The One and Only Ivan - Katherine Applegate

Today, I am reviewing The One and Only Ivan, the book which won the 2013 Newberry Medal. I chose to read it for a variety of reason, the main one being that I saw Katherine Applegate speak at a Children's Lit Conference in my town about a month ago. Also, it did win the Newberry, so that is definitely one up for it. The final reason is that it is based of the true story of a gorilla who lived in a mall for 27 years before finally being taken to a zoo. That story line would never had attracted me except for the fact that the real mall where Ivan lived was about two hours from where I live. Ask any adult in this area, and they all know who he is, whether or not they ever saw him when they were a child.

I think it is important to have reasonable expectations for any book you read, and that is especially true for this one. I think that this book is quite good for what it is. I am much of a fan of Katherine Applegate, or of her husband, Michael Grant, but if I forgot about that bias that I have, and tried to fairly judge that book against others of it kind that I have read, I think that it was quite good.

I'm not sure if it makes a lot of sense to judge this book in three ways (character, plot, and writing) like I do with most books, so I will just do them all in one sentence. The characters were good, and mostly believable, if you find talking animals believable; the plot was good, and did a good job of combining fact with fiction to make a good story that was still true to the facts; and the writing was well done for its target age. The writing could bother you if you were expecting it to be written for adults or teenagers, but it is not. It is written in a way that kids can understand and appreciate with out challenging them so much that they get frusterated.

So, my advice is, if the synopsis sound interesting to you, read this book, but keep in mind the intending audience, especially if you are not in it.

Eve and Adam - Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate

I feel that to be totally fair, I should preface this review with a slight disclaimer. This is probably not a book I would have normally read. I chose to read it because I am going to a Children's Literature Conference at the university in my town next weekend, and Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate will both be there. I wanted to read some of their books before I hear them speak, which is why I got this one. Here is my first reaction about it. If you want more information about the plot of the book, click in the title in the paragraph below to go to its Amazon page.

Eve and Adam is a book, that, to me at least, seemed rather formulaic. The plot itself seemed rather half formed at times, and many of the characters, even the main ones, seemed very empty and weak at times. The ending, which tried to be a surprise, was, while not something I would have expected, not exactly very interesting or believable.

The book is in the first person, and is narrated in alternating chapters, by Eve, the main character, and Solo, her love interest. It is entirely in the present tense, which, in my opinion, certainly lowered the level of the story as a whole.

Don't take me wrong, this book was not all bad. I have, over my years of avid reading, that there is a strange effect that some books can have, and that this book had when I read it. The best way to explain is to use Eve and Adam as an example:

While I read this book, I enjoyed it. It carried me through. I was curious enough to read until the very end. It was a very light, quick read, which made it easy to get through in just a few hours. I do not regret reading it. I enjoyed myself. But, when I finished the book, I started thinking about it's different parts. I realized that I disliked the characters, the plot, and, to a certain extent, even the ending.

Over all, as I said before, I do not regret reading this book. However, I would not spend any money on it. If it is the type of book you usually enjoy, I would recommend finding a copy at your local library, or borrowing it from a friend before actually buying it. You might like it, but you might also decide it is not worth the money.