Summerland is the story of a young hero on a quest through the strange world of the American Faery. This is a fantasy for readers of all ages, set ...
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Jul 20, 2011
Benjamin
rated it: 
The perfect love child of Shoeless Joe and American Gods, and one of the best tween-age novels I've come across.
This is the first of Michael Chabon's books that I've read, but it's obvious on every page that he isn't a children's author, but simply a great writer who decided to write a children's book. Better than merely utilitarian, Chabon's language is a joy to read: accessible enough that my then-9 year old stepson enjoyed it, yet I was kept on my toes by the rich, sharp imagery More...
This is the first of Michael Chabon's books that I've read, but it's obvious on every page that he isn't a children's author, but simply a great writer who decided to write a children's book. Better than merely utilitarian, Chabon's language is a joy to read: accessible enough that my then-9 year old stepson enjoyed it, yet I was kept on my toes by the rich, sharp imagery More...
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Jan 20, 2011
Alan
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"Yet we know that no branch is utterly severed from the Tree of Life that sustains us all."
—Peter Hewitt, as quoted in a Unitarian hymnal.
Michael Chabon's Summerland offers a tale both staunchly traditional and boldly imaginative, weaving elements of Norse mythology together with Native American legends, tall tales, and just a dash of science fiction. And baseball... more than anything else, this book is about baseball. But don't let that put you off, even if you don't care More...
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May 19, 2008
Von
rated it:
"They traded in their hell-hammers for bats, and their iron slippers for lace-up leather spikes. That's how all the demon virtues-patience, deception, quick hands, craftiness, an eye for the mistakes of others-they all got dragged deep into the game."
No, Mr. Chabon wasn't talking SPECIFICALLY about the New York Yankees...but we all get the reference, right? You know the feeling you get when you start reading something and internally you're going, "yeah, what he said, More...
No, Mr. Chabon wasn't talking SPECIFICALLY about the New York Yankees...but we all get the reference, right? You know the feeling you get when you start reading something and internally you're going, "yeah, what he said, More...
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Jan 04, 2008
ExterminationXIII
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Summerland, by Michael Chabon, is a baseball-themed novel about Ethan Feld and his friends'(Jenifer T. Rideout, Thor Wignutt, Cinquefoil the ferister, Taffy the sasquach, Cutbelly the werefox, Grim the giant, Pettipaw the wererat, and Spider-Rose the ferisher) attempt to defeat the evil Coyote (he's not a coyote, that's just his name). In this novel, Ethen starts out as a kid who is not that good at baseball and is on the worst team in Summerland. His dad loves baseball, so Ethan tries harder to
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Jan 02, 2008
Steve
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning author take a stab at writing for young adults. A very clever fantasy incorporating our ‘real’ world with a parallel one that most mere humans don’t know about, this is adventure and fantasy in brilliant colorful language and solid, interesting characters, mostly young or not human. Ethan Field, the protagonist young fellow, is wonderful as he embarks on the challenge of rescuing his father from evil Coyote, and ends up working to save the world while he’s at it. Th
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Nov 23, 2007
Don
rated it:
While I had trouble falling into the story, the writing, as would be expected with venerable Mr. Chabon, was superb.
I read this book on the recommendation of my daughter and my wife as they both really loved the book. As a kids book goes, this thing is packed with everything that make children's literature memorable and stuffed with so much more that I hope children everywhere get the opportunity to read this book.
Using baseball as The Creation Story, Michael Chabon More...
I read this book on the recommendation of my daughter and my wife as they both really loved the book. As a kids book goes, this thing is packed with everything that make children's literature memorable and stuffed with so much more that I hope children everywhere get the opportunity to read this book.
Using baseball as The Creation Story, Michael Chabon More...
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Jan 28, 2008
Joe
rated it: 
Imagine Lord of the Rings if the characters stopped every couple days to play baseball.
Working within an amalgamation of Norse, Greek, and Native American mythology as well as American tall tales, Chabon tells a not atypical coming-of-age/quest story tied inextricably to baseball. Baseball, as it turns out, is not only America's pasttime, but also a sacred institution on the other planes of existence.
Ethan, a kid who hates baseball, must learn to love it as he battles his wa More...
Working within an amalgamation of Norse, Greek, and Native American mythology as well as American tall tales, Chabon tells a not atypical coming-of-age/quest story tied inextricably to baseball. Baseball, as it turns out, is not only America's pasttime, but also a sacred institution on the other planes of existence.
