Eingebettet sind die Abenteuer in den wirtschaftlichen Niedergang einer Region, der sich wie Ringe im Wasser immer weiter ausbreitet. A very light touch on the fantastical elements made this ring true emotionally. I read this aloud to my kids and they wanted one more chapter every night without fail. May 20, Kris rated it liked it. The writing had some of Dave Eggers' usual quirk and poetic detail. The idea was cool and the message meaningful, but it felt kind of like a stretched-out short story.
I'm glad I read it. I loved this book! Written for upper primary school aged readers, this book has it all! There's mystery and adventure and a tinge of sadness and plenty of surprises and lots of magic! I loved Eggers' ability to create a story that is timeless. There is a passing mention of mobile phones, but this story could be set in any time frame.
The plot is so unusual - I don't think anyone has thought of this one before not saying what I'm talking about - you'll have to read it! The story I loved this book! The story is well paced, and the wonderful illustrations by Aaron Renier are perfect. Above all, the book has heart - and a clear message that needs to be repeated in this age of 'me, me, me': And if you can understand sadness in others, you're obligated to help. It's not the most innovative or clever book out there; a lot of it was pretty predictable, and you simply have to accept the wildly unrealistic elements.
But it's good-hearted and sweet. Its central message of communal unit An uplifting book Its central message of communal unity and mutual support seems a bit heavy-handed in places - there's one page that's so preachy it pulls you right out of the story - but it's clearly something that's important to Eggers. Beyond his skills as an author, he seems to be a particularly good kind of person.
As the founder of an expanding web of creative writing and tutoring centers look up Valencia if you're interested in learning more , he has a strong interest in helping children find - and fine-tune - their creativity. His method of promoting this book was to bring along a pre-teen poet who "interviewed" him, and whom he spent more time encouraging and gently placing in the spotlight.
He had her read two of her poems to a room of adults who had come to see him, and he set her up with a stack of notecards that she signed for each person who brought a book to him after the event. It was generous and unpretentious - an example of living the kinds of messages he tried to tell through this story. Pay attention to the people who feel invisible. Spread happiness to keep the hollow emptiness from tearing the ground from beneath our feet.
Work together to build something good, and beautiful, and worth being proud of. His children's fiction is written well, with quirky humor that feels borrowed from the repertoire of authors such as Roald Dahl and Daniel Handler. They undeniably do it better, but his version is charming enough for an afternoon, if not for multiple re-reads.
Jun 01, Miss Kelly rated it really liked it. His dad moved there for work, but the work all dried up by the time he arrived. His parents' marriage is a rocky one. The Duke is a guy who oversees the storage room at the school. He is an understanding, kind man. One day, Gran follows Catalina Catalan and sees her disappear into hill.
He comes to find out that she has a special door handle a Lift that lea view spoiler [ Granite AKA "Gran" is new to the town of Carousel. He comes to find out that she has a special door handle a Lift that leads to underground tunnels. She has a task of keeping the tunnel ceilings secure with items from the junk yard. She is a Lifter, answering to a regional manager. The tunnels are causing more frequent collapses of buildings in the town, something an opportunistic politician ridiculously blames on gangs of wild moose.
After finding his own Lift, Gran learns that the tunnels are made by an underground tornado of sorts, called the Hollows. Catalina explains that the Hollows is a product of the town's sadness. There is a new Hemispheric Commissioner named: Catalina recognizes The Duke's voice as her Regional Manager. At the Conference is it discussed how important Lifters are at uplifting the sadness below the surface.
Gran returns home, but his extended absence has caused an earth-shaking sadness at his home. Gran and Catalina have the same idea after the Conference: The town does unite and are even hired to build more carousels.
The secret is hope. Mar 09, Auburn Library rated it liked it Shelves: The Lifters starts out with a young boy named Granite Gran Flowerpetal who moves to Carousel, along with his mother, who is in a wheelchair, his sister, who has a habit of puking, and his dad, who was recently laid off, told there was work for him in Carousel, and disappointed an hour after moving 1, miles away from their old home.
Then, Gran meets Catalina Catalan, who is the first person at school to acknowledge his existence.
She goes missing for class periods, whole days at a time, and The Lifters starts out with a young boy named Granite Gran Flowerpetal who moves to Carousel, along with his mother, who is in a wheelchair, his sister, who has a habit of puking, and his dad, who was recently laid off, told there was work for him in Carousel, and disappointed an hour after moving 1, miles away from their old home.
She goes missing for class periods, whole days at a time, and every time she turns the corner of the path she takes from school every day she's there. Once this book moves out of the exposition, this book is amazing. This book would appeal to any mystery fans, as the whole book is really just a bunch of mysteries waiting to be solved until the very end. Gran did not want to move to Carousel. They had it out in the aisle and the cover was perfect and the first chapter was one sentence and I love middle grade so I was hooked.
In the end, it frustrated me a little because the characters seemed pretty predictable and both too young and too old. It had a one sentence chapter. It had random narrator interruptions. The illustrations were perfect. It made me smile. I guess that Gran did not want to move to Carousel. I guess that means it worked, right? Dec 08, Connie53 rated it really liked it Shelves: Boeken van Dave Eggers zijn bijna altijd goed en dit is zeker geen uitzondering. Hoewel bedoeld voor Young Adults en misschien zelfs voor de laatste klassen van de basisschool, leest het voor volwassenen ook erg prettig.
De avonturen van Gran en Catalina zijn spannend.
De schuchtere Gran is net verhuisd en heeft het gevoel dat niemand hem 'ziet' tot Catalina hem aanspreekt en hij zich een stuk beter gaat voelen in het kleine dorp Carousel. Maar Carousel is een somber dorp. En Gran en Catalina be Boeken van Dave Eggers zijn bijna altijd goed en dit is zeker geen uitzondering. En Gran en Catalina bedenken een plan om het dorp te helpen.
