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kitkatmichelle's review
5.0
It looks like this is probably my fourth read of this book, and it certainly won't be my last. When people ask me what my favorite book is... y'all, this is my answer. It may be a middle-grade novel, but it contains SO much. It is so. very. extraordinary. I've never read anything like it and I doubt I ever will.
The Lockwoods are the most precious fictional family I've ever gotten to know. I just want to wrap my arms around each and every one of them and cry on their shoulders and tell them they're amazing and beautiful even in their brokenness.
Read it. It'll make you laugh. It'll make you cry. It'll make your heart pound.
THIS is my idea of a good book, although "good" does it no justice whatsoever. Calling it "good" is like calling a mountain a boulder.
Read it. Read it. Read it.
Please.
The Lockwoods are the most precious fictional family I've ever gotten to know. I just want to wrap my arms around each and every one of them and cry on their shoulders and tell them they're amazing and beautiful even in their brokenness.
Read it. It'll make you laugh. It'll make you cry. It'll make your heart pound.
THIS is my idea of a good book, although "good" does it no justice whatsoever. Calling it "good" is like calling a mountain a boulder.
Read it. Read it. Read it.
Please.
tcbueti's review
5.0
Imaginative mix of reality and fantasy--family fleeing to the Otherworld, where magical creatures (dragons, Saqquatches, ghosts) don't cause havoc and Clouds don't come to take people way to their deaths. Fearing that a cloud on their street is coming for their sickly youngest Sam (aka Mouse), the family--scattered meteorologist dad, musical mom, older sister Millie and feisty Gracie--along with Oliver, a classmate whose family was killed by sasquatches) --piles into an RV and takes off for the flat edge of the world, so they can get to the Otherworld. But does it really exist? Is their dad right? (Oliver adds an interesting voice and perspective: he's trying to forget his family.)
Full of great settings--their hometown, with tunnels to get to school during dragon season, their witch grandmother's wooden house, set in forest and full of ghosts in the backyard, an oddly overgrown Los Angeles (taken over by ghosts and the forest after being built by giants), weeks on board ship. They accidentally capture a Sasquatch in their trailer, then have to decide what to do with her. Nearly get lost in the desert, stumble upon Luck City, a sort of pueblo Vegas, full of desperate gamblers and schemers. After a brief stay in Los Angeles, (to hire a guardian angel named Virgil) they end up on a ship, heading to the South Pole, past Santa's island (why not?) trying to escape ghost ships. Major plot twist at the end.
The mix of familiar and fantastic makes it scarier, I think and disorienting and memorable.
Lots to discuss about parents and trust.
Full of great settings--their hometown, with tunnels to get to school during dragon season, their witch grandmother's wooden house, set in forest and full of ghosts in the backyard, an oddly overgrown Los Angeles (taken over by ghosts and the forest after being built by giants), weeks on board ship. They accidentally capture a Sasquatch in their trailer, then have to decide what to do with her. Nearly get lost in the desert, stumble upon Luck City, a sort of pueblo Vegas, full of desperate gamblers and schemers. After a brief stay in Los Angeles, (to hire a guardian angel named Virgil) they end up on a ship, heading to the South Pole, past Santa's island (why not?) trying to escape ghost ships. Major plot twist at the end.
The mix of familiar and fantastic makes it scarier, I think and disorienting and memorable.
Lots to discuss about parents and trust.
stitchsaddiction's review
5.0
My Diary from the Edge Of The World by Jodi Lynn Anderson was a fantastic read about an alternate Earth filled with creatures often found in fairytale or myths and legends.
Gracie hasn't travelled anywhere outside Cliffden in Maine because travelling means encountering Sasquatches, trolls, angry Angels and other creatures who have reclaimed the land from humans. Every day for her is the same as before, until one of the dark clouds that mortals fear appears at the end of her road and its arrival signifies that nothing will be the same for Gracie and her family.
Dark Clouds come to take away the dead and Gracie's little brother Sam is sick. Overnight the family make the decision to travel to the edge of the world to find The Extraordinary World - a place of legend that resembles the world we know, a place where Sam will be safe and the dark clouds will fail. If they can get to The Extraordinary World then their family can be together and happy.
I love Gracie's diary entries, filled with the reality of her life and the struggles of having five people travelling across the world in a worn out Winnebago. Gracie's family plus Oliver, an unusual boy from Gracie's school (ssssh not telling you more) are squashed together and emotions run high especially as they're trying to find something that may not exist.. but you would do anything for someone you love wouldn't you - even risk being burned by dragons who seem to hate T.J. Maxx or Angels who get annoyed by helicopters and planes.
Because love is the strongest thing there is and it's worth risking everything.
Gracie's dad truly believes in the Extraordinary World, and it's made him a laughing stock in Cliffden, he knows everything about Clouds too - I was torn between feeling sorry for him that his convictions have left him isolated and anger at how distant he is from Gracie and her siblings. Jodi Lynn Anderson's way of writing both Gracie's diary entries and the way the children see their father is so well done that at times you want to get hold of the man and shake him in and shout at him for not seeing that his family need him for more than his expertise; especially Gracie's older sister who is so very different to her siblings and often very withdrawn from her family.
