds an "urgent reason" for being around when I read Amy to the youngest. It's a story where you find everything life is made of: faith, love, hope, evil, treachery, sad events and terribly funny ones, wisdom and wickedness. The heroes in Amy's Eyes you will never forget - because they are really human with their dreams and doubts, with their hopes and temptations - there's not enough room here to do them justice. Just let me say as much: the Captain has long been the one who deserves the title "an Officer and Gentleman" more than anybody else. If you read Amy's Eyes (and be sure to read it twice if you didn't love it at once - you'll never regret it. I promise.) you'll laugh (you'll "burst your guts"!) and you'll cry silently, you'll bite your fingernails in suspense and what is more: you'll love the world and life and feel grateful and happy when you turn over the last page of this wonderful book.

Rating:
Summary: Bring it back in Print
Review: I know that I sound like all the other reviews, but this story took me back to my childhood. I originally checked the book out at the library when I was young and read parts of it each night to my little sister. This was a special time for us and this story transported us to everywhere the doll went. We are older now and have grown somewhat apart. I recently found this book and ordered us each a copy. It is a great read as adults just like when we were younger and we will always have that bond between us. It is such a magical story that I can't wait to hand down to my children.

Rating:
Summary: I remember this one...
Review: I read Amy's Eyes when I was in 4th grade and I loved it. It tells the story of an orphaned girl and her sailor doll, The Captain, who comes to life and goes to see. Amy misses him and pines away... and pines away... When the Captain returns for her he finds that she has turned into a doll with button eyes. He adopts the doll and takes her away on adventures at sea on a boat crewed by an assortment of characters including a large talking frog.

Amy's Eyes is a story that children and adults will both like. I have fond childhood memories and I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: This is one of the most enchanting books of my childhood.
Review: I read this book once when I was still little and I haven't been able to get the story out of my thoughts. I had been looking for it in a passively dreamy way and two weeks ago I discovered it at a used bookstore in Duluth, MN. It's so wonderful and I am again regaining the tangle of imagination that I had enjoyed as a little girl. I wish so much that it were easier to get ahold of this author's books and information about his writing.

Rating:
Summary: I NEVER EXPECT TO READ SUCH A LOVELY STORY AGAIN!
Review: Like so many other story's listed above, I too first read this story when I was 9 years old. At that age I believed the longer the story was the better the content. Generaly I was wrong, but this time I couldn't have been more write. I read the whole story in a matter of hours and fell in love with it. I checked out Amy's Eyes as often as I could and made it my favorite book. After I moved away I was shocked to find that I couldn't locate Amy's Eyes anywhere. I'm 13 now and just recenly found the story at a library and I'm glad to know that I can now own this book for myself. This heart warming tale about a young girls imaginative adventures is one I'll never forget. Its tragdys and joys will live inside of me for all of my life.

Rating:
Summary: Bring it back in Print
Review: This book is excellent; we have read it to all of our children and passed it around to the extended family over the years. In 1986 my one daughter, then 4 yrs old, could recite verbatim where we had stopped reading the night before, she was that enthralled. All have reread it later in their teen years. My older children have bought used copies for their own libraries. Many of the characters have become monikers for family members, e.g., our mis-behaving puppy became known as the 'bad sister' and is stilled referred to as such in her old age now. Other quotes also became mainstays. For example, as a postdoc at Princeton during group meetings to review data, someone would ask the validity of a given set of data. The common response by all in our group became, "That's a duck's fact, quack, quack!" after I used it once. These colleagues still use it on occasion when discussing material over the phone.
Amy's Eyes is a classic. It would be nice if the publishers would bring this one back in print. It is a captivating story for young and old. Harry Potter is playing the minor leagues when it comes to this genre of literature.

Rating:
Summary: Suberb, and Magnificent!
Review: This review may sound like one further up on the page, but that is very similiar to my story. When I was 8 or 9 I picked up Amy's Eyes and I couldn't put it down, it was so wonderful! Now, I'm 13 and I was thinking about it the other day. I vowed to find a copy of that book! So I did, and I read it again and it is even better now then it was then. I absolutely loved it!