Focus

Rating:
Summary: Woweeeee!
Review: By saying that I finnished Focus in a total of a day and a half might hint that I enjoyed it. Getting the book before it was published added to my excitement. I waited very little time to dive in and enjoy.

Andrew, the boy through whom the story is told, is of an age to be augmented, that is gentically altered so that he can succeed in a certain field. Andrew decides to remain unaugmented. To compensate for his decision, Andrew's father accepts a post on distant Miner's World. Once on Miner's World they are taken to their house, an odd building, by Tomas, the strange, once successful, now considered odd at the least, miner. They encounter aliens, water people, and the dangerously secretive miners.

Sallie Lowenstien breaks up her fast paced book with stories Andrew tells his little sisters. The stories helped me pace the book and say 'okay, here's a good stopping point.' The stories are illustrated with pencil drawings, which show that Sallie is as good an artist as an author.

After waiting months for this book to be available to me I was not in the least bit disappointed. Focus was well written, full of great detail, very convincing, and an original book.

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended for science fiction fans
Review: In Focus, seventeen year old Andrew Haldran takes the risky course of forgoing genetic augmentation, and by this omission may destine himself to a life of poverty and discrimination. Desperate to avoid this fate for him, Andrew's parents take a chance and leave for Miner's World, where alien secrets may offer them a fortune at any moment. Here they meet Tomas Chalder, who although full-grown, still seems to be trying to find (or re-find) himself. One special feature of this outstanding science fiction novel for young adult readers are the series of fully illustrated children's tales told by Andrew to his little sisters and embedded in the narrative. Highly recommended for science fiction fans.

Rating:
Summary: I'm Not A Young Adult, But....
Review: Ms. Lowenstein's excellent book would be one of my favorites, if I were! Sci-fi was my first fictional love as a young reader, and I read every space story I could get my hands on. Many of them eventually began to seem alike, though. Rest assured that FOCUS is of a different stripe. The saga of Andrew Haldran, adolescent and confused, who no longer has any planet to call his home, will resonate with young readers living through their own terrestrial versions of Andrew's alienation. Lowenstein convincingly renders the inner turmoil of a teen, privately clinging to childhood, publicly showing a brave face. His very innocence allows him to view his new surroundings without prejudice or preconception, making friends with a mysterious outcast who alone possesses the key to this society's future. Andrew's guilelessness charms. But it is Tomas, the alienish outcast, who lingers poignantly in the reader's imagination long after the last page has been turned. FOCUS is astoundingly original, daring to locate (and address) the child in each of us. Its illustrated stories-within-the-story stir deep memories in an older reader, reminding us that even the toughest-acting teen can still harbor sweetness, uncertainty, and the unclouded sense of wonder he was born with. Lowenstein writes with the originality of a space alien, from the true-blue heart of a child. This is an entertaining book for adults to give young readers, but might also be a valuable read for parents struggling to understand a son or daughter. Ms. Lowenstein is intergenerational in her empathy, and FOCUS is suffused with her humanity, amazing imagination, and sheer joy in her own creativity.