Charlie Bucktin, a bookish thirteen year old, is startled one summer night by an urgent knock on his bedroom window. His visitor is Jasper Jones, a...
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Jan 27, 2012
Troy
rated it: 
The Here and Now
“Jasper Jones” begins badly;
“…the thick heat seems to seep in and keep in my sleepout.”
And a sentence later;
“…the slim slats of my single window.”
The unbearable assonance of the first phrase presumably represents the heat? The thirteen year-old protagonist’s literary pretensions? Or maybe it is an attack on language itself? And surely two of the adjectives in the second could be jettisoned without any loss of meani More...
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Feb 11, 2012
Maree
rated it: 
So, in accordance with the new tradition here's my readin' & rollin' pic (with lots of thanks to the wonderful Shirley Marr)
(Please ignore the ugly barcode)
Lounging on the Ornamental Lawns (which were underwater last week!) trying to take in the awesomeness of this book! I seriously want to kiss this guy's brain!!
(Please ignore the ugly barcode)
Lounging on the Ornamental Lawns (which were underwater last week!) trying to take in the awesomeness of this book! I seriously want to kiss this guy's brain!!
3 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Feb 02, 2012
Emily
rated it:
Jasper Jones readalong in celebration of it being chosen as an honour book for the Printz award *throws confetti*
<spoiler>I couldn't resist</spoiler>
<spoiler>I couldn't resist</spoiler>
12 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Jan 31, 2012
I just finished this on the tram this morning. Speechless.
Intercontinental mass readalong of Jasper Jones
Intercontinental mass readalong of Jasper Jones
45 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Nov 20, 2011
Choco
rated it: 
Hoping to grab your attention, I would like to start this review by saying that Craig Silvey is up there with Markus Zusak in awesomeness. This is a rare book, which I can pick up, open any page and feel certain that single page or even a paragraph will make me feel something and satisfy me. It is a rare book in that upon finishing it I had to run out to a bookstore and buy myself my own copy. There is a tangible air around my copy, and every time I open it, the air thickens and fills me with so
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(5 people liked it)
Oct 31, 2011
Pierre
rated it:
There are many references to the game of cricket in Jasper Jones but you don't have to be a specialist of the game to enjoy this fabulous coming of age novel by Australian author Craig Silvey. The story revolves around the disappearance of a teenage girl in the small town of Corrigan. Jasper jones, the young outcast and scapegoat for everything that goes wrong in the town is the only one who knows where the girl is. He confides in Chuck, the teenage narrator of the story, who has to make some ve
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(2 people liked it)
Nov 27, 2011
Patricia
rated it:
Of the grim/tense category that all these Mock Printz books seem to be, this falls into "tense." I found the writing for this novel very uneven. For example, the story goes along and I'm populating the pictures in my head based on the book and then suddenly it seems that it's the 1960s. Insert record needle scratching off record. What? Really? Huh. This happened several times: the mother seemed to be a normal book mother and then suddenly she wasn't, the love interest had a too-conveni
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Feb 16, 2012
Bandkh
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 12, 2012
Barbara
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 02, 2012
CC
rated it:
This is an Australian import. In Oz, it was published as an adult novel, but here its being presented as a YA, and recently won a Printz Honor. In the vein of To Kill a Mockingbird, and Native Son, the novel, narrated by 13 year old Charlie Bucktin, explores racism, lies, and the mystery that binds us all as we stand, off to the side, and do not speak out, for ourselves or others.
This sentence, from page 23, sums up the core of the plot: "Laura Wishart has been hanged, and Jaspe More...
This sentence, from page 23, sums up the core of the plot: "Laura Wishart has been hanged, and Jaspe More...
Jan 12, 2012
Erin
rated it:
The thing about reading a bazillion YA books all in a row is that they start to feel kind of similar. Jasper Jones reminded of of Okay For Now, Imaginary Girls, and that creepy Ray Bradbury book (even though that wasn't YA).
I also keep reading books that aren't set in America and being very confused. This was no exception. Turns out, it's Australia.
Without a doubt, Jeffrey Lu was my favorite character. Despite having to deal with the prejudices of a small town in the outback, More...
I also keep reading books that aren't set in America and being very confused. This was no exception. Turns out, it's Australia.
Without a doubt, Jeffrey Lu was my favorite character. Despite having to deal with the prejudices of a small town in the outback, More...
Jan 06, 2012
Firstly, I had to read this book for English – it’s definitely not the kind of book I’d pick up if it was up to me. Sometimes I think English teachers or whoever chooses these books don’t even read the book; they choose a book which is Australian and which has a heap of awards. So basically, if you want to bring in a lot of money, write a book which is very pointed in a moral, and which is quintessentially Australian, and then you’ll have it bought by a heap of schoolkids forced into reading it.
