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Green Boy
On their idyllic Bahamian island, Trey's little brother, Lou, is different -- he doesn't speak and he suffers frightening seizures. But when he and Trey find themselves mysteriously transported to Pangaia, an alternative universe where pollution and over-development have all but destroyed nature, a militant underground environmental group greets him as the prophesied hero who will save their world.
But to realize this prophecy, Lou must take Trey on a terrifying and dangerous mission, with much more at stake than the fate of Pangaia. Does Lou have the power to save their own island home from a future as bleak as the world they've seen in Pangaia?
But to realize this prophecy, Lou must take Trey on a terrifying and dangerous mission, with much more at stake than the fate of Pangaia. Does Lou have the power to save their own island home from a future as bleak as the world they've seen in Pangaia?
208 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2002
16 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
About the author
Susan Cooper
173 books2,457 followersSusan Cooper's latest book is the YA novel "Ghost Hawk" (2013)
Susan Cooper was born in 1935, and grew up in England's Buckinghamshire, an area that was green countryside then but has since become part of Greater London. As a child, she loved to read, as did her younger brother, who also became a writer. After attending Oxford, where she became the first woman to ever edit that university's newspaper, Cooper worked as a reporter and feature writer for London's Sunday Times; her first boss was James Bond creator Ian Fleming.
Cooper wrote her first book for young readers in response to a publishing house competition; "Over Sea, Under Stone" would later form the basis for her critically acclaimed five-book fantasy sequence, "The Dark Is Rising." The fourth book in the series, "The Grey King," won the Newbery Medal in 1976. By that time, Susan Cooper had been living in America for 13 years, having moved to marry her first husband, an American professor, and was stepmother to three children and the mother of two.
Cooper went on to write other well-received novels, including "The Boggart" (and its sequel "The Boggart and the Monster"), "King of Shadows", and "Victory," as well as several picture books for young readers with illustrators such as Ashley Bryan and Warwick Hutton. She has also written books for adults, as well as plays and Emmy-nominated screenplays, many in collaboration with the actor Hume Cronyn, whom she married in 1996. Hume Cronyn died in 2003 and Ms. Cooper now lives in Marshfield MA. When Cooper is not working, she enjoys playing piano, gardening, and traveling.
Recent books include the collaborative project "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure" and her biography of Jack Langstaff titled "The Magic Maker." Her newest book is "Ghost Hawk."
Visit her Facebook pages: www.facebook.com/SusanCooperFanPage
www.facebook.com/GhostHawkBySusanCooper
Susan Cooper was born in 1935, and grew up in England's Buckinghamshire, an area that was green countryside then but has since become part of Greater London. As a child, she loved to read, as did her younger brother, who also became a writer. After attending Oxford, where she became the first woman to ever edit that university's newspaper, Cooper worked as a reporter and feature writer for London's Sunday Times; her first boss was James Bond creator Ian Fleming.
Cooper wrote her first book for young readers in response to a publishing house competition; "Over Sea, Under Stone" would later form the basis for her critically acclaimed five-book fantasy sequence, "The Dark Is Rising." The fourth book in the series, "The Grey King," won the Newbery Medal in 1976. By that time, Susan Cooper had been living in America for 13 years, having moved to marry her first husband, an American professor, and was stepmother to three children and the mother of two.
Cooper went on to write other well-received novels, including "The Boggart" (and its sequel "The Boggart and the Monster"), "King of Shadows", and "Victory," as well as several picture books for young readers with illustrators such as Ashley Bryan and Warwick Hutton. She has also written books for adults, as well as plays and Emmy-nominated screenplays, many in collaboration with the actor Hume Cronyn, whom she married in 1996. Hume Cronyn died in 2003 and Ms. Cooper now lives in Marshfield MA. When Cooper is not working, she enjoys playing piano, gardening, and traveling.
Recent books include the collaborative project "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure" and her biography of Jack Langstaff titled "The Magic Maker." Her newest book is "Ghost Hawk."
Visit her Facebook pages: www.facebook.com/SusanCooperFanPage
www.facebook.com/GhostHawkBySusanCooper
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
June 24, 2023
While I have certainly enjoyed quite a number of Susan Cooper's middle grade and young adult fantasy type novels in the past (and in particular her William Shakespeare themed time slip novel King of Shadows, which was also a Carnegie Medal nominee for 1999), that Cooper's 2002 middle grade fantasy novel Green Boy (about a young Bahamian teenager and his mute younger brother) features not only an alternate universe, but is also with Susan Cooper's authorship most definitely not at all OwnVoices (since main protagonist Trey's first person narration in Green Boy has of course been penned not by an African-Caribbean man but by a Caucasian, by a White Anglo Saxon Protestant woman), yes, this certainly has made me approach Green Boy with a lot of caution and trepidation (since I do not always enjoy parallel worlds stories all that much anyhow and that I equally tend to have issues with and reservations about authors writing about characters in a first person narrative that are not of their own background, ethnicity and gender).
And indeed, with Green Boy, all of my above mentioned fears have sadly pretty much been totally realised, since there truly is nothing that I have found textually in any way decently enjoyable, and with the ONLY reason why Green Boy is actually not a one star but a two star book being that I do grudgingly agree with and appreciate Susan Cooper's message against rampant pollution and unrestrained industrial development (although yes, there is certainly a lack of nuance and a very preachy rabid environmentalism to be found in Green Boy as well, which definitely is more than a trifle personally annoying but still as such not quite as bothersome as the entire alternate universe scenario and the questions of ethnic voice combined with a possible mythological faux pas by Susan Cooper have been).
For yes, the intersection in Green Boy of modern day Bahamian landscape, life and culture with an alternative, massively polluted, dystopian Otherworld just feels totally and utterly lacking, with Trey and Lou's repeated forays into this alternate reality being for me both annoyingly artificial and not really in any manner all that well and successfully connected to and with their, with Trey and Lou's existence in the real world, in the actual Bahamas (except perhaps that both worlds, that the overly polluted, ultra technical Otherworld of Green Boy and the actual and bona fide Bahamas are experiencing environmental degradation and being taken over by unscrupulous industrialists and developers), and indeed, that the parallel existence in Green Boy is also much too exaggeratedly and on the surface dystopian for my tastes, not to mention that the main villains of the Otherworld are simply too stereotypically evil and nasty, too much like cardboard thin fairy tale villains to be in any way enjoyable and to feel even remotely realistic.
And furthermore, and finally, having Susan Cooper in Green Boy change mute younger brother Lou into the Celtic deity Lugh (in the Otherworld), this absolutely, this totally does not work for me at all and in my opinion basically superimposes a Western European deity and mythology onto the Caribbean, onto the Bahamas and onto the population of the Bahamas, which I alongside of the fact that Susan Cooper's text with its rather clumsy use of supposed Bahamian "vernacular" and that Trey certainly does not to my ears and to my ears sound like a typical Afro-Caribbean teenaged male feels strange and patronising, ethnically questionable, so that indeed, Green Boy has been pretty much a total reading disappointment (and that my two stars are in my opinion also a pretty generous rating).
And indeed, with Green Boy, all of my above mentioned fears have sadly pretty much been totally realised, since there truly is nothing that I have found textually in any way decently enjoyable, and with the ONLY reason why Green Boy is actually not a one star but a two star book being that I do grudgingly agree with and appreciate Susan Cooper's message against rampant pollution and unrestrained industrial development (although yes, there is certainly a lack of nuance and a very preachy rabid environmentalism to be found in Green Boy as well, which definitely is more than a trifle personally annoying but still as such not quite as bothersome as the entire alternate universe scenario and the questions of ethnic voice combined with a possible mythological faux pas by Susan Cooper have been).
For yes, the intersection in Green Boy of modern day Bahamian landscape, life and culture with an alternative, massively polluted, dystopian Otherworld just feels totally and utterly lacking, with Trey and Lou's repeated forays into this alternate reality being for me both annoyingly artificial and not really in any manner all that well and successfully connected to and with their, with Trey and Lou's existence in the real world, in the actual Bahamas (except perhaps that both worlds, that the overly polluted, ultra technical Otherworld of Green Boy and the actual and bona fide Bahamas are experiencing environmental degradation and being taken over by unscrupulous industrialists and developers), and indeed, that the parallel existence in Green Boy is also much too exaggeratedly and on the surface dystopian for my tastes, not to mention that the main villains of the Otherworld are simply too stereotypically evil and nasty, too much like cardboard thin fairy tale villains to be in any way enjoyable and to feel even remotely realistic.
And furthermore, and finally, having Susan Cooper in Green Boy change mute younger brother Lou into the Celtic deity Lugh (in the Otherworld), this absolutely, this totally does not work for me at all and in my opinion basically superimposes a Western European deity and mythology onto the Caribbean, onto the Bahamas and onto the population of the Bahamas, which I alongside of the fact that Susan Cooper's text with its rather clumsy use of supposed Bahamian "vernacular" and that Trey certainly does not to my ears and to my ears sound like a typical Afro-Caribbean teenaged male feels strange and patronising, ethnically questionable, so that indeed, Green Boy has been pretty much a total reading disappointment (and that my two stars are in my opinion also a pretty generous rating).
July 15, 2025
Twelve-year-old Trey and his younger brother Lou move back and forth between their island home in the Bahamas, and a polluted dystopian Otherworld know as Pangaia in this middle-grade fantasy/sci-fi adventure from Susan Cooper. Lou, who suffers from seizures and does not speak, is Trey's special charge, and the two brothers spend much time together on their island's Long Pond Cay, an idyllic place that is soon threatened by developers. This real world danger echoes the terrible fate of Pangaia, which they visit on three occasions, and which has been all but destroyed by a technology-obsessed human civilization which pollutes with impunity, and has paved over and concretized all of the green places in their world. Lou, whose coming has been foretold, and who turns out to be an incarnation of , plays a central role in restoring Pangaia. The cataclysmic events in that otherworld carry over into our own, with destructive but also positive results...
Being an admirer of Susan Cooper's work, particularly her myth-inspired fantasy fiction, and finding the idea of a science-fantasy novel set in the Caribbean intriguing, I wanted to like Green Boy more than I did. I found some of the story ideas here interesting, and even appealing. I liked the parallel between an undeveloped paradise like Lucaya—a fictitious island named by the author after the original inhabitants of the Bahamas—and an overdeveloped world like Pangaia. I feel as if the opposite trajectory—stepping from a developed world into a less developed one, whether in the past or in an alternative universe—is more commonly found in stories such as this one, so I found that satisfying. I also appreciated the relationship between Trey and Lou, how the former sees himself as a protector, but sometimes steps into the younger sibling role, especially in the Otherworld, where Lou is more sure of himself. All of this being said, while I didn't dislike this one as much as some other reviewers online seem to have done, and while I had no trouble reading it with some enjoyment (thus, the three stars), it also had significant issues.
The first of these is the fact that the story is often overwhelmed by its didactic purpose. Cooper has a message to impart, and a clear view on ecological issues, but for my part, I found her story rather muddled, from an ethical and even environmental perspective. The episodes in Pangaia seem to draw on the classic "man vs nature" dichotomy, only from an anti-humanist perspective, rather than the "conquest of nature" one. The solution the author offers to the degradation of Pangaia is a cataclysmic rewilding and regreening that will involve the death of many—the killing of many. The moral implications of this however, are never addressed in the story, as it proceeds blithely along, describing what is essentially a holocaust as some kind of natural phenomenon. Reading these passages, I was reminded of the more obnoxious type of environmental activist in our own world, the one who thinks it is their right to destroy, not just works of art, but other people, blocking roads and preventing others from getting to hospital, or from earning a living. Consumed by their apocalyptic visions, they are indifferent to the human suffering they cause, and even welcome it. It cannot escape the notice of any observant outsider that it is almost always people of privilege who behave this way, glorying in the virtue they believe they are exhibiting, in sacrificing others. I do not know where the correct boundary might lie, between caring for the natural world and caring for humanity, if such a boundary even exists. But I do know that both are important, and that they are linked, and I have no more patience for this kind of anti-humanist, anti-science crowd, than I do for those who believe every solution lies in science, and that progress is synonymous with more—more development, more money, more greed. I think science can help solve some of our ecological woes. I think nature can help solve some of our cultural and social woes. I think humans are a part of the world, and deserve their place in the sun, like any other creature. And finally, I think Susan Cooper gets it all wrong in this story, when it comes to these issues.
