THE WINNER OF a National Book Award, a Newbery Honor, and countless other awards has written her richest, most spirited book yet, filled with chara...
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reviews
Sep 06, 2008
Monica
rated it: 
A variation of this review is at my blog here.
This is a lovely book. I became a Horvath fan years ago with The Trolls and quite liked Everything on a Waffle. This one has the same episodic quality of these and feels a bit gentler too, somehow. It takes place in an unnamed Massachusetts town where the narrator, 12 year-old Jane, lives with her poet mother and younger siblings in a beach house. It is indeed a series of "adventures" that have a number of connecting threads (family More...
This is a lovely book. I became a Horvath fan years ago with The Trolls and quite liked Everything on a Waffle. This one has the same episodic quality of these and feels a bit gentler too, somehow. It takes place in an unnamed Massachusetts town where the narrator, 12 year-old Jane, lives with her poet mother and younger siblings in a beach house. It is indeed a series of "adventures" that have a number of connecting threads (family More...
Sep 19, 2008
Lynn
rated it:
Twelve-year-old Jane is at that tender place we call adolescence, leaving childhood behind, yearning and aching for something she can't yet define. "As if itching and outgrown, my soul is twisting about my body wanting something more to do this summer than the usual wading in shallows and reading and building castles on the shore. I want something I know not what, which is what adventures are about." Jane wishes for adventures and when they come, fourteen of them, they form Jane's f
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Jan 25, 2009
Toby
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Newbery committees have been accused of being humorless, or at least of discriminating against funny books when selecting the most distinguished children’s book of the year. Like Polly Horvath’s Newbery-honor book, Everything on a Waffle, My One Hundred Adventures is funny but also immerses readers into a specific time and place. The place is within shouting distance of the ocean, which may or may not be familiar to readers. But the time, early adolescence, is a time we all remember for “want
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Feb 06, 2009
Jamie
rated it: 
Putting this on the 12-14 shelf was a bit of a struggle. Because the book uses language and concepts that I found were very adult, such as when the 12-year old protaganist is sudddenly crucially aware of the passage of time, and that things will never be the same. Not that 12 year olds might not notice this, but not in the way the author conveyed. Also, the mother has several children by many different fathers - again, I'm not a prude, but it's so subtle but filled with subtext - I enjoyed the b
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Jan 05, 2009
Whitney
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I had a hard time with this book. As with many books by Polly Horvath, it was hit and miss. On the one hand the story was very engaging. I loved the older female characters in the book, they were eccentric and vivid. On the other hand, the 12 year old narrator did not sound or feel 12 years old. I might have been more satisfied had Horvath chosen a 3rd person narration. The voice was very old, definitely adult. The effect, for me, was to make the intentional gaps in the girl's comprehension of w
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Dec 05, 2008
Eva
rated it:
Life is messy and unpredictable. Folks don’t always act the way they should – even grown-ups! Even parents! Unpleasant feelings tend to well up and pervade one’s mind like a miasma. But there is unexpected joy in life as well, often in the simplest things and during the oddest moments. Polly Horvath understands this.
12-year-old Jane is the oldest of four children. She lives with her single mom and her two brothers and one sister in a worn but beloved house on the beach, where More...
12-year-old Jane is the oldest of four children. She lives with her single mom and her two brothers and one sister in a worn but beloved house on the beach, where More...
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Oct 27, 2008
Jane
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This book was so lovely I wanted to create a special shelf for it. Poetic, funny, charming. It reminded me of Criss Cross in that it perfectly captured what it is like just before puberty.
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Dec 03, 2008
The Library Lady
rated it:
My nine year old saw this book, picked it up to read it, and abandoned it after a chapter or so. And I get why.
Horvath writes beautifully. Adult readers--and Newbery committee types--adore her for that. And she writes wonderful, quirky characters and interesting plot twists which make books like Everything On A Wafflefun and readable for kids who don't give a durn about how many (ahem)librarians or teachers adore a book. They just want something they'll LIKE.
She doesn't More...
Horvath writes beautifully. Adult readers--and Newbery committee types--adore her for that. And she writes wonderful, quirky characters and interesting plot twists which make books like Everything On A Wafflefun and readable for kids who don't give a durn about how many (ahem)librarians or teachers adore a book. They just want something they'll LIKE.
