What Do Fish Have to Do with Anything? And Other Stories.

AVI

ISBN 10 : 078872262X ISBN 13 : 9780788722622

Editeur : Recorded Books, 1998

Synopsis

Avi charts the turning points in seven young lives in this extraordinary collection of short stories.

In the overlapping years when childhood and adolescence blend and shift like waves and sand, nothing is certain and everything is changing. In this extraordinary collection of stories, Avi, one of the most innovative authors writing for young people today, charts the turning points in the lives of seven protagonists in their restless middle years. Here you will meet, among others, the subject of the title story, who wonders why he shouldn’t ask questions that have no answers — is it because he might discover the truth? You’ll also encounter a "bad" minister’s son who is dared to be good, and a chilling tale of a girl who is haunted by the ghosts of her cats. Always with a surprise built in, an angle unseen, these are stories that step just beyond the edge of the everyday.

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Commentaires

Grade 5-8-These seven short stories by Avi (Candlewick, 1997) are contemporary and thought-provoking. They deal with subjects children are often concerned with such as divorce, suicide, and homelessness. The three narrators do a good job of suiting their word-for-word readings to the moods of each story. In a low, mature sounding voice, Jeff Woodman reads the title story about a young boy who finds himself relating better to a homeless beggar than to his depressed and restrictive mother. Woodman also reads "Teacher Tamer," in which a boy discovers that his teacher blamed him for a misdeed so other children would accept him, and "What's Inside," about a boy who tries to prevent his cousin's suicide. In a juvenile sounding voice, Johnny Heller narrates "The Goodness of Matt Kaizer," in which a "bad" boy is reformed because of the faith others have in his goodness, and "Fortune Cookie," about a boy who tries to embarrass his divorced dad into behaving responsibly. Both male narrators read a bit more slowly than the optimal listening speed, which makes these stories excellent read-alongs for slow readers. Christina Moore reads two stories in which girls are the main characters: "Talk to Me," in which a lonely girl puts her longing for her runaway brother into one-way conversations with a malfunctioning phone, and an animal ghost story, "Pets." Her reading is livelier than the other narrators. These well-written stories are perfect for middle school students. Technical quality is excellent throughout. A very minor annoyance is the intrusive woman's voice which announces that a story is over and heralds the beginning of each new tale. School and public libraries will find this collection popular for individual and group listening or reading along.
Louise L. Sherman, Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Avi has a gift for getting inside preteenagers' minds and writing the way they talk. This is a collection of short fiction about the day-to-day issues of this age group. Suicide, school and divorce are covered. All three narrators do a good job reading like a kid, but Johnny Heller goes beyond the mark, especially in the last story. He sounds just like a maddening middle-schooler, whiny, cocky, but still caring about what adults think. A.G.H. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Recorded Books
• Date d'édition: 1998
• ISBN 10: 078872262X
• ISBN 13: 9780788722622
• Reliure: Audio Cassette
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible