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223rd out of 465 books
—
645 voters
The New Policeman (New Policeman #1)
Who knows where the time goes?
There never seems to be enough time in Kinvara, or anywhere else in Ireland for that matter. When J.J.'s mother says that what she really wants for her birthday is more time in her day, J.J. decides to find her some. But how can he find time for her, when he barely has enough time to keep up with school and his music? And where will he get tim...more
There never seems to be enough time in Kinvara, or anywhere else in Ireland for that matter. When J.J.'s mother says that what she really wants for her birthday is more time in her day, J.J. decides to find her some. But how can he find time for her, when he barely has enough time to keep up with school and his music? And where will he get tim...more
Hardcover, 442 pages
Published
January 11th 2007
by Greenwillow Books
(first published June 2nd 2005)
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J.J. Liddy, the main character of Kate Thompson’s novel The New Policeman, has a problem: there never seems to be enough time in the day. In fact, there seems to be decidedly less time. With barely enough hours in the day for school and his music, J.J. has no time left over to contemplate the shocking revelation that his grandfather may have been a murderer. To make matters worse, this time problem seems to affect everyone in Kinvara.
When J.J.’s mother reveals that she wants more time for her bi...more
When J.J.’s mother reveals that she wants more time for her bi...more
Sep 06, 2007
Lucy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who like wonderful books
Shelves:
teen,
urbanfantasy
There never quite seems to be enough time to do everything. That’s always been a problem, but it’s been getting worse lately. Everything always feels rushed, and there is no time just to wander along slowly and relax. When J.J.’s mother idly wishes for more time for her birthday, J.J. decides to find her some. But how can he find her time when he barely has enough time of his own to do the basics, like schoolwork—let alone to find out if the local rumors about his grandfather being a murderer ar...more
(YA) Thompson, Kate
The New Policeman. (F) Time seems to be spinning away faster and faster. J.J. Liddy promises his mother he will get her the birthday gift she truly wants—more time. J.J. is a gifted musician from a family with a music tradition. His grandfather was famous for his flute and fiddle music and, it was whispered, for killing a priest. On the land his family owns is an ancient fort with a souterrain or underground room. J.J discover that the souterrain contains the passage into the...more
The New Policeman. (F) Time seems to be spinning away faster and faster. J.J. Liddy promises his mother he will get her the birthday gift she truly wants—more time. J.J. is a gifted musician from a family with a music tradition. His grandfather was famous for his flute and fiddle music and, it was whispered, for killing a priest. On the land his family owns is an ancient fort with a souterrain or underground room. J.J discover that the souterrain contains the passage into the...more
Jan 10, 2008
Nanci
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of YA fantasy and fairie stories
Shelves:
fantasy-ya
A book about time and where it is going. This book has very short chapters that open with the musical score for traditional Irish music. It's a shame that the book didn't come with a CD of the songs! The Irish setting, with the main character playing the fiddle since the age of five is captivating as is the setting of Tir na Nog, the land of eternal youth. Time is being trapped into Tir na Nog, and the fairies there are starting to age. Also time is being lost in our world and life gets more and...more
I didn't enjoy this very much. For one thing, the "chapters" were, on average, a page and a half long. The disjointedness this caused made for uncomfortable reading. Secondly, is anyone else getting the feeling that authors and script writers are becoming lazy and rewriting old stories with a new take or remaking old films far too much? I get the impression that this author thought, "Tir na nOg, now that is a great idea. How can I twist this superstition into an [yet another] idea for a book?" I...more
I am remarkably underwhelmed by this one. Due to the super short chapters and one-page musical compositions in between them, I found myself turning pages what felt like every 2 seconds, which got annoying. Also, it takes nearly half the book for the pace to pick up and for you to discover just what the heck the story is about to begin with. The last half is better than the first, so if you stick with it you'll be rewarded with a decent story and resolution, but overall I'm not sure I'd recommend...more
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A lot of our class didn't like this book--which was surprising. I enjoyed it a lot. It made me want to go to Ireland, definitely. The culture was rich. I didn't care for the emphasis on music, particularly the sheets of music included. The songs that are meant to be funny usually are, or at least you can see how they would be if you were watching the characters perform them. But the songs that are supposed to be soulful or happy or haunting or sorrowful are simply ... dull. The nice thing is tha...more
REQUIRED READING
This novel is about two worlds taking place at the same time. J.J. Liddy and everyone in their town felt like there was less and less time everyday. When his mother asks him for more time for her birthday, he sets off on an adventure, following old folk tales, to find her some more time. He stumbles into another world where time stands still, but now the time is moving very slowly, which is hurting the people. J.J. finds out that there is a time leak between the two worlds and he...more
This novel is about two worlds taking place at the same time. J.J. Liddy and everyone in their town felt like there was less and less time everyday. When his mother asks him for more time for her birthday, he sets off on an adventure, following old folk tales, to find her some more time. He stumbles into another world where time stands still, but now the time is moving very slowly, which is hurting the people. J.J. finds out that there is a time leak between the two worlds and he...more
Nov 06, 2012
Miriam Joy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
this-book-changed-my-life,
favorites
This book changed my life.
