The Ramsay Scallop

Rating:
Summary: excellent!
Review: Thomas and Elenor hate each other. Elenor is in the town of Ramsey when she gets told that she has to be wed to Thomas when he comes back from the crusades. Elenor tries to think herself out of it and say that it isn't true but when Thomas comes back from the crusades things start heating up. Thomas and Elenor haven't seen each other for eight years because Thomas had been at the crusades. They get married and then the friar whom makes the marriage official sends them on a pilgrimage, before she gets them married because he is not sure that they like each other, to Spain so they can get to like each other more and get to know each other more. Traveling across the English Channel, through France and Spain, Elenor and Thomas make new friends, experience unexpected hardships, and enjoy adventure the real way.

Rating:
Summary: Teen Turmoil + Hellish History = "The Ramsay Scallop"
Review: Two years ago I went to Europe, to prepare me for my trip, my mom made me read this book. Now I read it every year at the same time to remind myself of the wonderful times I had in Britain and France. What really struck me about "The Ramsay Scallop" was how well teenage feelings and historical accuracy were blended, producing a wonderful story. -Claire, age 14

Rating:
Summary: Why I liked it and many didn't
Review: Well, after reading all of the other reviews offered at the bottom of this page, I was suddenly motivated to write a review of my own. I loved this book and was a bit confused at first about why others hated it.I think that the readers who reviewed this book and thought it was bad were not prepared for all of the information or didn't expect it to be how it was. Obviously there has to be something about this book or else it wouldn't've won the ALA Best Book for Young Adults award. I thought it was very interesting to learn about this time period and all this religious stuff got kind of boring but then you sort of got intrigued. The best part of the book was the blooming romance between the main characters Thomas and Elenor. I loved how at first Thomas referred to Elenor as "the Brat" and then eventually switched to Nora. I'm only a teenager and know as much about pilgrimmage as I do about gnu herding in West Africa (if there is such a thing). I found myself engrossed, though, and all in all it was a really good book I think.

Rating:
Summary: CAN THEY MAKE BOOKS THIS BORING?
Review: You buy your book, get home, take a shower, crawl in bed, and pick up The Ramsay Scallop. You'll open the book, and read the frist few paragraphs over and over again because it's so boring that you keep trailing off. Finally after the seventh time you've tried to read the third paragraph, your asleep. The Ramsay Scallop is one of those books that try to be interesting, but just doesn't follow though, at all! I couldn't believe I had read it. It took me like five months to read and it was only about 200 pages long. Next time if you can't get to sleep, pick up The Ramsay Scallop and you'll be out in five seconds!

Rating:
Summary: THE MOST BORING, HORRIBLE BOOK EVER!!!
Review: You know how you can be reading books.. but have your mind.. wander.. to other things.. such as your lunch yesterday? I faced this problem many times during the hours I spent hunched over, sitting at my desk, half asleep. Being a fan of science fiction, fantasy, anything but realistic fiction, I found this book to be horrible. HORRIBLE!! The writing style was very annoying and the events seemed to be jumbled up. AND IT READ SO SLOWLY!! How can a 310 book seem so long!? Basically, it's about a 14 year old girl who is betrothed to some guy that had gone off on the crusades and their wonderfully exciting pilgrimage to Santiago. There was no action at all! The only exciting part was when I finally finished it and began The Light Fantastic (Terry Pratchett, it's a lot better than this! Read it!!). The book dragged on and on and on and wouln't end!!! ARGH! Don't read it! Stay away from it!