可借阅:*
图书馆 | 资料类型 | 排架号 | 子计数 | 书架位置 | 状态 | 图书预约 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
正在检索... West | Book | J637O | 1 | Fiction Collection | 正在检索... 未知 | 正在检索... 不可借阅 |
链接这些题名
已订购
摘要
摘要
Eric lacks the courage to end his association with troublemaker Marty, even when Marty abuses a homeless jazz musician and instigates other serious pranks.
评论 (5)
《学校图书馆杂志》(School Library Journal)书评
Gr 7-10-- Sophomore Eric Atwater grapples with peer pressure and his conscience in this realistic first novel. When Marty Benbow enters Emerson High, his swagger and antiestablishment demeanor attract a group of undistinguished boys, including Eric. To maintain his notoriety and leadership, Marty orchestrates escapades that disrupt the school, and he and the boys offer bogus friendship to homeless Ole. However, when Eric makes some independent decisions, he is ostracized by Marty and the other boys. In a climactic moment of coercion, he realizes that Marty's ``disappearing band instrument'' prank is truly a crime. Believable characters, realistic dialogue, and smooth plot foreshadowing render a thought-provoking story of a teenage perpetrator and his accomplices. Readers will recognize Marty as a fellow classmate with an unknown background and a peculiar negative charisma. Eric, however, will be more familiar--unsure, eager to be accepted, and torn between right and wrong. Although the school principal and band director are portrayed as pompous and unsympathetic, the adult wisdom of Eric's frustrated father and tortured Ole prompt Eric to reassess the meaning of friendship and integrity. --Gerry Larson, Chewning Junior High School, Durham, NC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
出版社周刊评论
In this first novel, Johnson paints a chillingly familiar portrait of a ``nice'' kid who does not-so-nice things in order to fit in with a group. When smart-talking, devil-may-care Marty shows up at Emerson High, narrator Eric becomes part of the crowd of hangers-on who will do anything to gain his sneering acceptance. In short order, ``the Boys,'' led by Marty, perform a variety of pranks. Even though Eric willingly participates in one of these escapades, he begins to have nagging doubts about Marty and his schemes. But he puts them aside whenever his leader beckons, because he so desperately wants to belong. Finally, in carrying out what Marty has billed as the best stunt of all, Eric sees that his ``friend'' has set him up and used him for his own ends. Unlike other books of this type, Johnson's novel barely probes the villain as a character--he doesn't even get his comeuppance in the end. Instead, Johnson deftly stresses Eric's development from mindless stooge to independent, ethical individual--a metamorphosis that will be of interest to many adolescents. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
《儿童读物杂志》(Horn Book)书评
Eric is an unknown in high school until Marty arrives and includes him in elaborate pranks. Finally, Eric breaks away from Marty's control, but not without cost. A tense, realistic first novel that is honest and stark, with strong, believable characters. From HORN BOOK 1992, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus评论
In a well-knit but predictable first novel, Eric (15) is snared by a manipulative classmate and struggles to break free. Four months after transferring to Emerson High, Marty Benbow has gathered a band of sycophants, eager to follow his lead in verbally harassing some hapless victim or playing an escalating series of pranks. Though Eric finds being with the ``Benbow Boys'' less and less entertaining, Marty plays him like a fish on a line, at last persuading him to help steal a load of musical instruments from the band room. Fortunately, Johnson doesn't drag in a plethora of topical issues; there's no violence, substance abuse, or (beyond Marty's clear contempt for everyone) psychological disorder, though Eric does meet a homeless man (portrayed as a victim of his own choices). In traditional YA-lit fashion, all teachers are hateful or laughable and parents have no idea what's going on. In the end, Eric's job, plus new girlfriend, pumps up his self-esteem; he turns himself in (and receives minor punishment) after Marty is caught by police. Not much danger here, but a fair amount of dramatic tension and soul-searching. (Fiction. 13+)
《书目》(Booklist)书评
Gr. 8-12. Since the boys first met, Eric has been under Marty Benbow's influence. He admires the confidence with which Marty moves through a new school and makes friends. Being one of the "Benbow boys" and hanging out with the guys are great fun, as is playing pranks on teachers and other students. But soon Eric begins to suspect there's cruelty beneath Marty's bravado and that one of his solo pranks is taking a criminal turn. Even with this new perspective, Eric has trouble standing up to his manipulative "friend." Eric's feelings are complicated by anxieties over his first job and a fumbled romance, which combine to feed his almost overwhelming sense of personal failure. Johnson has written a tough, quickly paced story about the irony and complexity of peer pressure. Its central characters are fully realized, and its ending is appropriately untidy: Eric finally parts ways with Marty, but not without paying a price. The pain and the promise of friendship come clear in a story that demonstrates that there are no easy choices. ~--Randy Meyer