The Other Ones

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Teen doesn't want magic powers -- hard to believe!
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

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Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this book seems to be focused on teens' desire to be accepted by their peers.


What's the story?

Bridget has a magical heritage. She can see what normal people cannot, including tree spirits and xiii, her own personal threshold guardian, who warns her of impending trouble and urges her to accept her powers. But Bridget, already a bullied misfit at school, believes that accepting her powers will make her even more of an outcast.

Meanwhile, the dramas of high school go on: her friend has been abandoned by his father, she enters an art contest, a boy likes her, a bully menaces her and her few friends.


Is it any good?

 

There's little that's believable here, from the cardboard cutout characters (magic people good, almost everyone else bad) to the absurd premise. As desperate as teens can be to fit in, it will be hard for most readers to credit, or sympathize with, a character who rejects magic powers so she'll seem normal. Just once wouldn't it be nice to read a story where a character enjoys the gift of magic, glories in it, has fun with it, just as any real person would do?

Author Jean Thesman manages what few other authors can: to make magic tedious. The conclusion is obvious nearly from the first page -- all Bridget has to do is accept her powers, but she spends the entire book agonizing over it. Presumably Thesman has a point to make about teen self-acceptance, but her point will be lost with readers who just want to smack Bridget for being so dense.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about whether it's believable that a teen would be so desperate to fit it that she'd reject her magic powers.


This review was written by Matt Berman

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This review was written by Matt Berman
Author:Jean Thesman
Book type:Fiction
Genre:Fantasy
Publisher:Puffin
Publication date:May 1, 1999
Number of pages:181
Hardcover price:$15.99
Publisher's recommended age(s):10 - 14

This review was written by Matt Berman
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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