Welcome to the Ark

Rating:
Summary: A novel of the fate of human kind and the quest to end it.
Review: A group of four kids from very different backgrounds and with extraordinary abilities discover a power within themselves and dozens of others around the world to altogether stop evil, not with evil, but with love and patience. Together, not physically, these people, no matter where they are, can stop violence from occurring. Nicely-crafted characters collaborate in a highly suspenseful plot to override the evil that is slowly enveloping society.. A thought-provoking, futuristic novel of the horrible fate of human kind and the perilous quest to end it. Highly Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Fan & Friend of Tolan- Go Yunasa!
Review: I attended a week-long overnight summer camp especially directed towards gifted children, and in helping us realize our "non-intellectual" gifts. Tolan was one of the head fellows, and though I had only read one of her books before, I quickly borrowed the sequel (Flight of the Raven) and finished it within the week. But back to ARK. In my opinion, it was probably one of the most moving books I've ever read, simply because it was so accurate. Publishers, call it what you will, but kids like this exist in our everyday world. As the storyline pulls the "Ark" children closer and closer together, it has the same effect on the reader. Though they share a common gift, each has his or her own past, and the sub-plots for each one are expertly woven together to finally finish the tale. There are few flaws one can find in the book, and besides a slightly too compulsive ending, the book paves the way for the Raven and the much-anticipated third book, which (we hope) will bring our favorite characters back together again.

Rating:
Summary: The most awesome book!
Review: I first read this book when I was in the 6th grade. When I first started reading the book I was very confused, afterall I was only about 11 years old,and the book was rather difficult to understand, but I instantly fell in love with it. I became so indulged, it was as if I was in the character's shoes, it was so awesome. I would spend hours on end reading this book and I feel it was more than worth the time. Never had I read a book that had such an impact on me, that opened my eyes, keep in mind how young I was and, though I was more mature than your average 6th grader, how little I knew. I never forgot about this book, & for 3 years I've been looking for it thinking it was entitled "The Ark", tonight I found it & am overcomed with joy. I can't really explain this book or why it had such an impact on me, you just have to read it yourself to find out, but all I can say is that it is beyond awesome.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Agony and Hope
Review: I have had the marvelous opportuntiy to hear Stephanie Tolan
speak, and this book provides an opportunity to connect with
both her marvelous vision and the hidden depths within our souls.
This is not an easy casual read as it is a profoundly visceral
experience. It is hard to put this book down so be prepared for
a marathon reading session.
Through her characters eyes we are reminded of a
time when we did not calmly accept the evils of the world and
still dreamed of not feeling alone. I have enjoyed all of MS.
Tolan's books- this one has provoked the most thought. It was
comforting to be reminded that there are other people who care
deeply and to be reminded of the hope that together we can work
to make this world a better place.
For those who are interested in more information about the Gifted
I recommend the hoagies book list and website as a good place to
start. I would recommend this book to anyone who works with
teens or preteens as it will stir your memories of the passion
with which they live their lives.

Rating:
Summary: Disturningly Real, yet hopeful
Review: I just read this book last night. It is wonderful. The characters are easy to relate to and the storyline is excellent. With the world as it is, this book provides an eerily accurate account of today's world. This book is positively wonderful and these children give hope for the future. We can, and will, prevail!

Rating:
Summary: Welcome to the Ark
Review: I loved this book. I liked that despite the fact that the characters were very different from me, I could still relate to them. I also liked that it was descriptive in a way that made me feel like I was there, but I could still imagine parts to my liking. I really loved that there was never a spot in the book that got boring, I never really wanted to stop reading, even when I'd finished it.

Rating:
Summary: Don't judge a book by its cover.
Review: I really hate depressing gang books, and that's all I could gather from reading the back cover. I honestly only picked this because I needed a book to fill some spare time in the winter, and this looked like a book I could get through relatively quickly and painlessly. I have a pretty one-track mind when it comes to literature which is always headed down sci-fi avenue. But as I prepared for the worst I got a big surprise. The book effectively combines the approach of a group of child "psychotics" and turns it into a plot which can be considered nothing less than spiritual. And despite that, the author has still managed to mix in an amazing amount of action. The author has combined all of these elements spectacularly into one great book. Two thumbs up.

Rating:
Summary: Review: Welcom to the Ark
Review: I was designated as 'profoundly gifted' as a child, had some unusual abilities, and spent much of my adolescence in psychiatric institutions. As such, my identification with the 'gifted but troubled' kids in this book was extreme at times. I could understand the things they were saying, why they were saying them, and the ways in which they interacted with each other. I understood how deeply disturbed they were by the condition of the world around them, and I saw reflected in some of the characters my own tendency to connect with my non-human surroundings.

However, as someone who spent a lot of time in psychiatric wards and special education with people who did not carry this designation of giftedness, I found some of the ideas disturbingly inaccurate.

First of all, every single one of the gifted children was portrayed as misdiagnosed, while the other children were portrayed as properly diagnosed. While I have problems with the conventions of psychiatric labeling, these problems extend far beyond just gifted children. At one point, a character refers to the other children -- the non-gifted ones -- as "broken". So there is this unsettling dichotomy between the gifted-but-misdiagnosed kids and the broken kids. Reality is not that simple, and the book leans in the direction, as many institution-based books unfortunately do, of implying that some people should have been in such an oppressive environment and others should not have. The ones who should not have are the heroes of the book.

