The Adventures of Blue Avenger : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Fun Philosophy
Review: The protagonist of The Adventures of Blue Avenger is sixteen-year old David Schumacher. The morning of his birthday he decides to change his name to Blue Avenger, the name of a cartoon character he has created. The change triggers a sequence of events that cause David, or rather, Blue, to accomplish the majority of the goals he has set for himself except for one: to find out if free will exists.
Though I could not put the book down it had its flaws. Mainly the plot and the point took away from each other. The author's writing style is humorous and light, making the concept of trying to find out whether or not free will exists one easier to digest and comprehend. However, her characters are so loveable and the book so quickly paced I was torn between wanting to race on ahead to see what would happen to David, or to stop and think about the points Norma Howe brought up.
For someone looking for a book focused on philosophy I would suggest Sophie's World instead.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: This book is about a 16 year old boy who changes his name to Blue Avenger. His adventures with his new name are very entertaining. I loved this book. It is a must read!

Rating:
Summary: Jeff's Review
Review: This book is about a sixteen year old boy who wants to be like his hero in his comic strip that he made at his house . His person`s name that he made at his house is Blue Avenger. David Schumacher wanted to change his name to Blue Avenger. David didn`t have many friends but only one named Mike Fennal. Once David saved a teacher`s life from killer bees. While she was speaking in the school`s gym she got attacked by the killer bees. David got up and saved her from the killer bees. He became famous in town. He got a check for 2000 dollars. Later he helped other people. I liked this book and I would recommend it to someone who likes adventure.

Rating:
Summary: Very good book, excellent, amazing, great.
Review: This book is now one of my favorites. it is fun, and it moves along very well. The plot is great, intertwined with all sorts of fun facts. Wow. What a good book.

Rating:
Summary: If you liked Louis Sachar's Holes, then you will love this
Review: This book is SO much like 'Holes' But that doesn't mean that once you've read one that you've read the other. Adventures of Blue Avenger is about a sixteen year old boy who decides to change his name to Blue Avenger. Taking on his new identity, he also gains a new strength. He befriends the girl of his dreams, Omaha Nebraska Brown, invents the ultimate recipe for a 'weepless' meringue pie (which I have yet to try), and does a whole bunch of other super hero stuff. I thought this was a very good book and I think that you all should go and get it and read it because it is definitely worth it.

Rating:
Summary: "THE ADVENTURES OF BLUE AVENGER" Stinks bad.
Review: This book was one of the worst books that I have ever read in my entire life. Having a story about a kid that doesn't like his name so he changes it to "Blue Avenger" is stupid. If anyone changed their name to something like that they would be considered a lunatic. Also, what is up with his "superhero" costume? A blue fishing vest and a blue towel around his head, people would think that he was a terrorist. Another thing is that what 16 year old kid want to be a superhero anyway. That is something little kids want to be.
Something else that bothered me about the book was about how it goes on and talks about things that have nothing to do with the story. Who really cares what happened at the same time that David decided to change his name to "Blue Avenger?
All and all I think that this book was the worst book that I ever read and I do not recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, inventive book for young teens
Review: This is a wonderful book, which is fairly well described by the reviews above. It is a kind of real-life fantasy, where the main character adopts a comic-book superhero persona and immediately starts living a comic-book superhero type existence, where he is instantly popular at school and nothing serious goes wrong. (In some ways, this book is like a teen version of Laurie Colwin's Happy All the Time. There is no traditional conflict, not among peers, not between kids and parents or teachers or society. There are tragedies, but they are all in the past.) The themes are mature: sexuality (a very sweet version of it), personal responsibility, the ways in which people advance themselves at a cost to others. The author is very ambitious, and not all of what she tries works, but a great deal does. One issue: my wife mistakenly bought this for our 10-year-old son, for whom it is clearly inappropriate. It is not so clear what group of kids should read it. Kids old enough to appreciate a condom-buying scene (a high point in the book that is clearly, if coyly, divorced from the conventional reasons for buying condoms) and smart enough to like the frequent philosophical discussions and ironic authorial intrusions will generally have moved beyond Young Adult fiction. They may resent the undercurrent of goody-goody preachiness (the protagonists predictably and enthusiastically opt for chastity; there is a lot of anti-vulgarity propaganda) and the odd reticence that produces a great deal of very unspecific talk about sex ("He pondered the difference between love and lust." "Their hormones were raging.") Basically, this is a book that has to fit into a narrow window of opportunity in which kids have enough interest and information to care about the themes but will find the coyness comforting. Also, although it is not a "girls' book" per se, girls will probably like it a lot more than boys - it is really a girls' fantasy about the perfect boyfriend.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for all ages!!!!!!!!
Review: This is the best book that I have ever read. It grabbed me from the begining and didn't let go until the end. The Adventures of Blue Avenger is the greatest book ever written and I hope that Norma Howe writes a sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Too bad 5 stars is the most you can give it!
Review: Wow- this book is very, very original. I think it is great how Norma Howe is able to write by her own rules, occasionally rambling about things that will only make sense three chapters later, and still ties everything together into a brilliant story that makes you smile when you close the book. The Adventures of Blue Avenger is a refreshing tale of a teenage boy that stands out in today's market of mediocre teen fiction.