The Lifters by Dave Eggers

The Lifters

Author: Dave Eggers
Publisher: Yearling (Random House)
Year: 2018 (book & audio)
Genre: Magical Realism
Age: Juv 8-12
Page Count: 339
Audio Publisher: Listening Library (Books on Tape)
Audio Reader: Dion Graham
Audio Length: 5 hours & 18 minutes

Rating:

 

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I happened across this book while shelving one day a few weeks ago & it looked kinda fun so I thought I'd try it out. I ended up really liking it! It's quirky & it's got spunk, two things a great juvenile book should have I think. It also has a girl named Maisie in it (don't know know someone with a name kinda like that? LOL) who refers to herself as "The Queen of School" so how could I not like it? I liked it so much that I bought it. I was very pleasantly surprised to see pictures in it once I got the print copy. I think the pictures really enhance the story. They are very nicely done & they remind me of old charcoal comic drawings. The book also has some textual elements that I think add to the story as well, for example our main character Granite Flowerpetal (what a name huh?) likes to be called Gran for short because he thinks his name is weird. But at his new school there is a girl who thinks his nickname makes him sound like a grandmother, not a cool new kid trying to make an impression. So when Gran meets the interesting man known as The Duke that works in the basement of the school in a gigantic storage closet, he tells him is name is Grant, but the T is just kinda hanging there on the end. So in the book his name starts normal size & then gradually gets smaller when The Duke is talking to him. Little quirks like that in books makes me love them so much more! 

The whole concept of this book is just interesting from the town, to the characters, & especially the classic juv story"villain" or "monster", whatever you'd like to call it. The storyline is pretty typical for a juv book, but the twists & uniqueness of it overall make it unlike any story you've ever heard before. I was also very happy with the ending, I think it was perfect! The size of the book is also a good one, it's a paperback (my personal preference if I don't get the e book) & its more of a square shape than a traditional rectangular book. The length of the audio & the book itself are good. The chapter breaks are a little weird, there is over 100 very short chapters, some of them only one paragraph with a picture. I would highly recommend this book if you're looking for a little bit of magic between the pages.