Leaving that question aside, my other main critique is that there was just too much here, for it to all hang together properly as a story. We had the Lucaya development threat, the conflict in Pangaia, the traveling between the worlds, the issue of the boys' father, and then the revelation that Lou is really . Some of these threads just felt underdeveloped and distracting, and the last, unconvincing. I'm no essentialist, and I have no problem with Cooper spinning a tale about two Bahamian boys, though she does not hail from that culture. There were times when I found the dialect she used a little awkward (thankfully it was not overwhelming), but I wasn't offended by it. That being said, I felt that more work would need to be done, in terms of world-building and storytelling, to link these two very different cultures—the Bahamian one and the Celtic one—in a more meaningful way. It's not that it's offensive (at least, to me) that a little Bahamian boy should be the incarnation of a Celtic god, it's that it feel random, and no effort is made to invest it with any meaning. One feels as if Cooper wanted to tell a story featuring this specific god, and moving between worlds, and for whatever reason she wanted to set it in the Bahamas. But she didn't make any effort to fit these disparate ideas together more smoothly, to offer any explanation of why Lou was the chosen one. I think it could probably be done, and Cooper is an accomplished storyteller, but for whatever reason, it just didn't work here.
With two full paragraphs of critique, it might seem that I disliked Green Boy, but in truth I didn't. Despite its flaws I found it intriguing, and had no trouble getting through it. I cared about Trey and Lou, and I wanted them to succeed. I'm not sure I'd strongly recommend this one, save to fellow Susan Cooper fans, or for readers looking specifically for children's novels featuring ecological themes and/or a Bahamian setting, but for that subset of readers, it is probably worth seeking out.
Being an admirer of Susan Cooper's work, particularly her myth-inspired fantasy fiction, and finding the idea of a science-fantasy novel set in the Caribbean intriguing, I wanted to like Green Boy more than I did. I found some of the story ideas here interesting, and even appealing. I liked the parallel between an undeveloped paradise like Lucaya—a fictitious island named by the author after the original inhabitants of the Bahamas—and an overdeveloped world like Pangaia. I feel as if the opposite trajectory—stepping from a developed world into a less developed one, whether in the past or in an alternative universe—is more commonly found in stories such as this one, so I found that satisfying. I also appreciated the relationship between Trey and Lou, how the former sees himself as a protector, but sometimes steps into the younger sibling role, especially in the Otherworld, where Lou is more sure of himself. All of this being said, while I didn't dislike this one as much as some other reviewers online seem to have done, and while I had no trouble reading it with some enjoyment (thus, the three stars), it also had significant issues.
The first of these is the fact that the story is often overwhelmed by its didactic purpose. Cooper has a message to impart, and a clear view on ecological issues, but for my part, I found her story rather muddled, from an ethical and even environmental perspective. The episodes in Pangaia seem to draw on the classic "man vs nature" dichotomy, only from an anti-humanist perspective, rather than the "conquest of nature" one. The solution the author offers to the degradation of Pangaia is a cataclysmic rewilding and regreening that will involve the death of many—the killing of many. The moral implications of this however, are never addressed in the story, as it proceeds blithely along, describing what is essentially a holocaust as some kind of natural phenomenon. Reading these passages, I was reminded of the more obnoxious type of environmental activist in our own world, the one who thinks it is their right to destroy, not just works of art, but other people, blocking roads and preventing others from getting to hospital, or from earning a living. Consumed by their apocalyptic visions, they are indifferent to the human suffering they cause, and even welcome it. It cannot escape the notice of any observant outsider that it is almost always people of privilege who behave this way, glorying in the virtue they believe they are exhibiting, in sacrificing others. I do not know where the correct boundary might lie, between caring for the natural world and caring for humanity, if such a boundary even exists. But I do know that both are important, and that they are linked, and I have no more patience for this kind of anti-humanist, anti-science crowd, than I do for those who believe every solution lies in science, and that progress is synonymous with more—more development, more money, more greed. I think science can help solve some of our ecological woes. I think nature can help solve some of our cultural and social woes. I think humans are a part of the world, and deserve their place in the sun, like any other creature. And finally, I think Susan Cooper gets it all wrong in this story, when it comes to these issues.
Leaving that question aside, my other main critique is that there was just too much here, for it to all hang together properly as a story. We had the Lucaya development threat, the conflict in Pangaia, the traveling between the worlds, the issue of the boys' father, and then the revelation that Lou is really . Some of these threads just felt underdeveloped and distracting, and the last, unconvincing. I'm no essentialist, and I have no problem with Cooper spinning a tale about two Bahamian boys, though she does not hail from that culture. There were times when I found the dialect she used a little awkward (thankfully it was not overwhelming), but I wasn't offended by it. That being said, I felt that more work would need to be done, in terms of world-building and storytelling, to link these two very different cultures—the Bahamian one and the Celtic one—in a more meaningful way. It's not that it's offensive (at least, to me) that a little Bahamian boy should be the incarnation of a Celtic god, it's that it feel random, and no effort is made to invest it with any meaning. One feels as if Cooper wanted to tell a story featuring this specific god, and moving between worlds, and for whatever reason she wanted to set it in the Bahamas. But she didn't make any effort to fit these disparate ideas together more smoothly, to offer any explanation of why Lou was the chosen one. I think it could probably be done, and Cooper is an accomplished storyteller, but for whatever reason, it just didn't work here.
