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I enjoyed the book and perhaps learned a bit how NOT to talk to my 9-year-old granddaughter. When a childless almost 80 year-old man is asked to be a guardian to an 11 year-old boy, there's bound to be a conflict. Add to that the differences in their situations. Noel Selvaggio is a retired chemistry professor, so obviously highly educated. He is also in an upper income bracket. Michael is 11 and has been raised in a home where money is tight. That's part of the story. The other part is a trip to
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If this were by some unknown early career author, I'd call it a solid start. From Emma Donoghue it's a disappointment. The premise is unoriginal - old man who doesn't know what to do with kids gets stuck with one. She throws a lot of names at the readers in the first few pages, so many in fact that they remain hard to keep track of for most of the book. The main character was irritating: he threw so many facts at the kid even I was bored with him, and it took him way too long to start thinking a
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Right book, right time.
I think your mileage may vary and reactions to this novel will depend on your expectations. This is on the lighter side, and involves a sweet relationship between 79-year-old Noah and his 11-year-old great-nephew Michael. I thought it was sweet, anyway! It's a trope for sure - older, isolated widower meets annoying little kid and it changes both their lives. But this is what I was expecting from the book description, so it worked for me.
I enjoyed that Noah isn't what I w ...more
I think your mileage may vary and reactions to this novel will depend on your expectations. This is on the lighter side, and involves a sweet relationship between 79-year-old Noah and his 11-year-old great-nephew Michael. I thought it was sweet, anyway! It's a trope for sure - older, isolated widower meets annoying little kid and it changes both their lives. But this is what I was expecting from the book description, so it worked for me.
I enjoyed that Noah isn't what I w ...more
This is the book that made me realize I'm a 79-year-old chemistry professor, as many of Noah's corrections of Michael's grammar are ones I would have made (and predicted shortly before I read them). Ok, maybe not the chemistry part. As far as plot goes, there are no real surprises in the story of childless widower Noah, essentially forced to take in his great-nephew Michael when Michael's grandmother dies and Noah is the nearest - and possibly only - relative around. Setting this in Nice, as Noa
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Mar 04, 2019
Liz Laurin
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Jun 20, 2019
Holly
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Jun 20, 2019
Kate
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Jun 20, 2019
Kate
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Jul 27, 2019
Karol
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Aug 27, 2019
Jess
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Aug 27, 2019
Katherine
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Aug 27, 2019
Ellen
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Sep 06, 2019
Lisa Vegan
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Oct 09, 2019
Lauren
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Nov 04, 2019
Laurie
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Dec 07, 2019
Chrissy
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Jun 25, 2022
Debra Chiplin
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Aug 23, 2022
Kate
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Feb 26, 2023
Belle
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Jun 27, 2023
Clare
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