Daarvoor moeten ze wel de tunnels onder het dorp in. Dit boek is inmiddels, volgens BOL wel vertaald. Gran, short for Granite, has just had to move back to the town where his great-grandparents were from with the hope that his dad will find work. This puts a strain on his mom and dad's marriage and on Gran and his younger sister because his dad is still driving hundreds of miles away looking for odd jobs. Carousel is not the friendliest town nor is the old off-kilter house the easiest to live in but Gran tries to make the best of it.
He meets an odd girl who appears and disappears just as quickl Gran, short for Granite, has just had to move back to the town where his great-grandparents were from with the hope that his dad will find work. He meets an odd girl who appears and disappears just as quickly seemingly into the hillside and when he follows her one night enters into a strange underground world he never knew existed. As scary and dangerous as this new world is Gran wants so badly to fit in and make a friend out of Catalina.
You will never look at a door handle or small sinkhole the same way after reading this. Clever short chapters mixed with imaginative illustrations move the story along at a brisk exciting pace- a delight and just intense enough for thrill seekers. Beautifully written and illustrated. But I didn't love it. Maybe what he did wasn't actually crying. His throat simply closed and his breath climbed quickly and sunk again, and his eyes were a little wetter than usual. But he didn Beautifully written and illustrated. But he didn't cry.
No water left his eyes. No one could call it crying. Four stars, not necessarily for quality? I'm not good at rating that.
What an adventure, aw. Hope beats the bullies.
Bullies and evil prey on hopelessness and resignation. So the way to fight? Get to work with a cheerful heart. Tbh, that's a pretty solid message to walk away with. Catalina isn't my favoritest. She has her moments, but wow. Lol Gran and his character growth were pretty impressive, to me. More than I expected from some of the rest Four stars, not necessarily for quality?
More than I expected from some of the rest of the story world. Yeah, this was fun. When Gran and his family move to a new town, he realizes that something strange is going on when a number of sinkholes start to open up. He sees a girl from his class going underground one day, and decides to follow after her.
What he finds opens a whole new world for him as he tries to save his town, one hole at a time. It's adventurous, there are lots of surprises, and magic. Recommended for grades Aug 30, Heather Penner rated it it was ok Shelves: This story has a unique premise about what is going on in the world beneath our feet, and along the way it deals with some very real family struggles dad's unemployment, mom's health issues, strife in the home as faced by the main character, a year-old boy named Gran. The end of the story has a beautiful moral.
I wanted to like this story very much. The fantasy elements go beyond magical realism and into the absurdist, and I found myself struggling with the story line. Another proble This story has a unique premise about what is going on in the world beneath our feet, and along the way it deals with some very real family struggles dad's unemployment, mom's health issues, strife in the home as faced by the main character, a year-old boy named Gran.
Another problem for me was the voice of the narrator, who pops in every now and then with heavy-handed omniscient statements and words of wisdom. Perhaps this story would have come across better if I had listened to it on audio rather than reading words on a page. Overall, this story was not my style. Aug 10, Rachel rated it it was amazing Shelves: I didn't read this but my eleven yr. He said the only thing he didn't like was that it was too short. He couldn't stop talking about it and said he may even read it again!
There are few things better, in my opinion, than seeing your child excited about a book. May 04, Karrie rated it liked it. The best part of this book is the world building, I want a lifter to explore this vast underground world that is collapsing on itself. Allegories ensue, would make a great novel study. I did find the ending a tad abrupt. When we read the last page, my 8 yo immediately said "No! I don't want it to end!
Is there a follow-up book for this? Jun 28, M. Lauritano rated it it was ok. There is a nice puzzle of a visual metaphor in this book, but it is not enough to make up for forgettable characters and a generally predictable trajectory where the ending is concerned. I just wish that speech might have arrived earlier in the book, so ensuing conflict might have been lent some more weight. Speaking of timing, the pace of the two to three Very weird.
Speaking of timing, the pace of the two to three page chapters makes everything move slower than it should. This is a book that mocks readers for wanting the slightest bit of exposition. There are a great handful of odd B plots and character details: There is one scene in which our twelve year old protagonist pees in his pants and his teacher treats him with cold indifference. Besides being deeply uncomfortable to read, one cannot help but wonder, what kind of person would write this? Was it supposed to be funny?
Maybe his adult fare comes across more fitting and naturally? Jun 30, David Ciccarelli rated it it was ok. Apr 24, Pages Middle Grade Buy. Apr 24, Minutes Middle Grade Buy. Apr 30, Pages Middle Grade Apr 24, Pages Middle Grade Apr 24, Minutes Middle Grade Discover an underground world full of tunnels and mystery in this middle-grade adventure from the bestselling, Pulitzer-nominated author of Heroes of the Frontier and Her Right Foot.
What if nothing was as it seemed? What if the ground beneath your feet was not made of solid earth and stone but had been hollowed into hundreds of tunnels and passageways? What if there were mysterious forces in these tunnels, mere inches below you as you sit in class or eat a banana? What if it were up to just two kids to stop these forces? What would it feel like to know the fate of an entire town rested on your shoulders?
Twelve-year-old Gran Flowerpetal is about to find out. With luck on their side, and some discarded hockey sticks for good measure, they might just emerge as heroes. In The Lifters , critically acclaimed author Dave Eggers establishes himself as a storyteller who can entertain and inspire readers of any age. Journey to an underground world where adventure awaits and heroes are made in this middle grade novel from the bestselling, Pulitzer-nominated author of The Monk of Mokha and Her Right Foot.
When Gran and his family move to Carousel, he has no idea that the town is built atop a secret.