With a trip to the Smokey Mountains to meet their Grandmother who is a witch, and a garden filled with ghosts who really want to catch the Dark Cloud for themselves, they get a little bit more help in their bid to escape this flat Earth filled with monsters and things that truly do go bump in the dark. Gracie and her family keep fighting on, they become stronger together than they had been before the cloud appeared with its ominous intent haunting the family...
I don't want to spoil the book but if you want a story where fairytale monsters are the norm, and a family fights for one another and hangs onto a dream? This is for you. So much happens and even though 9lit is intended for middlegraders, I think it's a book so many people will enjoy reading.
Gracie hasn't travelled anywhere outside Cliffden in Maine because travelling means encountering Sasquatches, trolls, angry Angels and other creatures who have reclaimed the land from humans. Every day for her is the same as before, until one of the dark clouds that mortals fear appears at the end of her road and its arrival signifies that nothing will be the same for Gracie and her family.
Dark Clouds come to take away the dead and Gracie's little brother Sam is sick. Overnight the family make the decision to travel to the edge of the world to find The Extraordinary World - a place of legend that resembles the world we know, a place where Sam will be safe and the dark clouds will fail. If they can get to The Extraordinary World then their family can be together and happy.
I love Gracie's diary entries, filled with the reality of her life and the struggles of having five people travelling across the world in a worn out Winnebago. Gracie's family plus Oliver, an unusual boy from Gracie's school (ssssh not telling you more) are squashed together and emotions run high especially as they're trying to find something that may not exist.. but you would do anything for someone you love wouldn't you - even risk being burned by dragons who seem to hate T.J. Maxx or Angels who get annoyed by helicopters and planes.
Because love is the strongest thing there is and it's worth risking everything.
Gracie's dad truly believes in the Extraordinary World, and it's made him a laughing stock in Cliffden, he knows everything about Clouds too - I was torn between feeling sorry for him that his convictions have left him isolated and anger at how distant he is from Gracie and her siblings. Jodi Lynn Anderson's way of writing both Gracie's diary entries and the way the children see their father is so well done that at times you want to get hold of the man and shake him in and shout at him for not seeing that his family need him for more than his expertise; especially Gracie's older sister who is so very different to her siblings and often very withdrawn from her family.
With a trip to the Smokey Mountains to meet their Grandmother who is a witch, and a garden filled with ghosts who really want to catch the Dark Cloud for themselves, they get a little bit more help in their bid to escape this flat Earth filled with monsters and things that truly do go bump in the dark. Gracie and her family keep fighting on, they become stronger together than they had been before the cloud appeared with its ominous intent haunting the family...
I don't want to spoil the book but if you want a story where fairytale monsters are the norm, and a family fights for one another and hangs onto a dream? This is for you. So much happens and even though 9lit is intended for middlegraders, I think it's a book so many people will enjoy reading.
katied_724's review
3.0
This book was great and I was happy that it was long because the story kept on going and going and the thrills kept on coming.
book_amour08's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
Interesting plot from the beginning, but a weird twist from the end. Interesting, and worth reading, but just odd and unexpected.
wordnerdy's review
3.0
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2017/12/2017-book-211.html
This is a perfectly fine middle grade book set in a world that is very similar to ours, except that it's also got a lot of paranormal creatures wreaking havoc--oh, and it's flat. The book is meant to be the diary of a middle-schooler but the narrative voice was not particularly authentic to me. Still, it's an interesting story of a family on the run, trying to escape a terrible fate, and maybe make it to the Extraordinary World--our world. I liked the family relationships here but wished for a little bit more, I guess? B/B+.
This is a perfectly fine middle grade book set in a world that is very similar to ours, except that it's also got a lot of paranormal creatures wreaking havoc--oh, and it's flat. The book is meant to be the diary of a middle-schooler but the narrative voice was not particularly authentic to me. Still, it's an interesting story of a family on the run, trying to escape a terrible fate, and maybe make it to the Extraordinary World--our world. I liked the family relationships here but wished for a little bit more, I guess? B/B+.
olivia_elise_reads's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Best middle grade I have ever read. Such great writing and really made me feel like a little kid again. Loved!
gina311's review
5.0
oh my gods this book is just soooo good in so many ways. it is just perfect and so perfectly heartbreaking!!!! i recommend this very highly.
hcpenner's review
4.0
This book surprised me, in a good way. It starts out as a wacky story set in an alternate-reality earth: on a flat earth that has Dairy Queen, winnebagos, and also unicorns in zoos and marauding sasquatches. But by the end, this became a very sweet story about the love of a tight-knit family and the bittersweet loss of growing up.
couillac's review
3.0
A consistently surprising read. The setup is what hooked me, particularly the entirely unique setting, and I loved what the author did with this world she created. While the plot didn't feel entirely fresh and the diary aspect felt forced at times, this was a family that was easy to root for, and most readers will quickly become invested in their journey and happily follow them to the edge of the world. An engaging read overall that should hook fans of realistic family stories as well as those looking for original fantasy worlds.