Rating: 
Summary: Superb book, especially for teenage boys who hate to read
Review: ...I am a high school teacher who has been using JUMPER for years as a hook for reluctant readers. The book is clearly marketed for high school aged readers; the 17 year old protagonist begins by having to deal with an abusive alcoholic father, before he discovers his jumping power. This in itself is nothing to hand to a nine or ten year old, however well the child reads.The book is well-written, wonderfully paced, timely (everything it has to say about terrorism is vitally up to date), compassionate, responsible, and tasteful...
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful and Empowering Adventure
Review: This is both a charming wish-fulfillment adventure and a thoughtful treatment of child abuse, depending on the reader's readiness to confront such issues. The protagonist's harsher experiences are written in such a way that the reader who is not ready to know about such things won't quite understand what happened and will soon forget it in the excitement of subsequent events, while those aware of and trying to deal with some of the grittier realities will be empowered by the protagonist's response. This is a powerful, uplifting book on many levels; exactly the sort of book from which I, as a child, unconsciously learned the philosophical tools that make me a competent and compassionate adult. I strongly recommend it to grownups and adolescents alike.
Rating: 
Summary: Jumper
Review: PARENTS BEWARE!!
I purchased this book for my ten-year old son because it was a highly recommended book for adolescents and had an appealing cover. My son brought the book to me and said that he "didn't think he should be reading it" because it talked about "nasty things". Out of curiosity I started to read it and was horrified at the graphic scene described... I think the book should have a warning on the cover that it contains sexually explicit material. I feel like my son and I have been raped!
Rating: 
Summary: Book Review
Review: Jumper was a book that caught my eye because in the story, the boy could teleport "aquired areas". Teleporting is an exciting power that i always wanted, so reading about it happening to another peson seemed interesting. Once again, I do my "read the first couple pages, scim and scan" book check t see if it is nay good. Well, I was surprised of what they had in the book.It was pretty disturbing.
The main character is David Rice. He was an abused boy until he decided to run away, or actually teleport away. He robbed a bank in order to get money and survive, his skills also got him a girlfriend 4 years older than him. Many scary things happened to him, and the government is hunting him down to study his powers.
The book was excellent if there wasn't so much disturning scenes in it. What surprised me was that they talked about terrorists adnd suicide bombing. I could barely put the book down, it was too exciting and nerve wracking. What's going to happen now? What about later? Will he get caught?
Rating:
Summary: not an over protective mom
Review: The rating that I have given this book is not for the storyline, but for its content being geared to young readers. I recently selected this book for my 10 year old son. The jacket nor the reviews listed in the book gave any clue of its adult content. This book is filed under the "young reader" section in bookstores. I cannot believe the rape act in the beginning of this book is meant for anyone to read under the age of 18. This book may be well written, but not for a youth or even a young adult. It is acts like this that encourage parents to call for censorship.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I didn't know if I was going to like this book, I just thought that the idea for the story sounded nice. As soon as I started reading, I couldn't put the book down. I even considered calling in sick for work just so I could keep reading! Read this book!!
Rating:
Summary: Perfectly written to hold your attention.
Review: I love to read this book again and again. It is light and yet absorbing, fast paced and yet it gets to the root of your emotions. We are introduced to the main character, Davy Rice, as a young boy, escaping an abusive father. This is where the story starts because it is also the first time he experiences a Jump. Not that he believes it at first but this young lad has the ability to teleport. OK, I know what you are thinking. That this is a tired old theme, already used to death in Sci Fi. Well you are wrong. Steven Gould, has taken a refreshing look at this subject and deals with it in a realistic way. Davy, as a character, is very easy to understand and empathize with and for this reason we truly believe what is happening to him. Before he can safely live a life away from his Father, Davy must get some cash, establish an identity, rent an apartment and all the things which you and I take for granted. This is made fascinating because he is a minor and has that special skill that no one is aware of. To complicate his life, Davy starts to fall for an older woman. A college girl who Davy impresses with his knowledge of the city and obvious wealth. Add to this the fact that his long lost Mother reenters the picture and Davy has a pretty full life. This is just where the adventure begins. His mother becomes embroiled in a plane highjacking but Davy's efforts to involve himself are threatened by a police officer who is curious about his wealthy life style and questionable ID. The pace moves up to a higher level as Davy falls into international intrigue and ruthless terrorism. This novel is a terrific first outing from Gould and I would recommend it to anyone who still has a little adventure left in their soul.
