A Place Called Ugly

by Avi

At the end of the summer, 14-year-old Owen refuses to leave the beach house which has been his family's summer home for 10 years and which is scheduled for demolition.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction

141 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Avi is a pen name for Edward Irving Wortis, but he says, "The fact is, Avi is the only name I use." Born in 1937, Avi has created many fictional favorites such as The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Nothing but the Truth, and the Crispin series. His work is popular among readers young and old.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Dylan Thomas

Of course Dylan Thomas was raging against death but in this book, Owen is raging against having to grow up. Overtly, losing the house he's spent summer vacations in, but also losing his summers with family as his older siblings grow up and go their own ways. When he finds out that this is to be his last summer in the ugly old beach house his family has rented, he refuses to accept it. Staying on when the rest of his family leaves and doing all that he can to preserve it.

While there are many many Bildungsroman novels already out there, this one has unique perspective in that it that really lets the reader in on what is lost and concentrates very little on what is gained.

There are those that will love this and those that will hate this but I suggest that you read it and decide for yourself. It's well written and though Owen is at times very immature, one cannot help but feel his pain, his sense of powerlessness and his total sense of unpreparedness for what is to come. It's a good thing to be reminded of these feelings from time to time.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book is great. I love how it takes a simple story and discusses the important topics of socioeconomic status and the effect of tourism in beach towns. Plus, we have the role of memory. I'm so glad I picked this up for the Booktube-a-thon!

[Sarah Eagle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't read books with unlikable protagonists, and this one starts off with one right off the bat. Owen is nostalgic because he wants a more permanent residence than what he's had--his family lives a transient life, I get it--but Ms Devlin is right. His need to preserve the house is selfish. Literally everyone who LIVES on the island want this to happen. It will benefit everyone in a bunch of ways.
But Owen wants to keep it because it's HIS house (it's not), it's beautiful (it's not) and it means a lot to everyone (it doesn't).
Also, he endangers literally a hundred people in the end, which is reckless, stupid and flat-put felony-level. For what?

[Kyla Stan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this novel in 6th grade. You want to know what detail I remembered the most? The clam bake. Avi did such a wonderful job with using sensory details to make this scene stand out to me 15 years later!!

When I first saw the cover, I had a feeling I remembered this book just based on that scene alone.
Now, after reading it years later, it reminded me of my childhood on Long Island, how all of the summer cottages are disappearing (which actually happened to my family). But we don't need the places to still be standing to keep our wonderful memories, and that's what this book is about.

While some of the action was a bit slow, I really enjoyed this nostalgic piece.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't decide whether or not Owen was selfish or audaciously courageous...or maybe both. I think that was part of the point of the story.

As usual, Avi's writing lays out the tale with the subtle power of simple things. This is the story of a teen's coming of age. As in many such stories fourteen-year-old Owen is forced to face the threshold of adulthood with the threatened life of a loved one. But this time the loved one in danger is the only place of permanence in Owen's life -- his family's summer cottage.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Owen Coughlin spends every summer (for the last ten) on Grenlow's Island. It is the one stable aspect of his life (his father has changed jobs often.)

This summer will be his last; the land is to be cleared and a resort hotel built. Owen decides he will not leave but will live in the house and force them to let the house stand. His parents put up with his stunt for a few days but expect him to give in.

Good story; possible for book discussion.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A younger me might have sped-read through this "boy book," given it 3 stars and called it a day. Or maybe it would have resonated a little stronger, given my personal Owen-levels of hatred for both Change and Development. But the latter feeling has only grown stronger with time, so today this book hit me right in the heart in ways I didn't expect, given that I've always been lukewarm on Avi and haven't read many of his titles.

One thing I really like about reading this book as an adult, is that I can understand Owen is playing a losing game, that for the sake of both the town's economy and the fact that the house is actually ugly and poorly maintained to boot ("do you know why we got this house, Owen? Because nobody else wanted it"), it should come down...but still secretly cheer him on. Take that, you lousy bunch of meddling grown-ups!

I also gotta applaud this cover for so perfectly capturing both the overall theme, and the details of one of the most important final scenes. The whole book, in fact, feels full of things one could discuss -- I don't know if it was ever used in classrooms, but it could have been.

The actual final scene, though...not to rely on outdated meme language but boy, that escalated quickly. (Owen, using knowledge gained from helping the propane man a few summers ago, decides if the house has to die he's gonna kill it himself rather than let the bulldozers knock it down, and implodes the house via calculated propane-leak-meets-firebomb. Only once the bulldozer and a BUNCH of other people are on the scene, though. And it just ends there, on a quasi-heroic note, with zero mention of how dangerous that was or the insane amounts of legal trouble he's about to get both himself and probably also his parents in.)