Ethan, a kid who hates baseball, must learn to love it as he battles his wa More...
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Feb 18, 2009
Kerry
rated it:
MAN I really liked this book! It was better in the middle than the end, but that's okay, that might be how I feel about all kid-goes-on-a-magical-journey, Joseph Campbell type stuff.
So! The storyline was familiar, as I already sort of alluded to above. But I didn't mind, because the writing is clever, the ideas are cute, and the characters were likeable, and not too cliche'. Most importantly, the story was FUN. Hooray for Summerland and also for baseball!
Everyone who More...
So! The storyline was familiar, as I already sort of alluded to above. But I didn't mind, because the writing is clever, the ideas are cute, and the characters were likeable, and not too cliche'. Most importantly, the story was FUN. Hooray for Summerland and also for baseball!
Everyone who More...
Dec 09, 2007
Sarah Pi
rated it:
I loved this book. Not quite as much as Kavalier & Clay, but still in the five star range. It had a kind of Neil Gaiman-y take on myth. I love books that explore myth or archtypes in a modern context, but this was a really good example. I have to admit the characters were far more likeable and accessible to me than many of Gaiman's characters. I enjoy baseball but I can't say I'm a big baseball fan' this really conveyed a sense of what the true fans see in it. I haven't read Chabon's works
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Dec 16, 2009
Samantha
rated it:
My favorite quote:
“A baseball game is nothing but a great slow contraption for getting you to pay attention to the cadence of a summer day"
(So, so, true.)
Summerland was difficult to get into, but I did enjoy it. The descriptions of baseball are great, the characters amusing, but the plot takes a while to develop and I found myself impatient while reading. The "baseball-ness" and the fantasy are well mingled, and this was great as these are tw More...
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Nov 15, 2011
Sarah
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Summerland – Michael Chabon
"A baseball game is nothing but a great slow contraption for getting you to pay attention to the cadence of a summer day.” – Michael Chabon
Summerland depicts an intricate and unique story of a boy, Ethan Feld, who has lost his mother to cancer, and seemlingly his father, who is completely engrossed in building a perfect, personal airship. Ethan is then uprooted from his home and moved to Clam Island, Washington. Little League basebal More...
"A baseball game is nothing but a great slow contraption for getting you to pay attention to the cadence of a summer day.” – Michael Chabon
Summerland depicts an intricate and unique story of a boy, Ethan Feld, who has lost his mother to cancer, and seemlingly his father, who is completely engrossed in building a perfect, personal airship. Ethan is then uprooted from his home and moved to Clam Island, Washington. Little League basebal More...
Nov 15, 2011
Laura
rated it:
It’s a game to go down in history books.
“Summerland.” Michael Chabon. Hyperion Books, New York, 2002.
In “Summerland,” Michael Chabon successfully creates a novel that mixes the fantastical and surreal with the real world that we know, all the while intriguing the reader to delve deeper into the mixture of worlds. Chabon uses various sources of mythology, such as Coyote from Native American mythology, to create the fictional surrealistic realm in which Ethan Feld, the main ch More...
“Summerland.” Michael Chabon. Hyperion Books, New York, 2002.
In “Summerland,” Michael Chabon successfully creates a novel that mixes the fantastical and surreal with the real world that we know, all the while intriguing the reader to delve deeper into the mixture of worlds. Chabon uses various sources of mythology, such as Coyote from Native American mythology, to create the fictional surrealistic realm in which Ethan Feld, the main ch More...
Nov 14, 2011
Summerland is a book that takes you on a magical adventure that excites your imagination. Michael Chabon uses every page to take his readers into a world that most of us haven’t been in or thought about since childhood. It is obvious that Chabon is not normally a children’s writer, but a very talented adult writer who chose to show his imagination in a book focused toward children, but that can be enjoyed by adults as well. The story is one random, sporadic, wonderful rollercoaster of imaginatio
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Nov 10, 2011
Ann
rated it:
Summerland was the uber-anticipated children’s novel of 2002. Essentially a 500-page baseball metaphor, it marked Chabon’s first foray into children’s literature, as well as his first novel after winning the Pulitzer in 2000 for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Harking back to C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy classics, Chabon taps 11-year-old Ethan Feld, “the worst ballplayer in the history of Clam Island, Washington,” to be MVP of the most important ballgame ever played in four
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Sep 13, 2011
Cheryl
rated it:
Life is like baseball. Ethan Feld a less than enthusiast little leaguer dreads telling his father he doesn’t want to play baseball. Ethan and his inventor father who developed a new fiber to use in dirigibles moved to Clam Island WA after Ethan’s mother died of cancer. At the tip of Clam Island lies an enchanted baseball field where it never rains during baseball, where generations of Clam Islanders have played baseball. When Ethan has decided that he can’t face another humiliation on the b
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May 22, 2011
Neil
rated it:
(A review from 2002 and the Washington Post, written before Coraline was published.)