She doesn't More...
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Oct 29, 2008
Rachael
rated it:
Very mild spoiler-- nothing huge!
So I was *supposed to be* reading Dracula, but I couldn't resist setting that aside to read Polly Horvath's latest. Her books are so full of humor and quirky characters, and are surely more joyful to read than dark tales of vampires. My One Hundred Adventures is no exception.
Jane Fielding is the oldest child of her poet single mother. She loves her life on the Massachusetts coast, but feels a longing for something more so she prays fo More...
So I was *supposed to be* reading Dracula, but I couldn't resist setting that aside to read Polly Horvath's latest. Her books are so full of humor and quirky characters, and are surely more joyful to read than dark tales of vampires. My One Hundred Adventures is no exception.
Jane Fielding is the oldest child of her poet single mother. She loves her life on the Massachusetts coast, but feels a longing for something more so she prays fo More...
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Oct 07, 2008
Bobby
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Another winner from Horvath. In this one, 12-year-old Jane prays for adventures to fill her summer, and her prayers seem to be answered. From mysterious men, delivering Bibles via balloon, and wading through marshes looking for transparent portals, Jane's summer is filled with everday intrigue and drama.
But guilt clouds Jane's days and especially her nights when she apparently has damaged a baby for life. Her pennance? Watching the baby and the holy-terrors that are the baby's br More...
But guilt clouds Jane's days and especially her nights when she apparently has damaged a baby for life. Her pennance? Watching the baby and the holy-terrors that are the baby's br More...
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Nov 20, 2008
Carter
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Yay! I loved this book. From the very first paragraph (the second sentence really), I fell in love with Horvath's lyrical writing. Later, she started cracking me up. Take for example, "I think how lucky we children are to have randomly landed a mother who inspires a spirit of goodwill. Then i crawl over Hershel to take his window seat." Hilarious.
Sarah Miller hit the nail on the head when she wrote in her review of My One Hundred Adventures, "It's almost like magical More...
Sarah Miller hit the nail on the head when she wrote in her review of My One Hundred Adventures, "It's almost like magical More...
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Nov 10, 2008
Roxanne Hsu
rated it:
It's definitely a very enjoyable book for me, as the adult reader who has always appreciated Horvath's brand of quirky humour and her "stretching" insights. I am sure that there are young readers to whom this book speaks to greatly. However, I am unsure that the middle part of the book isn't a little flat and slightly draggy. The final chapters/episodes are definitly gripping and exciting, with all that disappearances and re-appearances -- and unfortunately a very fast/hasty ending.
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Jan 26, 2009
Nimmy
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
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Jan 09, 2009
Jennifer
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Reviewed by Bailey - The Class for TeensReadToo.com
Clever, lovely, and insightfully sharp, 12-year-old Jane is on a mission for one hundred adventures, and she is ready for them.
Her home is a permanent beach house that has doors that are always wide open, no matter the time of day or night or weather, and is delightful and homey. Jane loves her home and her family - her hopeless romantic mother and her three brothers and sisters.
But then a slew of possible f More...
Clever, lovely, and insightfully sharp, 12-year-old Jane is on a mission for one hundred adventures, and she is ready for them.
Her home is a permanent beach house that has doors that are always wide open, no matter the time of day or night or weather, and is delightful and homey. Jane loves her home and her family - her hopeless romantic mother and her three brothers and sisters.
But then a slew of possible f More...
Dec 12, 2008
Brooke
rated it:
A sweet, lyrical summertime storybook.
Jane, her three siblings, and her mother live an idyllic life on the beach, but she's starting to feel restless. At the beginning of summer, she decides she's is ready for adventures -- one hundred of them -- and sets out to make them happen. Along the way are the usual Horvath cast of eccentric characters and surreal plot twists, from a minister who thinks herself psychic, to the horrible Gourd children, to the simultaneous arrival of all of More...
Jane, her three siblings, and her mother live an idyllic life on the beach, but she's starting to feel restless. At the beginning of summer, she decides she's is ready for adventures -- one hundred of them -- and sets out to make them happen. Along the way are the usual Horvath cast of eccentric characters and surreal plot twists, from a minister who thinks herself psychic, to the horrible Gourd children, to the simultaneous arrival of all of More...
