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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
A world where your height is directly proportional to your wealth - probably my favorite bizarre book premise I’ve encountered in the past year. The language definitely takes some getting used to, but after that it’s a wild ride.
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
One of the more interesting YA books. A bit dark but a social commentary on income inequality. The more munmuns you have the bigger you are. Littlepoors are the size of rats and subject to being stepped on, etc. Bigriches are enormous and obviously in charge. Definitely worth reading and discussing.
I've always enjoyed science fiction, and when it makes social commentary at the same time I'm really hooked. On top of that, this book has a completely new premise - the people in it are literally big or small (or anywhere in between) depending on how much money they've got. This is the obscentiy of extreme wealth and extreme poverty put into an excellent novel about 2 littlepoors (narrated by Warner, the brother) trying to find a way out of tiny.
12/ #30booksummer Imagine a world where your financies determines your height and all that can go wrong. Throw in an alternate dream reality and a creative vocabulary, this book took some time for me to get in to. It is definitely an interesting and creative commentary on socioeconomics and politics.
Whoa! Now here's an exercise in extended metaphor. Andrews has taken an idea that could have been a simple allegory and turned it into a fully developed novel. Imagine, if you will, an alternate reality in which physical size is literally determined by wealth. A standard person is middlescale. The middlerich are those larger than that up two doublescale and the middlepoor extend to halfscale. Smaller than that are the littlepoors: quarterscale, eighthscale, and tenthscale--about the size of a rat. The bigrich just get bigger and bigger to hundreds of feet tall. Buildings, roads, vehicles, and all the rest exist at multiple scales to suit the needs of the different sizes, and people can scale up or scale down as their possession of munmun (money) changes.
As you might guess, Being littlepoor is notsogood. That's how thirteen-year-old Warner begins telling his tale. His dad was recently killed by a middlerich kid who accidentally stepped on their house when scuffling with friends and his mom was recently paralyzed when a cat attacked her at the dump. Too young for jobs and too small for school, he and his older sister set out with a friend to see if they can find a way to scale up. Their journey across the economic landscape includes encounters with middlepoor competition, middlerich exploitation, bigrich charity, gang enslavement, school, jail, marriage, and more. It's a biting, angry satire that explores many dimensions of rampant consumerism and extreme wealth inequality.
Warner narrates his story with his distinct voice, a semi-literate, somewhat stream-of-consciousness dialect unique to his circumstances, filled with munmun jargon and future slang.
As you might guess, Being littlepoor is notsogood. That's how thirteen-year-old Warner begins telling his tale. His dad was recently killed by a middlerich kid who accidentally stepped on their house when scuffling with friends and his mom was recently paralyzed when a cat attacked her at the dump. Too young for jobs and too small for school, he and his older sister set out with a friend to see if they can find a way to scale up. Their journey across the economic landscape includes encounters with middlepoor competition, middlerich exploitation, bigrich charity, gang enslavement, school, jail, marriage, and more. It's a biting, angry satire that explores many dimensions of rampant consumerism and extreme wealth inequality.
Warner narrates his story with his distinct voice, a semi-literate, somewhat stream-of-consciousness dialect unique to his circumstances, filled with munmun jargon and future slang.
Did you blurt a little giggly laugh? No you, didn't, okay good, ofcourse thanks for not laughing, sorry for being the Laugh Police. That story to me is just not super funny. But to other people, a littlebit funny. Mostly these are the people too big to worry about getting stomped, squashed, catcrippled, sewerdrowned, mudburied, any of your classic littlepoor terrors.It's a bit jarring at first, but easy to slip into and vaguely rhythmic. As a narrator, Warner is by turns angry, insightful, and funny. He changes as his life situations dictate, though no matter his scale he is inescapably defined his littlepoor beginnings. His is a tragic tale meant to spur readers to reflect on their own scales, and it succeeds entertainingly and marvelously. Highly recommended.
Whoa.
What a weird little poignant thing this was.
What a weird little poignant thing this was.
A fantastic concept which is let down a little by a meandering plot. It's a pretty effective allegory for capitalism. But the scenarios feel like they're there to make a point rather than tell a story. Warner was not an especially likable main character but the concept was engaging enough to carry me through.
Read on the recommendation of my 14 year old. YA was good when I was a YA, but it's really terrific now. Great story, strong characters, interesting choices, facility with language--very excited to know my kid is reading such strong stuff.