Official Review: TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions
Posted: 30 Mar 2018, 20:00
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions" by Dawn Corbett.]
2 out of 4 stars
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TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions is a young adult novel written by Dawn Corbett. The novel follows the students and teachers of SkyDale School as they try to complete the first nine weeks of the school year. Shae, a skyglitter, is a resident of the school. She is positive energy incarnate and is tasked with bringing happiness to the school. To accomplish this, she has to assemble a team of four students. Shae chooses Staci, Courtni, Craig, and Liam as her team with Ms. Elci, their homeroom teacher, as their leader. Staci is a bright and positive young girl. Courtni is athletic and agile. Craig is the class clown while Liam is a steadfast boy. Together, they must stop the vandal who threatens to ruin the happiness of the school.
I really enjoyed the unique premise of the book. It was obvious that the author took time to develop a plausible background for the creation of Shae. The idea that skyglitters were created in the ionosphere from positive particles was a good combination of realism and creativity. Additionally, I liked how Slate, the school bully, wasn’t characterized as being simply a bad kid. Too often, antagonists are written flatly and without any motivation for their negative actions. The dynamic characterization of Slate allowed for me to empathize with him. The use of popular terms such as dabbing was also age-appropriate. This could help young adult readers to better immerse themselves in the story.
Despite the development of Slate, I felt that, in general, the characters were very flat. Even though the title of the book implies that the pre-teens were the focus of the book, most of the storyline centers around Ms. Elci and Shae. As a result, I didn’t really get to know Staci, Courtni, Craig, and Liam very well. Additionally, the setting was restricted to the school. I think that if the setting was expanded to describe the team’s home lives, I would have been able to connect more with their characters. I also felt dissatisfied with the ending. The antics of the vandal were consistently mentioned throughout the novel. I was anticipating the resolution of this plot point, but it ended abruptly and with little detail. It felt as if the author wanted to quickly wrap up the story. I think that an additional chapter or epilogue would have helped tie up the novel.
TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions contained numerous spelling and grammatical errors. Common examples included the usage of your instead of you’re and improper usage of apostrophes. These errors seriously detracted from my enjoyment of the novel.
I rate TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions 2 out of 4 stars. While the premise was interesting and unique, the numerous errors and poor characterization negatively impacted my opinion of the book. However, I really appreciated that the author took the time to develop Slate as a fully-fledged character. After proof-reading and editing, this book could be an excellent read for young adult readers and teachers alike. Older audiences might be unable to engage themselves in the plot due to the age-gap between themselves and the characters.
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TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
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2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions is a young adult novel written by Dawn Corbett. The novel follows the students and teachers of SkyDale School as they try to complete the first nine weeks of the school year. Shae, a skyglitter, is a resident of the school. She is positive energy incarnate and is tasked with bringing happiness to the school. To accomplish this, she has to assemble a team of four students. Shae chooses Staci, Courtni, Craig, and Liam as her team with Ms. Elci, their homeroom teacher, as their leader. Staci is a bright and positive young girl. Courtni is athletic and agile. Craig is the class clown while Liam is a steadfast boy. Together, they must stop the vandal who threatens to ruin the happiness of the school.
I really enjoyed the unique premise of the book. It was obvious that the author took time to develop a plausible background for the creation of Shae. The idea that skyglitters were created in the ionosphere from positive particles was a good combination of realism and creativity. Additionally, I liked how Slate, the school bully, wasn’t characterized as being simply a bad kid. Too often, antagonists are written flatly and without any motivation for their negative actions. The dynamic characterization of Slate allowed for me to empathize with him. The use of popular terms such as dabbing was also age-appropriate. This could help young adult readers to better immerse themselves in the story.
Despite the development of Slate, I felt that, in general, the characters were very flat. Even though the title of the book implies that the pre-teens were the focus of the book, most of the storyline centers around Ms. Elci and Shae. As a result, I didn’t really get to know Staci, Courtni, Craig, and Liam very well. Additionally, the setting was restricted to the school. I think that if the setting was expanded to describe the team’s home lives, I would have been able to connect more with their characters. I also felt dissatisfied with the ending. The antics of the vandal were consistently mentioned throughout the novel. I was anticipating the resolution of this plot point, but it ended abruptly and with little detail. It felt as if the author wanted to quickly wrap up the story. I think that an additional chapter or epilogue would have helped tie up the novel.
TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions contained numerous spelling and grammatical errors. Common examples included the usage of your instead of you’re and improper usage of apostrophes. These errors seriously detracted from my enjoyment of the novel.
I rate TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions 2 out of 4 stars. While the premise was interesting and unique, the numerous errors and poor characterization negatively impacted my opinion of the book. However, I really appreciated that the author took the time to develop Slate as a fully-fledged character. After proof-reading and editing, this book could be an excellent read for young adult readers and teachers alike. Older audiences might be unable to engage themselves in the plot due to the age-gap between themselves and the characters.
******
TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Like lavellan's review? Post a comment saying so!
