Rating: 
Summary: From Pulitzer to Pathetic
Review: Yes, I loved Kavalier and Clay, and yes, I looked forward to Summerland with an almost unbearable enthusiasm. Had I known that this alleged "children's book" would turn out to be a freely cannibalized mishmash of heterogenous folklore cobbled together in a thinly-veiled attempt to cash in on America's sudden thirst for feel-good tripe, I would have saved myself the 23 bucks and re-read The Hobbit.I suppose I can understand an author needing to take a break from his craft in order to cash in on an easy opportunity, but shouldn't there be a warning label somewhere to alert serious readers about impending literary vaccuums?
Rating:
Summary: Stereotyped, out of context, and simplified...
Review: Chabon's portrayal of Native American "little people" truly defies belief. First, he took legends from at least ten sources and mixed them up. Then he simplifies them and gives them downright stereotyped roles. This is one of the most disturbing pieces of European colonialism of Native American ideas that I have read in years. If you liked this book, but wanted portrayals of Native American "fairies" that resemble realistic, I highly suggest you read the books of Canadian author Charles de Lint. While most of his stories are meant for adults, many of his short stories are understandable to children if you wish to spend a little time explaining these things to them, and several of his published books are collections of short stories.
Rating: 
Summary: Chabon for the ages
Review: Michael Chabon brings his marvellous gifts to the age 10 and up market. The results enchanted both my 10 year old son and his 40-something dad. He mixes appealing well-known ingredients -- baseball, Indian lore, and otherworldly fantasy -- and comes up with a truly original and riveting story.
Rating:
Summary: Saving the Worlds with Baseball-and Magic (same thing)
Review: I'm typing this on October 19 after watching the San Francisco Giants--my team--win their first World Series game in 40 years. I love baseball, which is really what this book is about. And I love this book, although it's not quite as good as Kavalier & Klay--but then what could be? Now let's get down to reviewing the book. Other reviewers have already mentioned the story, so I won't go into that much. Except to say that yes, it's a story in which 11-year-old Ethan Feld, the worst baseball player in the history of Clam Island, Washington, is called upon to save the Four Worlds from destruction by Coyote, who wants to poison the Tree of Life. And to save them by playing a baseball game. And as in all fantasy or Myth, as Joseph Campbell reminded us, it's really the story of Ethan's journey into life. Of course we know he and his companions, Jennifer T. Rideout (the best baseball player on Clam Island) and Thor Wignutt--along with various werebeasts and ferishers--will save the world, just as we know how most stories will end. But stories are like baseball because to enjoy them you simply need to enjoy each moment and stop on the journey. As Ethan's father says, what's good about baseball is that it makes you stop and appreciate what's good on a summer's day. And what's good about a story is not the ending but the things on the way to the ending. What I liked about the book was Chabon's great prose and storytelling ability--and his love of baseball, which really does save the Worlds. I also appreciated his wry humor. For example, we learn that the Designated Hitter Rule was a trick of the evil Coyote (which we always knew, but it's nice to get confirmation). And I agree with some reviewers that while the book may be marketed as a children's fantasy, it's really for adults as well as children. Maybe 11-year-olds won't like it. But this 54-year-old baseball/Chabon fan does. In the end, this book is about a great truth. Baseball really is the most perfect thing in the world. And Chabon has hit another home run.
Rating: 
Summary: Great fun
Review: I really enjoyed this book, and I think it may end up being a classic of the genre. I can't wait until my son is old enough that I can read it to him (maybe 7 or 8?). Even though the book is thick, it reads very quickly. The prose is usual Chabon: occasionally laugh out loud funny, and very visually descriptive (but in an economical way). Regarding the target audience of the book, there is a fair amount of gore, which is why I suggested that kids should be 7 or 8 before being exposed to it. Also, the sentence structure and vocabulary are somewhat more complex than the Harry Potter books (although not as complex as, say, Lord of the Rings). I suggest that kids do what I do when I read Chabon's other books: read with a dictionary by your side, and when you come to a word that you don't know and can't figure out from the context, look it up.
