Absolute Brightness
by James Lecesne
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 79)
Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com
Leonard Pelkey doesn't fit in anywhere. His mother has died, leaving him with Phoebe's uncle, now his legal guardian. But Uncle Mike has plans to go to Mexico to invest in cattle. So Phoebe's mom, Ellen, arranges for Leonard to come and live with them in Neptune, New Jersey. But Neptune isn't ready for Leonard. Saying Leonard is a bit outrageous is being optimistic. Phoebe and her sister, Deirdre, treat Leonard as an unwelcome house guest, going so far ...more
Leonard Pelkey doesn't fit in anywhere. His mother has died, leaving him with Phoebe's uncle, now his legal guardian. But Uncle Mike has plans to go to Mexico to invest in cattle. So Phoebe's mom, Ellen, arranges for Leonard to come and live with them in Neptune, New Jersey. But Neptune isn't ready for Leonard. Saying Leonard is a bit outrageous is being optimistic. Phoebe and her sister, Deirdre, treat Leonard as an unwelcome house guest, going so far ...more
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Read in June, 2008
Teens Phoebe and Deirdre are not thrilled to have a cousin they've never heard of come to live with them. They refuse to share a room, and their mother prepares a corner in the musty basement blocked off with cardboard boxes. When Leonard arrives, they are even more dismayed. He swishes, he wears outrageous outfits, he's as queer-seeming as can be. Phoebe tries to warn him to change his ways, but he doesn't get it, replying that he's just being himself.
Where he does make a big difference is...more
Where he does make a big difference is...more
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Read in May, 2008
Phoebe's "cousin" Leonard moves in with her family and embarrasses her wherever he goes. Leonard is a piece of work. He arrives wearing pink and lime green plaid capri pants and a tiny t-shirt that exposes his midriff. Phoebe can tell immediately that he isn’t going to fit in in their blue collar town. Not surprisingly, he is tormented at school, but the old ladies who frequent her mother’s beauty parlor love him. Leonard is soon working at the salon and dispensing fashion adv...more
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Read in April, 2008
I really wanted to like this book, and in the beginning I did. I think it is an important topic, I liked narrators voice, I liked that her reaction to Leonard seemed realistic, Leonard was adorable. I liked that it was set up as a mystery. HOWEVER. This book needed an editor more than any book I have ever read. There is no reason it needs to be almost 500 pages. I felt like the author was trying to cram in way too many topics that were not important to the core story of a hate crime (the Iraq wa...more
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Read in April, 2008
Leonard Pelkey is almost fourteen years old, an orphan, and flamboyantly effete in a way that suggests he will grow up to be gay, if he isn't there yet. He comes to live with his cousins, Deirdre and Phoebe, and to work in their mother's beauty parlor. He loves the work, the customers love him; his cousins and classmates feel differently.
And then he disappears.
This book reads like a first novel - it's so uneven. It's the martyry adolescent fantasy of "People dislike me because I'm d...more
And then he disappears.
This book reads like a first novel - it's so uneven. It's the martyry adolescent fantasy of "People dislike me because I'm d...more
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Read in June, 2008
The main plotline "You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone" works well, but it's a loooooooong book that meanders quite a bit, with digressions aplenty. I had trouble buying into the voice of the protagonist suburban teen girl; I heard the author himself coming through regularly. On a couple of pickier notes: New Jersey doesn't allow self-serve gas stations and the Roman Catholic Priest would have likely been Eritrean not Ethiopian (with a less Swahili-sounding name!). The subplo...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Robin by:
advance review copyrecommends it for: those who like realistic fiction
It's about an openly gay and flamboyant teen boy who goes to live with some distant relatives. He works his charms on the hair salon patrons of the narrator's mom's shop. His suggestions help these ladies of Neptune, New Jersey reach their beauty potential. But then Leonard is missing and no one really seems to care except the cop who is investigating and his relatives. The story has some interesting twists and turns. It's definitely a mystery. It's a bit on the long side at 428 pages but it's q...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
Girls 12 and up
I picked this up at the library because the title sounded interesting and what i read of the review sounded intriuging. Little did i know that this book would become one of my absolute favorites (no pun intended). On the summary next to the publication date, it says "Phoebe's life is changed when her gay cousin comes to live with her". If i had known that before i checked it out, i probably wouldn't have. But this book "haunted" me the rest of the day after i finished it. I t...more
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This is not my favorite YA book in the world, but it is valuable for the discussion of hate crimes against homosexual teens. Unfortunately, there is so much else going on in the book that there isn't a really clear statement made about the crime itself, except that it's very, very bad. It is suggested that there is no black and white when it comes to hate crimes, and it's true that the perpetrator in this book had only a shadowy motive at best, but for young adults I think this ambiguity might...more
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Read in May, 2008
Recommended by my 13 year old daughter as "one of the best books ever". It took a while for me to see her point but I did eventually get into the book. It probably could have benefited from more editing as it was rather unnecessarily long. It tried to include too many issues -- sexual abuse, adultery, divorce, death penalty -- without really getting into them deeply. That said, it is a good book for teens about the ultimate dangers of intolerance and a pretty good mystery at that.
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Read in November, 2007
I almost feel that's it's not fair to review this book, since this was an advanced copy. I suppose that this is the version that reviewers are reading, though. IT could be a really good book with some editing. As it is, though, it just tries to be too many things at once. There're too many things going on, and I felt like it was trying to hard to be the next The Lovely Bones (which I also thought was just okay).
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
all people who want a good story
In this book a beloved boy disappears and the story of prejudice and i loved it. Leonard is the sweetest thing and i loved and hated the book and i was moved with the characters and the love story going on in the back round. This story is a great story with ups and downs and love and hate. I was crying and laughing at the same time.
Plus there is a hot guy on the cover!!!!
Plus there is a hot guy on the cover!!!!
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Read in June, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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recommends it for:
anyone interested in teenage perspectives
I loved it until Leonard was gone. he was such a sweetie and a wonderful character. But I really disliked the main character. She was annoying. A good book, though.
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It's 500 pages. I started crying on the drive home from New York. Usually I don't read in the car, but I couldn't stop.
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Skipped through a lot of this book--it just didn't grab me like many teen novels can. Too long, too imprecise.
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Ann by:
BCCB recommends it for: YA
Good book, tries to be about too many messages at once (tolerance, mystery, incest) but good story overall
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An excellent YA novel about a boy's effect on a family in the aftermath of his tragic death.
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Read in May, 2008
This started off good, but half way through it seemed to get stuck. I couldn't keep going.
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