Leap Years || Better to keep your feet grounded...
Written: Mar 06 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Dark, rough, art. Captures the 'feeling' of the high school years.
Cons: Where we going with this..?? What do we bring from reading this..??
The Bottom Line: Captures the dark angst, rebellion of high school years with barely a hint of learning to become a young adult. Interesting to read but little to bring from that read.
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| sleeper54's Full Review: Ian Bennett - Leap Years |
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Many of us have probably been there. Trapped in the special ennui that is the teen years. Sentenced to life (or sure seems like 'life') in prison, a prison filled with fellow creatures equally lost. This prison is run by teachers who seek to fill skulls and young minds with mush, to be regurgitated on demand. This prison is administrated by an old man who " . . .needs to put the 'pal' back in 'principal'."
Jake is so insignificant in his school's social ladder that the ". . .bullies don't even notice me. ... I feel I should be mad ...but I just don't care anymore."
But Jake has a new friend that will shake up his Leap Years. An unusual friend named Wilbur.
For you see, Wilbur is a "5'11" tall frog" and Jake is the only one (of course) who can see him. Wilbur is going to rock Jake's world and solve all his problems. Sounds great, ehh..??
After following Jake around school for a day, Wilbur has seen the roots of all Jake's problems: "You don't do anything! You don't say anything!" Wilbur sets out to remake his charge.
Star of the basketball team..?? No problem, done.
Take the prettiest girl in school to the Prom..?? Done.
Run for Student Council President..?? Well... I will let you read Leap Years to discover if a giant invisible frog can solve all the problems of an awkward teenage boy.
Aimed at the older teen reader, Leap Years captures many of the trials and tribulations encountered making one's way through the maze of high school: popularity ...or the lack of it, dating, grades, discipline, friends and enemies. Drawn in dark ink with many ink-filled dark images, Leap Years does not present a 'fun' image of surviving the high school years. Teachers and fellow students are often drawn zombie-like and there is little 'fun' or constructive behavior modeled in this short graphic novel.
The Bottom Line
The back cover boldly proclaims: "Now that Wilbur's around, in the big leap from childhood to adulthood, the lessons learned in school aren't always in the classroom." Unfortunately, I think they are not found in this book either.
Leap Years captures the dark angst and rebellion of the high school years with barely a hint of kids learning to become young adults. Well, unless you happen to have a giant invisible frog as your bodyguard and social planner.
It is an interesting read for its capturing of the high school experience but of little use in learning to survive or overcome it. Not one I would pick for my kid ...and one I doubt he would pick more than once for himself.
Certified 'lean-n-mean' review'
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
sleeper54
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Back-in-the-heartland...brief respite before real-world work begins. Hopefully less intensive than I imagine it will be..!!
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