With two full paragraphs of critique, it might seem that I disliked Green Boy, but in truth I didn't. Despite its flaws I found it intriguing, and had no trouble getting through it. I cared about Trey and Lou, and I wanted them to succeed. I'm not sure I'd strongly recommend this one, save to fellow Susan Cooper fans, or for readers looking specifically for children's novels featuring ecological themes and/or a Bahamian setting, but for that subset of readers, it is probably worth seeking out.
October 19, 2013
What makes a high fantasy realm appear real? Myth, legend, traditions and history. These may not be the whole story but they make a huge difference. Take Earthsea and Middle Earth; I've never come across a complaint that these places don't seem real, despite magic, dragons and kings who come from obscurity into their inheritances. Both have songs, poems, languages and history that merges into myth and legend...just like our world.
THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY
See the complete review here:
http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/33...
THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY
See the complete review here:
http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/33...
April 15, 2016
Full Book Review January 17th:
After trying to finish this excuse for a novel, I had given up because this book was just to atrocious to even finish. During some boring parts of the book, I said to my self "It can only get better from here." But I was wrong, somehow the book got even worse. The author somehow managed to screw up the only interesting part of the book which is when Trey and Lou go to the alternate dimension. The second time around we had absolutely no plot development. To experience my pain reading the novel you must watch a movie and put it on 0.000001 speed, which is about how fast we were going in the novel. I had tried many times to get back into this book but it was not possible. Now lets look at the characters and character development. They introduced dozens of characters at one moment and frankly, 10 pages later I can't decipher who is who, getting absolutely no character development in some chapters left an extremely bad taste in my mouth. Not only that, we got barely any character development for Trey who is the main character! The author also dragged out some scenes that had did not even need to be included, and rushed the scenes that could have made the book wonderful. No plot development, No Character Development, Dragging out some scenes that should not even be included and rushing scenes that were some what entertaining for me to read made me give this a 1 Star novel. This book could have been excellent, but the execution was horrendous. Overall, one thing that could have made the book miles better was if they had given Lou more spotlight time and gave some other minor characters less time. Lou was an extremely interesting character who had a great personality, putting the book in his perspective and spending more time developing him would have made he give this book a 3 star review. But yet again do to terrible execution it deserves a one star.
Non-Full Book Review December 6th:
After taking a first glance at the cover of the book. I thought I knew exactly where the book was going. I had thought that it was going to be another boring book about saving animals and people, yada yada yada. i mean after reading the line, "These People {Who are trying to destroy a beach that is home for many unique species} are the enemy." (PG. 19) I knew the book was going to be about people standing up to the government, then they are going to drag the scene out for about 50 pages then they were going to succeed in the end and everyone wins. The fact that the plot was so predictable displeased me. But then I decided to give the book a second chance, and I was actually pleased by how different the book was to my original understanding. There are two main protagonists of the story who happen to be brothers. One named Trey, and the other named Lou (Who can not speak) so these two kids enter a different dimension where everything is destroyed and so many species are extinct and the air is so dirty. This sudden twist of the book got me hooked. This futuristic place was amazing! I actually wanted the rest of the novel to take place in this amazing setting. There were new characters introduced who I enjoyed way more than Trey and Lou, there was so much going for this place then we had to go back to the real world were they dragged out the scene about saving there beach again. I was almost gagging at this part. The only thing that kept me through this part is Lou, who has a very unique character traits. He really reminded me of me at times since I was so silent as a kid. And the author's brilliant discretion of the beach and what it means to everyone. Yet the execution of the whole thing was awful. I yet again could predict the plot, and I knew that the kids were going back to this alternate dimension and I was still waiting for it, but all the pain and suffering that was needed to get to that part again was not worth it! Overall the moral of the story is to not destroy nature, keep the environment clean. When the kids went to the alternate futuristic dimension it seemed horrendous. "The air felt thick; it caught at my throat. I chocked and coughed, but I could't hear the sound over the roar of the traffic thundering by." (PG. 42) This was really the most powerful part of the novel up to that moment, the author used even more description later on in the novel. About how bad this place was, this really got me worried about the characters which is exactly how I should feel. All in all, I would give this book so far a 2 Star rating, the only part that is interesting is the alternate dimension futuristic setting.
After trying to finish this excuse for a novel, I had given up because this book was just to atrocious to even finish. During some boring parts of the book, I said to my self "It can only get better from here." But I was wrong, somehow the book got even worse. The author somehow managed to screw up the only interesting part of the book which is when Trey and Lou go to the alternate dimension. The second time around we had absolutely no plot development. To experience my pain reading the novel you must watch a movie and put it on 0.000001 speed, which is about how fast we were going in the novel. I had tried many times to get back into this book but it was not possible. Now lets look at the characters and character development. They introduced dozens of characters at one moment and frankly, 10 pages later I can't decipher who is who, getting absolutely no character development in some chapters left an extremely bad taste in my mouth. Not only that, we got barely any character development for Trey who is the main character! The author also dragged out some scenes that had did not even need to be included, and rushed the scenes that could have made the book wonderful. No plot development, No Character Development, Dragging out some scenes that should not even be included and rushing scenes that were some what entertaining for me to read made me give this a 1 Star novel. This book could have been excellent, but the execution was horrendous. Overall, one thing that could have made the book miles better was if they had given Lou more spotlight time and gave some other minor characters less time. Lou was an extremely interesting character who had a great personality, putting the book in his perspective and spending more time developing him would have made he give this book a 3 star review. But yet again do to terrible execution it deserves a one star.
