Oddballs: Stories

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Summary: I read this book while in an Advanced Placement course.
Review: I read this book my during my junior year in high school. I believe this is the best book I have read yet to this day, (I'm 26). After the first couple of pages I was seriously laughing out loud. No book has ever made me laugh out loud. I reccommended it to my best friend and I hope you read it as well. Those oddballs are a crazy group. You wonder how they survived with each other. Oddballs was a great book, funny, interesting, entertaining, and just all around great! Please read this book, however old you are.

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Summary: Book review for Oddballs
Review: I thought that the book Oddballs was a pretty good book. some parts of the book were funny. One of the parts in the book that was funny was when they went on road trips they would play car games. When I read that part of the book it made me think about my family because when we go on road trips we play car games too. There were some things I didn't like. There were some parts in the book that didn't make sense and were pointless. Like when Vicky and her friends were dying their hair with grape juice. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read funny and unique books. If you read this book you will laugh untill your stomach hurts. This book was one of the first books I really enjoyed.

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Summary: Oddballs
Review: I thought this book was excellent because it was about William Sleator and his family with real funny stories. One of the things that I thinkabout this book was that you don't know if the stories William Sleator is telling are reaaly true until the end of the book.William Sleator shares strange and wacky stories about growing up with his mother,farther,his brothers,Danny and Tycho,and his sister vicky. For example ,William's family never took care of their front yard because they only used their backyard,so they never mowed or planted anything in it. The dad,a physicist,used to blindfold the kids and take them for a ride in the car. He would then drop them off in an unfamiliar area and tell them to find their way home. William's dad would give them one dime to cll home if they could not find their way. This was a weekend game they sometimes played. A positive effect I thought this book might have on its reader is to teach kids that it's ok to not be popular. William Sleator said that people should like you for the way you are, not the way you look or how athletic you are. William and his friends were in an unpopular group because they chose to be happy the way they were. They still had fun. One thing I thought might have a negative effect on readers would have to be stories Sleator tells about him, his sister, Vicky, and their friends doing "pituh-plays". William Sleator says "pituh-plays" are skits "often inspired by real people or situations or by unpopular movies and books". One of the meanest "pituh-plays" they ever played was with Vicki and her friends. They went to a fountain at a park with a watermelon wrapped up like a baby. They pretended to be mad and yelled at the baby (watermelon), held it over the fountain, and then threw it in. The watermelon juice would look like blood at first. Some people watching would call the police. I thought this book was great, but it was a little too short. I would love to hear more funny and exciting things that happened to William Sleator and his family.

Rating:
Summary: Oddballs
Review: I thought this book was excellent because it was about William Sleator and his family with real funny stories. One of the things that I thinkabout this book was that you don't know if the stories William Sleator is telling are reaaly true until the end of the book.William Sleator shares strange and wacky stories about growing up with his mother,farther,his brothers,Danny and Tycho,and his sister vicky. For example ,William's family never took care of their front yard because they only used their backyard,so they never mowed or planted anything in it. The dad,a physicist,used to blindfold the kids and take them for a ride in the car. He would then drop them off in an unfamiliar area and tell them to find their way home. William's dad would give them one dime to cll home if they could not find their way. This was a weekend game they sometimes played. A positive effect I thought this book might have on its reader is to teach kids that it's ok to not be popular. William Sleator said that people should like you for the way you are, not the way you look or how athletic you are. William and his friends were in an unpopular group because they chose to be happy the way they were. They still had fun. One thing I thought might have a negative effect on readers would have to be stories Sleator tells about him, his sister, Vicky, and their friends doing "pituh-plays". William Sleator says "pituh-plays" are skits "often inspired by real people or situations or by unpopular movies and books". One of the meanest "pituh-plays" they ever played was with Vicki and her friends. They went to a fountain at a park with a watermelon wrapped up like a baby. They pretended to be mad and yelled at the baby (watermelon), held it over the fountain, and then threw it in. The watermelon juice would look like blood at first. Some people watching would call the police. I thought this book was great, but it was a little too short. I would love to hear more funny and exciting things that happened to William Sleator and his family.

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Summary: autobiography
Review: I was a little surprised to find this book is an autobiography instead of the science fiction and horror that mr. sleator usually writes. It is a must read for william sleator fans who will come to understand the author's source for such amazing ideas for his books. Be warned these are just stories of his typical (or not so typical) youth, and not a mind bending science fiction read. We learn of his unusual upbringing and his off the wall family as the author was growing up. The horrible and funny things his family do to others and each other make for an amusing read.

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Summary: Great Book for relunctant readers.
Review: I'm constantly at my 11 year son to read and I'm always on the lookout for books that will keep him interested and foster a love of books. Someone suggested that William Sleator would do the trick. He thought the book was hysterical and it made for a great summer read for him. I would suggest it for anyone trying to get a boy to read.

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Summary: Oddballs
Review: Oddballs is probably the most unique book I've ever read. William Sleator writes in an interesting point of view. There are many pros to the book ,and some cons. Three pros are: 1. it has very descriptive writing, 2. Sleator's writing style is very unique, and 3. he uses his smaller siblings in experiments , such as baballoo- bum. Three cons to Sleator's Oddballs are: 1. sometimes his writing style gets boring, 2. the chapters sometimes ramble on + on, and 3. it's very hard to believe some chapters. Overall, I would definately reccommend this book to readers of all ages.

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Summary: hahahehe
Review: this book is so funny. i loved it all the way through and couldn't stop laughing my hardest. i have one question, however- would this be an okay book for me to read aloud to my 8 year old sister? she is at about a 9 year old's reading level and i know she'd think it was funny. please answer if you have an opinion- email me at [e-mail]. thanks!

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Summary: i loved the stories and wished i was part of the family
Review: this book made me want to do everything the characters did. from wrapping up a watermelon in a baby's blanket and pretending it was a baby then throwing it in a pool to see what everyone's reaction would be; to having my dad drop me off in the middle of town, letting me find my way home; or having a seance in a half-built playhouse in my backyard and recording voices to play from under the table. i even tried dying my hair with kool-aid after i read this book. i would reccomend this book to anyone who has a sick sense of humor. as strange and even disturbing as this family was i wish i was a part of it.

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Summary: Oddballs
Review: This book wasn't as good as I expected it to be. Each chapter is a different story. So, there isn't one main conflict running through it. Yes, the characters were realistic, but that isn't what I look for while reading books. What I do look for is a good plot and a conflict that is solved with a reasonable conclusion. Some strengths in Oddballs were that it is, for the most part, well written. William Sleator does a good job letting us get to know the characters in each chapter, especially Bill, Vicky, Tycho, and Danny. And he makes the situations in the book sound funny when maybe they weren't as funny when it really happened. So, if you like books that are quick-reads and slightly funny, you would enjoy this book. But if you are like me and don't like that type of book, you should consider one of William Sleator's other books such as Beasties or Rewind.