Friday, July 16, 2010

Book Review Half-life of Planets


One sentence review: THE BEST BOOK I'VE READ ALL SUMMER.


The Half-life of Planets <--- go buy it!

Why did I read it: Real reason, I loved the cover. That's it.

Plot: Lianna is a rep for kissing boys and running away, she's also doing a summer program about stars. Unlike most of the female protags, out there, Lianna is science smart. Hank has Asperger’s syndrome and his hyper obsessed with music. (BTW stars and music are my two interests so they should have renamed this book, Erinn here is the perfect book for you). Lianna and Hank meet in the woman's room of a hospital. He's freaking out because he has a huge stain on the front of his pants. Lianna helps him, (not in a dirty way, get your mind out of the gutter) later on they meet back up at a vending machine and chat some more. They form a friendship and it starts to morph into something more. But Lianna doesn't know he has Asperger’s syndrome, she thinks he's a moody artist. She's also sworn off kissing for the summer as well. How will she react when she learns the truth about Hank? How will Hank react when he hears the first girl he's ever liked and likes him back won't kiss him. What I loved about it: Hank! Asperger’s syndrome has a very special place in my heart. Nearly every year I have one student with Asperger’s syndrome and they are my FAVORITE kids to teach. Kids with Asperger’s syndrome make a lot of sense if you spent 30 seconds and put yourself in their shoes. Brendan Halpin nailed it perfectly.
I also loved that Lianna and Hank were both smart and thought about everything they did and said. They felt real to me.
During the scene where Hank is trying to figure out his "masturbation problem" I laughed so hard I woke my daughter up.
Its real and painful and wonderful.

What I would change:
nothing. I thought it was perfect. I found myself stopping to mentally write more to the scenes, which is what I do only with a book I love.

Final Review: This is the first book I've read all summer that I want to go back and reread. I'm off to buy multiple copies off the book, one for me, one for my classroom, and one for whoever wins my blog contest.

Rating 11 out of 10 <-- Guys I gave the Hunger Games a 7, that has to mean something. Ok, I'll pull out the big guns for this book. I liked it more than I liked Will Grayson Will Grayson... A JOHN GREEN Book and by now you should all know how much I love John Green.

I wrote an AMAZON review for this book.

I sent Brendan Halpin an e-mail with interview questions which I'll be posting soon. That's how much I loved the book. I E-MAILED THE AUTHOR TO TELL HIM!!!!!

6 comments:

  1. Hi Erin. You left a comment on my blog this morning. Thanks. You're reading Shiver. Sweet. Please let me know what you think when you're finished. Great blog. I'd have emailed you, but I couldn't click on the contact button. ";-) Enjoy your weekend.

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  2. Great review! I think it's great that YA authors are delving into issues that really do affect people every day, like Asberger's. Bravo to both the author and to you!

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  3. Wow - sounds great! I'll have to pick up a copy as well. I love when real issues (Asberger's) are dealt with. There's not enough of that out there. Thanks for the tip. :)

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  4. Its hard to find a book where you would not change anything. Great you can connect with the author for an interview. Very cool.

    Stephen Tremp

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  5. This sounds really good! It's true - I'm glad that authors are looking to deal with real life issues that most people are scared to bring up.

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