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77th out of 141 books
—
210 voters
Nobel Genes
It's tough to measure up to your parents' expectations. Imagine how much harder it would be if your mother told you that your biological father—whom you'd never met—was a Nobel prize-winning genius? What if, after years of testing and tutoring, you never showed that particular spark of brilliance? What if you found out that you'd been living a lie, and that the truth was d...more
Hardcover, 181 pages
Published
August 10th 2010
by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
(first published July 21st 2010)
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Narrated by a boy who is struggling with his identity this book has a lot going on and would foster some interesting discussion in the right setting.
Told every day that he is his young mom's Nobel Boy the narrator knows he can Never live up to his mother's hopes. He knows beyond a doubt that he is and Average Boy. As the years pass he realizes that his mother is sinking ever deeper into a pool of madness. He is constantly vigilant of her moods, drinking and prescription dalliances; he knows she...more
Told every day that he is his young mom's Nobel Boy the narrator knows he can Never live up to his mother's hopes. He knows beyond a doubt that he is and Average Boy. As the years pass he realizes that his mother is sinking ever deeper into a pool of madness. He is constantly vigilant of her moods, drinking and prescription dalliances; he knows she...more
A boy whose mother conceived him with the help of a "Nobel Prize sperm bank" has to deal with his mother's mounting mental instability. His mother has bipolar disorder and is also agoraphobic. A tenant over their garage, Drum, helps occasionally, but the fourth time the boy's mother overdoses on pills, he leaves. A neighbor steps in briefly, but ultimately, the boy's grandmother is called. The boy has held on to the hope that his father is really a Nobel prize winner he will one day be able to l...more
This book was suuuuuper boring. I wanted to feel something for a boy stuck in such an impossible situation, but I just didn't. I was determined to finish it, hoping that something horrific would happen in order to liven it up a bit, when it really really did. I applaud it for going to really dark places, and a lot of the dream scenes were very vivid. I also thought the twist at the end was nicely ambiguous, in that "information" comes to the boy in a dream. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be...more
This was an odd mix of 90 percent realistic fiction with a weird dream communication fantasy element at the end of the book. In general I liked this because it was a frank look at how a child living alone with a parent who has an addiction & mental illness. It wasn't overly frightening or graphic, but it did show the anxiety of the situation well.
However the shared dreams element that comes in at the end is disturbing on multiple levels. The boy who is the main character believes they are r...more
However the shared dreams element that comes in at the end is disturbing on multiple levels. The boy who is the main character believes they are r...more
A library patron complained to staff that this book contains adult content inappropriate for minors (despite it being classified as YA literature). Naturally, it made me all excited to read it.
It's pretty dull at first, then gets super depressing. The kid in this book is really sensitive, has no friends, and has to take care of a mom who's crazy/suicidal. Probably some kids out there can relate to it. It is decently written and believable - at first.
But then, the story has this twist at the end...more
It's pretty dull at first, then gets super depressing. The kid in this book is really sensitive, has no friends, and has to take care of a mom who's crazy/suicidal. Probably some kids out there can relate to it. It is decently written and believable - at first.
But then, the story has this twist at the end...more
This book wasn't that great, like outstanding but it wasn't that bad either. I think the age group is younger, so that was why. However, it had to do with genes and DNA which is what we were learning in Bio so i thought it would be interesting to read a book that includes DNA and genes. This book was about a kid who has a mother who wanted a talented baby so she spent money to buy sperm of a nobel award winner, hoping that the smart genes would be in the kid. This leads to the kid wanting to fin...more
Nobel Genes by Rune Michaels is the story of a young boy whose mother has always told him he was conceived using sperm from a bank of Nobel Prize Winners. He doesn't know who his father is, but he has always felt the immense pressure to live up to him. When he learns this is a lie, he faces even bigger questions about who he is, and whether that lie was meant to cover up an extremely dark truth.
