The Eyes of Kid Midas
2 journalers for this copy...
Pre-numbered label used for registration.
From School Library Journal:
Grade 6-9-- Short and bespectacled, 13-year-old Kevin is the constant victim of the class bully, Bertram, but things change during a camping trip to a mountain that is supposedly sacred to the Native Americans of the region. After a grueling nighttime climb, Kevin reaches the top at dawn and finds a cool pair of sunglasses, which turn out to be saturated with the mountain's magic. They have the power of turning his desires into reality and making him master of his universe. From making ice-cream cones materialize to filling his house with video games, they grant his every wish, and things predictably get out of hand. Unfortunately, he cannot use the glasses to undo or reverse any of these actions, and when in anger he shouts at Bertram, ``Go to Hell!'' the ground opens up and swallows him. Eventually the fabric of reality starts to unwind and the world as he knows it becomes a thing of the past. Kevin later has a vision of Bertram struggling in chains in his own personally customized hell, in a wonderfully disturbing scene worthy of Stephen King. In general the imagery here is vivid and effective. The ending, in which the boy undoes everything he has done merely by returning the glasses to the mountaintop, may strike some readers as a simplistic cop-out, and the moral conclusion of his dilemma is the obvious one, but the novel features steady action with occasional touches of bizarre, inspired humor and is hypnotically readable. --Lyle Blake Smythers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Grade 6-9-- Short and bespectacled, 13-year-old Kevin is the constant victim of the class bully, Bertram, but things change during a camping trip to a mountain that is supposedly sacred to the Native Americans of the region. After a grueling nighttime climb, Kevin reaches the top at dawn and finds a cool pair of sunglasses, which turn out to be saturated with the mountain's magic. They have the power of turning his desires into reality and making him master of his universe. From making ice-cream cones materialize to filling his house with video games, they grant his every wish, and things predictably get out of hand. Unfortunately, he cannot use the glasses to undo or reverse any of these actions, and when in anger he shouts at Bertram, ``Go to Hell!'' the ground opens up and swallows him. Eventually the fabric of reality starts to unwind and the world as he knows it becomes a thing of the past. Kevin later has a vision of Bertram struggling in chains in his own personally customized hell, in a wonderfully disturbing scene worthy of Stephen King. In general the imagery here is vivid and effective. The ending, in which the boy undoes everything he has done merely by returning the glasses to the mountaintop, may strike some readers as a simplistic cop-out, and the moral conclusion of his dilemma is the obvious one, but the novel features steady action with occasional touches of bizarre, inspired humor and is hypnotically readable. --Lyle Blake Smythers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Definitely a fast paced story, jammed with action. There is even a lesson to be learned, though it may be missed by most young readers (hint: MIDAS is an appropriate name) :o)
Sending to Eduk80 for her students :o)
This came in a shipment of books from vavoice. Will make it available to my book club kids.
