Eight years before Denny Colbert was born, his father was involved in a tragic accident that killed 22 children. Now Denny is 16, and all he wants ...
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reviews
Aug 11, 2011
I'm only vaguely familiar with Cormier, but I thought I should read him at some point and the book's blurb caught my attention. Having finished it, however, I'm not a fan. The main character lives in a lonely, depressing world, as if he were living in a fog. I found it very depressing. The beginning was a little weird, and the middle was gripping - especially the parts focusing on Denny's father - but the end was a real letdown, especially once Denny started talking to Lulu.
The point of v More...
The point of v More...
Jan 10, 2011
John
rated it: 
Robert Cormier is my favorite author.
Denny Colbert's father was involved in a tragic accident as a teenager, which resulted in the deaths of 22 people. Denny isn't allowed to get his driver's license, have a job, or even answer the telephone, and he moves so often that he is always the new kid in school. When he's sixteen, he breaks the rules and answers the phone. But who is the person on the other side?
This novel, while good, is a little disappointing at the end. The story More...
Denny Colbert's father was involved in a tragic accident as a teenager, which resulted in the deaths of 22 people. Denny isn't allowed to get his driver's license, have a job, or even answer the telephone, and he moves so often that he is always the new kid in school. When he's sixteen, he breaks the rules and answers the phone. But who is the person on the other side?
This novel, while good, is a little disappointing at the end. The story More...
May 07, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
I really, really liked this book until I got about a third of the way through. Starting with the positive points (of which there are many), I really enjoy Robert Cormier's writing. His constant use of sentence fragments, sometimes making up several sentences in a row, is a little unnerving at first, but I got used to it fairly quickly and found that it really added to the overall tone and immediacy of the novel. (I'm also a fiction writer, so I tend to notice things most readers don't pick up on
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Nov 08, 2009
Jasmine ☮ ♡ ♔
rated it:
This book wasn't AMAZING and I didn't even pick it out myself; it was a book I had to read for book club. It was enjoyable though. I didn't expect it to be ANY good, because sadly I do judge books by their covers, and I had the book cover that contained a guy that was 1/2 cartoon and 1/2 real person. It looked like something from the 90's (which it is in fact) and I thought it would be weird and boring. It was pretty interesting though. It was a fast read (in about 2 and 1/2 hours i read it) and
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Jan 21, 2012
Josiah
rated it:
"Nightmares ended when you woke up. Guilt never ended, worst in the dark of night but with you all the time, day or night."
—In the Middle of the Night, P. 86
Robert Cormier never bothers with quaint sayings about how everything will be okay if we just keep a positive attitude, and the only one who can derail our life is ourselves. His shocking, sobering novels demonstrate quite convincingly that other people can mess us up for life through no fault of our o More...
—In the Middle of the Night, P. 86
Robert Cormier never bothers with quaint sayings about how everything will be okay if we just keep a positive attitude, and the only one who can derail our life is ourselves. His shocking, sobering novels demonstrate quite convincingly that other people can mess us up for life through no fault of our o More...
Nov 02, 2010
Sarah
rated it: 
This book has a sad beginning, sad middle and sad end. If you are the sentimental type, grab a box of tissues before reading this book. Yet, this is about a boy that will pay for his father's accident. Yes, it was an accident. No one knew that the balcony was so weak it would fall right off in a drop of a hat. There were no flashlights, and there were kids, and there was a noise. Yet, for a father's mistake, there is death, or revenge. I'm saying too much, so you should go read this book. I'm ju
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Sep 30, 2011
Vraj dave
rated it:
i rate it this way because mostly the book was boring but it was a little interesting. The books strengths are the way it is writen because it keeps the reader interested in the book because of the the mestry of the book. i would not read another book because it was a ok ending not realy a happy ending.if you give your time to read the book the books ending should good because then people would think it was a waste of time,
Jun 16, 2009
Lisa
rated it:
Denny is being harassed because of the "sins of the father", even though his father was truly innocent. People effected by an event 25 years ago, in which Denny's father was also effected, decided that he should be blamed. Therefore, the father receives phone calls in the middle of the night, and those calls are anything but nice. Now that Denny is 16 years-old, he has begun receiving a call from one of the survivors of the horrible accident 25 years ago, and he wants to deal with th
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Sep 30, 2011
Tyler Thivener
rated it: 
I rated the book 2 stars because it wasn't my type of book.
A strength in my book is that it started off interesting with the explosion, but a weakness would be how it kept on changing between time periods.
I would probably not read another book by this author because i wasn't all interested in this book so i probably won't like any other one by him.
A strength in my book is that it started off interesting with the explosion, but a weakness would be how it kept on changing between time periods.
I would probably not read another book by this author because i wasn't all interested in this book so i probably won't like any other one by him.
Sep 30, 2011
Madison Russell
rated it:
The reason why I rated this book the way i did is because the change between time periods was a bit confussing but over all it was a good book. The strengths woule have to be that the end of the chapers always ended good, they would usally be a cliff hanger. The weaknesses would have to be the connection with John Paul being a teenager and John being a fater to Denny. Yes, I would read another book by this author because I thought the book was well writen.
Jul 18, 2010
Christina
rated it: 
I liked this book..very suspenseful..You do need to know when you are reading about the father, and when you are reading about the son..At first this is hard to distinguish..but as you read, you realize who you are reading about....
Sep 05, 2011
Gretchen
rated it:
This novel had the most disturbing description of what the after life is that I have ever read. The concept stays with you long after you have forgotten the details of the book.
Nov 27, 2010
Heather
rated it:
The phone rings in the middle of the night. Carrying a horrible secret has all sorts of consequences...a good middle school read.
Jan 13, 2010
Heather
rated it:
Denny lives in the shadow of a deadly accident with which his father was connected.
Sep 30, 2011
Hussein mohamed
rated it:
I rated my book an two star because I dont like the time preiods in this book how it changes from one thing to another.One strength in this book is all the action thats happing one weakness in the book is the time preiods.Maybe because I did not read any other books the author made.
Jul 15, 2009
Kendall
rated it:
Not much to say here, except that the book is entertaining and written in typical Cormier fashion (flashback, told from various characters' points of view). The story is a good one, and it weaves typical teen angst in with tragedy--a genre that Cormier always does well.
May 21, 2011
Shellee
rated it:
kind of lame. I like robert cormier but this was kind of predictable. It was a fast read which is what I wanted. I am the cheese is definatley a better one by cormier.
Dec 17, 2009
Laura
rated it:
Considering I was like in middle school when I got this . I thought the book was kinda freaky but I liked it. It really made me scared.
Oct 27, 2008
Shawn S
rated it:
The beginning is good but after that the plot dies and the rest is just predictable.
Feb 06, 2012
Feb 02, 2012
Jan 22, 2012
