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Title: The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World
ISBN: 1416949720
Author:
E.L. Konigsburg
Publicate Date: 2007-09-25
Publish: 2007-09-25
List Price: $16.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $5.44
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $1.66
Amazon Merchant Price: $12.40
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| Customer Review: |
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1: no better than average
Three stars for average.
The story is slow and the characters are inconsistent, but the sections related to lost and stolen art by the Nazis were interesting to read. I enjoyed the fictionalized (of course) stories of the young men in an art shop on Prinsengracht in Amsterdam trying to save the loss of great art the Nazis had condemned as "degenerate art". I can imagine such fictionalized accounts of this type of activity probably aren't too far from truth.
In terms of the characters I didn't like the development of the two young teen boys. At one moment they were talking like one might expect a teen to speak, for example, poor grammar. Then a bit later they were discussing great works of art like they were well educated, sophisticated adults. It just grated on me.
The story really didn't get interesting in terms of the discovery of lost art and solving the mystery of its origin until about the final 1/4 of the book. A lot of what came before that seemed to be fluffy filler.
Finally, though it's billed as a "teen" book I can't imagine many teens would spend their time with this one. It's just my sense that the slow storyline won't hold their attention. This book would be thrown by the wayside in favor of something more stimulating to the senses.
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2: E.L. Konigsburg At Her Best!
I loved this book. It was great! At the beginning the plot was a little boring, but keep reading, it gets so much more exciting. Amedeo Kaplan has always wanted to find something no one knew was lost, but he doesn't expect to find anything in St. Malo, Florida. He does discover something, just not quite what he expected.
Although this book is not really a mystery, it has the mood and complexity of one. This is one of E.L. Konigsburg's best books, up there with The View from Saturday. If you like reading, get this book. If you don't like reading, read it any way, you'll love it. This book also talked a lot about art and that was great as well.
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3: Interesting.
I found this book to be interesting, but at times a little flow challenged.
It is a well disguised WWII book. It became more intriguing about a third of the way into the book when you learn about art during Hitlers time. I think this would be daunting for juvenile readers; it definitely belongs in the teen section. Unfortunately I think in some ways it might be too subtle for teen readers as a whole. It is a good book, and as an adult who loves fiction and art I enjoyed it.
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4: A new kid who has a secret dream: to discover some hidden treasure to make himself famous
E.L. Konigsburg's THE MYSTERIOUS EDGE OF THE HEROIC WORLD tells of Amedeo Kaplan, a new kid who has a secret dream: to discover some hidden treasure to make himself famous - and make a new friend to share his discoveries with. William is an aloof boy who is a loner and seems an odd friendship choice - but the two find themselves working on an odd mansion project and find themselves becoming involved in a long-kept secret revolving around Nazi Germany.
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5: the mysterious edge of the heroic world
Great book with an interesting story line. A bit of WWII history and a modern day coming of age. A bit deep for a young reader. Better for a teen audience! Not as comic as I expected, but still a nice read!!!
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