Jonsberg, Barry. Am I right or am I right?JONSBERG, Barry. Am I right or am I right? Random House, Knopf. 240p. c2005. 978-90375-83637-4. $15.99. S Jonsberg is an Englishman living in Australia; he is the successful author of The Crimes and Punishments of Miss Payne (reviewed in paperback in this issue). This second book has a lot in common with a standup stand·up or stand-up adj. 1. Standing erect; upright: a standup collar. 2. Taken, done, or used while standing: a standup supper; a standup bar. comedy routine, with each page filled with humorous images and one-liners. Calma is the narrator NARRATOR. A pleader who draws narrs serviens narrator, a sergeant at law. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 37. Obsolete. . She is brilliant and a know-it-all (hence the title). She lives alone with her hardworking mother; she has one friend, Vanessa. One day at the local convenience store, when she is buying some feminine products, she meets a cute new boy at the cash register. This is enough for her to apply for a part-time job at the same place. Her father decides to come back into her life, but she holds him off. She discovers her mother is leading a secret life; she is afraid for Vanessa's safety when she sees bruises and cuts on her body--that's the basic plot. But it's the almost over-the-top humor that makes this story what it is. Here are some samples--"It felt like I was confronting a charging rhinoceros rhinoceros, massive hoofed mammal of Africa, India, and SE Asia, characterized by a snout with one or two horns. The rhinoceros family, along with the horse and tapir families, forms the order of odd-toed hoofed mammals. with a koala koala (kōä`lə), arboreal marsupial, or pouched mammal, Phascolarctos cinereus, native to Australia. Although it is sometimes called koala bear, or Australian bear, and is somewhat bearlike in appearance, it is not related to true for backup." About wearing contact lenses contact lenses contact npl → verres mpl de contact contact lenses contact npl → Kontaktlinsen pl contact lenses npl : "Every time I blinked I felt like confessing to crimes I hadn't committed." The language is occasionally earthy, with obscenities here and there, which might limit the book for middle school libraries, but it certainly would be fine for YA sections in public libraries. Calma is exasperating but original. Her comments about soccer (after watching one game on TV to impress Jason) are impressive--"Getting injured at soccer is drastic, if short-lived. I mean, these guys react as if they're in the last stages of disembowelment dis·em·bow·el tr.v. dis·em·bow·eled or dis·em·bow·elled, dis·em·bow·el·ing or dis·em·bow·el·ling, dis·em·bow·els 1. To remove the entrails from. 2. To deprive of meaning or substance. , but within moments they are running around again, locks flowing and chiseled chis·eled or chis·elled adj. Made or shaped with or as if with a chisel: a finely chiseled nose. Adj. 1. features intact." The humor and Calma herself tend to hold the reader at arm's length--she is difficult to get close to and care about. Still, this book will be amusing for many readers. Claire Rosser, KLIATT S--Recommended for senior high school students. |
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