Official Review: The Tattered Box by Paul Schumacher

[micoleon13]

Grandparents and their stories are so precious. I'm glad this story appreciates this.

[Biblos]

Great review Amagine. It's so nolstagic as it brings back good memories about my grandparents. It would be really interesting to go back in time and meet them as kids. I look forward to read this book.

[hepto]

The Tattered Box By Paul Shumacher.A teenager travels back to 1941 and encounters his grandfather in this YA debut.
It’s 2004. John, age 18, is mostly uninterested when his elderly grandfather presents him with a mysterious box one day: “The box was timeworn and resembled a long-lost treasure chest….The musty smell was of a rarely opened attic, and it had a curved top like a prop from an old pirate movie.”


John is disappointed that the items contained within don’t possess much monetary value, but he nevertheless sticks the thing in his baseball bag before heading to his game. Later, after being struck in the head by a fly ball, John wakes up on the field of a different game: one that took place in 1941 that his grandfather has been telling John about all his life. John meets his grandfather’s younger self, Bill, and gets to know him as a peer. What’s more, John gets to live in his same house—it was standing back in 1941—but with an entirely different family.


One that includes (unlike John’s 2004) a loving father. With his grandfather at his side, John gets to experience what being a teenager was like back in the early ’40s: both the things that were different and the things that never change. “I always assumed school was the same no matter which decade I attended,” John observes. “Boy was I wrong.” He also gets to see a side of his grandfather that he’s never observed before. Schumacher tells his story in clear prose, and John’s first-person narrative is buoyed by an infectious enthusiasm for the world around him.


The objects in the grandfather’s box are used as representative totems to unlock different avenues in the tale, and the author makes good use of his setting, which successfully conjures a small Midwestern town right on the cusp of World War II. The novel does not drift far from the expected path, and the ending is a bit formulaic. But overall the book is a pleasant exploration of familial bonds across generations and the timelessness of youth.


I rate this book 3.5 out of 4.A well-crafted, if conventional, time-travel tale.

[truebookaddict]

I've always loved hearing the memories of my parents and grandparents. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to travel back and experience some of what they did? This sounds like a great book. Thanks for your insightful review!

[Vermont Reviews]

I loved the preview John learns more about his grandfather's stories by experiencing them for real. Excellent review.
Vermont Reviews
I have added it to my reading list for 2017.

[CrescentMoon]

I love the concept of this book. Too often people take their loved ones and their memories for granted. This book sounds heartfelt and amazing. Great review!

[Zupanatural]

Yep, already mentioned several times but I'm definitely getting the Back to the Future vibe. Has the potential to be quite interesting & the message is a strong one too.

[Brandi Noelle]

I am so excited to read this book and your review as only made me more eager. As a lover of history, my wildest dream would be to travel back in time. But, to have the opportunity to travel back and witness my grandparents in their youth...that would be amazing. I loved all of my grandparents stories, but as they have both passed on years ago, I fear those stories are withering with time. What I wouldn't give to hear them once more. I have a feeling this book will leave me in tears more than once. Thanks for the heartfelt review.

[Izesicle]

Oh, a heartwarming tale. I can totally relate to being tired of stories that start with: back in my time...
This seems to be a good read.

[shirlenefoy]

As the saying goes, you will never know what I've been through, till you walk in my shoes. John I am sure, use to listen to his grandfather's stories, at times getting weary. Until his accident, that takes him back in time to when his grandfather was his age, now all the stories told to him, has more meaning as it's played out right before his eyes, as he carries the souvenirs from the future in his tattered box.
Talk about walking in someone's shoes. Brilliant writer, wonderful lesson to learn.

[LadyClaire]

wow! The book certainly has a compelling and amazing premise. I think based on the premise, it would be worth a read.

[Susan1965]

The review of this book immediately pulled me in. I feel that respect for our elders is diminishing but people need to really communicate with their parents and, especially, their grandparents. This is going straight on to my shelf.

[Ether]

This book needs serious editing and rewriting. The book might be good but it looks like more of a amateur writing rather than professional. Needs polishing. Sorry but true. Book is full of cliche and grammatical errors.

[Bluecobia]

Good review it goes well with the part of the book I have read so far. It would give a young person an interesting perspective to see life from a grandparents perspective.

[Atabon Della]

What a story! What a review! What a book!!!! It's so amazing, everything you've written down in that review makes me want the book so badly and thank God today's copy is free. The stories told is by our grandparents should really be taken seriously. We don't need to go back in time just like John in order to realize the importance of these stories to us. Thumps up for the review.