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Dec 09, 2011
Louise
rated it:
What a fabulous book. I really enjoyed it. I've not read Rhubarb, or even heard of it, or Craig Silvey til I came across Jasper Jones. Of course I'm glad that I did, and I'm looking forward to reading Rhubarb sometime soon.
Jasper Jones is our title character, but we see him through the eyes and ears of Charlie Bucktin. Jasper is the town outcast, labelled the bad boy in this 1965 WA small town. Late one night Jasper comes knocking at Charlie's window and asks of him a tremendous favour, ev More...
Jasper Jones is our title character, but we see him through the eyes and ears of Charlie Bucktin. Jasper is the town outcast, labelled the bad boy in this 1965 WA small town. Late one night Jasper comes knocking at Charlie's window and asks of him a tremendous favour, ev More...
Oct 29, 2011
Beaverton City Library Teens
rated it: 
We've all made bad decisions at one point or another. Charlie, the narrator of this novel, makes a particularly bad one when he decides to help outcast Jasper Jones avoid a probable false murder rap by hiding the dead body of a young girl. The year is 1968, and Charlie lives in a small-minded mining town in Australia with his dysfunctional parents. His only friend is Vietnamese immigrant Jeffrey, who faces problems of his own in the form of racist harassment.
I enjoyed the mystery aspect o More...
I enjoyed the mystery aspect o More...
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(2 people liked it)
Aug 20, 2011
The story of a young boy in small town 1960's Australia, who becomes involved in the cover-up of a crime. The novel covers all sorts of themes, including racism, tensions arising from the Vietnam war, sexual abuse, marital problems, death, isolation and love ... phew, quite a lot really!!! The novel is well written, quite thought provoking. I found it difficult to always accept all the profound thoughts exposed by the narrator of the story, being that he is only 13 (almost 14), even though he
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 18, 2011
Kendra
rated it:
Okay, so once I got past the kind of strange and weak initial premise for this story, I really loved this book. Here is what was weird about the first 30+ pages: the narrator, thirteen year old Charlie, is a quiet and unathletic boy who has no real friendship, or even a relationship, with Jasper Jones, an older teen who is good-looking, athletic, and criminal. This does not stop Jasper from showing up at Charlie's window late one night, and it does not stop Charlie from following Jasper into the
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(1 person liked it)
Jun 30, 2011
Jbachelder
rated it:
This one is tricky, because there's a lot of good and a lot of bad in this book. Let's start with the good: teen boys find a dead body in the woods (always interesting and already you have to read to the end to find out what happened); hero Charlie is a likeable enough character who has a mad crush on the pretty girl whose sister is the aforementioned dead body; an Australian setting, which is fresh; and some funny repartee with his best friend Jeremy that, though it really sounds too mature f
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(2 people liked it)
May 27, 2011
Unknow098765
rated it:
Not wanting to have to endure a five hour flight, with nothing to occupy me, I purchased Jasper Jones completely on impulse. Set in the mid 1960’s, I normally don’t particularly read books set in time periods other the 21st century or the present. However, this book has changed my mind. Jasper Jones was an excellent book that I could be describe as an Australia version of 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'
Firstly, it has many layers which are gradually peeled as the novel progresses. One of the More...
Firstly, it has many layers which are gradually peeled as the novel progresses. One of the More...
May 07, 2011
Diana
rated it:
This multiple award winning novel from Australia is beautifully written but even though it is published in the U.S. as young adult (which makes it historical fiction as the setting is the mid 60's) it seemed much more to me like an adult literary novel (not my favorite genre). It has been likened to To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye but it actually "felt" more like Stephen King's novella "The Body" upon which the movie Stand By Me was based. Thirteen-year-old Charl
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May 05, 2011
Nadine
rated it:
Particularly harsh rating, but I could not be convinced by the narration, which not only takes place in the perpetual present (it might work for the short story but too much is compromised in a novel this size) but is also told through the voice of a spookily-articulate 12 year old. The result is both confusing and inauthentic.
Unfortunately, the plot did little to rescue the book for me. It was all so predictable. The anticipation building towards the climax, and the tidy conclusi More...
Unfortunately, the plot did little to rescue the book for me. It was all so predictable. The anticipation building towards the climax, and the tidy conclusi More...
