Theories of Relativity Book Review

This book was a pretty fascinating read. It's about a boy who gets kicked out of his home and finds a life on the street, where he dodges thugs and the cops while stealing and begging for change to get by. Winter is on its way and he is hungry and cold.

It's a story of broken families, abuse, and living on the streets as a young teen. Drugs, booze, hookers, shelters, good sameritans, the whole 9 yards. I am not going to ruin anything, but I have to say that this book was wonderful

However, I do have a few criticisms of it. It is very vague. things just happen, and sometimes from one chapter to another you are not entirely sure what happened. It feels like a DVD skipped over some details at times. The ending feels kind of rushed, with a huge scene near the end that involves Einstein that seems a bit out of place.

Aside from that the characters are very stereotypical. Which is probably what the authors were trying to portray, because at the end of the book in the authors notes, they do talk about this motivation for writing the book. The thing is though, some characters, like Twitch, or the father, are overly stereotyped. It just kinda felt as if it dulled the story. Some of the situations seemed a bit rushed and highly stereotyped as well.

But aside from some minor flaws, this story is pretty good. The main protagonist boy is smart, and has a very good heart, and life is just shitting all over him as he tries to learn how to deal with it and succeed.

And this story did portray what it was supposed to portray. There are many homeless teens who were either kicked out or ran away at a young age to avoid violence and abuse at home. Many of these people turn to drugs to dull the pain, once hooked they fall into stealing, prostitution, and begging to get enough money to even eat. Putting themselves in dangerous situations just to find a decent place to sleep and clean up, usually doing such in libraries and fast food restaurants. They are generally dirty, have no degree, and have no address, and therefore cannot get a job. They can usually get in trouble with street gangs, drug dealers, and pimps.

So for a book trying to bring attention to the issues street kids face, it definitly did its job. It's an excellent book, the storyline is pretty awesome, definitely a page-turner in my opinion. And that is saying something, because it usually takes me MUCH longer to finish a book.

Book Review: Rascal Raccoon's Raging Revenge

It deeply saddens me that this book is not getting the popularity that it deserves. You'd expect with a plot-line so deep and art so nostalgic that this book would have been given raving reviews and there would be a myriad of fan-art dedicated to it. But alas, from browsing the internet, I cannot find much, if any, fan art at all.  But what about the book makes me say this?

Well, the story-line itself is a work of pure nostalgia, but also with a twist. This storyline focuses on what happens when the antagonist (nicknamed the "meanie") actually defeats the protagonist (the "merrie"). It also dives into why the meanie is angry at the merry, and how the meanie isn't necessarily a bad guy. This is rarely shown (except in passing in particular episodes) of older cartoons, such as Coyote and the Roadrunner, Sylvester and Tweety, as well as Tom and Jerry.

Also, the art is very similar to Looney Toons, which gives it that nostalgic feeling that I loved so much about the book. The book is only 135 pages long, so it is over rather quickly, which depressed me a little because I wanted it to go on for much longer, but to quote the book:

"...every cartoon ends eventually. Children's entertainment is a fickle mistress." Page 99

But this book needs more than a measly 150 likes on their Facebook page before it flickers out in my opinion. Bringing the classics back in such a new and exciting way deserves some recognition. I might just be too early though, as this book was only published in 2011. hopefully it just needs more time to gain recognition.

The only issue I have with this book, is why exactly did Jumpin' (the merrie) die? It is never quite explained in the book. They are still popular, hence the amusement park and the museum on page 40-57, so their popularity didn't die out. The animation company itself said they did not kill jumpin' in page 98. And on page 25 the doctor said that no toonie has ever died before. So why did Jumpin' die and how exactly did he come back to life in the end if the animator was (possibly) arrested on page 126? But I will let logic be because it's a comic.

Altogether this was a very nice read that I would recommend to everyone of all age groups. I give this book a 9.5 out of 10. 

Jaden Baker Book Review

* I really don't write many book reviews, but I guess that's basically because the books I read are generally not interesting to most people, they are mainly science books and stuff. but I have decided to read loads more books and write reviews of them, to start it off, I just completed Jaden Baker.

I have to say that I adored this book the same way I have adored Magyk and Harry Potter. It took me into a new world, and since I am a picky reader, not many books do that for me. The beginning was kinda confusing for me, at first because of the analytic speech and jargon provided I believed that the boy was a android meant to take the place of a human child. But quickly found out otherwise. I felt sorry for him because he had a bad past and distrusted people. I really didn't know which way this book would go.

And then all hell broke loose, and the boy is kidnapped and fastened with an electric collar, force fed, and is forced to train his mysterious power. Treated like cattle and even branded with a barcode like bread at the grocery store. But then later on the gates of hell were blast apart once the torture began, whippings, electric collar, beatings, starvation, sleep deprivation, the works! The consistent torture started to wear me out, although it did play an important role in the plot. And this is coming from someone who writes short stories on torture. The details of the torture were extremely vivid, and it was like i was there watching it all go down. Each and every shock of the collar, each and every whipping, I am curious to know if the author is well-studied on this subject or not.

I could connect with the loner, bookwormish, self-taught, astute, main characters Jaden Baker and Elizabeth James. Being self-taught, a loner, and a bookworm myself. This made it harder for me to put down the kindle, and ultimately got me hooked on reading the book. the main hooking moment was the 9 year old child prodigy in analytical thinking. I mean, this kid was not only a bad-ass, but he was as intelligent as Hermione Granger without the air of nerdiness. I also enjoyed the many references to Harry Potter and laughed at the fact that it is the main series Jaden Baker never read.

Although this really didn't annoy me, but I believe I must mention it, the free-version of this book for the kindle (although no longer free) contained many grammatical and spelling errors. I hope she fixed this in her newer versions. I found the advanced language very fascinating, and learned several new words whilst reading this novel, such as "camaraderie"! And I also love the reference to the old nursery rhyme "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree."

Since this book kept my mind on edge for a week with exhilarating twists, turns, and plot points, I will give this book a 9/10. I hope to read more by this author!

I recommend you read this book.