Rating: 
Summary: Not really for kids
Review: I don't see that any kids have weighed in with positive reviews, and I'm not surprised. Long-winded doesn't begin to describe this book. While there's some strong prose, there are also so many elements thrown in and then abandoned, you just have to wonder if Chabon had an editor. He introduces new creatures, languages, and places--then never gets back to them. The depiction of minorities is disturbing. A black "bigfoot" woman with a good singing voice who's in a cage, until 3 white kids rescue her. A Latino ballplayer just lying around until the same kids get him moving. Hmmm... And a lot of Native American folklore taken out of context. But, overall, the main problem is that the writing is too sluggish for kids, who don't keep reading a book just because the author's famous!
Rating:
Summary: For All Ages
Review: Many readers are comparing this to Harry Potter, but it's really an American "His Dark Materials". (If you haven't read the Phillip Pullman series, do yourself a favor and buy them!) I'm 32 and not a baseball fan, but I read this in the space of a weekend. Great characters and high adventures.
Rating: 
Summary: Moments
Review: I loved Chabon's "Kavalier & Clay" and was really excited when I read he was writing a book for young adults. I felt really mixed aboutt he result. First off, I think it's unfair to make the immediate comparison to the young wizard at Hogwarts. Those books are just in a different and unstoppable class of their own. That said I think Chabon's fantasy of a boy named Ethan Feld who has to save the world through baseball has moments of charm and imagination. The alternative world that Ethan travels to is inhabited by all kinds of mythical creatures such as werewolves, giants, and even a Sasquatch. But for me I didn't find the story all that compelling. Yes,there's a villan who's more or less the devil, but we barely see him or his nasty deeds so he never is quite as ominous as he should be. Plus there's never a real concern that Ethan and his friends won't complete their various tasks, and at the end of the day everything will be fine.On another note, since the book relys so much on the playing of baseball, if you're not a fan you may find that element a turn off. It's a fine young adult book. But beyond Potter I'd try Phillip Pullman's world for a richer and deeply imagined world.
Rating:
Summary: Compellingly readable!
Review: Hmmm...sometimes I wish there was no Potter craze. I am a self-professed fantasy geek. I loved this book. I thought it had a great deal in common with all great juvenile fantasy, which DIDN'T (contrary to popular belief) begin with Harry P. From "A Wrinkle In Time" to "Tuck Everlasting" to "The Giver" and "The Changeling", great juvenile fantasy has been around a long time. I read 3 of the aforementioned books as a child and the other in college (The Giver) Chabon creates a mythos that is sweetly compelling. It reminded me as much of Madeline L'Engle as Rowling. That is the formula, folks, and Harry not the first: "Kid suffers trauma, discovers value of self, overcomes obstacles, develops empathetic response, encounters love"...all in the context of a "supernatural" adventure. Give it up...before Gaiman you had "Mythago Wood" ALL fiction is derivative, really. This was a great escapist read. I loved the baseball elements as a true fan of the sport.
Best Juvenile book I have read in years...and that INCLUDES Harry P.
Rating:
Summary: Long-winded, overcomplex, but sometimes entertaining novel
Review: The target audience for this would-be blockbuster published by Miramax seems to be eleven-year-olds with large vocabularies, considerable patience, knowledge about and love for baseball, along with a large appetite for movie special effects being escribed on pages of a book. If this target audience exists, I think that it must be very small. Way too much of the book is exposition of whimsical creatures and their realms. Some of the stories around the main story of the quest to save the four worlds are entertaining, but there is far too much explaining--far too much for this adult reader. Do eleven-year-olds really have more patience for this? I doubt it, but could be wrong. Michael Chabon is a very inventive and talented writer, but I think that a year from now there are going to be lots of remaindered and low-priced used copies of this book available.
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