Reviews

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg

erinricks's review

4.0

I really like this book! I found it at the school library, and picked it up because it had been on my summer reading list, and a ton of people had recommended it. I was not disappointed at all! I loved how Konigsburg painted a vivid image of the towers. Great book!

4saradouglas's review

3.0

This book was cute at times and had some good characters and scenes, but it could also get boring. The towers sounded cool, the uncles were cute, but the rest was just sort of "meh."

hnbb's review

4.0

Konigsburg has the ability to portray believable relationships that are relevant and relatable but not romantic. I have enjoyed each book of hers that I have read. They are nice and refreshing and not usually too heavy.

mschrock8's review against another edition

3.0

Wish there had been more about camp.

ms_greenjeans's review

4.0

Found this in a Little Free Library. A typical EL Konigsburg book about improbably smart people living in an improbable world. Good characters and story.

mfh1979's review

4.0

Oh I love E.L. Konigsburg’s books. This book is delightfully full of word play, and wonderful characters.

A great read for anyone, but especially for those who marvel in and at the English language.

erincataldi's review

5.0

I adored this book. Even though it's really a middle grade read and told through the perspective of a twelve year old girl, I ate it up. While her parents are in Peru, Margaret Rose Kane finds herself stuck in a summer camp, hating everything. Determined to not be swayed the "Queen" camp director, Margaret decides not to do anything. Whenever she's asked to participate she replies, "I prefer not to." Fed up, the director calls her uncles who are temporary guardians for her while her parents are out of the country. The uncles whisk her out of camp and take her back to their whimsical house., complete with art towers, on 19 Schuyler Place, which is exactly where Margaret Rose Kane wanted to be in the first place. Things aren't all hunky dory though, Margaret finds out that the towers have been condemned and will be torn down in weeks. Armed with her incorrigible attitude, she determines that her summer project will be to save the,. Great fun and narrated beautifully by Molly Ringwald.

situationnormal's review

4.0

I looooved this book. All of the quirky characters were perfect because they weren't overdone, and I could picture all of the settings so well. The only reason I'm taking off a star is because the ending is pretty rushed. I've read Silent To The Bone, so I feel like I understand it quite a bit better than I would otherwise, but it's still too fast and I feel like I don't get as much closure as I wanted to with some of the characters. Otherwise, I really love the structure of the story and the way it unfolds.

beths0103's review

2.0

While not my favorite Konigsburg novel, I appreciate how she continues to write stories outside the simple chronological order of events. Using flashbacks can sometimes make the story seem confusing, but in the end, things always seems to make sense.

I guess the reason I didn't care for this book as much as her others is that as it got towards the end, everything felt sort of pieced together, almost like she ran out of steam or something. I know she had to end the book the way she did to tie it into [book: Silent to the Bone] but I thought another 20 pages would've made the ending seem less rushed.

katy82's review

4.0

I applaude Konigsburg for giving us a great book with true to life characters. I love the Margert Rose Kane and her excentric uncles. The story of the Outcasts is one that I think many can identify with. The only thing that keeps me from giving this book 5 stars is the camp protest a the end. So much of the story until that part mirrored what true life that that little bit seemed to come from left field and didn't truely fit the voice of the story, in my opinion. Still, I liked the way the book untimently ended so I guess I can grant Konigsburg some wiggle room with a little suspenstion of disbelife.