Jacob Have I Loved

Rating:
Summary: This is the worst book I've ever read!
Review: In the beginning of this book (the 1-3 chapters), I thought I was reading a quality, good book. WRONG! After the 3rd chapter, it just kept getting worse and worse. A 13-year old girl named Louise is jealous of her twin, Caroline, because she gets all the attention. Her best friend is McCall Purnell, and she and her family live on a small Maryland fishing island.

But, Louise grows up to fast. One minute she's 13, then she's 17. Then she falls in love with a 70-year old man! Whenever he or his "hands" are mentioned, she feels "hot" all over, and she is jealous of him when he marries another 70-year old woman who just suffered a serious illness. SHE'S JEALOUS OF HIM! How crazy is that? And the ending just flies by. She moves off the island and gets married, and it all happens in one small chapter. She never makes up with her twin, Caroline, and she doesn't even care when the "Captain", her "boyfriend", dies.

The result: one big jumble of useless words, and I don't know how this book is worthy of a Newbery Medal. My advice: only read this book if you're really, REALLY bored!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful novel for kids and adults alike!
Review: I think this book was great. I don't care if people think the plot is odd, or 13 year old girls shouldn't be in love with 70 year old men. Jacob have I loved showed jelousy, and kids feelings to it's whole. I think this is a great book and I highly recomend it from ages 10 and up!

Rating:
Summary: Ugh!!!
Review: I saw a movie based on this book, and it was good, so I was really excited when I got the book for my birthday.

However, very quickly I realized that this just is (I hate to say it, but it's the only way to put it) a smutty book.

Thirteen-year-old Sara Louise was often neglected because of her perfect sister, Caroline. Sounds interesting, right? But, suddenly, Sara Louise is telling us all about her physical experiences of growing up, and how she is in love with this seventy-something-year-old man and is angry with him when he gets married to his childhood sweetheart, Trudie Braxton.

When Trudie dies, the old man (Capt. Wallace) gives Trudie's money to Caroline to go to music school. Then, Sara Louise's friend Cal proposes to Caroline, these two events make Sara Louise hate her sister all the more.

All through the book, there are slights and insults directed at God, the Bible, and everything that many people hold sacred. Most all of the people who are religious in the book are made fun of and portrayed to be ridiculous, stupid, or insane--or all three.

The thing I really hated was that in the end, Sara Louise never made up with her sister--or her parents.

The whole thing was just a mess, and I would not reccommend it to anyone, especially kids under twelve.

Rating:
Summary: I LOVED JACOB HAVE I LOVED!
Review: This is actually a very great book. It really makes you happy reading it.I loved it because it was magnificent. Normally, I don't use words like that but this is a slightly different situation. Sars Louise, the main charecter, struggles with her anger towards her twin sister while she strongly believes that God hates her. This story about finding yourself absolutely tops all the rest.

Rating:
Summary: This book isn't just for children...
Review: I was actually an adult when I came across this book. This is one of those books anyone who has ever felt alone in this world, or who grew up (is growing up, too) feeling like an outsider or the "black sheep" of the family as a female, you will not only love this book because you can relate to it, but also because the characters are so real & the feelings & things the main character is experiencing are so real & identifiable w/anyone who's ever felt alone, or like an outsider as a child/young adult. The time period that this book is written in also helps add to the dramatic feel of what's taking place in this character's life.

I would recommend this book to anyone, adult or teens. This is also an excellent book for those to read who have ever resented someone or a sibling because they were different; the book gives them an insight of what it's like to walk in the other person's shoes.

Rating:
Summary: If you missed the ending, you missed the point
Review: ... This is an incredible story about a young girl in a small fishing town, named Louise, who is painfully ordinary in comparison to her beautiful talented sister Caroline. The tomboyish Louise often feels akin to the biblical Eshau, the hated brother, viewing her sister as Jacob, the one loved by God.
I hate to ever talk about the endings of books, preferring that they be read in whole, but I am certain that it will not ruin this book for anyone. Louise becomes a doctor when she is grown up and delivers a set of twins. When there is concern about the frailer, cold and near lifeless baby making its way into the world Louise has to focus her attention on warming the fragile infant and forgets about the strong healthy one...
The point, for those who missed it, is for parents, and it is simple. Love all of your children equally, give them equal love and attention. Do not ignore children who can take care of themselves, they need love as much as anyone else. I hope that people will someday understand and put this simple moral lesson into practice.

