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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
What a creepy, bizarre little book. I wanted to love it more than I did. And I don’t think it’s a “bad” book per se, more just “right book, wrong audience”. I do generally love middle grade, but something about this story didn’t connect with me.
I did like that this book touches on mental illness - our main character, Steve, who is maybe 12 ish? It never says that I can remember, struggles with anxiety, and panic attacks and OCD and sees a therapist. Add to that, his new baby brother is born with some sort of medical condition that causes his parents to spend an awful lot of time at the hospital with him. Steve is full of worry and starts to have dreams (nightmares!) in which a wasp queen creature comes to visit him promising they (the wasps) can help the baby.
Mostly I just felt badly for Steve, who so clearly needed more support from his parents, more honest conversations about what was happening with his baby brother. So ya, it was just weird. Definitely creepy and I think my 8 year old son would love it so I’ll hang on to it for him to read.
I did like that this book touches on mental illness - our main character, Steve, who is maybe 12 ish? It never says that I can remember, struggles with anxiety, and panic attacks and OCD and sees a therapist. Add to that, his new baby brother is born with some sort of medical condition that causes his parents to spend an awful lot of time at the hospital with him. Steve is full of worry and starts to have dreams (nightmares!) in which a wasp queen creature comes to visit him promising they (the wasps) can help the baby.
Mostly I just felt badly for Steve, who so clearly needed more support from his parents, more honest conversations about what was happening with his baby brother. So ya, it was just weird. Definitely creepy and I think my 8 year old son would love it so I’ll hang on to it for him to read.
This book gave me the willies. The plot is focused around a boy with severe nightmares, a sick baby, a colony of haunting wasps and a creepy "knife guy" that patrols the streets in a van. Steven's nightmares consist of conversations with the queen wasp that turn out to be reality. In a terrifying situation where no one believes a word Steven says, he is forced to face the queen and her army of wasps alone or lose his new baby brother. This was a quick book to read, and the writing was solid, but it made my skin crawl a little bit.
Anyone who is interested in finding out the meanings of their dreams would find this book interesting. This book looks into the nightmares that a young man has regarding wasps and his little brother. At times this book can be very creepy and has an intense climax which makes it a very fast paced and active book to read.
Listed as a horror book, I just found it strange and not totally engaging
::nods vigorously:: This is MY kind of J horror. It is WEIRD. I read this thinking that I might booktalk it to elementary schoolers, but...it's just too cerebral and weird for the average reader. It's a definite handsell, but I don't think I could accurately broadcast it to all elementary schoolers in a way that would get them excited to read it. I'd be miss-selling it if I did.
This is a book about childhood anxiety. Like...as I was reading the main character I recognized myself SO HARD. I didn't even know I had anxiety until I was an adult...and if I had read this book and had a NAME for what I was going through, I think I would have started the therapy/anxiety management process much much earlier.
This is a book about.
I mean...what in the... what? It's SUCH A WEIRD concept. And it's all about coming to terms with illness being a part of life. It's about learning to just be ok with your circumstances and not try to prevent them or change them. And it's all couched in this SUPER BIZARRE literary horror concept.
For the right kid, this is an important book. And I could sell it with the horror aspect, but I don't think it would be honest. Because this is not about the horror -- it's about the healing and the coming-to-terms.
This is a book about childhood anxiety. Like...as I was reading the main character I recognized myself SO HARD. I didn't even know I had anxiety until I was an adult...and if I had read this book and had a NAME for what I was going through, I think I would have started the therapy/anxiety management process much much earlier.
This is a book about
Spoiler
creepy seemingly benevolent but actually evil wasps that create a baby in their wasp nest in order to replace the main character's sick baby brother with a NEW, IMPROVED, BETTER baby. And when you find out what the wasps are planning to do with the REAL baby.....asdlfkjsdghg.I mean...what in the... what? It's SUCH A WEIRD concept. And it's all about coming to terms with illness being a part of life. It's about learning to just be ok with your circumstances and not try to prevent them or change them. And it's all couched in this SUPER BIZARRE literary horror concept.
For the right kid, this is an important book. And I could sell it with the horror aspect, but I don't think it would be honest. Because this is not about the horror -- it's about the healing and the coming-to-terms.
I can't remember where I heard about this book, but it's not something I would have picked up on my own. The Nest is a short YA novel about a boy named Steve and his family (mom, dad, little sister Nicole, and baby Theo). The baby was born with a heart defect, and several other health problems. Many of which he will likely live with for the rest of his life.
Steve is a little quirky to begin with (later leading the reader to believe he actually has OCD), but then he is stung by a wasp. He then starts having strange dreams where angels (who turn out to be wasps) are talking to him. They are there to "help" the baby. And, by help, they mean create a new baby in their nest to replace imperfect baby Theo.
At first, Steve agrees. But, then he realizes that it's a terrible plan. At first, you think that Steve really is just dreaming. Then, you think maybe he's a touch crazy. And, finally, you realize that he is 100% terrifyingly right.
The story is wonderfully and intricately woven together. I have an advanced 9 year old reader who is *almost* ready for this. I'm holding back because it's just a little to creepy for him yet.
