Blue Avenger Cracks the Code
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 1/13/2016
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 1/13/2016 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I found this good-condition hardcover at a local Savers thrift shop and thought it looked interesting: a YA book in which a teen superhero tries to figure out the truth behind the various theories as to the author of Shakespeare's plays.
It's a lot more than that, as it happens. I haven't read the first book in the series, but this one got me up to speed quickly enough: 16-year-old David changed his name to Blue Avenger in an attempt to live more like the superhero in his own comic strips. He's done some good - though in this book we learn that some of his triumphs from the last one may not last - and he has to struggle with his desire to right wrongs and his need to get his chores and his classwork done on time. Oh, and to spend time with his girlfriend Omaha, whose family troubles kick off part of the story here: her father abandoned the family years ago, and when Blue discovers clues as to his whereabouts in the immediate future, he tells Omaha and even springs for air fare to help her get there. [The bit about the money is amusing - it was from a check sent by a fan of the Blue Avenger, "a retired high school principal living in a nursing home just outside of Austin, Texas. (And whose checkbook was subsequently confiscated by her horrified children, but that is another story.)" Yep, the tone here is very, very snarky, with changes of viewpoint between characters and sometimes to "omniscient" mode (there's even a viewpoint scene or two for the dog, plus one by a random gondolier), and with digressions and information and internal dialogues galore. Quite entertaining, too.
Blue does eventually learn about the controversy over who wrote Shakespeare's plays, and as his teacher - and the book's author, it seems - love the idea that it was someone other than Shakespeare himself, that's the way the clues go. But that's not the main point: instead, Blue finds himself living out scenes from a Shakespeare play he hasn't even read yet (hint: it takes place in Venice), while trying to work out why Omaha has been so distant since her return from her meeting with her father. [The audience knows, but Blue doesn't, and I kept wishing she'd just tell him. Oh, well.] And late in the book, as Blue is trying to find hidden codes in Shakespeare's sonnets, he finds himself distracted by the language, so score points for poetry!
Fun shenanigans, examples of activisim in daily life as well as larger-scale attempts to do good, the ups and downs of family and friends - nice mix here.
It's a lot more than that, as it happens. I haven't read the first book in the series, but this one got me up to speed quickly enough: 16-year-old David changed his name to Blue Avenger in an attempt to live more like the superhero in his own comic strips. He's done some good - though in this book we learn that some of his triumphs from the last one may not last - and he has to struggle with his desire to right wrongs and his need to get his chores and his classwork done on time. Oh, and to spend time with his girlfriend Omaha, whose family troubles kick off part of the story here: her father abandoned the family years ago, and when Blue discovers clues as to his whereabouts in the immediate future, he tells Omaha and even springs for air fare to help her get there. [The bit about the money is amusing - it was from a check sent by a fan of the Blue Avenger, "a retired high school principal living in a nursing home just outside of Austin, Texas. (And whose checkbook was subsequently confiscated by her horrified children, but that is another story.)" Yep, the tone here is very, very snarky, with changes of viewpoint between characters and sometimes to "omniscient" mode (there's even a viewpoint scene or two for the dog, plus one by a random gondolier), and with digressions and information and internal dialogues galore. Quite entertaining, too.
Blue does eventually learn about the controversy over who wrote Shakespeare's plays, and as his teacher - and the book's author, it seems - love the idea that it was someone other than Shakespeare himself, that's the way the clues go. But that's not the main point: instead, Blue finds himself living out scenes from a Shakespeare play he hasn't even read yet (hint: it takes place in Venice), while trying to work out why Omaha has been so distant since her return from her meeting with her father. [The audience knows, but Blue doesn't, and I kept wishing she'd just tell him. Oh, well.] And late in the book, as Blue is trying to find hidden codes in Shakespeare's sonnets, he finds himself distracted by the language, so score points for poetry!
Fun shenanigans, examples of activisim in daily life as well as larger-scale attempts to do good, the ups and downs of family and friends - nice mix here.
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Lake Massabesic in Auburn, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, September 4, 2016
GoryDetails at Lake Massabesic in Auburn, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, September 4, 2016
Released 7 yrs ago (9/4/2016 UTC) at Lake Massabesic in Auburn, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book, bagged against the elements, on a bench at the shore of the lake at around 4 on this beautiful day; hope the finder enjoys it!*** Released as part of the 2016 September Sapphire release challenge. ***
*** Released as part of the 2016 You're Such an Animal release challenge, for the embedded "cod" in the title. ***