Rating:
Summary: Ending was a let-down
Review: Ok, first off, I think this book does a great job at presenting Wheeze's family - through her eyes. When I first read this book, I was so mad that her family would treat her the way they did. Then I stepped back, and thought about it a little, and found that if you think about it, Caroline didn't really have the perfect life. She had mountains of pressure put on her from a young age to be a great singer, she had to go to a big preppy school with BORROWED money and (I'm sure) put up with all the snotty rich kids looking down their noses at her. I think the old man was right to give the money to Caroline, since she was the one who knew what she wanted to do. ... Overall, I thought the whole book was good, except for the ending, ...

Rating:
Summary: Ending did not fit the story...unsatisfying.
Review: I read this book and even though it was a good story, the ending wrapped up too quickly and did not satisfy or resolve the central conflict of the story. It seems like Paterson threw in the ending for the sake of an ending. The main character, Sara Louise Bradshaw, felt like the biblical Esau (hated) and her twin sister Caroline, like Jacob (loved) pretty much got everything she wanted, even if it belonged to her sister. The story went on to conclude that even though Sara Louise finally found out a way to escape the "shadow" of her sister, that there is no such thing as wrapping up a story to resolve the conflict. Since the conflict of the story was not about Louise's search for herself but the rivalry between her and her twin, it should have focused on that in the end, but instead, both seemed like they never saw each other ever again after they both went their separate ways. Is nothing biblical here? Esau was going to kill his brother Jacob in the Bible, but when the time came for them to fight, both rediscovered that there was some forgotten brotherly love between them. Since this story focused so fanatically on religion and that particular allusion to the Bible, why didn't the writer follow through on the lessons learned? The ending just sucked big time, and to me, "Bridge to Terabithia" is a much better story.
If I could write a screenplay based on "Jacob Have I Loved" I would stay loyal to the book only until up to the ending, when I would have an event happen that would have brought both of those twin sisters together again. There should have been some love between them and some forgiveness, but obviously the author knows nothing about true sibling rivalry, which accounts for the unsatisfying ending of what would have been a most excellent work.

Rating:
Summary: Jacob Have I Loved
Review: ...

I liked this book because it talks about a girl trying to get out of her hometown and into the real world, which held her future. The author is trying to motivate his readers to never give up on their goals. Louise's sister, Caroline was her main obstacle. Caroline took everything that Louise wanted to do... Louise finds something that she wanted to do with the help of the Captain, an old man that was Louise's friend...

My favorite part of the book is when Louise starts to communicate with her mother instead of shutting out of her life like before. By talking to her, she realized how much her mother cared and loved her. Louise starts to understand more about her mother's past, which helps her make her decision...

Rating:
Summary: Jacob Have I Loved
Review: Caroline, Louise's sister, has always been the one that everyone loved. Louise is the one everyone hated or never noticed. Caroline has taken basically everything away from Louise, her best friend and even the love of her family members. Louise worked with her father as a water man, but deep down inside, she wanted to get off Rass Island and be a doctor. At the end, she accomplishes her goals by moving away from Rass Island and becoming a doctor.

I liked this book because it talks about a girl trying to get out of her hometown and into the real world, which held her future. The author is trying to motivate his readers to never give up on their goals. Louise's sister, Caroline was her main obstacle. Caroline took everything that Louise wanted to do, like the chance of getting off the island to go to school. Louise finds something that she wanted to do with the help of the Captain, an old man that was Louise's friend. She even got married, something she thought she could never do since her sister had taken the man she had wanted to marry, her best friend Call.

My favorite part of the book is when Louise starts to communicate with her mother instead of shutting out of her life like before. By talking to her, she realized how much her mother cared and loved her. Louise starts to understand more about her mother's past, which helps her make her decision about moving away to become a doctor. Her mother chose to go to Rass Island over Paris to write poetry. That's when Louise knew she had to leave before she ended up living there forever, becoming a water man.

...