Non-Full Book Review December 6th:
After taking a first glance at the cover of the book. I thought I knew exactly where the book was going. I had thought that it was going to be another boring book about saving animals and people, yada yada yada. i mean after reading the line, "These People {Who are trying to destroy a beach that is home for many unique species} are the enemy." (PG. 19) I knew the book was going to be about people standing up to the government, then they are going to drag the scene out for about 50 pages then they were going to succeed in the end and everyone wins. The fact that the plot was so predictable displeased me. But then I decided to give the book a second chance, and I was actually pleased by how different the book was to my original understanding. There are two main protagonists of the story who happen to be brothers. One named Trey, and the other named Lou (Who can not speak) so these two kids enter a different dimension where everything is destroyed and so many species are extinct and the air is so dirty. This sudden twist of the book got me hooked. This futuristic place was amazing! I actually wanted the rest of the novel to take place in this amazing setting. There were new characters introduced who I enjoyed way more than Trey and Lou, there was so much going for this place then we had to go back to the real world were they dragged out the scene about saving there beach again. I was almost gagging at this part. The only thing that kept me through this part is Lou, who has a very unique character traits. He really reminded me of me at times since I was so silent as a kid. And the author's brilliant discretion of the beach and what it means to everyone. Yet the execution of the whole thing was awful. I yet again could predict the plot, and I knew that the kids were going back to this alternate dimension and I was still waiting for it, but all the pain and suffering that was needed to get to that part again was not worth it! Overall the moral of the story is to not destroy nature, keep the environment clean. When the kids went to the alternate futuristic dimension it seemed horrendous. "The air felt thick; it caught at my throat. I chocked and coughed, but I could't hear the sound over the roar of the traffic thundering by." (PG. 42) This was really the most powerful part of the novel up to that moment, the author used even more description later on in the novel. About how bad this place was, this really got me worried about the characters which is exactly how I should feel. All in all, I would give this book so far a 2 Star rating, the only part that is interesting is the alternate dimension futuristic setting.
November 2, 2025
I have no memory of finishing this book back in 2012, so in an effort to clear my tbr pile I read it this morning while getting new tires. On the plus side, it kept my interest--Cooper is a good writer who makes clear pictures in the mind's eye. One the down side, I didn't like it. The premise of the plot--a seven year old non-speaking boy, who appears to be autistic, turns out to be the magical vessel for Gaia to reclaim future earth from environmental catastrophe--did not sit well with me; magical special children who save things just because they are the chosen one is not my favorite trope.
September 13, 2019
I chose Green Boy because the whole "alternate universe" idea, while a bit cliche, can be really good if done by the right author. And Susan Cooper, author of The Dark Is Rising series (one of my top fantasy series), seemed like the perfect person to pull off such a concept well. I'd hoped for something just as good, if not better than TDIR. I shouldn't have put my hopes so high. I was tragically disappointed.
Let’s start out. The characters were painfully boring. Trey was generically nice and Lou didn’t have any development to show he was any different. Neither got any depth or character development throughout the book. Neither of them even got a character arc!
A key stage in any character arc is the “bottom of the barrel” or “belly of the whale” stage. During this stage, your character is at their absolute worst emotionally. They’re at the depths of their despair and don’t know if they can go on. We get to see them fight to get themselves out of this stage, and try and make themselves better. Sometimes, they succeed. Other times, they fail. Either way, it’s a stage with an opportunity for massive character development, and it can lead to some very interesting plotlines or results.
Unfortunately, neither character really gets one of these. Sure, they’re sad once in a while, and for a moment Trey seems like he might get one of these (that moment where Lou was stuck in a spiderweb thingy), but he doesn’t. He just gets help from someone else, and then he’s fine. Nothing changes.
I find that a lot of stories without these moments just aren’t that good of stories because they don’t show the character’s struggles, and this story is no different. Neither character struggles, neither character changes, and so neither character gets any development. And “no character development” is a major flaw in any story.
Besides having no character development, the story is just plain boring. There are two storylines: one in Long Pond Cay, and one in Pangaia. In Long Pond Cay, evil developers with no personality plan to turn Long Pond Cay into a resort for money. Trey’s grandfather and other people protest this and the resort plans are cancelled after a hurricane destroys all their work. This storyline could be interesting, but it just wasn’t. The conflict was far too black-and-white to be at all complex, and it is solved far too easily. The “villains” in this story are the Sapphire Island developers. They are given no development. Anyone on their side is also given no development. There actually is some interesting discussion about how this resort will provide jobs and tax revenue for the Lucaya residents, which could actually be interesting if developed, but guess what? It’s not! The people who point out that the resort could potentially benefit Lucaya are just labeled as liars because the author just cannot write morally complex conflict, I guess.
The section where they protest against the resort, too, could be interesting, but it’s just...not. None of the characters do anything exciting, and the conflict is over before it’s barely begun.
All in all, this book is awful. Please don't read it. Sadly for me, I didn't get any choice in the manner, but you do. Choose happiness and sanity. Please.
Let’s start out. The characters were painfully boring. Trey was generically nice and Lou didn’t have any development to show he was any different. Neither got any depth or character development throughout the book. Neither of them even got a character arc!
A key stage in any character arc is the “bottom of the barrel” or “belly of the whale” stage. During this stage, your character is at their absolute worst emotionally. They’re at the depths of their despair and don’t know if they can go on. We get to see them fight to get themselves out of this stage, and try and make themselves better. Sometimes, they succeed. Other times, they fail. Either way, it’s a stage with an opportunity for massive character development, and it can lead to some very interesting plotlines or results.
Unfortunately, neither character really gets one of these. Sure, they’re sad once in a while, and for a moment Trey seems like he might get one of these (that moment where Lou was stuck in a spiderweb thingy), but he doesn’t. He just gets help from someone else, and then he’s fine. Nothing changes.
I find that a lot of stories without these moments just aren’t that good of stories because they don’t show the character’s struggles, and this story is no different. Neither character struggles, neither character changes, and so neither character gets any development. And “no character development” is a major flaw in any story.