Apr 11, 2011
Marianne
rated it:
Jasper Jones is Craig Silvey’s second novel. It is set during a hot summer in 1965 in a small West Australian town, Corrigan, and narrated by thirteen-year-old Charlie Bucktin. Charlie is surprised by Jasper Jones’ appearance at his sleepout window: Jasper needs his help. Jasper, mixed race, rebellious and solitary, represents danger and intrigue for Charlie: he is desperate to impress him and so goes along with Jasper. This action unleashes a sequence of events that will change Charlie, Jasper
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(1 person liked it)
Oct 10, 2010
Hinch
rated it:
I was recently passing through a small country town when I was arrested by the dust jacket of a book in a shop window. It was titled Jasper Jones, and the subtext declared "An Australian To Kill A Mockingbird". Having now read the novel, I can say that it's surely one of the finest to have been written in recent years.
The narrator of the story, Charlie Bucktin, a shy, bookish boy, is alerted late one evening by an urgent tapping on his bedroom window. It is Jasper Jones. He More...
The narrator of the story, Charlie Bucktin, a shy, bookish boy, is alerted late one evening by an urgent tapping on his bedroom window. It is Jasper Jones. He More...
Jul 10, 2010
Angie (Vampires and Tofu)
rated it:
There have been many books I have thought of as 5 star books for various reasons...they were fun to read, they were entertaining, the descriptions were vivid and they played like a movie in my head. And then there are those magical books that come along only ever once in awhile that make you realize you need a 6 star rating system because they just shine above and beyond.
That's Jasper Jones.
The story is told by Charlie, who gets a surprise visit from Jasper Jones one nigh More...
That's Jasper Jones.
The story is told by Charlie, who gets a surprise visit from Jasper Jones one nigh More...
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(3 people liked it)
May 14, 2010
David
rated it:
This is a story about growing up, but also one about stories: the stories we tell about people, and how the image held of a person in the mind’s eye may not be the truth of who they really are – or might be all the truth there is, as far as someone else is concerned.
The year is 1965; the place, Corrigan, a mining town in Western Australia. Charlie Bucktin is 13, a bookish, studious boy – which doesn’t make for an easy life amongst his peers, for whom sporting prowess is the key meas More...
The year is 1965; the place, Corrigan, a mining town in Western Australia. Charlie Bucktin is 13, a bookish, studious boy – which doesn’t make for an easy life amongst his peers, for whom sporting prowess is the key meas More...
Feb 13, 2012
Yashaswani
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 23, 2011
Cormac704
rated it:
There is something about my book that I really like. When the main character goes away, nothing seems normal. But the main character doesn't see it as abnormal. The main character sees it as a new beginning, something they can do. I don't like how the main character is totally optimistic about almost everything. It gets annoying, how she is so optimistic, so happy about absolutely everything. If you're going to move, make it a problem, new friends, new teachers, it should be hard. Its too easy f
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Jan 30, 2012
Jay
rated it:
Note: This review was interrupted by an email that brought bad news and is unfortunately shorter than I had planned.
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I managed to read this book in one sitting. Got it out from the library and came straight home and carried on reading until I finished it. I think this was more to do with wanting to get a review done for a friend rather than the book being unputdownable.
But that is not to say I didn't enjoy it. The story is set in a small Australian More...
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I managed to read this book in one sitting. Got it out from the library and came straight home and carried on reading until I finished it. I think this was more to do with wanting to get a review done for a friend rather than the book being unputdownable.
But that is not to say I didn't enjoy it. The story is set in a small Australian More...
May 08, 2011
Steve.lovell
rated it:
One's first kiss of a truly romantic nature, usually in the teenage years, should be cherished as much as the first time, assuming the latter was enjoyable and for the right reasons. Even if it occurred over forty-five years ago now I still vividly remember the occasion of the former event. It shines through the blur of much of the past. I recall the place (beach), the girl (!), and taste (slightly salty after a swim). Like many of the days in this excellent read, the weather was as warm as this
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Jan 12, 2012
Lauredhel
rated it:
I've been mulling over this one for a few days - one sign of a good book, I think. Poking around the web, this appears to be a chacun à son goût novel - some people just plain hated it, some are whining about it winning an award because it's not Real Literature(tm), and so on.
Me? I loved it when I closed the last page, and I still love it now. It's I guess a 'coming of age' novel; it involves a mid-teens male main character, multiple friendships between male teens, cricket, a touch of More...
Me? I loved it when I closed the last page, and I still love it now. It's I guess a 'coming of age' novel; it involves a mid-teens male main character, multiple friendships between male teens, cricket, a touch of More...
Aug 10, 2011
Sherri
rated it:
Our narrator is 13-year-old Charlie who lives in a small Australian mining town during the mid-1960s and is easily described as an academic, non-athletic, easily-bullied kid whose best (and seemingly only) friend is a Vietnamese kid, Jeffrey, who lives down the street. An unlikely and unbelievable friendship is formed late one night when Jasper Jones, the town’s teen outcast/troublemaker, taps on Charlie’s window and asks for his help. Despite the surprise that Jasper even knows his name, Charli
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