Justine Causse từ Méry-ès-Bois, France

justinecausse

05/09/2024

Dữ liệu người dùng, đánh giá và đề xuất cho sách

Justine Causse Sách lại (10)

2019-02-01 13:31

Tướng Mặt Ngũ Hành Giải Mệnh Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Thái Luân Thi

This novel was great fun. It features an intricate, sometimes riveting, storyline and a host of hilarious characters and situations. At times, it had me literally laughing out loud. From start to finish, Laura Ruby manages to keep the reader engaged, entertained and thinking. The story is set in an alternate world, in which most human beings can fly. Most people are lousy at flying, a few are expert enough to do so as professional athletes, and a small number cannot fly at all. Those who cannot fly are often ridiculed as "leadfeet." Birds are the most sought-after pets, and cats are disdained, due to their appetites for birds. Against this backdrop live two hapless children in a Dickensian orphanage, Hope House for the Homeless and Hopeless. Upon entering this strange New York institution, children lose their memories of their previous lives and receive new first names but no last names. The matron, an iron-fisted freak named Mrs. Terwiliger, can't seem to come up with a decent name for any child. Hence, children walk around Hope House being called by bizarre appellations like "Chicken" and "Ruckus." One night, a hapless twelve-year-old "leadfoot" named Gurl (apparently Mrs. Terwiliger never won any spelling bees), raised at Hope House since infancy, makes two life-changing discoveries. One is a special power: she can turn invisible. The other discovery is a stray cat who decides to keep her company and to be her pet. Gurl tries to keep both discoveries a secret, but when Mrs. Terwiliger learns of Gurl's power of invisibility, she decides to exploit it for her own selfish, illegal ends. Complicating matters, a boy who calls himself Bug tries to claim the pet cat for himself. Bug also falls victim to Mrs. Terwiliger's twisted machinations, for he somehow possesses an expert criminal's knowledge of lock-picking, breaking and entering, and disabling electronic alarm systems. Both children are drawn into a scary but exciting quest that leads them into a seedier side of New York City and brings them face-to-face with some rather quirky antagonists. Ruby does an excellent job of arousing her readers' imaginations. Many of the story's seemingly minor, even trivial, details are important, so one who reads this novel should be prepared to exercise his or her memory. The author interwove some urban legends into the plot, which added to the fun. Some story elements seemed a little bizarre, such as the scene involving the dancing pretzel salesmen at the park and the untranslated French dialog at the movie theater. However, those elements didn't detract much from this successful tale. Overall, I would recommend this novel to children aged 9-14 and to their parents.

Người đọc Justine Causse từ Méry-ès-Bois, France

Người dùng coi những cuốn sách này là thú vị nhất trong năm 2017-2018, ban biên tập của cổng thông tin "Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn" khuyến cáo rằng tất cả các độc giả sẽ làm quen với văn học này.