8 Plus 1

Rating:
Summary: Only sporadically interesting.
Review: Eight Plus One is a collection of short stories inspired by Cormier's life as a father and teenager - three set during the great depression, four from the view of a father, and five as a teenager.

`The Moustache' is from the view of a teenager who grows a moustache. He visits his grandmother, who thinks he is her husband.

`Mine on Thursday' describes a father's weekly day-out with his natural daughter. He lets her go on a ride in a fun park, but she comes out depressed from the experience. The father comes to realises that he does not own his daughter on Thursday.

`Another of Mikes Girls' shows how a teenager guy goes out with an attractive girl, but eventually split up. The father, who narrates the story, knows that she was just another of Mike's Girls.

`President Cleveland, where are you?' is set during the depression where card collecting and trading was the trend.

`A bad time for Fathers' shows the depressing time for a father when his daughter leaves to college.

`Protestants Cry, too', is a short story on religious discrimination, where a Canadian teenager becomes engaged to a Protestant.

`Guess What? I Almost Kissed my father Goodnight', is the story of a teenager's discovery that his father is all too human.

`My first Negro' shows how an African American and a White American can be friends if they break the barrier of discrimination.

`Benny Berigan - Wasn't he a Musician or Something?' is a short story of a father's friend leaving his wife for another woman who, though extremely attractive, will one day loose her beauty.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting collection of stories
Review: Eight plus one is a collection of short stories with similar themes. I would reccomend Eight Plus One for any reader. There are many good features of the book. First, Cromier writes a brief explanation before each story. This is very insightful for the reader,and I learned many of the ideas for his stories come from his family. Another feature of the book is that anyone can relate to the characters. However some aspects of the book are negative. For instance, different characters in different stories share the same names. Another negative aspect of the story is that it has no flow because the stories are so short. I would reccomend Eight Plus One to any reader looking to enjoy a short book.

Rating:
Summary: Eight Plus One Review
Review: Eight Plus One, a collection of nine short stories for kids, is a very interesting and funny book. Each story had a different theme and idea, and that made the book more enjoyable. Throughout this book I came upon things that I both liked and disliked.
One positive aspect of this book is the collection of introductions before each story. This introduction provides the reader with the origin and reason for each story, and I really enjoyed that. Also, a good part of this book was the funny and sometimes hilarious antics that the characters go through. For example, in the story,"The Moustache," Mike's grandmother constantly makes up stories of things that never happened, which adds some fun to the story. Finally, I liked the repititionof characters in some of the stories. That way, the reader has an idea of who the person's like.
In contrast, there were some negatives of this book that got my attention. First, I thought that in some of the stories there was a lot of "filler," or unnecessary information, which sometimes made the story boring. Lastly, I felt that in some stories, especially "Protestants Cry, Too," there was discrimination of people. Even though in the end the fighting was settled, I believe that maybe those ideas didn't have to be included.
In conclusion, the good and bad things of this collection go to show that this book is recommended for comedy lovers, and may be a good book for all other readers.

Rating:
Summary: Eight Plus One
Review: Eight Plus One, by Robert Cormier, is a collection of nine short stories. These stories are all about qualities and values that are important in everyday life. Robert keeps most of the characters the same throughout the stories. It gave me a chance to get to know them as I watched them grow through their experiences. The book also appeals to young and old people alike as several stories relate to both. One downside is that the stories may be a little boring as the values seem to become repetitive and that made me lose interest. Also, many of the stories are sad and may not appeal to younger readers who are looking for more adventurous material. All in all, Eight Plus One is a good book for the mature reader who can look a little deeper in the stories for the real reason they were written.