It is possible to look at the growth of the phenomenon of “crossover” fiction – essentially, Children’s or Young Adult fiction which is enjoyed and consumed in quantity by adults – in several different ways. You could view it as a sad symptom of the creeping infantilisation of the culture. You could see it as a triumph of marketing. Or, more optimistically, you could view it as a need by adults for S More...
It is possible to look at the growth of the phenomenon of “crossover” fiction – essentially, Children’s or Young Adult fiction which is enjoyed and consumed in quantity by adults – in several different ways. You could view it as a sad symptom of the creeping infantilisation of the culture. You could see it as a triumph of marketing. Or, more optimistically, you could view it as a need by adults for S More...
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Jan 12, 2011
Lis
rated it:
This is a children's book addressed to relatively sophisticated young readers, and to adults who aren't embarrassed to be caught reading children's books. It's definitely not for children who are struggling with their reading skills, or adults who are going to be put off by Chabon's periodically directly addressing his presumed young audience, or who have forgotten how difficult it can be for intelligent children to communicate some things even to the most sympathetic of adults.
Summerl More...
Summerl More...
Sep 14, 2010
Margaret
rated it:
The best I can describe this is Narnia meets "Field of Dreams." Except that where Narnia has that ineffable air of England, this is pure Americana - cowboys and Indians, tall takes, the Wild West, and of course, baseball. Really it feels like parts of it should be narrated by James Earl Jones, the way he did the paean to the sport in the Field of Dreams.
Ethan Feld lives on Clam Island in Puget Sound, and hates baseball. He's the worst player on his team, though his teammate More...
Ethan Feld lives on Clam Island in Puget Sound, and hates baseball. He's the worst player on his team, though his teammate More...
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Nov 29, 2009
Kali
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Ethan Feld plays Little League baseball at the Summerlands, a little peninsula of land where the weather is perfectly idyllic year-round (though Ethan’s game doesn’t match the climate—he holds the team record for most errors and fewest hits). The Summerlands also provides a link between our world and other worlds, and it is through this path that the trickster Coyote creeps to kidnap Ethan’s inventor father. Much to Ethan’s surprise, he is recruited by the Ferishers, the fairy-like tribe of ba
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Jun 27, 2009
Taejas
rated it:
This book wanted to be a five. I wanted to give it a five. Despite my difficulty finding kids to read it, I can't give it a three.
First, mythology rocks. Mixing mythologies is satisfying, and much more socially conscious than mixing metaphors.
Second, action/adventure has become synonymous because of movies, but adventure is still really it's own thing. Saving the world from Ragnarok via baseball, sans sword and fire? Adventure!
Third, tough female protagonist n More...
First, mythology rocks. Mixing mythologies is satisfying, and much more socially conscious than mixing metaphors.
Second, action/adventure has become synonymous because of movies, but adventure is still really it's own thing. Saving the world from Ragnarok via baseball, sans sword and fire? Adventure!
Third, tough female protagonist n More...
Jun 11, 2009
Libby
rated it:
I was intrigued by an author who writes in a variety of diverse genres. Most writers stick to one and get really good at it, but Chabon likes to jump around. Even within the young adult genre, this is the most unique book I've read. The story is almost indescribable, but familiar at the same time.
Based in four interconnected worlds with characters of all shapes and sizes, the one linking factor is baseball. Baseball, literally, rules all the worlds. Significant events in our wor More...
Based in four interconnected worlds with characters of all shapes and sizes, the one linking factor is baseball. Baseball, literally, rules all the worlds. Significant events in our wor More...
