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Dec 17, 2009

Lucy rated it:

You know how much I love Maureen Johnson. In case you haven't heard me say it before, if you like teen novels, go out and read 13 Little Blue Envelopes.

Maureen's novels are funny because she only has one protagonist. Her main girl is always introspective, too-goody-goody-for-her-own-good, but kind of cool anyway. Quiet, but has her noisy moments. Thinks too much. Is too responsible and finds her resolution by letting go and being wild.

It's all the same girl. The rea More...

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Oct 19, 2007

stephanie rated it:

i think i liked this best, so far, of marueen johnson, though i can't quite put my finger on why. i love the relationship of the sisters, and while i wish the focus wasn't so much on may, i therefore loved whenever the others came in. poor brooks, i really wish she had her own story. and i think i want to be palmer. palmer is my hero.

maybe there was a bit of projective identification going on as well - two of my sisters play softball (one with complete passion, one more just becaus More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Feb 01, 2012

Kathryn rated it:

I'll be honest: I read this book because I like the author's Twitter feed (okay, that's not entirely true--I like her blog as well). I hate chick lit. I don't like realistic teen fiction unless it's about LGBT issues or other "important" things. I am bored to tears by romance. And these subjects seem to be all MJ writes. But her online presence is so quirky and likeable that I finally decided I should actually read something by her.

But to my surprise, I actually really e More...

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Jun 04, 2011

Danielle rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 19, 2009

Kelly rated it:

Full review at http://yannabe.com/2009/07/13/review-the...

Summary: After their father’s heart attack, their mom starts working overtime and it’s up to the three Gold sisters—May, Palmer, and Brooks—to pull through it on their own.

Review: This story is about how grief can turn you into a zombie. And Johnson’s humor was the perfect way to temper the heavy topic.

Although I’m not usually a fan of alternating points of view, it worked for me in this story because a More...

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Feb 06, 2012

Jodi rated it:

I loved this story. It was such a quick and engaging read that I put it down only long enough to eat dinner and even then my eyes kept drifting back to the page.
May, Brooks and Palmer come home one day to find an ambulance at their house. The unthinkable has happened - their father has died suddenly of a heart attack as he was pulling into the garage in his beloved Firebird. The story next picks up about a year later and the girls are all a mess trying to deal with their pain. More...

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Oct 07, 2011

Terri rated it:

The Key to the Golden Firebird was a quick read, but it hooked me, like all of Johnson's books have so far. I knew, logically, that it was 1:00 in the morning, but I also knew that I wasn't going to stop reading until I was done.

Mayzie's world falls apart when her father dies. Brooks starts hanging out with a bad crowd, drinking and quitting the softball team that would have guaranteed her a college scholarship. Palmer starts having panic attacks in the middle of the night. Mayzie More...

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Sep 23, 2010

704isabel rated it:

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Aug 09, 2008

Lora rated it:

This is the first Maureen Johnson book I've read, and I have to say I really liked it. It did read like a lot of YA lit for girls, but I think that's what its purpose is. The main characters were all girls searching for themselves after the loss of their father. It had a nice sports angle and it really dealt with the sisterly relationship well. However, it really would be enjoyed most by fans of YA lit only.

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Apr 20, 2008

Jerrica rated it:

This book is really good, especially if you've read other Maureen Johnson books. Maureen really helps you understand each one of the characters. You can't help but hate Brooks for being so forgetful, but you also have sympathy for her later in the book. Each one of the characters has a distinct personality, May's shyness, Palmer's determination, and Brook's independence. It's a really good book!

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Feb 07, 2011

Sam rated it:

The Key to the Golden Firebird is a dangerously addicting book. I’m normally the type of reader who identifies better with a character when the story is told in first person, but the Gold sisters managed to capture my attention better than a lot of other characters I’ve read. I felt for Palmer, who was so lost and misunderstood, for Brooks, who had completely lost her way and fallen into a bad social situation, and May, who was just caught in the middle of it all—just the way she was born, as th More...

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Dec 16, 2009

Joy rated it:

Don't be deceived by the misleadingly chick-lit cover. Three sisters cope with the death of their father in this teen novel set in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Recurring themes: baseball and softball, and the titular Pontiac Firebird. This novel gets extra points for not being gratuitously depressing; in fact, it's often gently comic. And the characterization is moving and authentic.

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Jun 25, 2009

Kristin rated it:

The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson was an incredible story of love, loss, friendship, and family. The three Gold sisters, Brooks, May, and Palm, have suffered through the loss of their father and have each responded in completely different ways. Johnson focuses on May’s side of the story, but with hers you learn a lot about Brooks, the older sister who has become wild, and Palm, the younger sister who has become a very intense pitcher.

Ever since her father’s death, ev More...

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Apr 07, 2010

Sarah rated it:

Review originally posted at Dangerously Cold Tea

I've been looking forward to reading one of Maureen Johnson since I started following her on Twitter, greatly enjoying reading her hilarious tweets. To my delight, I found that she has brought her humor into her writing, tempered tastefully by the drama of the scenario and the emotions of the main cast as they struggle to deal with their grief over their father's death. The girls' connection with their deceased father grows more apparen More...

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Jul 19, 2011

LauRena rated it:

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Jun 03, 2011

Lacey rated it:

This is the kind of emotional, moving novel that you read along with draping a fuzzy blanket over your body, clutching your favorite stuffed animal that you told your friends you threw away but really didn't, and a sipping cup of hot chocolate. Some might say my judgment in rating this book was swayed because there was quite a bit of softball (my favorite sport :D) mentioned, but it was so much more than that.

This book follows the tale of the Gold sisters. Mayzie, Brooks, and Palmer More...