Rating:
Summary: My Review
Review: Have you ever felt like you were living the story that you were reading? Well that is how I felt reading 8 Plus 1 by Robert Cormier. It is a collection of 9 short stories. The one that I enjoyed the most was the story called "Bunny Berigan----Wasn't He a Musician or Something." In this story I felt like it was very detailed, you just get trapped into the story. I liked the fact that Robert Cormier was so specific about the story that he just made me feel as if I knew the characters and as if I was part of the story.
I felt like it related to everyday life, it wasn't just fiction story, I felt as it was very realistic. It is stuff that could happen every day.
It was kind of difficult at the same time because they are all different stories but the characters are all kind of in the same setting and situation, for example he used the same characters and the same situations in a couple of the stories.( when I first started to read it I thought it was all one big story). The stories are all in the same setting and in the same time period. Also the stories are all kind of based on family issues and depression for all of settings of all the stories.
I have heard that Robert Cormier actually put together stuff that actually has happened to him and created it in to this book. I think that it just is amazing to be so open about your whole life.
In conclusion I thought that the book 8 Plus 1 was pretty awesome it had some bad and some good, but mostly good. It was very interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Good but slow
Review: I enjoyed the book "Eight Plus One" by Robert Cormier. It taught many lessons about everyday life. I thought it was interesting that Cormier took people he knew from his life and made them fictional characters, as well as with the events that took place in the stories. The book was rather confusing because many of the characters were the same in each story. This made it difficult to differentiate between the stories. This book is a good one to read for young adults because it teaches many lessons about life that are easy to interpret and understand. Also, many of the characters are young people who learn something about their parents or elders in the end. Each character had an "epiphany." I thought the book was slow because it seemed that each story was pretty much the same-young and old have trouble, young learns something about old and develops new understanding, or vice versa. The book contained no suspense or action, which usually appeals to the younger readers. In conclusion, the book "Eight Plus One" by Robert Cormier is a good book to read when learning about life.

Rating:
Summary: Good but slow
Review: I enjoyed the book "Eight Plus One" by Robert Cormier. It taught many lessons about everyday life. I thought it was interesting that Cormier took people he knew from his life and made them fictional characters, as well as with the events that took place in the stories. The book was rather confusing because many of the characters were the same in each story. This made it difficult to differentiate between the stories. This book is a good one to read for young adults because it teaches many lessons about life that are easy to interpret and understand. Also, many of the characters are young people who learn something about their parents or elders in the end. Each character had an "epiphany." I thought the book was slow because it seemed that each story was pretty much the same-young and old have trouble, young learns something about old and develops new understanding, or vice versa. The book contained no suspense or action, which usually appeals to the younger readers. In conclusion, the book "Eight Plus One" by Robert Cormier is a good book to read when learning about life.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful. Just beautiful.
Review: It wasn't the stories themselves that interested me so much as the introductions. I learned some interesting things about Cormier and feel all the better for having read the book. As for the stories, I liked them. They display a Robert Cormier of a very different kind. Yes, he CAN write humor, yes he CAN write happy endings! I have been looking for a weakness but have not yet found one.

Rating:
Summary: Review of 8 Plus 1
Review: Robert Cormier has written many books that teach life lessons. One of them is 8 Plus 1. 8 Plus 1 has nine completely different stories, hence the title. One of the best things about it is the plot. The plot really helped me relate to the characters. This is especially true in "The Moustache." I could really relate with the main character, Mike, with how he was feeling. In each of the stories the reader gets to know the characters and feel what they are feeling. I can put myself into Jerry's place in "Bunny Berigan-Wasn't He a Musician or Something?" because I could understand why he was feeling lucky, sad, and pain. I could sympathize with him feeling that his best friend was making a horrible mistake. Another great thing about 8 Plus 1 is how the themes are told. Cormier makes the reader think about what he is trying to say and doesn't just tell you. This is really shown in "Protestants Cry Too" when Jerry says, "You said Protestants have no heart, that they don't laugh or cry. Jessica was crying. I saw her face and she was crying just like you cried the other night at supper." The reader has to think about what this means. I thought that there were only two negative point about Cormier's book. The first is that none of the short stories have very adventerous plots. They teach the theme well but don't have any really exciting and suspensful parts. The other is that the end of the stories leave the reader wondering what is going to happen to the characters. Over all, I think that 8 Plus 1 is an very insightful book.

Rating:
Summary: Nine poignant short stories that show Cormier's gentler side
Review: Robert Cormier is best known for his starkly realistic and uncompromising novels about the darker side of life. In "8 Plus 1" we see a gentler Cormier, although some of the stories do have their painful parts. As always, Cormier's writing is superb. An added bonus is the introductions he wrote for each story, in which he writes about how a story came to be written or about some aspect of the writing. This book is great bedside reading, and fascinating for the reader who also loves to write. Cormier's insights and family anecdotes make this book a true gem for Cormier fans.