Apr 09, 2011
Stacia
rated it:
READ THIS BOOK. Then read it to your children, especially the boys, or the girls who've yet to fall under the Twilight spell. Read it them while they are still young enough to believe in fairy tales (per CS Lewis), and then let them read it again on their own. Read it if you or they love baseball; read it if you're put off by Chronicles of Narnia and A Wrinkle in Time</> because of their underlying Christian theology and wish there was something as magical as those books without the baggag
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Jul 23, 2010
Joanna
rated it: 
name a writing gimmick that is used in fantasy, particularly young adult fantasy, and i'm sure it was employed here. an alternate reality that is tied to our reality that explains all the mythological and fantastical characters in our collective mythos? yes. time works differently in this world, so you can be there and be gone for a lifetime or only a few minutes or SHOCK even go back in time? yes. a powerful nemesis who is actually the embodiment of every known evil since the beginning of time,
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May 28, 2010
Leslie
rated it:
THIS is what a young adult book should be! Fantastic writing, compelling story. I almost didn't check it out because it's 500 pages long and I wasn't in the mood, but I'm ever so glad I did. It turned out to be a quick read.
I need to stop saying I'm not a baseball fan. Just about every book I read or movie I watch with a baseball theme (carefully chosen) turns out to be a joy, and this is no exception. I should start saying I don't follow baseball, because it's boring.
Th More...
I need to stop saying I'm not a baseball fan. Just about every book I read or movie I watch with a baseball theme (carefully chosen) turns out to be a joy, and this is no exception. I should start saying I don't follow baseball, because it's boring.
Th More...
Apr 13, 2009
Ryan
rated it:
A weighty fantasy book from a very good writer--it is clear he takes the task up seriously and isn't just marking off another genre to conquer.
Life on Clam Island in the Puget Sound is wet, rural, and built around baseball--their field lies in a spot on the island where it never rains, until one afternoon. Ethan Feld has moved here with his dad--maker of dirigibles--after his mother has died of cancer. He doesn't want to play baseball because he is no good at it, but Jennifer T. More...
Life on Clam Island in the Puget Sound is wet, rural, and built around baseball--their field lies in a spot on the island where it never rains, until one afternoon. Ethan Feld has moved here with his dad--maker of dirigibles--after his mother has died of cancer. He doesn't want to play baseball because he is no good at it, but Jennifer T. More...
Jan 04, 2009
Jesse
rated it:
Man, I liked this less & less I went along. Baseball, children's literature, magical creation myths. I figured it would've hit my sweet spot, straight & true, but the whole affair felt mega-contrived. Chabon mixes & matches various origin tales, and the whole thing just gets too complicated and overthought -- too many jumbled varieties of ware-creatures, folksy legends. Hard to keep track of. When the confrontation and action comes, the resolutions are almost never satisfying, like they're just
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Jul 12, 2011
Ariel
rated it:
I have to say that Summerland definitely didn't grab me right from the beginning, and if I hadn't been listening to it on audiobook, I probably wouldn't have persevered. Given the focus on baseball, this just did not seem like a book for me. Ultimately, though, I warmed to the characters and found myself thinking that maybe I *do* like baseball.
For me, the plot of Summerland was a little uneven -- Coyote's mischief seemed more like an excuse to send the ragtag group on a quest than More...
For me, the plot of Summerland was a little uneven -- Coyote's mischief seemed more like an excuse to send the ragtag group on a quest than More...
Sep 15, 2010
jeremy
rated it:
one of the many qualities that sets michael chabon's writing well beyond the realm of his contemporaries is his obvious love of craft. throughout his works it is apparent that he finds sheer joy in the art of storytelling. chabon's enthusiasm for literature is far-reaching, as is evidenced by his ability to write engagingly well in many a different genre. no two chabon books are ever all that similar, and as his career evolves, he seems set on authoring works entirely unlike their predecessor
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Mar 21, 2009
Dana
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Apparently I was one of the last three people on Earth who hadn't already fallen in love with Michael Chabon. I'd heard him touted on various blogs, and a friend had bought me The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and Wonder Boys is one of my favorite movies, but I'd never put all of those things together. It wasn't until I was subbing recently that I saw Summerland and picked it up. Having not read any of Chabon's other novels, I didn't have any expectations for this book, but I thought
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Dec 16, 2009
Michael
rated it: 
This book is marketed towards children/young adults. Unfortunately, I think it misses the boat a little bit. As a fan of Michael Chabon, I was disappointed to read this book. It seemed cluttered with ideas that weren't put together completely. There were too many holes and the dialogue left me too skeptical for me to ever enjoy reading this novel. I was also ready to finish it much sooner than it ended, at 500 pages.
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