I was initially interested in this book because of the word "genes" in the title- genetics is my field...more
I was initially interested in this book because of the word "genes" in the title- genetics is my field...more
An unnamed middle school-aged boy is constantly trying to live up to the Nobel genes he supposedly received from his donor father. It becomes apparent that his young mother has suicidal tendencies and he is left to care for both of them. The fifth time she is taken away on a stretcher life changes for him. His mother’s parents (thought dead by him) take him in. The story takes a fantastical turn and he is able to learn of the horrible events that led to his creation and his mother’s flight from...more
Nobel Genes is a story about who we are and where we come from. It is a contemporary story set in America and it raises questions about the ethics of genetics and the origin of our identity.
When I finished reading this book, I knew that I had enjoyed it but I couldn’t for the life of me remember the main character’s name. So I searched through the book and realised that he never actually tells us his name which is very much in tune with the story. It is a first person narrative told by a boy. I...more
When I finished reading this book, I knew that I had enjoyed it but I couldn’t for the life of me remember the main character’s name. So I searched through the book and realised that he never actually tells us his name which is very much in tune with the story. It is a first person narrative told by a boy. I...more
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The unnamed narrator takes care of his mother, he watches her moods, counts her pills, and enjoys when she seems stable and they do things together. He knows that his mom got pregnant from a sperm donor who was a Nobel prize winner. His mother expects him to be gifted at something like science and he’s not; like her, he’s good at art. This contributes to the difficulties in his life because he feels like he is disappointing her and she always seems so sad. His mother’s second suicide attempt sen...more
The beginning was intriguing, but after some time I honestly fought with myself to continue reading the book. There was hardly any dialogue, and for a while I wasn't sure if the narrator was a boy or girl. The end, though, was completely worth the read. If you have the time and are interested in the first couple pages, you'll probably like this book.
Nobel Genes is a story about who we are and where we come from. It is a contemporary story set in America and it raises questions about the ethics of genetics and the origin of our identity.
first person narrative
needs to be read... reveiws where ok.. but students liked genesis alpha and asked for more by this author
first person narrative
needs to be read... reveiws where ok.. but students liked genesis alpha and asked for more by this author
The cover & back copy make this sound like a dystopian YA novel, but it's actually realistic fiction about a young boy coping with his mother's mental illness. Borders on the after-school special, especially towards the end, but overall well-done.
* This haunting story kept me reading all night, until I got to the end. I enjoyed Rune's writing that successfully conveyed a Nobel son's ongoing struggles in order to please his mom.
An at-times frightening book with spare prose and smudged line between what is real and what is not, who is trustworthy and who is not. This is my first book by an Icelandic author.
Struggling with identity and self-discovery, one particular re-action by the main character remains difficult to justify ethically.
Scary. Surrealistic and tragic. I didn't cry but I felt so melancholy afterwards. A great book to discuss bioethics with.
A fast read. Like someone else said, it has elements of realistic fiction but then their is a fantasy part toward the end.
Kind of like reading a news account of a sad circumstance. Too much distance between reader and character.
from list of ReachOut Reads YA books on mental health issues: on bipolar disorder
Review from library copy
This had the twist I thought Pearl by Jo Knowles was going to have. Interesting to see a parent's mental illness through the eyes of a son. We never know how old he is. We never know where he is. I don't think we even learn his name.
This had the twist I thought Pearl by Jo Knowles was going to have. Interesting to see a parent's mental illness through the eyes of a son. We never know how old he is. We never know where he is. I don't think we even learn his name.
This book is blah.
Apr 20, 2013
Taylor
marked it as to-read
Apr 14, 2013
Amber Eck
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Apr 13, 2013
Samantha
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Apr 12, 2013
Heather
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Mar 31, 2013
Amanda P
marked it as to-read
Mar 27, 2013
Lorena
marked it as to-read
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Rune lives in Reykjavík with her husband, their daughter and their two cats, trying hard not to live a life out of one of her books.
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Jun 08, 2012 07:21am