Kurt Kirchmeier

I love weird, strange plots that don't have easy answers - if you don't, this is not the book for you. But while this is a book about a mysterious glass plague, it's mainly about how to deal with your family changing.

Nothing is explained at the end, which is totally fine (life doesn't have easy answers, as much as we'd wish it to), but I wish much more time had been spent on Pete and the Voice on the radio - how did it convince him? What kind of things was he saying? I love the ambiguity of whether or not the Voice was on the "good" side and genuinely wanted to free the glassed people, or if the Voice was on the "bad" side and wanted everyone shattered before they could be returned.

I am not religious/Christian, and generally stay away from books with that as a theme, but faith is such an important part of Ben's life that I didn't mind. It felt very natural and of course people are going to grasp for a religious explanation when so many people are religious.

A few quibbles: Ben's voice is much more mature than a normal 11-year-old; his mom's mental health isn't consistent (she's medicated for anxiety, but when she goes off her meds she has a psychotic break? what?); birds really don't have anything to do with anything.… (más)

Hmm...well....so this one...mixed feelings.

Barest bones of plot summary without spoilers:

There are two brothers, their parents and a bachelor uncle who live in a very small town. A plague comes from the sky and turns random townspeople to stone statues. This book is about how that event change the boys, and the town, with a backdrop of a coming of age story.

It is YA-ish and a fast read. It kept my interest and I didn't find the plot to be formulaic as some YA books can be. There's some mysticism, but it lacks mystery.

A few observations (no spoilers) for anyone considering:

1)The plot and resolution of the book are minimally focused on the plague - explaining what it is, where it comes from, how it works.

2)The younger brother and his mother are very into bird watching and I learned a bit about birds through them as the story unfolded. Apparently, the author shares the interest in birds and wrote about it. That gives it a little color that stories of this type don't always have, but the birds too - their role in the plague, if anything, isn't quite clarified.

3) Is this book dystopian? IMO, no. The setting seems to be fairly typical of childhood in a small town, statue-plague aside. If you're tired of dystopian, I'm not sure this will bother you; if you're looking for the next Hunger Games, you're likely to be disappointed.

4) Is this a Christian book as I read in more than one Amazon review? IMO, no. There are a few Christian elements portrayed (prayer before a meal, going to Church on Sunday), but there's no proselytizing happening and it's not at all in your face or even the purpose of the book. While it's not unfriendly to Christians, but seems more written by someone who's observing Christianity from the inside and is equally open to other belief systems (or lack of beliefs even) as well. Like the above point, if you're looking for a Christian perspective you'll likely be disappointed; but if you're put off by the idea of a Christian book, don't rule this one out for that reason alone.

Author has potential for sure. Moderately recommended.… (más)