You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by lyderature
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass
Favorite quote from the novel:
"An old man is teaching his grandson about life. 'A fight is going on inside me,' he said to the boy. 'It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wold is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.'
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, 'Which wolf will win?'
The old man replied simply, 'The one you feed.'"
So, because of all the crazy paranormal romance stuff and fantastical creatures and dystopian novels and frustration at Mary Sues and trying but failing to get over Clockwork Princess and the tears....
Oh, yes, the many tears,
Because of me and my attachment with fictional characters...I decided to read something a bit more, er, what's the word, lighter? Grounded? Less painful? Real?
Something along those lines.
So, since Wendy Mass is one of my fav. authors, and a good friend of mine had recommended to me Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life months before, I decided to pick it up now and read it.
I loved it.
I feel like I say that I love a certain book a lot, but I guess there are...er...varying...levels of book love? Jeremy Fink would be in the middle then. It was sweet, adorably quirky, spunky, but also very real and somewhat thought-provoking. I mean, who hasn't thought about the meaning of life? But most of us are too preoccupied doing some menial work/monotonous task to ever actually really ponder it.
But Jeremy Fink and Lizzy forgot-her-last-name weren't.
So, basically, Jeremy Fink and his friend Lizzy set out on a adventure to find the four keys that unlock a box Jeremy's late father left behind for him. All they know about the box is that it can only be opened with that specific set of keys, and that it contains "The Meaning of Life". Oh, and Jeremy is determined to find them before the end of summer break aka when he turns thirteen aka when his father intended for him to open the box.
And so, the kids have a very insightful and also very eventful summer, meeting many new people with fascinating stories to tell along the way.
One of the best things about Wendy Mass's novels are the growing up that the characters do in them. Was that sentence grammatically correct? Eh, oh well. She always places the protagonists at around 11-14, those awkward years where you're not quite child, but not quite adult, you're trying to find yourself, get along with your parents, deal with school, not be self-conscious, and beginning to think about what the heck you're going to do for the rest of your life.
As I said, awkward. And kind of stressful. For us real people.
But Wendy Mass's characters always have a somewhat fun, and spunky journey through all that. At they end, they're more mature and know more than they did in the beginning, but the process they took to get there...now that's the interesting part.
For Jeremy and Leslie, it was a lot of things. Meeting Oswald Oswald and helping him in his dealings with returning possessions people once possessed was definitely a large contributing factor. And all those anecdotes and incidents that came along with those deliveries, were just so sweet and fun to read.
And it's a lovely idea. Truly. If when you were older, you would be given back an object that you once had but carelessly flung away when you were younger. How meaningful that would be.
Ah, Jeremy hula hooping at the state fair...there were just so many fluffy moments in this book!
But there were deeper moments too. The whole thing concerning the fortune teller and Jeremy's father never quite believing that he'd live past 40 was both sad and thought-provoking. If one knew when they were going to die, or at least had some inkling of it, would they value life more? Be determined to use every minute of it to the fullest? And so, would they be happier even though they didn't live as long?
Like, people who live knowing today might be their last? People fighting in war? Terminal cancer patients? Oh no, that reminds me of TFioS...just read that MASTERPIECE by John Green, and everytime I think of it, I want to cry. Review on that novel to come. But back to the point.
Oh, the 'what-ifs'. I think, that at one point, Jeremy and Lizzy were thinking to themselves questions like those too.
At the end, Jeremy's father's letter...so sweet, so touching.
Ah, such a good read! I recommend it to anyone in need of a happier, lighter, and sweet YA fare at the moment. Or anyone. Really, Wendy Mass's work is for everyone.
4.5 stars
"An old man is teaching his grandson about life. 'A fight is going on inside me,' he said to the boy. 'It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wold is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.'
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, 'Which wolf will win?'
The old man replied simply, 'The one you feed.'"
So, because of all the crazy paranormal romance stuff and fantastical creatures and dystopian novels and frustration at Mary Sues and trying but failing to get over Clockwork Princess and the tears....
Oh, yes, the many tears,
Because of me and my attachment with fictional characters...I decided to read something a bit more, er, what's the word, lighter? Grounded? Less painful? Real?
Something along those lines.
So, since Wendy Mass is one of my fav. authors, and a good friend of mine had recommended to me Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life months before, I decided to pick it up now and read it.
I loved it.
I feel like I say that I love a certain book a lot, but I guess there are...er...varying...levels of book love? Jeremy Fink would be in the middle then. It was sweet, adorably quirky, spunky, but also very real and somewhat thought-provoking. I mean, who hasn't thought about the meaning of life? But most of us are too preoccupied doing some menial work/monotonous task to ever actually really ponder it.
But Jeremy Fink and Lizzy forgot-her-last-name weren't.
So, basically, Jeremy Fink and his friend Lizzy set out on a adventure to find the four keys that unlock a box Jeremy's late father left behind for him. All they know about the box is that it can only be opened with that specific set of keys, and that it contains "The Meaning of Life". Oh, and Jeremy is determined to find them before the end of summer break aka when he turns thirteen aka when his father intended for him to open the box.
And so, the kids have a very insightful and also very eventful summer, meeting many new people with fascinating stories to tell along the way.
One of the best things about Wendy Mass's novels are the growing up that the characters do in them. Was that sentence grammatically correct? Eh, oh well. She always places the protagonists at around 11-14, those awkward years where you're not quite child, but not quite adult, you're trying to find yourself, get along with your parents, deal with school, not be self-conscious, and beginning to think about what the heck you're going to do for the rest of your life.
As I said, awkward. And kind of stressful. For us real people.
But Wendy Mass's characters always have a somewhat fun, and spunky journey through all that. At they end, they're more mature and know more than they did in the beginning, but the process they took to get there...now that's the interesting part.
For Jeremy and Leslie, it was a lot of things. Meeting Oswald Oswald and helping him in his dealings with returning possessions people once possessed was definitely a large contributing factor. And all those anecdotes and incidents that came along with those deliveries, were just so sweet and fun to read.
And it's a lovely idea. Truly. If when you were older, you would be given back an object that you once had but carelessly flung away when you were younger. How meaningful that would be.
Ah, Jeremy hula hooping at the state fair...there were just so many fluffy moments in this book!
But there were deeper moments too. The whole thing concerning the fortune teller and Jeremy's father never quite believing that he'd live past 40 was both sad and thought-provoking. If one knew when they were going to die, or at least had some inkling of it, would they value life more? Be determined to use every minute of it to the fullest? And so, would they be happier even though they didn't live as long?
Like, people who live knowing today might be their last? People fighting in war? Terminal cancer patients? Oh no, that reminds me of TFioS...just read that MASTERPIECE by John Green, and everytime I think of it, I want to cry. Review on that novel to come. But back to the point.
Oh, the 'what-ifs'. I think, that at one point, Jeremy and Lizzy were thinking to themselves questions like those too.
At the end, Jeremy's father's letter...so sweet, so touching.
Ah, such a good read! I recommend it to anyone in need of a happier, lighter, and sweet YA fare at the moment. Or anyone. Really, Wendy Mass's work is for everyone.
4.5 stars