Book Review of #4 Warp Speed by Lisa Yee
Author: Lisa Yee
ISBN: 978-0-545-12276-4
Publisher: Levine books
Type of book: coming of age, young adult, bullying, blackmailing, spin-off novel
Year it was published: 2011
Summary:
Entering 7th grade is no big deal for Marley Sandelski: Same old boring classes, same old boring life. The only thing he has to look forward to is the upcoming Star Trek convention. But when he inadvertently draws the attention of Digger Ronster, the biggest bully in school, his life has officially moved from boring to far too dramatic . . . from invisible to center stage.
Characters:
Marley has an interesting sense of humor and seems to think similar to the way I think; cynical and helpless. I would guess he has been bullied for all of his life if he developed this way. Emily still remains her sweet and angelic self who doesn't care about popularity. Stanford matures somewhat, and Millicent is barely seen in the book. Marley's parents are memorable as well; the blind mother that loves golfing and doesn't act blind, and the father that tries to be helpful towards him. The bullies are interesting as well and it seems as if they got their own rules and hierarchies.
Theme:
Even if someone thinks they are invisible, they are not.
Plot:
It takes place from August up until a little past December and is written in first person narrative from Marley's point of view. I don't think it is necessary to read the previous books to enjoy this one, but if one read previous books, you'll still enjoy learning about the family and Marley's passions and whatnot.
Author Information:
Lisa Yee won the 2004-Sid Fleischman Humor Award fro Millicent Min, Girl Genius, which was also selected for the TRA/CBC Children's Choice List and nominated for multiple state prizes. Her second novel, Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time, was named an ALA Notable Book. So Totally Emily Ebers completes the trilogy, which, as Lisa likes to point out, "can be read in any order, any day of the week, and at any time, except when you're sleeping."
Lisa writes her novels, stories and grocery lists at her home in South Pasadena, California.
Vist her Web site at www.lisayee.com
Opinion:
For those who are curious about the movie theater that Emily and Millicent went a few times, in this book you'll meet the Sandelski family who lived in it for several generations and own it. The blind mother who doesn't act as if she's blind, the father that's passionate about movies and the son that is into Star Trek and unfortunately gets bullied. In this book we tend to be at the bottom of the stratum pole of the middle school groups, the book with an AV club and Star Trek vs. Stars Wars. The characters of Stanford, Emily and Millicent also make cameos, (Millicent's was very short, while Emily and Stanford seem to take up a lot of the book. And are Emily and Stanford still together?) I think its an interesting read and is also easy to read. It does seem rather unfortunate though that the only way to become popular is to ether beat up a bully or become a jock. But Marley tries it briefly and returns to his AV club and running just for fun instead of competing for prizes. It also seems that bullies are helpless themselves in someways, which is surprising.
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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