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Mar 30, 2010

Shanyn rated it:

After following Maureen Johnson on Twitter (@maureenjohnson) and seeing that she is the keynote speaker for the Book Blogger Convention, I was thinking it is about time I try one of her books.

The Key to the Golden Firebird ended up being a lot more serious than I was expecting (Maureen has been talking a lot about glass jars on her Twitter lately, not exactly a serious topic, unless you're a glass jar). When I say it was more serious, that does not in any way mean not good. I can exp More...

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Mar 20, 2011

Vanessa rated it:

Maureen Johnson's book is a solid read, thoughtful and, for the most part, well-rendered, though I didn't feel an emotional connection in any way to the oldest sister, Brooks, and feel that perhaps the story should have been told without her pov, concentrating on Maysie and Palmer. But the characters have a satisfying number of flaws and conflicting ideas, and their reactions to their father's death in the beginning were (from someone who has gone through it) very realistic.

The climax More...

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Dec 28, 2011

Aditi rated it:

The Key to the Golden Firebird was a great book with an amazing plot, and spectacular characters. Some events in this book were a little odd, which stopped me from absolutely loving the book.

This book was about three sisters who are struggling with everyday life after their father passed away. All three sisters face very difficult challenge but most of the stress falls on middle sister, May. The Key to the Golden Firebird shows how these girls cope with death, and peer pressure and wha More...

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Sep 25, 2010

Emma rated it:

I think this was one of Maureen Johnson's earlier novels... Not so good. She usually does a really good job with characters, and can make them come off as endearing and interesting, even if they're totally lame and selfcentered (like in Girl At Sea). But in Golden Firebird, the characters, instead of coming off as quirky and original, just came off as kind of pathetic and selfish. And there was a little bit more teen drinking than I would have liked.

But the last fifty pages were exce More...

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Dec 15, 2009

Dawn rated it:

Really enjoyed this book. I loved all the family stuff, with each girl coping (or trying to) in their own way. I liked how they all came together in the end without having it be some mushy, "Now we understand each other" moment. Also, that said moment came over a year after the father had died.

I could have done without all the Pete stuff just because I think that's such a huge cliche. The smart but unexperienced girl finally finds "love" with her best guy friend More...

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May 22, 2009

Laura rated it:

This was Maureen Johnson's first book. I'm glad I didn't read it first because it's definitely her weakest effort. The story itself is good and got me a bit emotional (I can't handle people dying! especially husbands/dads for some reason even though this has never happened to me or anyone I know particularly well), but the writing is a weak and she does an awful lot of telling what's happening instead of showing through dialogue, etc. I'm still giving it three stars, though, because it made me c More...

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Apr 13, 2011

Sarah rated it:

immediatly clomaxic! kept me reading..intruiging storyline....some parts innapropriate...overall great book! i wish there was a second book! i especially liked this book because i could really relate to the book and its characters, their descisions and predicaments, and i believe anyone who reads this book will be able to relate to it in some way whether its the characters, the choices they themselves make, or otherwise. it is not a fantasy and i exactly like real life. nothing too exciting happ More...

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Apr 13, 2011

CeCe rated it:

May is entirely too annoying to be likeable. Throughout the entire thing I went from think, "May's annoying" to "Wow, she's a bitch" to "God, May is so lame." (The word "lame" actually popped into my head, which really says something considering the word isn't typically a part of my vocabulary.)She's boring and rude and she says unnecessarily mean things to everyone. She's also very insincere. She hardly ever means anything she says. And the thing with Pet More...

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Mar 05, 2011

Jay-wa rated it:

This book is about self-discovery, which is such a beautiful and twisted thing, but it's also about family ties and what it takes to want to keep those ties as they start to deteriorate. This book is full of realistic things, things that happen in teen life which I'm guessing is what makes it so great.

The Gold sisters lost their father a year ago, but no one is really over it yet. Brooks, the oldest sister, takes the key off the key holder, breaks the magikal boundary around the car,(t More...

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May 15, 2009

Snorkle rated it:

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Jul 01, 2009

Steph Su rated it:

One minute May Gold was the average teenage girl, trying to balance being a good daughter and sister while simultaneously plotting revenge on the boy next door, her father’s best friend’s son Pete Camp (hint: it involves nudity). The next, she’s father-less, Mike Gold the victim of a heart attack that leaves behind a struggling nurse wife and three shocked sisters, who whirl off into their own ways of dealing with the news.

A year later, things have not improved much in the Gold house More...

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Nov 30, 2010

Anna rated it:

I was a little hesitant about this book at first because whenever I got it at the library it had a sports sticker on it, and I'm not a big fan of reading about sports. But once I started reading it, I couldn't stop. The story line was really addicting. May, Brooks, and Palmer are all sisters and they lost their father to a heart attack. May is the bookworm, Brooks was the amazing softball player and Palmer was the one following in Brooks footsteps. Their neighbor Pete obviously is crushing on Ma More...

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Feb 23, 2009

Emma rated it:

I'm embarrassed to say that this book has been on my to read list for almost as long as it has been published. But then I started following the author's blog and her twitters and they were so amazing that the idea of still not reading any of her books became unbearable, especially since the author is so awesome that I want to write to her and ask if we can be friends. So, last week I put every YA book I could think of that I had been dying to read on hold. The Key to the Golden Firebird (2004) More...

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Aug 24, 2009

Rachael rated it:

After their father suddenly dies, three sisters and their mother struggle to find a way back to normalcy in their lives. Though the book's central character is May, the middle sister, the other two sisters get quite a bit of "face time" as well. Maureen Johnson did an excellent job of creating unique, multidimensional characters in each of the three sisters. Though some parts of the story were very predictable, there were a few twists that I didn't see coming. I highly recommend th More...

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