Besides having no character development, the story is just plain boring. There are two storylines: one in Long Pond Cay, and one in Pangaia. In Long Pond Cay, evil developers with no personality plan to turn Long Pond Cay into a resort for money. Trey’s grandfather and other people protest this and the resort plans are cancelled after a hurricane destroys all their work. This storyline could be interesting, but it just wasn’t. The conflict was far too black-and-white to be at all complex, and it is solved far too easily. The “villains” in this story are the Sapphire Island developers. They are given no development. Anyone on their side is also given no development. There actually is some interesting discussion about how this resort will provide jobs and tax revenue for the Lucaya residents, which could actually be interesting if developed, but guess what? It’s not! The people who point out that the resort could potentially benefit Lucaya are just labeled as liars because the author just cannot write morally complex conflict, I guess.
The section where they protest against the resort, too, could be interesting, but it’s just...not. None of the characters do anything exciting, and the conflict is over before it’s barely begun.
All in all, this book is awful. Please don't read it. Sadly for me, I didn't get any choice in the manner, but you do. Choose happiness and sanity. Please.
December 7, 2015
It feels weird giving this book two stars because it's certainly not a hard read. I rarely found myself counting how many pages I had to go and I never felt a strong urge to not finish it. However, at the same time, I'm not sure what the point of this book is.
There are really two main plots in this book and we'll talk about plot one, the one in our world, first. Trey, the main character, lives in the Bahamas and an "evil" corporation wants to make a resort there. It's a story we've all heard 1000 times at this point and don't expect anything new with this telling. It rehashes everything you've ever seen and does it with a clear agenda.
I say that because the corporate people are all evil monsters who do horrible things because they're evil. While I'm sure such people exist, having them do those bad things and giving them no redeeming qualities actually detracted from the story because it made them feel unrealistic. I found myself likening them to cartoon villains. Honestly, they'd have fit in perfectly on the old 90's show Captain Planet. Especially because they only show up in one or two scenes and it's always to deliver some vaguely threatening line.
The other plot takes place in another world and, yeah, it's just as bad. In this one, humans have "destroyed" the planet (yet again, how original) and a resistance group is trying to restore the world to the right order. However, we have to take the resistance's word for this because we see very little of the other world and so I have no idea if things were anything close to as bad as they were presented by the crazy resistance fighters who truly felt like a larger threat than the "evil" government in this world.
In spite of all those negatives, I don't hate this book. I'm actually pretty ambivalent. It's clearly just Cooper trying to get some agenda across without taking the time to develop her characters and present a realistic world. Something I've seen often enough in recent books and movies that I've stopped caring about their preachy, unrealistic nature. If you like agenda books, you'll probably like this and agree with it. If you're sick of them and want something where it actually presents the issue realistically, don't bother with this book.
There are really two main plots in this book and we'll talk about plot one, the one in our world, first. Trey, the main character, lives in the Bahamas and an "evil" corporation wants to make a resort there. It's a story we've all heard 1000 times at this point and don't expect anything new with this telling. It rehashes everything you've ever seen and does it with a clear agenda.
I say that because the corporate people are all evil monsters who do horrible things because they're evil. While I'm sure such people exist, having them do those bad things and giving them no redeeming qualities actually detracted from the story because it made them feel unrealistic. I found myself likening them to cartoon villains. Honestly, they'd have fit in perfectly on the old 90's show Captain Planet. Especially because they only show up in one or two scenes and it's always to deliver some vaguely threatening line.
The other plot takes place in another world and, yeah, it's just as bad. In this one, humans have "destroyed" the planet (yet again, how original) and a resistance group is trying to restore the world to the right order. However, we have to take the resistance's word for this because we see very little of the other world and so I have no idea if things were anything close to as bad as they were presented by the crazy resistance fighters who truly felt like a larger threat than the "evil" government in this world.
In spite of all those negatives, I don't hate this book. I'm actually pretty ambivalent. It's clearly just Cooper trying to get some agenda across without taking the time to develop her characters and present a realistic world. Something I've seen often enough in recent books and movies that I've stopped caring about their preachy, unrealistic nature. If you like agenda books, you'll probably like this and agree with it. If you're sick of them and want something where it actually presents the issue realistically, don't bother with this book.
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February 6, 2018The story Green Boy by the author Susan Cooper. The story starts in the tropical Bahamas. The 2 main characters in the story, Trey and Lou go to their favorite spot in the island, when suddenly they are in a different place its like they teleported. In the story the brothers are fighting a greenwar against their government. Throughout the book you see the 2 brothers trying to survive in the other world.
My favorite character in the book was Lou because even though he was not able to talk he still tried his hardest and tried to make everything work like for example when Lou solved a riddle then he turns into a green man and he gets rid of pollution. The story kept me guessing because it was a fantasy story so I had no idea what would happen next, so I was always kept guessing. The characters did not feel real to me because one second the characters are humans and then the next second they turn into monsters. My favorite part of the book was when their dad was mentioned because he was not mentioned throughout the whole story it was a nice ending and the brothers were very happy when they were told about their dad.The scenes were written very well they did a good job portraying the theme, when it was a sad mood they weren't happy in a sad mood. The beginning of the book was slow, and not interesting but as the story went the action built up and the story got very interesting it was hard to stop reading.
I wish the story went into more detail in the end because it felt very rushed towards the end of the story. Also the timing of the story was inconsistent at some parts it was very fast and at some parts the story was very slow.
All in all the story had some things I liked and some things that I disliked. Out of 5 In would give the book a 4 it was a good engaging story,carrying a good theme, and it was an overall good book.But there are small negative things about it.
My favorite character in the book was Lou because even though he was not able to talk he still tried his hardest and tried to make everything work like for example when Lou solved a riddle then he turns into a green man and he gets rid of pollution. The story kept me guessing because it was a fantasy story so I had no idea what would happen next, so I was always kept guessing. The characters did not feel real to me because one second the characters are humans and then the next second they turn into monsters. My favorite part of the book was when their dad was mentioned because he was not mentioned throughout the whole story it was a nice ending and the brothers were very happy when they were told about their dad.The scenes were written very well they did a good job portraying the theme, when it was a sad mood they weren't happy in a sad mood. The beginning of the book was slow, and not interesting but as the story went the action built up and the story got very interesting it was hard to stop reading.