Rating: 
Summary: Davy Didn't Jump Far Enough
Review: I read a review of "Jumper" and was very impressed to read the book. However, perhaps because of my age or position in life, I took a totally different view of the book. There is no doubt that it is a page-turner, why, I could hardly put it down. I found myself sneaking off at work to read a page here and there and before I knew it I'd lost an hour. I thought Millie was a wonderful character. Although Davy struck me as very typical of his age (except for his ability to jump), Millie's extra few years and natural maturity helped to guide Davy through the novel. Without her he would have been lost. She was young enough to see his point of view but just old enough to have internalized her own set of standards for living. She was his mentor, his mother, his girlfriend and his lover. Most of all, to me, "Jumper" is every adolescent's dream come true. Davy is born with a special power that gets him out of a bad situation (not unlike Superman escaping Krypton's demise), he suffers great loss (not unlike Superman losing his family), he finds the perfect woman (Lois Lane), she accepts him for who he is (a jumper, an alien) and he manages to accomplish something out of the ordinary (saving the victims of hijacking). Here is where the book failed me, Davy had an extraordinary gift and with that comes extraordinary responsibility. At the end of the book, the author admitted to having such fantasies in his youth. I will admit to the same thing. In fact, I still find myself wishing I could do something out of the ordinary. I fully expected Davy to become a superhero but all of his acts felt self-serving. It is Millie who saved the book for me. I am strongly impressed that Davy would have spent the rest of his life robbing banks but he was smart enough to take only what he needed and lucky enough to met Millie very early in the book. Although I found it interesting to follow the events in Davy's life, to see what he would do and what would happen next, I often tired of the books emphasis of adolescent storm and stress. "Jumper" feels like a book written by adolescents for adolescents. I suppose it is a credit to Mr. Gould that he can immerse himself so deeply that he can even write like an adolescent. In this way I found "Jumper" to be somewhat of an opposite to Ken Grimwood's "Replay." In the beginning of "Replay", each of Jeff Winston's replays was a simple, confusing, reliving of the past but soon Jeff began to change the events in each replay significantly so that he was in essence a different person in each life he lived. Since he didn't lose his memories each time he died, he also began each replay a different person-more often than not a better person. I see no significant change in Davy. At the end of the book Davy is essentially the same guy he was in the beginning. Sure, he saved some lives but he did it out of revenge. He gave people money that needed it but he'd stolen the money from a bank in the first place. Davy seems to be a study in how the end justifies the means. Davy begins and ends a pretty ordinary guy in spite of his special gift. In the end, he seems perfectly satisfied to grab Millie and jump to Disney world. I can only hope she encourages him to do something useful with his talent.
Rating:
Summary: Light but Fun
Review: Jumper is a fast paced, hard to put down sf adventure about a young man named Davy who can teleport. While reading this, one can not help but ask themselves, what would I do if I could teleport? The book excels with it's characterization. The villains aren't purely evil but human, and the heroes aren't necessarily flawless. Gould does a good job with Davy's relationship with his girlfriend. It is touching but not sappy. Jumper is not a deep novel, but it is a good one.
Rating:
Summary: Easily one of the best books I've read in years.
Review: Jumper tells a story that we've all fantasized about: What if you could teleport? Steven Gould answers that question brilliantly. He creates a character that acts and reacts very much like I believe I would. The empathy pulls you along, page after page, until you reach the end and beg for more. This is my second-most loaned out book behind Ender's Game and that's the highest praise I can give.
| 
