The Mind's Eye

Rating:
Summary: "Very Touching and Intriguing!'
Review: The Mind's Eye is a great story by Paul Fleischman. In this book, a young girl by the name of Courtney got into a terrible accident and damaged her legs. Because her mother had passed away when she was younger, she lived with her stepfather. Not getting along with him, she was stuck at Home Care while he found a new life with another woman. Although she was lonely at first, she made new friends with Evla, and old woman. Together, they pass their time by imagining about places and things.
This book was introduced to me by Faith, my best friend. After reading it, she described it to me as a very touching story that I would fall in love with. The cover also seemed to look interesting and fun so I went ahead and read it. Even the cover seemed to tell me that this would be a book that I enjoy.
One of my favorite parts were when Elva and Courtney traveled to Italy through their imaginations. As Courtney looked through the map of Italy, they pretended to travel through its museums and wonderful sites. This gave me a feeling of wonder and adventure and I felt as though I was traveling through it, too. I never been to Italy either so I got to experience it through their imagination. It was very exciting and interesting. This is a book that should be read by everyone!

Rating:
Summary: Mind's Eyes (Fiction Book)
Review: The Mind's Eyes is written by Pual Fleischman. Mind's Eyes is a book that talks about this girl. She was caught in an accident, and got her legs useless. Her mom died before she got in an accident and she was stuck with her step-father. She and her step-father wasn't really going along. Instead, her step-father married someone else and made the girl stay at a Home Care. From there she got new friends and a good room-mate. They would always think there were traveling somewhere like in Italy and make imaginary friends.
I love this book because you always want to know whats going to happen next when you have to stop reading. This book taught me something that I know and that I don't. One, is that always get to know the person you met first before you ignore them or leave them. The girl in the book got a friend (her room-mate) who is very old and likes to talk a lot. When the girl first knew the woman she wasn't didn't really like her from her talking and talking. But in the middle of the story they got along very well by using their imaginary people and things...

Rating:
Summary: Mind's Eyes (Fiction Book)
Review: The Mind's Eyes is written by Pual Fleischman. Mind's Eyes is a book that talks about this girl. She was caught in an accident, and got her legs useless. Her mom died before she got in an accident and she was stuck with her step-father. She and her step-father wasn't really going along. Instead, her step-father married someone else and made the girl stay at a Home Care. From there she got new friends and a good room-mate. They would always think there were traveling somewhere like in Italy and make imaginary friends.
I love this book because you always want to know whats going to happen next when you have to stop reading. This book taught me something that I know and that I don't. One, is that always get to know the person you met first before you ignore them or leave them. The girl in the book got a friend (her room-mate) who is very old and likes to talk a lot. When the girl first knew the woman she wasn't didn't really like her from her talking and talking. But in the middle of the story they got along very well by using their imaginary people and things...

Rating:
Summary: "Very Touching and Intriguing!"
Review: This book was introduced to me by Faith, my best friend. After reading it, she told me that the book was very touching and that I would love it. The cover also seemed to look interesting and fun so I went ahead and read it . Even the cover seemed to tell me that this would be a book that I enjoy.
The Mind's Eyes is a great story by Paul Fleischman. In this book, a young girl got into a terrible accident and damaged her legs. She also lived only with her stepfather for her mother passed away along time ago. Not getting along with her stepfather, she was stuck at a Home Care while he found a new life with another woman. Although she was lonely at first, she made new friends and adventure. Together they enjoyed imagining about things and places.
I enjoyed this book very much. It taught me new values in life. I learned you can't learn everything about a person by when you first look at them. It was a fun and interesting book, and I laughed everytime the girl and her friend made up their imaginary friends. This is a book that should be read by everyone!

Rating:
Summary: Misguided book
Review: This is well written, but Fleischman is so in love with the possibilities of the "life of the mind" that he doesn't seem to understand how barren a life he's created for his character... and how unnecessary that barrenness is. Being disabled doesn't mean she can't have friends, fall in love, go to college, have a full, rich life in MANY dimensions! But the book's core philosophy sees nothing for her but an inner life... and sees nothing wrong with that, either. A distasteful thought experiment, this book.

Rating:
Summary: On the hierarchy of plays for youth: average
Review: This novel is written entirely as a play. Therefore, it needs to be held to the same standards as other plays for young people. Are the characters compelling? Are they true? Does the action grip you and not let go? Will young audiences believe it when they read it? Will they come away with a greater respect for theater? I found this work to be static in its action, the character of Courtney to be untrue in the amont of anger that she would have had at her situation and her willingness to enter into any kind of rapport with Elva. And, because of its setting, it was very talky. It is a shame because theater for young people can be absolutely compelling. For comparison, see Suzan Zeder's DO NOT GO GENTLE, Mary Hall Surface's MOST VALUABLE PLAYER, and Cherie Bennett's ZINK, the latter recently adapted to fiction. All these plays are available from the major play publishers. MIND'S EYE, sadly--because Paul Fleishmann is a terrific fiction author--doesn't measure up.

Rating:
Summary: Mind's Eye
Review: Written as a play and taking place in a convalescent home, Mind's Eye is a touching story of the bond formed between Courtney a 16-year old who recently became a paraplegic and Elva, her elderly roommate who is bedridden and almost blind. A former English teacher, Elva is an educated and spirited woman. Kept company by the likes of John Greenleaf Whittier, William Blake and Robert Frost, she colors her conversations with quotes from the greats of the literary world. Depressed over her circumstances, Elva is nothing more than an irritant to Courtney. But when Elva tells Courtney a sentimental story about her late husband, Emmett, Courtney reluctantly listens. Elva explains that Emmett had always wanted to go to Europe, but passed away before his dream was realized. Elva tells Courtney that she had made a promise to Emmett that she herself would make the journey, but she became bedridden before that was possible. She encourages Courtney to join her and her husband on an imaginary pleasure trip through Italy using her 1910 Baedeker's Italy as their guide.
With detailed accounts, Fleischman creates a lavish trip through Italy's landmarks and countryside. For Elva, the trip becomes a time filled with fond memories of her late husband. At first, Courtney uses the trip as an opportunity to exude her anger about the new condition in which she finds herself. With little enthusiasm, Courtney reads from the travel guide and butchers the language. She unpacks her bags and ventures through Italy, and at one point takes a bold move and steers the trip in her own direction. Granting herself Medusa like powers, she pretends to ruin some of the world's most prized pieces of art. But, as she begins to heal spiritually and emotionally, she gives herself an imaginary boyfriend.
Fleischman craftily uses the trip to display Courtney's remarkable journey to emotional and spiritual recovery. He fills the reader with hope for Courtney and all others in similar situations as she continues her journey with another roommate after Elva's death. Fleischman's choice to leave out Courtney's emotional reaction to Elva's death is an interesting one, which leaves something special for the reader's own imagination. While the story could be easily understood by very young adults, the references to literary works and the spirit of this story would best be appreciated by sensitive readers. The surreal cover is a perfect complement to this imaginative flight.