When I was about nine or ten, my grandma bought this book, having seen a review of it in The Times when it first came out. I'm not sure what she thought would interest me - probably the music, since I've been brought up in a musical family - but it certainly worked.
I was amazed at the entire world Kate Thompson had taken from mythology - an interpretation of the sidhe that I'd never seen before. I loved how she mixed Tir n'a nÓg with the modern day world, how her human...more
When I was about nine or ten, my grandma bought this book, having seen a review of it in The Times when it first came out. I'm not sure what she thought would interest me - probably the music, since I've been brought up in a musical family - but it certainly worked.
I was amazed at the entire world Kate Thompson had taken from mythology - an interpretation of the sidhe that I'd never seen before. I loved how she mixed Tir n'a nÓg with the modern day world, how her human...more
When J.J. Liddy's mother asks for some extra time for her birthday, she has no idea what events she is setting in motion. J.J., with some help from a local history enthusiast, finds himself in the land of fairy, to which all the time in the real world is slowly leaking. Accompanied by the fairy Aengus Og and a dog named Bran, J.J. seeks to stop the leak and get his mother her birthday present, unaware that time is speeding by in the real world and his village is in an uproar over his disapperanc...more
I was surprised that I didn't love this book because I'm normally a fantasy freak. J.J. Liddy realizes that there seems to be less and less time in the world and he is led to the world of fairies by his friendly neighbor who leads him there hoping he can find a leak where the time from J.J's world is leaking into the fairy world. J.J. spends a few hours in the fairy world which amounts to several weeks in the real world so his family and the police are looking desperately for him. Meanwhile he i...more
WHOLE CLASS READING
Finding himself unexpectedly swept up in an adventure that blends both the world he knows and the one he knows from traditional Irish fairy tales, J.J.'s life takes a curious turn, to say the least. Suddenly he's in the world of eternal youth, but something's seriously wrong. Time, age, and therefore death have been leaking from J.J.'s world into the youthful one, threatening both with ultimate destruction. Through events that mix J.J.'s own family history and that of ancient...more
Finding himself unexpectedly swept up in an adventure that blends both the world he knows and the one he knows from traditional Irish fairy tales, J.J.'s life takes a curious turn, to say the least. Suddenly he's in the world of eternal youth, but something's seriously wrong. Time, age, and therefore death have been leaking from J.J.'s world into the youthful one, threatening both with ultimate destruction. Through events that mix J.J.'s own family history and that of ancient...more
The opening is pretty rambly and unfocussed:
JJ hears something bad about his family history.
JJ changes his name.
JJ wishes he could give his mother more time.
JJ hears another version of the story.
JJ changes his name back.
JJ thinks about getting around to discussing the true story of his family history with his friend.
JJ gets around to looking into the time thing.
The new policeman wanders around.
This is not why he became a policeman.
Nope, not this neither.
Nor this.
People play music.
More music.
Home...more
JJ hears something bad about his family history.
JJ changes his name.
JJ wishes he could give his mother more time.
JJ hears another version of the story.
JJ changes his name back.
JJ thinks about getting around to discussing the true story of his family history with his friend.
JJ gets around to looking into the time thing.
The new policeman wanders around.
This is not why he became a policeman.
Nope, not this neither.
Nor this.
People play music.
More music.
