Monday, June 11, 2012

Review: Kevin's Point of View


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.


2 comments:

  1. This sounds like an awesome read and that cover is a total riot!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm not sure if I have strong imagination but I'm sort of a day dreamer. So I might actually like this book.

    This 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.

    ReplyDelete

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