Rating: 
Summary: Just as good as Harry Potter
Review: I love this book and I'm pleased that there will be several more in the series. This book appeals to children as well as adults in the same way as Harry Potter does. Read this for the kid in you.
Rating: 
Summary: American Potter
Review: The tremendous, phenomenal, record-smashing success of the Harry Potter series has brought both publishers and authors to recognize the viability of novels that appeal to both young people and the older but still young at heart. Thus, Michael Chabon, Carl Hiassen, Neil Gaiman, and even Clive Barker (!) have new young/old adult novels to woo or wow the public. "Summerland" has charateristics similar to the famous Mssr. Potter, and especially C.S. Lewis' beloved Chronicles of Narnia series. If you are a fan of either (and who isn't?), you'll want to check out "Summerland." You don't have to be a fan of baseball, although it might help; the book is nominally about a magic world where baseball rules. You do, however, need to possess a love of magic, innocence, discovery, and wonderment. Skeptics and humbugs need not apply.
Rating: 
Summary: Being juvenile doesn't mean its good for kids
Review: I don't understand what makes Mr. Chabon think that he is qualified to write for kids. Is it the fantasy element? All kids should read fantasy now? The sentence structure in this book is not at all appropriate for the supposed age range, and a lot of the themes, while light, are not really aimed at kids per se. Still, its content is not really objectionable. As a teacher, I do not like to see writers jumping on the Harry Potter bandwagon just because they can.
Rating: 
Summary: Not really for adults, and derivative of Gaiman
Review: Ok I give it 3 stars, but that was with high expectations. A first time author would have got 4 stars.This might be a great book for kids (really precocious well-read kids), but as an adult, it wasn't really for me (although I did read and enjoy the Harry Potter books, so I am probably part of Miramax's target market). If you have read Neil Gaiman's American Gods (or Sandman series) -- you will immediately feel like you are on old ground here. Chabon does exactly the same trick -- He explores various American myths and legends, but couched in a framework of Norse Mythology. Thus, just as in American Gods we have Loki, and Ragnorok (here Ragged Rock) and various American icons, Paul Bunyan, John Henry, Billy the Kid, that kind of thing. And since Chabon is a professed comic geek, I expect he has read Gaiman as well, so I hold him somewhat culpable. The difference -- this story is told from the perspective of an 11 year old boy -- sort of American Gods meets Harry Potter (or The Talisman). Fine...it is a quick read, and Chabon is still a great writer-- but the book seemed to me to be written in haste, and his plotting felt messy and haphazard: for example some of the minor characters such as Cutbelly and Thor seem to be entirely mutable, changing their allegiances and personalities throughout the book, until you have no sense of them at all. Transitions were frequently abrupt, as if the author just wanted to get on to his next idea. Far be it from me to belittle the considerable gifts of Michael Chabon -- Kavalier and Klay was one of the most exceptional books I have read in recent memory, (and he did win the Pulitzer Prize, after all). But part of what made that novel so delightful was that Chabon did not turn down the volume on his vocabulary and erudition, even when traipsing through the backyard of such beloved juvenalia as comic books. And since that book was essentially using comic books as a trope, some of the one dimensional characters and sudden transitions made sense. But in Summerland it doesn't work as well. I thought Chabon was best in Summerland when he was writing about baseball (which is clearly another passion of his). The first chapter, for example, was terrific. Its too bad he didn't keep the magic and mythology solely to that subject.
Rating:
Summary: Michael Chabon hits a homerun with "Summerland"
Review: I have been a fan of Michael Chabon for a few years now and was very happy to see he was writing a book for a juvenile audience. Summerland is the tale of a young boy in modern day Washington state who is quite possibly the worst baseball player around. Ethan lives on a small island that features an are of it that never gets rain. Therefore, baseball is very popular with Ethan and his friends. What nobody knows is that this area, known as Summerland, is also a portal/rift to other dimensions. When extra-dimensional beings start causing problems and kidnap Ethan's inventor/engineer father to help them destroy the tree that links all the worlds, Ethan and his friends must band together to save the world/worlds. Chabon introduces the reader to some of the most inventive characters I've read ever. When these characters are combined with beautifully described foreign worlds and the great American sport of baseball. The result is pure magic. Highly Recommended for Kids and Adults 10 stars!
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy adventure AND baseball? Now you're talking!
Review: I thought the book was wonderful. It was certainly a change of pace for Michael Chabon, and while I wouldn't say it rates up there with Tolkein or C.S. Lewis, it was a fantasy adventure that certainly rates higher than the Potter novels (which I really enjoyed!) There is one potential problem with the book. My 10 year old son read the book and liked it, but after hearing me read chapters aloud to my 7 year old son before bed, he said that he thought he missed a lot of detail. "Too many characters for a kid to keep track of", he was his comment. But, he had the same comment reading Tolkein, so it's no indictment of the book, obviously. Maybe the best bet is to read it to your kids, or discuss the book with your kid as he reads it. The beauty of the book is in the richness of the folklore and the development of the characters, so it is worth discussion. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good Writing Style and Strong Narrative
Review: This is the first Chabon book I read and really enjoyed it. I usually don't go for literary fantasy, but this novel easily suspended my disbelief and I was sad when I turned the very last page. Charbon builds an interesting world that he doesn't bore you by trying to over explain it (e.g., the universe is built on a tree with four interlocking worlds, next issue).
I am a fan of writers who can balance style, but keep the narrative moving - writers like Graham Greene and Tom Robbins. Chabon mixes enough humor to keep the story from dragging in sentiment.
Although marketed as a kids book, I find it difficult to think that your average 9-12 year old would enjoy it. (OK, before anyone takes offense, if a reader between 9-12 enjoyed the book -consider yourself above average and pick the Ivy League School of yer choice).
Rating:
Summary: Summerland
Review: This was a very, very, very good book. it was very well written. this book is wonderful for all ages. i would reccommend it for the High-Schhol age reading leval though.
Rating:
Summary: Second 1/2 Made It Worthwhile
Review: I read this book because it was a gift from a friend who really enjoyed it. By page 250 of this 500-page book I was wondering what she liked so much about it. It seemed like the author was trying too hard, using too much cloying imagery and too many heart-rending techniques.
But then, at about page 250, where the young girl is talking to the sasquatch about leaving your family to follow your heart's desire... it somehow became a page turner.
Yes, the book does ramble and it really does try too hard - but all in all it is a pleasant read.
Sidenote: Keep in mind, I'm not the target 'young adult' audience. This is the view of a 35-year old avid reader.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful and Disappointing
Review: This book is a little frustrating. It has all the right pieces to be a fine book, for kids and adults. Baseball. Mythology. American legends like Paul Bunyan and John Henry. A battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil.
But despite all of these, or maybe because of these, subjects and characters and plot devices, the book is a little bit hollow. Chabon sounds too many notes. The characters are charming, but not touching, if that makes any sense. I kept wanting to dive into the imaginative space of Summerland. At the same time, the confusion of all the bric-a-brac allusions to Norse mythology, then Native American mythology, then American Legend, graft upon graft, kept my feet planted firmly on the edge of the pool.
An okay read for a lazy summer's day, but one that probably won't be read again.
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