Home...more
REQUIRED BOOK
In the New Policeman, the people of Kinvara are quickly losing time. Everyone is unsure why, but it seems that time is always moving faster and there is never enough time to finish all that needs to be done. Still, many people, like the Liddy family, try to find time for those things they love, such as music. When JJ Liddy asks his mother what she wants for her birthday present, she says time. Against many odds, JJ sets out to find time for his mother. JJ's search for time involves...more
In the New Policeman, the people of Kinvara are quickly losing time. Everyone is unsure why, but it seems that time is always moving faster and there is never enough time to finish all that needs to be done. Still, many people, like the Liddy family, try to find time for those things they love, such as music. When JJ Liddy asks his mother what she wants for her birthday present, she says time. Against many odds, JJ sets out to find time for his mother. JJ's search for time involves...more
I don't generally love fantasy novels, so this book was not especially thrilling to me. JJ lives in Ireland, and everyone is concerned with how fast time is flying by. There is no time for anything, and everything is running late. When his mother asks him for more time for her birthday, JJ goes on the search and eventually finds himself in an alternate world with fairies and music. The lack of time is coming from the fact that these two worlds are out of balance, and the timeless alternate world...more
REQUIRED
J.J. Liddy is very musical. Always has been. His family is also very musical as well and they hold dances and song playing sessions on a regular basis at their house. But, there is a problem. It seems like there is never enough time--for anything. People can't figure out where the time went and how things have changed so drastically. He vows to give his mother time for her birthday. On a trip to deliver cheese to a neighbor, she tells the neighbor of her plan. She takes him into a new wo...more
J.J. Liddy is very musical. Always has been. His family is also very musical as well and they hold dances and song playing sessions on a regular basis at their house. But, there is a problem. It seems like there is never enough time--for anything. People can't figure out where the time went and how things have changed so drastically. He vows to give his mother time for her birthday. On a trip to deliver cheese to a neighbor, she tells the neighbor of her plan. She takes him into a new wo...more
According to the Independent, The New Policeman is a “beautifully original book.” I agree with this statement, but like the Independent, have nothing better to say about the book or the writing. It is original, but as many original things are, it is nothing special. It is not a good idea, it is an original idea. Or maybe it is a good idea, but her execution of it was poor.
The plot was somewhat ridiculous. The novel appears to exist in the world we know until all of a sudden the main character i...more
The plot was somewhat ridiculous. The novel appears to exist in the world we know until all of a sudden the main character i...more
I thought that The New Policeman was a pretty good book all around. I was a little bit confused throughout the book until the end when the author wrapped everything all up. The connections she made at the end really made the whole book make sense. As I was reading about the different people at the beginning of the book disappearing, it really made me more interested in the book and I wanted to know what had happened to them and how it all tied in with the main story line. I thought the author di...more
This is a novel about a boy named J.J. He is a fabulous musician, partly because it is in his genes but he also has a love for the traditional Irish music that his family loves. He faces the problem that time seems to be slipping away from him in his world. He stumbles into an alternative world and realizes that they are gaining the time that he is losing. He goes on a quest to salvage the lost time and to solve the enduring mysteries of his family.
I think the way that the author wrote the book...more
I think the way that the author wrote the book...more
They often say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but in the case of this book, don’t judge it by its title. While the book sounds downright boring at first, the reader will quickly find that the title has little to do with this brilliantly imaginative story. Irish boy JJ Liddy and his family are naturally gifted music players with a hidden secret that JJ struggles with. Along with this struggle, the town is always in a rush, wishing for more time. On his quest for the missing time he disc...more
I enjoyed the novella The New Policeman because it offered a real look into the culture and folklore of Ireland. The story follows a young man named J.J. and a new police officer in his Irish town names Larry O’Dwyer. These two unlikely partners embark on a journey together to discover a buried truth. What really struck me while reading this book was the intriguing Fantasy aspect the book had to offer. Most fantasy novels use ‘high fantasy’ where they create a whole new old and civilizations, Th...more
It took a while to get used to the (very) short chapters and, for lack a better term, the musical interludes, but once so accustomed, they weren't intrusive on the story at all: and I liked how the scores effectively named the preceding chapter.
I felt for all of the characters, especially the family left behind, and Thompson handled the situation both with empathy but not too much pathos. There's enough depth and complexity in the emotion even for adult readers, though it's clear enough for the...more
I felt for all of the characters, especially the family left behind, and Thompson handled the situation both with empathy but not too much pathos. There's enough depth and complexity in the emotion even for adult readers, though it's clear enough for the...more
Jul 09, 2010
ICPL Staff Picks
added it
Many of us feel rushed, but imagine if time was literally slipping away. The New Policeman by Kate Thompson imagines that modern Ireland is just such a place. "Children could scarcely even find time for making mischief." When teenager JJ Liddy goes searching for "time" for his mother’s birthday present, he discovers that time is slipping from the human world to the fairy world. The fairies have known of the problem that threatens their eternal life for at least 50 years, but can’t get themselves...more
I was given this book by our Teen Librarian, who knows I like fantasy. I took a pause from my library books to give this one a go. It's definitely one of the more original stories I've read of late. It feels odd to say that. But then, if I were Irish, maybe I wouldn't be saying it. Funnily enough, Aengus and the Dagda made an appearance...I found that an interesting coincidence, so close to my taking a leap out of my norm and reading Dream Angus.