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Nov 30, 2008
Bruce
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After hearing Nellie Phipps extol the power of prayer at church, twelve-year-old Jane prays for adventures, at least a hundred of them. She also wants a sign that her prayers have been heard: a purple circle in the sky. The next Sunday she gets her sign and her first adventure. While distributing Bibles Nellie tells her to jump in the basket of an untended hot air balloon with the Bibles. Then she’s set loose to drop Bibles on anyone along her path of flight. As she ascends she looks up at the c
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Aug 15, 2011
Kate
rated it:
A review from grad school:
Horvath’s wonder at the beauty and richness of everyday life, and her awareness of its potential to blossom into unexpected adventures, infuses each moment of her latest book, the fizzy and incandescent story of Jane Fielding’s twelfth summer. Jane lives in a coastal Massachusetts town with her mother, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet, and her three young siblings. She has always loved their home by the sea and their summer rituals of gathering berries and making More...
Horvath’s wonder at the beauty and richness of everyday life, and her awareness of its potential to blossom into unexpected adventures, infuses each moment of her latest book, the fizzy and incandescent story of Jane Fielding’s twelfth summer. Jane lives in a coastal Massachusetts town with her mother, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet, and her three young siblings. She has always loved their home by the sea and their summer rituals of gathering berries and making More...
Nov 08, 2010
BookKids
rated it:
Jane loves her life, but she finds it just a tad predictable. She is now 12 years old and feels that she is ready for some good old-fashioned adventures. And of course, when you are ready for adventure, that seems to be when they start finding you. Jane’s uncoventional yet predictable life starts being a whole lot less predictable. There’s the ride in the accidentally hi-jacked hot air balloon and its consequences. There are several men from her mother’s past that may or may not be her fath
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Jul 06, 2010
Madeline
rated it:
Jane loves her life, but she finds it just a tad predictable. She is now 12 years old and feels that she is ready for some good old-fashioned adventures. And of course, when you are ready for adventure, that seems to be when they start finding you. Jane’s unconventional yet predictable life starts being a whole lot less predictable. There’s the ride in the accidentally hi-jacked hot air balloon and its consequences. There are several men from her mother’s past that may or may not be her fat
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Jul 23, 2009
Charlyn
rated it:
Children will see this book as historical fiction: there are no computers, no handheld devices, no cell phones, no televisions. Jane lives with her mother, her younger sister and her two young brothers in a beach house. There is not a lot of money coming in for Jane's mom, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, and they find much of their food from their surroundings. Life is simple: the community isn't very large and they take care of one another, for the most part.
Jane is at peace in he More...
Jane is at peace in he More...
May 13, 2009
My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath
Guaranteed, Jane is going to have for herself one hundred adventures during summer vacation…unless Preacher Nellie makes her deliver Bibles every day…or unless she hits a baby on the head with one of those Bibles…or unless she has to babysit a horde of little kids as her punishment.
Regardless, Jane has adventures because they seem to find her. For much of her life she’s been isolated. Most people in Jane's small Massachusetts town onl More...
Guaranteed, Jane is going to have for herself one hundred adventures during summer vacation…unless Preacher Nellie makes her deliver Bibles every day…or unless she hits a baby on the head with one of those Bibles…or unless she has to babysit a horde of little kids as her punishment.
Regardless, Jane has adventures because they seem to find her. For much of her life she’s been isolated. Most people in Jane's small Massachusetts town onl More...
Apr 08, 2009
Josie
rated it:
My One Hundred Adventures
by Polly Horvath
Published by Schwartz & Wade Books
2008
Fiction
My One Hundred Adventures is a great summer read, especially for young girls on the brink of adolescence. It is very well written, especially for the more advanced reader. A more hesitant reader will still enjoy the story line, but the language is rich and complex at times, "I am suffocating, my fires of purpose dwindling to embers" (125). The style which Horvath More...
by Polly Horvath
Published by Schwartz & Wade Books
2008
Fiction
My One Hundred Adventures is a great summer read, especially for young girls on the brink of adolescence. It is very well written, especially for the more advanced reader. A more hesitant reader will still enjoy the story line, but the language is rich and complex at times, "I am suffocating, my fires of purpose dwindling to embers" (125). The style which Horvath More...
