Reviews

The Bronze Pen by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

mkmcd's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.0

turrean's review against another edition

2.0

So many loose threads left at the end! Almost as if the book was begun years before the author wrote the ending, and in the interim forgot all the little plot elements she introduced.

katiethepenguin's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

This is a reread for me. I used to love this book when I was in grade school. Reading it as an adult... It does not hold up. The main character Audrey holds so much shame and guilt for things outside of her control. I definitely related as a kid but now I think the author could have handled it better. Audrey discovers how to use her special pen wisely, but she doesn't actually work through her problems. She magically helps things get better for her parents. However, she still hides her wish to be an author. It's like she made things better for her parents so we should accept that as a happy ending. Even though she doesn't feel like they see her and are proud of her for who she is. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness

alexw_7's review against another edition

4.0

3.5-4 stars

happy_hiker's review against another edition

1.0

I got this book from Scholastic, thinking my daugher would like it. I decided to read it first, at the halfway point I know she would find it exceedingly boring. At the halfway point, Audrey hadn’t yet figured out anything about the pen. And when she finally figured it out, the book just ended. And I thought her friend Lizzie was obnoxious. I don’t know when this book was written, but it was set in the early 1970s. In any case, I don’t consider this book a timeless treasure, and I will be donating it to the library.

calistareads's review against another edition

4.0

I love when authors write about writers. Stephen King does it so well. This story is about Audrey, an aspiring writer and she has known she wants to write since she was a little kid. She is 14 now. I also am a huge fan of Zilpha. I grew up reading her stuff and it was always some of my favorite stories I read in my early reading days.

Audrey follows a white duck up into a cave where she meets a strange woman who gives her a pen. She doesn't know what to make of it, but she realizes that the Bronze Pen makes weird things happen. There real set-up of the story is that Audrey's dad has heart trouble and very sick and her mom has a horrible work environment. Life is stressful.

She has to figure out this pen. As readers we wonder, did the pen really do much or was it just real life happening. The story works with wish fulfillment. That's a powerful troupe for young readers and older alike.

This was not my favorite Zilpha story, but I had fun reading this one. It entertained me. As someone who has read a lot of stuff out there, it's predictable and that's okay. I think there could have been more magic in the story and more awe, but it works.

brookepalmer796's review against another edition

1.0

This is really poorly written. There are plot holes, the pacing is slow, the magical element unexplained. We are told that Audrey is 12 but she sounds much younger, yet she has already read Jane Eyre and Great Expectations, I don't think so. I'm also not sure why the author chose the '70s as a setting. She certainly didn't make that believable. I don't know anyone who took algebra as a 7th grader, or addressed their parents by their first names in their minds, nor were there usually women bosses at banks. Sloppy.