[Lo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle as a kid, and it held up far better than I expected to an adult re-read. So when I saw another Avi book in a Little Free Library, I grabbed it. Alas, what a huge disappointment! Privileged main character who learns almost nothing, and the plot seemed pointless. I kept waiting for it to really kick into gear and be interesting, but it never did. Oh well!

A few interesting characters/elements are included, like Terri and the class awkwardness, but unfortunately not much is done with it. So it's not the worst kids' book ever, but I'd rather read Charlotte Doyle again.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book had so much potential for the main character to learn a little about seeing things from someone else's point of view. But he really didn't. I like a lot of Avi's books but this one was a bit of a let down

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will review later.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not a believable story. It was just too unrealistic for me. I finished it out of pure curiosity.

[Vicki Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

There wasn't enough moral to this story.

[Moonshadow · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book unsettling.
I would not recommend it due to the disrespect and disobedience shown by the main character.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read the novel "A Place Called Ugly" by Avi. This story introduces us to fourteen year old Owen, who's summer vacation has come to a sad end for him. He and his family have stayed at a summer cottage on the beach for the past ten years. This house is very close to Owen. When he hears word that their beloved summer home is going to be demolished to make room for a hotel, Owen instantly makes up his mind that he won't let this happen. As he says, "Even if it was wrong to stay, I had to stay. I had to" (79). Owen refuses to let something he loves so much be taken away from him. As a result of Owen's defiancy, the rest of his family is forced to leave him on his home at the summer house, located on an island. Because of this, a theme for this book could be "fight for what you love"."A Place Caled Ugly" depicts Owen's journey alone on the island, in an urgent attempt to save the house.

My favorite character in "A Place Called Ugly" was most definitely Owen. Owen's passion for the house is what made him such a likable character, and what made me react so strongly to him. Owen recalls from the previous summer, "The important thing was that he was there, as much a part of the rock, the water, the beach, the house, as they had come to be part of him" (10). Because the house means so much to Owen, he is fighting to keep the house from demolition. This is especially heroic of him because the odds are stacked against him. Regardless, Owen's passion allows him to keep fighting. I had a personal reaction to Owen's character. I know that if my summer home was to be torn down, I would be devasted just like Owen, and try my best to keep my house standing. Personally, I felt bad for Owen because one of his most beloved places in life was being taken from him.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you are looking for a quick, yet heartwarming read, this is the book for you. Although the language is on the simpler side, I found that it made the story more meaningful. It was almost as if Owen's thoughts and words wrote the book. I would certainly recommend this to kids anywhere from sixth grade to ninth grade. This book will make you reminisce over memories of visiting your own summer home. "A Place Called Ugly" shows how a teenager's passion for something can go a long way.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was sweet, it showed how one boy is all it takes to preserve something that is close to his heart. I loved all the conflict that arose with the parents and the police officer and Terri's brother.

I was sad that Owen ended up blowing up his summer home so that the construction company wouldn't tear it down. Owen wanted to end it, not strangers who didn't understand the meaning that this house held for him.

However, Owen did that on his own will and terms, what I was really sad for was what happened between him and Terri.

Own and Terri had a spark going, they could have had a future together, then Owen got angry at her. On the day of the demolition, Terri just showed up and kept her distance, looking at the house with the rest of the crowd.

"She didn't give a sign. Just stared. I knew that I had treated her the worst of anyone. And I would never see her again." - A Place Called Ugly pg 128.

[anna catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was very tiresome to me. Owen, the main character, can't seem to let go of anything. I understand the difficulty in leaving behind something you love, but no one could even begin to reason with Owen. It was very childish of him, and not in a good way. Owen irritated me very much, and not in the way you're supposed to with fictional villains. He was so selfish and couldn't think of anyone else's well being. He couldn't see how he was the only one who couldn't let go of things. I didn't understand why he was the hero of the book. Perhaps a story about Traci would be more interesting.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally remembered the name of this book. I read it several years ago with Clayton, and I really liked it. It was a random book we checked out of the library one summer. I don't remember the details now, but I remember being moved by it. I think Clayton liked it, too. Avi has written around 60 books and has received awards for many of them. This story holds true to his great storytelling capabilities.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when I was a kid, and didn't remember much of it, but have wanted to reread it for years, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. it's sorry, and didn't take place over very many days
but is a great story about growing up and learning to think outside yourself and consider more than just what you want or think.

[Laurie D'ghent · Rating 1 out of 5]

I used to think Avi was the bomb, but his books about "coming of age" are just suckish. Of course, I generally hate "coming of age" books, but based on what he's written, he can do better than this. I read my history text rather than this.

[Pandora · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a well paced book. The characters were well drawn and very realitic. It did a good job showing the different points of view.

[Aliya Kassam · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of, if not the worst book, I've ever read.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, not enough dialogue really.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a discarded library book. It was a fast, simple, short read. Okay book.

[Tre' Yonne · Rating 1 out of 5]

no it was not as good as it could be better