Rating: 
Summary: The Adventures of Blue Avenger is OK
Review: To enjoy a book such as "The Adventures of Blue Avenger", you really need to have an open mind. You can't address the topic of "Do we really make our own decisions?" without an open-minded perspective. Throughout the book David Schumacher, the main character, deals with that issue. He even changes his name to "Blue Avenger" to figure this problem out.
"Blue" lives up to his super-hero persona though, dressing in an outrageous blue fishing vest and head-towel. His heroic antics are equally insane, at one point he even dives with the Principal of his Southern Californian school into a pool, in order to save her from a swarm of bees. And again the underlying question is "Are we in charge of our own fate, or merely actors on a stage?"
To explore this question further, Blue Avenger travels with Omaha Nebraska Brown to see her brother in prison. Omaha wants to believe, for her brother's sake, that we have no free will but are in fact the result of chemistry and chance. Blue, like most human beings, wants to believe that we are, in fact, in charge of our own decisions and, therefore, responsible for our actions. This conflict is resolved in an unbelievable manner. If you have an imagination and tolerant mind, then this is the kind of book you should be reading.
Rating: 
Summary: A mostly likeable book; but...
Review: ...the author regretably allowed her political leanings to intrude. The preaching on gun control and socialized medicine marred an otherwise amusing and, at times, charming story.One other criticism; I'm sure most readers will recognize the implausibility of the protagonist's classmates' responses to his decision to change his name to "Blue Avenger" and even to wear a costume to school. Sorry, but that would just be begging for ridicule, if not outright tormenting from other kids.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not believable.
Review: A boy who becomes the superhero character he invented is actually treated as one in his very forgiving high school. Blue saves the student newspaper, invents a perfect weepless meriguine pie, and lands the girl of his dreams in this silly-yet-sophisticated novel about free will. In spite of the charm, humor, and willingness to discuss issues, I couldn't suspend my disbelief to believe that a teen who attends school with a towel tied aropund his neck wouldn't be harassed to tears by peers, but older students who enjoy books like View from Saturday or Holes (that are dappled with interesting factoids that seem insignificant but reappear in the ending) will love this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Blue Avenger is a ?Weepless? Wonder
Review: Blue Avenger
Norma Howe Would you ever change your name? What would you change it to? Would you change it to a character you like drawing? You probably wouldn't but David Schumacher does. Then simply by changing his name to Blue Avenger things start to happen...... He meets a beautiful girlfriend named Omaha, saves a school principal from a swarm of killer bees which gets him 2,000 dollars in return!!! Everything has gone perfectly, everyone knows his new name and Blue avenger is rich.
Rating:
Summary: Best book ever So funny!!!!!! A MUST READ
Review: Blue Avenger
Norma Howe Would you ever change your name? What would you change it to? Would you change it to a character you like drawing? You probably wouldn't but David Schumacher does. Then simply by changing his name to Blue Avenger things start to happen...... He meets a beautiful girlfriend named Omaha, saves a school principal from a swarm of killer bees which gets him 2,000 dollars in return!!! Everything has gone perfectly, everyone knows his new name and Blue avenger is rich.
Rating:
Summary: The Adventures of Blue Avenger: A 13 year old's review
Review: David Schumacher is an ordinary boy with an ordinary life who wants to be important and help people. He doesn't know how to go about doing this, until his sixteenth birthday, when he decides to change his name to Blue Avenger. With his new, unusual name, Blue becomes brave and courageous. Within a matter of days, he becomes a town hero. First, he rescues his principal from a swarm of killer bees. He then discovers how to make 'weepless' lemon meringue pie, even getting his recipe put in a nationally famous advice column. Furthermore, Blue delivers his new girlfriend, Omaha Nebraska Brown, to her half brother's wedding that's at a jail in Walla Walla. He also finds a dermatologist who will allow Blue to anonymously pay for his friend's acne treatment. But, most importantly, Blue solves gun problems in Oakland by getting the mayor to outlaw bullets and replace them with tranquilizing 'winger stingers.' So, Blue Avenger finally gets the recognition he craves and fulfills his destiny. This entertaining book with the underlying theme of free will vs. destiny is suitable for anyone 12 and older.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely not what I was expecting
Review: I chose this book from a reading list and expected a truly funny and meaningful story after reading the reviews, boy was I dissappointed!16 year old David Schumacher has lost his policeman father in an automobile accident. He then begins a quest to understand the concept of free will and why things happen the way they do in his life. An unusual decision to don a towel around his head, wear his father's old fishing vest and legally change his name to BLUE AVENGER, from a comic strips he himself draws, follows. Along for his search on the question of free will, David decides it is his mission to rid the world of handguns and how to save humanity from that greatest of all calamities: weeping pie meringue! I must disagree with most of the reviews I have read on this book, it is awful! While the book does have a few humorous moments, the condom buying scheme is quiet funny, the plot and character development leave something to be desired. David meets and befriends a young lady named Omaha Nebraska Brown and the reader would think a good story line would emerge from this, it doesn't. As a reader I kept waiting for something to grab my attention and was disappointed. Young readers may enjoy this book but it didn't come through for me. A comment to the author; the character's answer to gun control is absurd. Uninformed political views shouldn't be a part of young peoples' literature.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely delightful
Review: I find it hard to believe that only a few reviewers gave this book 5 stars. I'm inclined to agree with the obviously youthful reader who declared, "This is the greatest book ever written!" It's not, of course -- but it's an awful lot of fun. Beautifully written, laugh-out-loud funny, sad but not painful, and brilliantly constructed, with as meaty a consideration of fate and free will as you are likely to find in a work of contemporary fiction. NOTE TO THE HIGHBROW CROWD: Ya don't have to use long sophisticated arguments to get the heart of a matter like this; if this book doesn't get you thinking about personal responsibility, then you probably aren't used to thinking much. NOT FOR KIDS UNDER 14, it contains some sexuality and vulgarity but comes down squarely on the conservative side of these issues. Everything you could ask for in a "young adult" novel; don't miss it.
Rating: 
Summary: A big disappointment.
Review: I had hoped this book would deliver. Destiny and the meaning of life are serious topics. I looked forward to reading how Howe would treat it in a light manner. But as I read, I found myself telling the author, "Would you mind getting your finger out of my face!" She never allowed the reader to think for himself.
Rating:
Summary: Schlotzsky (like Blue, i too changed my name)
Review: Just to explain the above sentence, yes. My name is Schlotzsky...This has got to be the best good i ever read. Not only does it make you think (sometimes more than you want to), it makes you laugh. Howe does a very well done job at first introducing facts or events at the beginning of the book, and somehow tying them all together at the end, which makes you wonder if this all happens in your own life. The book deals with age-old philosophies, and questions that will never be answered. The night (or morning) i was finishing the book, i started laughing out loud at certain parts, and had to bite my tounge in fear of my parents waking up. I recommend this book to...well...ANYBODY!! But only read it if you like to think. So that means half of my friends are out of the question...Seriously, you will enjoy this book. DON'T PASS IT UP!...
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