Rating:  Summary: Good-Not Sachar's Best Review: "The Boy Who Lost His Face" was one good book. There was some profanity but it did go along with the story. I didn't bother me. David Bollinger steals an old lady's cane with his "friends". The old lady sets a curse on him. He becomes distant with those friends and then he meets Larry and Mo. They become and help David figure out what he did. He meets a girl and she becomes his girlfriend. I won't tell you more becuase I want you to read the story.
Rating:  Summary: Can life go on in spite of a curse hanging over your head? Review: Daivd is in Junior High. His best friend since second grade has started hanging out with a gang of popular, but
mean and heartless, kids. David has to deal with making
new friends, a major crush, and public humiliation.
All of David's problems are paralleled throughout the
story by a curse he imagines has been put on him by an old
woman. Mr. Sachar is brilliant!
Rating:  Summary: Mr. Sachar, why did you have to go blue? Review: David and Scott had been best friends since grade school. They were the type of friends who walked to and from school everyday and spent most of their free time together. However, in middle school Scott, who is smart, good looking, and athletic, finds himself being invited to hangout with the popular boys. At first, David also hangs out with the popular kids, but his acceptance into this group is only due to his association with Scott. David doesn't particularly like Scott's new friends and he knows that they are just barely tolerating him. But even worse is that David gets the feeling that Scott, his best friend, is embarrassed by David's presence when hanging out with these "cool" kids.David tries to fit in and even goes along with a vicious prank on an elderly woman even though he knows it was wrong. (During the prank, the woman puts a "curse" at David.) However, David's attempts to fit in fail and gradually he gets the idea that his friendship with Scott is over. To emphasize that they are no longer friends, Scott with his new buddies decide to make David's school life miserable. David finds himself alone and seemingly cursed in the unfriendly world of middle school. Yet David makes new friends. There is Larry, an odd guy, who constantly wears blue sunglasses, and claims to have lived all over the world. And there is Maureen (better known as Mo) a petite girl with short hair and "a-don't-mess-with-me" demeanor. And then there is "Ms. Williams"- the girl David likes and has given hints that she likes him too. David should be happy. He has new friends and he is on the verge of asking Ms. Williams out. However, Scott and his buddies not only continue to tease David, but also start picking on his new friends and his younger brother. Even worse is that David thinks that the "curse" put upon him, which he believes is causing to do a lot of dumb, clumsy, and obnoxious stuff, is ruining his chances with Ms. Williams. So David must find a way to beat the curse and in doing so he must also confront the bullies as well as his own guilt and fears. Louis Sachar's depiction of middle school life certainly rings true in many aspects. (I had a close grade school friend who abandoned me for the popular crowd in junior high.) Also, Sachar recognizes that sometimes fighting back is the only thing that will make a middle school bully back off. (I tried for months to ignore the bullies who had targetted me. However, that only encouraged wanna-be kids to see me as an easy way to increase their social standing. It was only after I finally stood up and I clobbered a wanna-be that most of the teasing ended.) Sachar's depiction of a middle school brawl is graphic and very realistic. Also realistic is the language used by the characters. However, I have to agree with some of the other reviewers here that this sort of language is inappropriate for the age group this book is marketed for. Yes, I used this sort of language when I was 12, but I don't think the use of it should be encouraged in a book for kids 9-12. It's also unneccessary. I think there are some good lessons to be learned from this book such as moral responsibility and standing up for yourself and your friends, but the inclusion of some very harsh language will make teachers and school librarians less likely to recommend it to their students.
Rating:  Summary: The Boy Who Lost His Face Review: David Balling and hid former friends went to Mrs. Bayland house to steal hear snake cane that she had. A few days later David's friend siad to these girls that that Daivd is cursed from this witch and David playef alone with it. David was having some probles everywhere he went like, falling off of a chair, walking to class with his zippers unziped, and worst of all, when he was asking a girl out his pants fell down in the middl eof the sentence. David was very worried so he thought about going and getting the cane back for Mrs. Bayland. David thought about many things, but it all ended up to go to his ex friends house and fight for it with his new friend. david and his new friends won thr fight and got the cane back for Mrs. Bayland and said he was sorry. Yes, I agreee with the author the boy did lose his face, but he didn;t lose his heart and his will to get the cane back for Mrs. Bayland. I would recommend this book to anyone, but i would really like to reacommend it to my best friend Phillip because he is humores and he like funny stories that make you keep on thinking, is that it or isn't that it.
Rating:  Summary: Hilarious! Review: David is a likeable boy who is always trying to fit in with the rest of his "cool" friends. Although the language is a little harsh in spots, I approve of it tremendously. It is right on the money for junior high students, and they will eat this book up with passion. I loved every minute of it. It is an accurate portrayal of the struggles junior high students must endure every day of their lives. Great Job!
Rating:  Summary: The Mysterious Artist Review: First David and some friends steal Mrs. Bayfields cane. Mrs. Bayfield is an old lady that lives in Davids neighborhood. David likes a girl and they call each other by their last names. David thinks he is cursed because Mrs. Bayfield said Doppel'a'ner so he tries to get the curse off him. If you want to read this book you might want to buy it and see the ending for yourself. The part I liked best about this book is when Davids pants fell down in front of Tori the girl that he likes. Another good thing about the book was his fly was almost always unzipped,which was funny. This is an interesting book for people who like mystery books. It would also be a good book for people who like funny books.
Rating:  Summary: Sachar Magic Review: Holes, Dogs Don't Tell Jokes, There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom, The Wayside School Series, The Marvin Redpost Series, many others, and now this one! Sachar never fails. He is one of the best authors of his time... Or all time. This a great book, definitly his second or third best. I highly recomend it!
Rating:  Summary: Inappropriate Language for Children Review: I am extremely disappointed in this selection! My son read Holes by the same author and loved it and was anxious to read deeper into this author's body of work. However, after reading just a few chapters of this book he came to me and showed me the curse words and obscene gestures on every other page. He enjoyed the story but felt like he shouldn't read any farther because of the frequent profanity. This book uses language that is simply inappropriate for children's literature. Amazon's Review Guidelines prohibit me from being more specific, but consider this: If the words shouldn't be used in these reviews then why in the world are they in a "children's book"??
Rating:  Summary: A book you will enjoy!! Review: I believe that "The Boy Who Lost his Face" is a great book because it is well suited for our age. The characters face situations that are likely to happen to kids who are twelve or thirteen years old. This book teaches you to move on and change friends if they are not being good to you. Even though this is a hard decision to make, this book shows you how David - a tweleve year old boy- overcomes it, and develops a much better friendship with his new friends. There are other books that I enjoyed reading by the same author such as "There is a boy in the Girl's bathroom." Which was fun reading as well. I know that if you get the chance to read this book you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Rating:  Summary: Inappropriate language Review: I gave this book to my 10 year old son because he is a huge fan of Louis Sachar. He brought it back to me himself because he was so disturbed by the language in it. We read some of the swearing together and had a good discussion about inappropriate language. He agreed that I should put it away until he is older. However, some of the language isn't even used by the adults in my son's life: we do not flip each other off, we do not talk about "putting something up another's a--", and we do not call each other names such as "pervert". I agree with the other mother who stated that children of this age, and perhaps not any age, should read this book.
|