Paranoid Park |  | Author: Blake Nelson
Publisher: Puffin
List Price: $6.99
Buy Used: $1.96
as of 11/22/2009 19:30 CST details
You Save: $5.03 (72%)
New (34) Used (19) from $1.96
Seller: _athenaeum_
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 182368
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 0142411566
EAN: 9780142411568
ASIN: 0142411566
Publication Date: February 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
It was an accident. He didnt mean to kill the security guard with his skateboardit was self-defense. But theres no one to back up his story. No one even knows he was at Paranoid Park. Should he confess, or can he get away with it? Its an ethical question no one should have to answer. Writing more intensely than ever before, Blake Nelson delivers a film noir in book form, complete with interior monologue and dark, psychological drama. This is a riveting look at one boys fall into a world of crime, guilt, and fearand his desperate attempt to get out again.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
A good quick read April 5, 2008
Taylor Smith (Sierra Madre, Ca USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read the book in an afternoon and enjoyed it. The movie came out the following day and I was very disappointed how much the directors left out of the movie.
A good psycological study of a teen in pain... March 26, 2008
Liolania (Hippyville USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I became interested in "Paranoid Park" because I found out that Gus Van Sant made a film version of a book by the same name. I am not a fan of Van Sant, but I love skateboarding and the plot intrigued me, so I decided to pick up the book.
The story revolves arounds a young skater prep who decides to visit an underground skatepark for street kids called "Paranoid Park". It is upon his visit alone that a horrifying accident occurs out of what was meant to be no more than a thrill ride on a freight train. The ride ends up in an accidental death of a security gaurd, and the rest of the book revolves around how he deals with the fact that it was partially his fault that a man was brutally killed. The images play over and over as he tries to cope with everyday life and figure out if he should call the cops or keep quiet. He soon realizes that life is more than sleeping with woman and just coasting through life, and he wants to figure out what that life can be if he isn't imprisoned for the rest of his life.
This book is short, and is a very quick read. What makes it so intriguing is that the main character feels like someone that you might know, and the other characters, even the stereotypical ones come off as real and people that might be in your school. Our lead character struggles with enjoying life and severe trauma. Can you enjoy life knowing that tomorrow you might be senetenced to life in prison? These are questions that kids shouldn't have to deal with, but there are so many children who struggle everyday to live and just enjoy life. This book is not for young children or for squeamish people, it does not spare the gorey details at all.
God Bless ~Amy
wow...This book is intense March 12, 2007
Liz N. (California)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is incredible. The inner world of this good kid who did a terrible thing is captured so well...I could only wonder how I would have dealt if I had been in that situation, how my friends would have dealt...and whether there is a "right" thing to do. It really makes you think about what secrets you could learn to live with--and what you could not handle. All teenagers (and their parents!) should pick this one up.
(I think it may be too intense for kids under 12 or 13.)
And by the way, I saw that Gus Van Sant is making this into a movie.
Coooool!
Courtesy of Teens Read Too January 30, 2007
TeensReadToo.com (All Over the US & Canada)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
If you dare visit Paranoid Park in Portland, Oregon, you will find the Streeters and the Preps. In Blake Nelson's new novel, PARANOID PARK, the reader enters the dark side of the skate park world along with the main character, who happens to be one of the Preps.
Paranoid Park is the nickname for an old skate park being used by the less desirable Streeters. While visiting the park, the main character is dared to jump a train car with one of the Streeters. When they are discovered by a security guard, an unfortunate "accident" causes the horrific death of the guard. The Streeter takes off, leaving the Prep with the guard's remains and the decision of what to do next.
What should he do? Tell the police, tell his parents, tell a friend? He decides to keep the truth to himself, but mixed in with his parents' impending divorce, his girlfriend issues, plus school and grades, he may have more than he can deal with.
Nelson's PARANOID PARK is described as a psychological thriller, and I couldn't agree more. If you are a fan of getting into the mind of the characters, this is just the book for you. With its attention-grabbing title and its cool skateboard cover, it will be flying off young adult shelves.
Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
A dark and intense psychological thriller January 5, 2007
Teenreads.com (New York, NY)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
PARANOID PARK is a dark and intense psychological thriller of a novel that puts a normal teen in a very difficult situation.
Written as a confessional letter, it starts after a fateful night at a Portland, Oregon skatepark known as "Paranoid Park." Paranoid is "an underground 'street' park, which means there are no rules, nobody owns it, and you don't have to play to skate." But Paranoid is also "kind of a street-kid hangout. There's all these stories, like how a skinhead got stabbed there once. That's why it's called Paranoid Park. It has a dangerous, sketchy vibe to it."
After going to Paranoid Park with his older friend Jared, the narrator (who remains unnamed throughout the book) is enthralled by the experience. Skating at Paranoid meant you were in the "big leagues." The boys planned to return to the skatepark together that weekend, but plans changed when a college girl invited Jared to a party. Still lured by the thrillride of Paranoid, the narrator returns on his own.
At the park, the narrator finds himself hanging out with a "streeter" named Scratch and a bunch of other street-kid types. Scratch tells stories about how he lived up and down the West Coast, hopping trains and living in bus stations. Somehow, our "prep" narrator gets talked into hopping a local train with Scratch and the evening turns into even more of an adventure. The fun stops abruptly when a security guard gets thrown in the mix and a teenage adventure becomes the cause of a crime.
With a dead body and no witnesses, the narrator is paralyzed with fear. What should he do? Who will he tell? Will anyone believe him that this truly was an accident? Trapped by his own paranoia and the possible consequences of one night on the rest of his life, the narrator spends the remainder of the novel in a CRIME AND PUNISHMENT-like dilemma.
Author Blake Nelson, best known for his lighter works like ROCK STAR SUPERSTAR, THE NEW RULES OF HIGH SCHOOL and the seminal GIRL, does a phenomenal job portraying the raw and troubled emotions of a teen in turmoil without casting judgment. It's up to readers to decide how they feel about the character and the moral dilemma he faces. PARANOID PARK is in pre-production with director Gus Van Sant, known for films like Elephant and Good Will Hunting. It will be interesting to see how this haunting novel translates to the big screen.
--- Reviewed by Kristi Olson
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
|
|
|
|
