Review: Fun-filled & worth the time
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 16, 2014
Title: Crypto PunkAuthor: George TraikovichReviewer: George ShadowSummary:Quiet was the default setting in the teacher's lounge, and quiet was nice, but a new and different kind of quiet had taken hold in the weeks since school began. This quiet was not an absence of conversation, but a conspiracy of silence. The distinction wasn't lost on Bixby's veteran teachers who knew the difference. Something was lurking beneath the surface that nobody seemed willing to talk about, though some were less afraid than others.Dressing like B-movie monsters is the latest fad sweeping through Bixby Elementary--but what's driving the strange compulsion? That's just what the Zero Avenue kids want to know. Join Drew, Clementine, Grady, Newton, and Spider, as they unravel the threads of a conspiracy that blurs the line between science and magic, between friends and enemies, and draws them into an adventure that tests their character, and their loyalties to each other.Social/Historical Context:There is nothing like comic-styled school adventure to spice up your reading life any day, and this one does not disappoint at all. An asylum has since become a school and life for the students is okay until a new vice-principal gets the job and weird things begin to happen. You guessed right - it's beginning to sound familiar. Yes, there are definitely many books having this as their themes, but CRYPTO PUNK stands out due to the author's fun-filled approach to our characters' everyday existence, as well as their amusing reactions to the happenings at Bixby Elementary. Okay, bring in an older female see that uses her peculiar abilities to help our main character along and you've got yourself a winner.Writing Style:Narrated in the third person, the book is filled with witty lines, loveable characters and very funny scenes, which succeed in dulling the apprehensive nature of the goings on in the school. Events and character descriptions are well done (check out the kids' take on Vice-Principal Frost's baldhead), and the overall climate around the story is one of impending discord. Yes, there are errors in the manuscript and interior formatting, but this does in no way hamper the reading experience, although I wish the author had delved more into character development. The children just have enough separating their personalities and this, in my opinion, is not enough. The story plays out on its own, though, and this makes up for the shortfalls one discovers while reading the book, unlike the funny green cover. I still don't get that one.My Thoughts:I enjoyed this story. It was fun-filled, and worth the time.George Shadow is the author of THE BLACK BOOK.