Emily's Musings

Summerland

Forgot to write this up the other day when I finished listening to it, but since I should probably bring it back to the library tonight when I go to work, I thought I should do it now.

Summerland
Michael Chabon
500 pages
Miramax; 2002
Ages 9-12

I loved it. It started off slow and for a while I had forgotten why I had checked it out, but once the fantasy side of it came through I couldn't stop listening (10 tapes worth allowed for a lot of listening pleasure and many drives that seemed way too short).

PW writes, "Impressively, the author takes a contemporary smalltown setting and weaves in baseball history, folklore and environmental themes, to both challenge and entertain readers. Images of the icy Winterlands and beasts like the werefox and Taffy the motherly Sasquatch recall C.S. Lewis's Narnia and some of Philip Pullman's creations in His Dark Materials. Devotees of the genre and of America's pastime will find much to cheer here. All ages." School Library Journal, which recommends it for grades 5+, writes ". Readers will identify with Ethan and his motley crew with their insecurities, longings, family problems, and their sometimes clumsy ingenuity. Packed with magic, adventure, myth, and America's favorite pastime, this book will enchant its audience." Booklist says, "Committed fantasy buffs are a breed apart, but even they will have to bring their A-games if they expect to digest this ingredient-rich plot. (Certainly, only the most precocious of kids will be able to get around on Chabon's mythic fastball.) Still, there is a good story here, semi-buried beneath the world building; maybe a trimmed-down, three-hour movie will salvage it for the more mundane among us."