Steve is a little quirky to begin with (later leading the reader to believe he actually has OCD), but then he is stung by a wasp. He then starts having strange dreams where angels (who turn out to be wasps) are talking to him. They are there to "help" the baby. And, by help, they mean create a new baby in their nest to replace imperfect baby Theo.
At first, Steve agrees. But, then he realizes that it's a terrible plan. At first, you think that Steve really is just dreaming. Then, you think maybe he's a touch crazy. And, finally, you realize that he is 100% terrifyingly right.
The story is wonderfully and intricately woven together. I have an advanced 9 year old reader who is *almost* ready for this. I'm holding back because it's just a little to creepy for him yet.
A great little book, didn't take long to read, but left me with a few more questions than answers.
I'm not sure this is really for older teens, it felt a little babyish to me, but the "horror" aspect of the book is probably what does push it to the YA market.
I'm not sure this is really for older teens, it felt a little babyish to me, but the "horror" aspect of the book is probably what does push it to the YA market.
3.5 estrellas
"A veces no deberíamos ser como somos. No es bueno para nosotros. Y a la gente no le gusta. Tienes que cambiar. Tienes que esforzarte más y hacer respiraciones y tal vez tomar pastillas y aprender trucos que te permitan fingir que eres como los demás. Como la gente normal. Pero tal vez Vanessa tenía razón, y todas esas personas estaban rotas también a su manera. Tal vez, todos nosotros pasábamos demasiado tiempo fingiendo que no lo estábamos."
El nido es una novela que nos cuenta la historia de Steve, cuyo hermano recién nacido se debate entre la vida y la muerte. Mientras sus padres se pasan horas en el hospital, Steve empieza a recibir visitas en sueños de una extraña avispa reina que le promete que puede ayudar a su hermano y acabar con el sufrimiento de la familia. Lo único que Steve tiene que hacer es decir sí, pero sí puede ser una palabra muy peligrosa.
Leí esta novela exclusivamente porque una amiga me lo pidió. No soy muy fan de las novelas middle grade y esta no me llamaba la atención especialmente, pero ¡wow! lo que encontré superó todas mis expectativas. Oppel aborda en esta historia la problemática de la enfermedad tanto física como mental y el rechazo que sufren estos enfermos por parte de la sociedad. Usando una mezcla entre el realismo mágico y el terror fantástico, el autor consigue crear un ambiente claustrofóbico donde nuestro protagonista tendrá que enfrentarse no solo a las terroríficas avispas, sino también a todas las ideas que tiene sobre sí mismo y el mundo.
Esta obra me pareció un experimento increíblemente interesante en la literatura juvenil. No estoy segura de si el mensaje puede ser comprendido por lectores tan jóvenes, pues los recursos y alegorías pueden llegar a ser un poco complejos, pero para un lector adulto, sin embargo, está recomendadísimo.
"A veces no deberíamos ser como somos. No es bueno para nosotros. Y a la gente no le gusta. Tienes que cambiar. Tienes que esforzarte más y hacer respiraciones y tal vez tomar pastillas y aprender trucos que te permitan fingir que eres como los demás. Como la gente normal. Pero tal vez Vanessa tenía razón, y todas esas personas estaban rotas también a su manera. Tal vez, todos nosotros pasábamos demasiado tiempo fingiendo que no lo estábamos."
El nido es una novela que nos cuenta la historia de Steve, cuyo hermano recién nacido se debate entre la vida y la muerte. Mientras sus padres se pasan horas en el hospital, Steve empieza a recibir visitas en sueños de una extraña avispa reina que le promete que puede ayudar a su hermano y acabar con el sufrimiento de la familia. Lo único que Steve tiene que hacer es decir sí, pero sí puede ser una palabra muy peligrosa.
Leí esta novela exclusivamente porque una amiga me lo pidió. No soy muy fan de las novelas middle grade y esta no me llamaba la atención especialmente, pero ¡wow! lo que encontré superó todas mis expectativas. Oppel aborda en esta historia la problemática de la enfermedad tanto física como mental y el rechazo que sufren estos enfermos por parte de la sociedad. Usando una mezcla entre el realismo mágico y el terror fantástico, el autor consigue crear un ambiente claustrofóbico donde nuestro protagonista tendrá que enfrentarse no solo a las terroríficas avispas, sino también a todas las ideas que tiene sobre sí mismo y el mundo.
Esta obra me pareció un experimento increíblemente interesante en la literatura juvenil. No estoy segura de si el mensaje puede ser comprendido por lectores tan jóvenes, pues los recursos y alegorías pueden llegar a ser un poco complejos, pero para un lector adulto, sin embargo, está recomendadísimo.
Dude, this book is unnerving. Definitely harkens back to Neil Bauman's Coraline, but still kept me guessing and left me on edge. I liked that the author addressed anxiety and OCD, and makes me wish this book was available when I was a kid. The psychological terror that Steven, the main protagonist, experiences in this book was just all too real and left me feeling kind of upset every time I had to stop reading. I just sat and powered through 60% of the Book because I just wanted to stop feeling this way. I'm not sure a book has ever made me feel like that. I don't read horror-based novels, so maybe that's why I felt so shocked by it. This is a horror novel for children. I say that it's impressive for a book written for a lower age range to have that sort of impact on an adult.