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Summary: Complete truth is never black or white, but shades of gray
Review: Bellehaven. A sleepy little town with a secret that is two hundred years old. In 1798, a young man, Jessup Wildemere, was hanged without a trial for a crime he didn't commit. Now, in the present, 16-year-old Simon Gray has crashed his car into the very same tree that that Jessup was hung on. He is alive, but in a coma, taking with him a secret of his own. He had been bullied into hacking into the school's computer system to procure tests for three older kids. Now the three kids are worried that their secret will be revealed as cops swarm the school, investigating a hacking incident. While this is going on, Simon, trapped inside his own world, communicates with the long-dead Jessup, and discovers that the man was innocent... And makes some discoveries for himself.
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Summary: Shades Of Simon Gray
Review: I didn't find this book to be very interesting. Mind you, I'm only halfway through. But given the fact that I bought the book and started reading it at the beginning of August (2003) and it now being the end of March (2004) and I've only gotten to about chapter four, and have also read numerous other books in the time between - this book was definetly not for me. Sure, the author has a good style of writing, a good way of describing things, and all that. But to me, it just wasn't appealing. I can't say nothing major happened, but just the way everything worked out around what happened, it wasn't exciting...
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Summary: A Great Juggling Act
Review: I just finished Shade of Simon Gray and what a juggling act the author is doing in this one! She's got more balls in the air than you can imagine, with a coma, a crime, a ghost, out of body experiences, guilt, love, and friendship! And she manages to keep all of these balls up and spinning at a dizzying height, so that I was constantly turning the pages for more. When it comes to fiction for teens, J, McDonald nails both the teenage head and heart.If you need to borrow money from someone in the future you should try to get to know J. McDonald because I think she will be sitting pretty when they make this one into a movie. In the meantime enjoy the great read!
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Summary: It asks you to think...
Review: I love this story. I've read it 3 times. It's about choices (good and bad) and the prices we're willing to pay to get what we want. It doesn't offer any easy answers. It asks you to think about the choices made by these characters and the ones you yourself make. The fantasy/horror elements just make the story more enjoyable for me.
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Summary: Shades of Simon Gray
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book because there was never a dull moment. It was also a challenge with the constant change of perspective between each of the four main characters. McDonald kept the suspense high throughout the novel, keeping you guessing until the very last page about what might happen next. Many of the events that took place were closely related to my own life as a teenager, because everyday I face the same problems that each of these four students faced while nearing the end of high school and beginning life on their own. This book is directed toward young adults, but would be an awesome book to read at any age, inspiring the young and the old to find truth within themselves.
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Summary: Jump into Simon's world with Shades of Simon Gray.
Review: Shades of Simon Gray is a weird and spine tingling story. It will make you think twice about how ambitious people can be to get into a good college. I would recommend this story to all those people who love stories that keep you guessing to the very end. This story will make you want to think a lot about consequences for your actions because you never know who's going to catch you. There was a heatwave the week of Simon's fatal accident frogs had come out of the river and were swarming everywhere. As Simon drove along the road frogs came on to the windshield and in a desperate atempt to see, Simon squished the frogs on the windsheild which didn't help much because their guts were now all over the screen. As he drove along,Simon, tried to ignore all the crushing noises of the frog's bodies under the wheels of the car. The windsheild wipers had cleaned the frog's mess now and before Simon knew what was happening he was flying over the road and was crashing into the liberty tree.
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Summary: Em's Review
Review: Shades of Simon Gray was the best book i ever read! I started it a year ago but then lost my copy of the book. I've not been able to finish it till now, and it was worth the wait. :-) I found the mystrey and lies made the book unable to be put down. SImon and his "friends" were careful about covering everything up about the project, Simons coma vistings fed the story to something bigger. It was the greatest book to read.My little sister (age 10) is now reading it to my little brother (age 7). everyone in my family has read it from age 40 to 7 We all love it.
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Summary: SHADES OF SIMON GRAY is brilliant.
Review: The peepers are everywhere, little frogs descending on Bellehaven by the thousands like some early sign of the Apocalypse. As Simon Gray drives home one blisteringly hot night, he squashes millions of them, their blood making the road slick and dangerous. Of course he has an accident --- someone was bound to have one sooner or later. As Simon lies in the hospital in a coma, secrets begin to unfold. Simon was the brain behind a computer hacking operation that enabled Devin, Kyle and Danny to get advance copies of their tests. Before the accident, Simon had done and said things that disturbed his best friend, Liz. Those who didn't know Simon Gray thought he was perfect.
SHADES OF SIMON GRAY is a brilliant combination of mystery, fantasy, history and gritty realism. This is a book that doesn't let up for a minute, pulling the reader in with a fast-paced blend of past and present. Love mysteries? Hate mysteries? It doesn't matter. Simon Gray will intrigue everyone and keep the reader guessing as to what will happen next. There's even an element of the supernatural, with Simon leaving his comatose body to walk through the town, discovering the truth behind a centuries-old murder. Why are the police involved with Simon's accident? What do the strange weather and the sudden appearance of crows have to do with him? None of the pieces add up...or do they?
--- Reviewed by Carlie Kraft
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Summary: A winner!
Review: This book just won a place on the Tayshas list of books recommended for Texas high school students, and it is no wonder. You've got time-travel, a ghost, cheaters about to be caught red-handed, Old Testament plagues, love, family dynamics, a hanging, a horrific car wreck. There's more, and it just gets better. Joyce McDonald is an amazing author.
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Summary: Page Turner!
Review: This was such an exciting book! From the begining, the story is so skillfully unraveled, it was hard to put the book down. Joyce McDonald captures her readers with the weird events happening in the small New England town from the mysterious accident that leaves Simon in a coma to the various plagues of frogs, birds and disease, you just have to know how it will all turn out. The characters are so real, sorting out their fears and concerns, you can't help but worry for them. This is a great read!
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