Title: Kevin’s Point
of View (Now titled Captain Disaster)
Author: Del Shannon
Page Count: 402
Rating: 4.5 TURTLES: A really great read, I highly recommend!
Description:
Kevin Tobin is a relatively ordinary
twelve-year-old dealing with the aftermath of his father’s death
in a mountain biking accident near their home in Boulder, Colorado. To escape
from his emotional turmoil, Kevin has developed his imagination into a
dangerous foil and a powerful ally. While he antagonizes his mother and sister
through his superhero antics on an average Wednesday morning, his ability to
escape inside a character’s head becomes critical to his survival after his
life is once-again turned upside down a year after his father’s death.
A mysterious package arrives in the mail, Kevin and his best friend
are hunted down by a ruthless villain set upon world domination who is
determined to retrieve the package, and after enlisting Kevin’s teenage sister
and her pizza-delivery boyfriend in a battle for control over time itself, the
secret of Kevin’s whole existence is revealed to him by a source we never
expected.
Del Shannon’s imaginative story, appreciation for the powers of
family ties and the desire of young boys to both escape reality and prove
themselves within it, and fast-paced, adventure-filled storytelling style make
this a book with wide appeal for readers of all ages.
Review:
Can I just say that
I adored this book? It was sweet, charming, funny, and chock-full of action! Being
a chronic day-dreamer myself, albeit not to Kevin’s extent, I loved seeing
inside his head and how he used his imagination to get out of even the toughest
situations. Del Shannon’s writing sucks you right then and holds your attention
until the end. The style reminded me a
bit of Eoin Colfer’s style (one of my favorite children’s authors by the way).
Not only did I love
Kevin, but I fell in love with the whole ensemble as well. His friends are a
motley bunch, but are hilarious and awesome at the same time. When Kevin
escapes into his imagination, he usually pretends that he is his favorite
cartoon, Captain Disaster. The evil villains chasing after Kevin and his
friends were reminiscent of nasty cartoon villains as well, and that
parallelism was fun to read.
The only difficult
thing for me about this book was the cover. I do a lot of my reading in public
places – public transit etc. – and I got a few weird looks and ended up putting
a sticky note over the bottom part of the cover (no pun intended) just to clear
that issue up. It wasn’t a problem for me personally though, and definitely did
not detract from my enjoyment of the book.
Kevin’s Point of
View is a whirlwind of a read with a very satisfying ending, but with room left
for a sequel, which I would without a doubt want to read. It is appropriate and
appeals to a wide range of readers and I highly recommend that you check it
out.
This sounds like an awesome read and that cover is a total riot!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I have strong imagination but I'm sort of a day dreamer. So I might actually like this book.
ReplyDeleteThis happens with me a lot. People, even if they are non-readers, would like to have a look at the book (cover). And since your choice of book tells them about you, how the book cover looks holds immense importance.