false 16705 19 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 against the background of the American myth. The Clam Island fairies are in grave peril. War is coming, another battle in an ancient conflict. When the band sends for a champion, they get an 11 year-old boy named Ethan Feld. He hates baseball and wants to quit his losing team, but Jennifer T. Rideout loves baseball and won't let him quit. The two find themselves on a journey that includes zeppelins, werefoxes, Indian mythology, sasquatches, wendigos, and the haunted 161 year old husk of George Armstrong Custer. Finally Ethan becomes who he is: a changeling, a hero, and even a man. - Publisher Statement 2741007 2002 Summerland total:2660|5:470|4:871|3:825|2:327|1:167| 2660 9130 3753 371 5 1 false false Mon May 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 15 19:46:45 -0700 2008 Mon May 19 17:48:40 -0700 2008
No, Mr. Chabon wasn't talki...more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Jan 04 10:05:18 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 04 10:22:01 -0800 2008 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...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Jan 02 20:17:47 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 02 20:19:42 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 28 15:44:52 -0700 2007 Fri Nov 23 15:21:59 -0800 2007
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...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Jan 27 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 10:53:08 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 10:53:34 -0800 2008
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. Baseb...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Feb 14 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 09:19:56 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 18 07:54:20 -0800 2009 1
So! The storyline was familiar, as I already sort of alluded to above. But I didn't mind, because the w...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 27 13:02:08 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 09 16:21:34 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 13 22:26:41 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 20 22:29:22 -0700 2007 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, th...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Jun 27 10:19:27 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 20:23:02 -0700 2009 1
First, mythology rocks. Mixing mythologies is satisfying, and much more socially conscious than mixing metaphors.

Second, action/adventure has beco...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jun 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 12:08:40 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 12:18:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 07 19:15:26 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 18:58:23 -0700 2009 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 rain...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Jan 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 16:08:03 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 16:17:28 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 08 12:23:01 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 08 12:25:17 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Mar 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 18:43:06 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 14:47:29 -0700 2009 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and Wonder Boys is one of my favorite movies, but I'd never put all of those th...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jun 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 17:21:54 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 09:26:57 -0700 2009
Summerland is a sacred text in my baseball literature fan-hood. As children's bible stories are supplements to the bible, it supplements and compliments books like Moneyball, Eight Men Out and The Crowd Seemed...more...]]> 2 1 false false Tue Sep 18 15:38:32 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 18 15:54:41 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 0 false false Tue Jan 20 01:54:06 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 01:55:08 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 15:46:25 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 15:49:45 -0700 2009
Still, I was kind of curious about what he'd do with a young ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Sep 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 17:49:41 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 17:56:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Dec 26 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 18:59:55 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 04:56:23 -0800 2008 more...]]>