So. J.J. Liddy comes from a musical family with a...more
So. J.J. Liddy comes from a musical family with a...more
REQUIRED READING
This is a Science Fiction/Fantasy novel set in Ireland. J.J. decides to get his mother a special gift for her birthday: the gift of time. He is trying to repair a time leak that is occurring between his world and the land of eternal youth. This novel is packed with Irish folklore and tradition. Each chapter can be accompanied by a song found online. I'm not a huge Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan. However I did enjoy this novel once I felt like the storyline started to make some real movement...more
This is a Science Fiction/Fantasy novel set in Ireland. J.J. decides to get his mother a special gift for her birthday: the gift of time. He is trying to repair a time leak that is occurring between his world and the land of eternal youth. This novel is packed with Irish folklore and tradition. Each chapter can be accompanied by a song found online. I'm not a huge Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan. However I did enjoy this novel once I felt like the storyline started to make some real movement...more
Kate Thompson had a great idea when writing “The New Policeman” and made a run at a hard task, creating an entire world is no easy feat. She did well in establishing themes throughout the story, but I am afraid it just was not enough. She wrote the book with the intent to keep us guessing until the end, but by the time I got to the end of the book I had lost interest in what she was building towards. Discovering whom the new policeman was wasn’t satisfying or relieving, it came at a point where...more
Meh, I complained about this so much in the car that now I don't have much energy to share my thoughts here. ("You're welcome," says my girlfriend.) I listened to half of it as an audiobook (my first) -- the music was a good idea, but the reader was really annoying. Then I read the second half because I don't spend that much time in the car, and it just didn't get better.
Here's what gets me most, even more than the fact that he's supposed to be, like, 15, but acts as if he's seven -- if JJ had...more
Here's what gets me most, even more than the fact that he's supposed to be, like, 15, but acts as if he's seven -- if JJ had...more
I listened to this book on audio CD. On the hard copy of the book, at the end of each chapter, a page of music is inserted. (It's like sheet music). On the audio version of the book, the tunes are actually played which is very cool.
The book is rich with Irish fairies, leprechauns, pukas, and other magical creatures. The heart of this book is the traditions of Irish music and fiddle-playing and ceilis (which are dances).
The progtagonist is J.J., a 15-year-old. But this is not a fast-paced, easy...more
The book is rich with Irish fairies, leprechauns, pukas, and other magical creatures. The heart of this book is the traditions of Irish music and fiddle-playing and ceilis (which are dances).
The progtagonist is J.J., a 15-year-old. But this is not a fast-paced, easy...more
Magical, mystical and dreamy. Set in a small irish town, Kinvara J.J.'s family is famous for joyful musical talent and the mysterious ignominy surrounding J.J.'s grandfather.
Every one in Kinvara has the same problem, No Time!
J.J.'s mother's birthday is coming and he wants to give her that one thing she has so little of, time. A chance conversation with a neighbor reveals that J.J. can fulfill his mother's birthday wish by going through a portal to Tír na n'Óg, (fairy land to you) and find a wa...more
Every one in Kinvara has the same problem, No Time!
J.J.'s mother's birthday is coming and he wants to give her that one thing she has so little of, time. A chance conversation with a neighbor reveals that J.J. can fulfill his mother's birthday wish by going through a portal to Tír na n'Óg, (fairy land to you) and find a wa...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd Quarter Book Analysis Allison Graham | 1 | 4 | Feb 26, 2012 06:24pm |
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Kate Thompson is an award-winning writer for children and adults.She has lived in Ireland, where many of her books are set, since 1981. She is the youngest child of the social historians and peace activists E. P. Thompson and Dorothy Towers. She worked with horses and travelled in India before settling in the w...more
More about Kate Thompson...
Kate Thompson is an award-winning writer for children and adults.She has lived in Ireland, where many of her books are set, since 1981. She is the youngest child of the social historians and peace activists E. P. Thompson and Dorothy Towers. She worked with horses and travelled in India before settling in the w...more
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