Another concern is the stereotype -- which has gotten truly old by this point -- of the child diagnosed or misdiagnosed as autistic, who is really just extremely traumatized and possibly has special gifts or powers as well. I remember someone I knew, who was also autistic, reading this book and identifying strongly with it, up until she came to this character. Her response when they came to the point of describing autistic children who could read as not really understanding what we read was an exclamation of "What???" A large minority of autistic people are reading -- truly reading -- at an age well below the average reading age, yet this book uses the fact that a character is doing that as proof that he is not autistic (being autistic would, presumably, make him "broken", a stereotype a lot of autistic people are trying to fix). However, in all fairness, most clinicians don't realize that and would be as likely as the clinicians in the story to dismiss early reading as a meaningless splinter skill.

The biggest problem I had with this whole area was the idea that these various characteristics being described existed in "gifted" children, but not in "broken" children, and that any diagnosis given to a gifted child was a sign of brokenness and therefore probably untrue. I have seen these same characteristics and skills in people with all kinds of diagnoses (for which the characteristics were often accurate, whether or not I agreed with the social implications of the diagnoses), and people with low IQ scores who would never be classified as gifted. My experiences as a psychiatric inmate and a special ed student led me to meet a lot of people who were like the people in this book, but who would never receive such a classification.

Despite these misgivings, I found myself wishing, while reading this book, that I had a place like the Ark group home in the book to go to, much as I hate such environments in real life. To be somewhere where I am understood and not ostracized would be very nice, and to make the world a place where nobody -- not even those who are currently viewed as "broken" -- were ostracized, would be even better. I look forward, albeit with some uneasiness, to reading the sequels, and seeing where all these familiar characters go.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely real in some ways, extremely not-real in others
Review: I was designated as 'profoundly gifted' as a child, had some unusual abilities, and spent much of my adolescence in psychiatric institutions. As such, my identification with the 'gifted but troubled' kids in this book was extreme at times. I could understand the things they were saying, why they were saying them, and the ways in which they interacted with each other. I understood how deeply disturbed they were by the condition of the world around them, and I saw reflected in some of the characters my own tendency to connect with my non-human surroundings.

However, as someone who spent a lot of time in psychiatric wards and special education with people who did not carry this designation of giftedness, I found some of the ideas disturbingly inaccurate.

First of all, every single one of the gifted children was portrayed as misdiagnosed, while the other children were portrayed as properly diagnosed. While I have problems with the conventions of psychiatric labeling, these problems extend far beyond just gifted children. At one point, a character refers to the other children -- the non-gifted ones -- as "broken". So there is this unsettling dichotomy between the gifted-but-misdiagnosed kids and the broken kids. Reality is not that simple, and the book leans in the direction, as many institution-based books unfortunately do, of implying that some people should have been in such an oppressive environment and others should not have. The ones who should not have are the heroes of the book.

Another concern is the stereotype -- which has gotten truly old by this point -- of the child diagnosed or misdiagnosed as autistic, who is really just extremely traumatized and possibly has special gifts or powers as well. I remember someone I knew, who was also autistic, reading this book and identifying strongly with it, up until she came to this character. Her response when they came to the point of describing autistic children who could read as not really understanding what we read was an exclamation of "What???" A large minority of autistic people are reading -- truly reading -- at an age well below the average reading age, yet this book uses the fact that a character is doing that as proof that he is not autistic (being autistic would, presumably, make him "broken", a stereotype a lot of autistic people are trying to fix). However, in all fairness, most clinicians don't realize that and would be as likely as the clinicians in the story to dismiss early reading as a meaningless splinter skill.

The biggest problem I had with this whole area was the idea that these various characteristics being described existed in "gifted" children, but not in "broken" children, and that any diagnosis given to a gifted child was a sign of brokenness and therefore probably untrue. I have seen these same characteristics and skills in people with all kinds of diagnoses (for which the characteristics were often accurate, whether or not I agreed with the social implications of the diagnoses), and people with low IQ scores who would never be classified as gifted. My experiences as a psychiatric inmate and a special ed student led me to meet a lot of people who were like the people in this book, but who would never receive such a classification.

Despite these misgivings, I found myself wishing, while reading this book, that I had a place like the Ark group home in the book to go to, much as I hate such environments in real life. To be somewhere where I am understood and not ostracized would be very nice, and to make the world a place where nobody -- not even those who are currently viewed as "broken" -- were ostracized, would be even better. I look forward, albeit with some uneasiness, to reading the sequels, and seeing where all these familiar characters go.

Rating:
Summary: welcome to the arc/ the worst book i have ever read
Review: I would recomend anybody who is thinking about reading this book not to do so. This book was most likely the worst, most boing book I have ever read. The aurthor keeps taking your through these mind bogeling dreams that are very boring and about stuff I thought the book could of been without. I dont mind reading books as long as they are good books, but this book was not one I enjoyed. I found myself falling asleep when I was reading. Now all of you are probally wondering why if this book was so boring why was I reading it, well the answer is I had to read it for a class. So stay away from the book or else you will regret it. Trust me i did. I wished I would not of have had to waste my time reading this book. I could of been doing other stuff with my time.