Jul 16, 2011
Jane
rated it:
I'm confused about how I feel about this book. I love the narrator's voice, but I find it hard to believe that she's as naive as she is. It takes her a very long time to figure out that the minister at her church, Nellie, is completely batty. I loved the setting--a tumbledown house by the sea where Jane lives with her mother, a very distracted and wifty poet, her sister Maya and her brothers, Max and Hershel. I also really liked that this was a book about adventures, not tragedies, although adve
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Sep 21, 2008
Bill
rated it:
I wanted to give this book two 'ratings': one that is as high as it gets for the humor, language, and just plain good writing, and one that is mighty low for a character voice that miserably failed to work for me throughout. I rather wish PH had written this book in the third person or something. What comes out of this 12-year-old's mouth is quite unbelievable for a 12-year-old, and I could never get over that. Just didn't ring anywhere near true for me.
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Jan 28, 2010
Megan
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The language in this book is wonderful. It is lyrical and soft, almost old-fashioned despite a few references to the modern day, and the reader is treated with intelligence. We follow twelve-year-old Jane through her summer, a summer of growth, change and education, as she realizes that the simple life she has till now lived, in a small house on the beach, is more complicated than she could have imagined. She does indeed have adventures, which are complicated by the strong characters in the book
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May 17, 2009
Kermit
rated it:
I listened to this book on my iPod. It was on the School Library Journal list of best books for youth for 2008. I'm not sure if this is young adult or juvenile fiction.
Jane Fielding, the star of the book, is 12 years old. She lives in a beautiful beach town in Massachusetts with her poet mother and her 3 siblings. Jane has deep thoughts. I don't know any 12-year-olds like Jane. Sometimes her thoughts are downright lyrical. But she is incredibly naive about life. Until the summer she More...
Jane Fielding, the star of the book, is 12 years old. She lives in a beautiful beach town in Massachusetts with her poet mother and her 3 siblings. Jane has deep thoughts. I don't know any 12-year-olds like Jane. Sometimes her thoughts are downright lyrical. But she is incredibly naive about life. Until the summer she More...
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Sep 01, 2009
Josiah
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"It's better to be fooled a hundred times than never to look."
—My One Hundred Adventures, P. 9
"Suddenly I realize that everyone in the whole world is, at the end of a day, staring at a dusky horizon, owner of a day that no one else will ever know."
—My One Hundred Adventures, PP. 31-32
I could certainly tell as I was reading this book that it was written by the uniquely effervescent author of "Everything on a Waf More...
—My One Hundred Adventures, P. 9
"Suddenly I realize that everyone in the whole world is, at the end of a day, staring at a dusky horizon, owner of a day that no one else will ever know."
—My One Hundred Adventures, PP. 31-32
I could certainly tell as I was reading this book that it was written by the uniquely effervescent author of "Everything on a Waf More...
May 18, 2009
Library Lady
rated it: 
This was my first Polly Horvath and it will not be my last. It was not, however, a good children's book. As some have pointed out, this is a good children's book that adults will like, but probably not a good children's book that actual children will like. Like "The Underneath" the writing style and tone feel much older than what works for the intended age group. There were definitely many strikingly beautiful spots of writing and I loved the quirkiness and timelessness of the stor
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Apr 10, 2011
Sue
rated it:
Jane wants some adventures this summer on the beach in Massachusetts and she gets them as she interacts with a cast of wacky and eccentric characters. Along the way she discovers that people lie for their own gain, people use you when you thought they needed you, that real friends will be there no matter what, that family helps you grow to be independent, and that learning truths about yourself is difficult but necessary. It's a wonderful coming-of-age book with some really funny and really sc
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May 28, 2010
Amy
rated it:
This was a quirky lil' book. Can't say I really enjoyed it. Jane is 12 and tired of her boring life. She wants adventure. While out delivering Bibles with her pastor, Nellie, she ends up in a hot air balloon by herself and drops Bibles out so the people below can find them and be saved. One of the Bibles hits the littlest of the Gourd children who may be maimed for life as a result. Mrs. Gourd is furious and blackmails Jane and her friend into babysitting her nasty children for the entire
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