Official Review: TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions

[lavellan]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions" by Dawn Corbett.]

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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

Like lavellan's review? Post a comment saying so!

[inaramid]

I was wondering what the story was about, as the book cover honestly looked unappealing. It's nice to hear that there's good character development here, although as you pointed out, it could have been extended to the other pre-teen characters as well. This definitely isn't for me, but I agree that editing (and a new cover!) might make this more appealing for young adult readers.

[kandscreeley]

Well, I agree this book has potential. As it is, though, I don't think I'll read it. I'm glad Slate was fully developed, but it's too bad the other characters were not.

[Poppy Drear]

Not to judge a book by its cover, but even the cover image suggests an unprofessional novel. Using the correct form of "your" vs. "you're" is practically the poster child of grammatical errors, so if the author couldn't even handle that, I don't want to spend time reading this! It seems like it did have promise, though. I hope the author continues improving their writing.

[[Valerie Allen]]

Well... to say the least, in addition to the reported: "the numerous errors and poor characterization", the negatively spoiler alerts have certainly impacted my opinion of the book, which seems as not a good read. Thanks for sharing.

[NL Hartje]

Not to judge a book by its cover, but even the cover image suggests an unprofessional novel.

I agree! When I looked at it before reading the review, I thought "Oh! A book on gaming!" Does this age me, haha?

[stacie k]

I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to relate with this story. Thank you for honestly evaluating the pros and cons. It did seem to have great potential!

[londonmartine]

What a cool concept! Like others, I feel like the cover doesn’t do it justice. But I like that the author has really gone for something unique, and it sounds promising!

[holsam_87]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "TWEENS! Pre-Teens of Epic Proportions" by Dawn Corbett.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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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!

Sounds like an interesting premise, but its unfortunate that there were so many issues. I would be interested in reading this if more edits were made. Thanks for sharing.

[Aeranat]

[

I was wondering what the story was about, as the book cover honestly looked unappealing. It's nice to hear that there's good character development here, although as you pointed out, it could have been extended to the other pre-teen characters as well. This definitely isn't for me, but I agree that editing (and a new cover!) might make this more appealing for young adult readers.

Yeah, the cover honestly makes the book seem like a cheap colouring book and flat characters and grammar errors can make books most unappealing. Definitely not for me

[melissy370]

It is a shame with all the mistakes and underdeveloped characters. One thing that would annoy me more is the rushed ending.

[Jkhorner]

I'm not quite sure I understand what this book is about (or what a skyglitter is). Is it meant as a teaching tool or just a novel about pre-teens?

[BriennaiJ]

Thanks for sharing your opinion! I wish that it had been better, as the premise seemed interesting. However, I struggle to relate to many of the books that are supposed to be relatable to "teens" or "preteens" even though I do still qualify as a teen. This book seems to be a perfect example of why I often can't relate.

[kfwilson6]

I like the idea of skyglitters. That sounds different and kool. Very interesting that of all the characters, the bully was the one who was well-developed. I too find that a school bully and even a lot of villians are really not well-developed so we just peg them as "bad guys" without knowing anything about them. Nice review. Thanks for sharing. Don't think I'll read this one but I'm glad to have read your review to see what this book is about.

[Eileen R]

The many errors really turn me off so I don't think I'll try it out. However, with some editing, I think it can be much better.