I wish the story went into more detail in the end because it felt very rushed towards the end of the story. Also the timing of the story was inconsistent at some parts it was very fast and at some parts the story was very slow.
All in all the story had some things I liked and some things that I disliked. Out of 5 In would give the book a 4 it was a good engaging story,carrying a good theme, and it was an overall good book.But there are small negative things about it.
November 4, 2015
Green Boy is one of my least favorite books ever, I hate this book, I really do. The story is there are these two brothers, Trey and lou, one day they are transported to an alternate dystopian world called Pangaia, where most of nature is gone. They are eventually met with a resistance that mainly consists of hippies and environmentalists that say that the two brothers are prophesied as heroes to save their world, gee, that’s never been done before. So they are sent on an “epic” adventure to save the world of Pangaia from destruction. While this book does sound promising, all be it’s a bit cliche, it’s nothing but a shallow, dull, and completely forgettable experience. There is hardly a single moment to remember from this book, the characters are just blank slates of human beings, and the book has no positive lasting impact of any kind. The worst offense of this book is the overall message of the book, which to care for the environment. that wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t such an overused and cliche childish moral that already has been done to death. I wouldn’t recommend Green Boy to anyone, even if you seem interested it’s so useless and bland that you’ll forget about it as soon as you’re done with it, you probably won’t feel anything, like none of it mattered to begin with. To summarize, my overall rating for this book is a patch of crabgrass out of ten.It’s short lived, bland, useless and you won’t feel anything when you’re done with it.
March 24, 2008
Well, I have to say, I leapt on this book by Susan Cooper because 'The Dark Is Rising' sequence is possibly my all-time favorite childhood series (except for all the others I adore). I was seriously disappointed. It's the same-old, same-old "small child who can't speak and his companion turn out to be some one important to inexplicable grownups, and the silent child says something profound at a crucial moment." I expected much much better from someone who was able to use the most over-used material in the world - King Arthur legends - back in her Newbery award-winning series. This book is notable for the efforts it makes using children who live in the Bahamas to tell an epic, timely environmental story, but it falls far short of its goals. Its major flaw is using the "Gaia hypothesis" as a central thread. The Earth-as-organism theory is so large, encompassing and life-or-death, that ANY book that attempts to use it comes off looking ridiculous - like a weevil trying to paint a galaxy. An 'A' for effort...but I excepted better from Cooper. Booooo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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September 1, 2017I don't think Cooper succeeded in combining the two threads of her story, and I was amused by the star thing because I thought while reading Dark Is Rising that the belt buckles, all being findable within a reasonable daily radius of a child on his feet, was the weakest element of that story. But it was amusing to read it following Amy Plum's After the End and Lauren Groff's Arcadia, and it's an important story for kids to read. Also I don't think I've read a book set in the Bahamas since Alvin's Swap Shop.
July 25, 2011
I hate to say it (I really do) but I was pretty disappointed. Cooper just had too much of an agenda (a really, really transparent/naked/really obvious agenda) with this. So, I did what I never do with books: skimmed the middle for the interesting bits (and there WAS a really great climax moment) and then read the end because I just couldn't stand plowing through the whole thing.
October 28, 2014
What a good book! I am so bad at these reviews...a young boy and his autism-spectrum brother live in the Bahamas. A big company wants to come develop one of the islands. By some magic the boys get transported to another world--a post-apocolyptic world where everything is awful and the autistic brother is very important. It was really fun and nicely written--like all of Cooper's books:-)
October 13, 2016
This will go down as my least favourite offering by Ms. Cooper. It is a decent story but it relies too hard on political themes and the characters are not strong, a talent that I have come to expect from her. But I did come away with a beautiful ah-hah that will one day be a blog post!
July 20, 2011
Very weird. yes, very.
June 28, 2020
Trey, age 12, tells the story of his younger brother Lou, age 7, undeniable to speak. Lou is smart, but he makes only animal-like noises. He also gets upset easily, having seizure-like episodes. Their favorite place in the world to motor their dinghy to Long Pond Cay. When they discover a consortium of American and French businessmen are planning to build a resort that will destroy their paradise, their grandfather rallies the community to oppose the development. The government is swayed by more tourism and new jobs, so big equipment moves in to dredge channels, build-up beaches, and construct hotels. As this is happening, Trey and Lou find themselves in Otherworld, a bleak dystopia that exists between the tides. In Otherworld they find only, gray skyscrapers, gray skies, and no greenery. Unlike their time, in Otherworld Lou is special. Members of the Underground have been waiting for him to appear, since it was prophesied ages ago that Lou (or Lugh) would save Pangaia. Afraid in his own world, Lou is confident in Otherworld. An examination of a destroyed ecosystem gives the reader food for thought. Vivid descriptions and sustained tension in Otherworld exist next to the beauty and loving family life of the boys' life on a remote Bahamian island.
March 6, 2018
This masterful sci-fi adventure transports two boys between two deeply contrasting worlds. One is an idyllic Bahamian cove, complete with beaches, teeming pools, and mangrove thickets. The other is a terribly-polluted planet on the brink of extinction. Susan Cooper is such a talented writer that both locations are extremely vivid.
The youngest child, Green Boy, is not unlike Madeleine L'Engle's Charles Wallace. He is special, and it is up to him to complete the quest and save the futuristic Pangaia. Complete it, he does in a dramatic conclusion.
This is an absolutely perfect allegory for Earth in 2018. Our third planet from the sun is a blue marble, where solar radiation management has been undertaken without public comment or consent. Will we stop it in time?
The youngest child, Green Boy, is not unlike Madeleine L'Engle's Charles Wallace. He is special, and it is up to him to complete the quest and save the futuristic Pangaia. Complete it, he does in a dramatic conclusion.
This is an absolutely perfect allegory for Earth in 2018. Our third planet from the sun is a blue marble, where solar radiation management has been undertaken without public comment or consent. Will we stop it in time?
December 5, 2019
Trey is a writer and the older brother of Lou, a boy who cannot speak and suffers from seizures. They live with their grandparents on a Bahamian island and their favorite spot, Long Pond Cay, is under threat from foreign developers. Amongst all this, they find themselves transported to another world that has been overdeveloped by humans and only Lou can save it. This book would be good for middle school students, especially in conjunction with a science lesson on climate change or the ecological dangers of human development.
September 18, 2019
This dystopian novel was not one of Susan Cooper's best. It felt unfinished, unreal to me. Trey and his autistic-like brother Lou live on a Bahamian island where their idealistic life is threatened by progress. This opens the path to an alternate universe for the boys but I never understood- did the events that happened in the alternative place impact their lives in the Bahamas? In the end their lives and the island is changed but not because of the alternative world.
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April 20, 2025I got this book from a Little Free Library more than 10 years ago, and I promised myself I wouldn't return it to a Little Free Library until I read it. I finally finished it. It's with a little free library again. It's very eco-friendly, but the plot line is not particularly gripping? I think with YA books being what they've become, I've come to expect a more grab-you-by-the-throat experience. Oh Susan Cooper. This was a book written for kinder readers.
October 2, 2018
2.5 really. The story is split between the "real" world of the Bahamas and a future realm called Pangaia. Neither are fully developed except as exotic background. This felt slight and fable-like, not one of Cooper's stronger works
March 22, 2018
Great book! My 3rd-5th graders loved it! Opens the floor for lots of ‘what if’ discussions and leads to things we might change in our own lives regarding the environment.
August 1, 2018
This is a Puffin edition published 2003
March 3, 2020
I was afraid this book was going to upset me, but it was good all the way through.
January 22, 2021
My favorite part was the characters - loveable and truly endearing.
September 15, 2016
Susan Cooper put a fresh spin on the 'treasure nature' theme. I enjoyed the Bahamas setting, learning about the natural world through the eyes of 12-year-old Trey and his 7-year-old brother Lou. The parallel universe of Pangaia was a bit awkward, though, especially how the boys magically passed from one world to the other so effortlessly. The ending's outcome was predictable, although not exactly how it happened. Readers of Carl Hiaasen (Hoot, Flush) will enjoy this book.
April 28, 2020
Twelve year old Trey has a younger brother Lou. Lou does not speak and has epilpesy. They live in the idyllic Bahamas on a small island, which is under threat of a large development. A parallel world called Pangaia has been destroyed ny overdevelopment and pollution. Lou has been chosen by the people of the underworld to restore it back to a its former glory.
This is a good eco-tale, but for those of us brought up on the double Newberry award winning "Dark is Rising" sequence, this book will be a disappointment. There is still a small celtic element in the folk of Pangaia, and a strong mystical thread to the story. Nevertheless the world creation did not really seem to work form me. I loved the writing about the Bahamas, but I can barely bring Pangaia to mind at all. In any case it felt a little over-contrived. A cautionary tale that was simply not subtle enough
The ending of the story was pleasant, and I did enjoy this book. Nevertheless if I wanted to sell Susan Cooper as a writer to someone I would give them "The Dark is Rising" or her newer "Victory" or "The Boggart" in preference to this book.
This is a good eco-tale, but for those of us brought up on the double Newberry award winning "Dark is Rising" sequence, this book will be a disappointment. There is still a small celtic element in the folk of Pangaia, and a strong mystical thread to the story. Nevertheless the world creation did not really seem to work form me. I loved the writing about the Bahamas, but I can barely bring Pangaia to mind at all. In any case it felt a little over-contrived. A cautionary tale that was simply not subtle enough
The ending of the story was pleasant, and I did enjoy this book. Nevertheless if I wanted to sell Susan Cooper as a writer to someone I would give them "The Dark is Rising" or her newer "Victory" or "The Boggart" in preference to this book.
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September 8, 2011While this is a predictable children's book in some ways--Nature defeats the evil developers with the help of children, and the speechless boy finally talks--there are interesting touches as well. We assume that the 12-year-old narrator is a boy (7-year-old Lou is the green boy of the title), but Cooper never actually specifies the gender, and while Trey is usually a boy's name, it wouldn't have to be. The edition I read had no pictures, so I had to keep reminding myself that Trey and Lou and their grandparents are black--Cooper doesn't make a big deal about that either. In the dystopian future that needs Lou's help, the characters seem to have Welsh names; but then the hurricane that strikes the islands near the end is realistically described. A combination that should make readers think.
March 17, 2015
Susan Cooper's book is a great way to introduce young readers to both multiculturalism and environmental protection in literature. The book is about two young boys named Trey and Lou living in the Bahamas with their grandparents, but Lou is mute and suffers seizures. During an outing, they stumble into a parallel world where pollution and construction have all but destroyed nature, and Lou is said to be the prophesied hero of their world. An overall easy read, but the book felt like an environmental rant wrapped around a flimsy plot line. After having read Cooper's The Dark is Rising series, I was expecting more in terms of being drawn into this otherworld she creates. That's not the case with Green Boy. I feel like this could be an effective eco-tale for struggling students in a dystopian literature unit, but I definitely wouldn't make this my primary text.
November 29, 2011
Trey and Lou live on an island. One day some foreign men decide to turn the peaceful bay into a hotel. If they do this it will destroy all the wildlife's homes including Lou's favorite bird, the osprey, a fish hawk. The boys were out on the bay when suddenly, they were no longer in their world. The other world is called Pangaia.
Reasons I like this book-
Reason 1- I was fascinated by the description of the other world's
'wilderness". The wilderness had animal mutants that the government created.
Reason 2- I learned that millepedes don't need stingers, because they use a poisonous gas to kill their enemies.
Reason 3- The book shows how important it is to protect nature. It also shows how forceful nature can be.
Reasons I like this book-
Reason 1- I was fascinated by the description of the other world's
'wilderness". The wilderness had animal mutants that the government created.
Reason 2- I learned that millepedes don't need stingers, because they use a poisonous gas to kill their enemies.
Reason 3- The book shows how important it is to protect nature. It also shows how forceful nature can be.
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