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heather4994's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this story! It was fresh and fast paced and as the title tells you it's based loosely on Noah's Ark, but this Noah is part of the family Zarc and their spaceship is called the ARC. It's huge, large enough to house ten blue whales in a natural enough habitat that they won't be crowded and elephants on a realistic African savanna. Their mission is to travel through time saving a male and female of each species of every animal so they can repopulate the planet Earth. Earth experienced a cataclysm and all life was destroyed, but that was eons ago and now it is deemed habitable.
Of course, there is an evil man that wants to stop them. People don't need animals anymore as they eat synthetic meat and he doesn't want the Earth to be a zoo. He wants people to live on Earth instead of Venus with it's inhospitable air. So they are in danger whenever they collect their specimens.
But more than being an exciting story about racing through space and saving Earth and animals and trying to beat the bad guy, all of which I'm quite sure children will love, this story is also about family. Noah is very aware of his family and discovers a huge secret about himself during the course of the book. He has to come to terms with it and what it means. A lot of the novel is taken up with him trying to rescue his parents. His siblings take a back seat in the novel but there is no doubt that this family is close knit and love each other first and foremost. It was good to see that tied in to the story so subtly yet feel it's importance to the outcome.
A second book is due out next year and I cannot wait for it!
Robert Pease's writing is easy to read and engaging. It wasn't bogged down with too much Sci-Fi language that I felt like I didn't know what was going on. And every time there was something about moving through space and time, some of the characters understood it, but Noah fessed up that he never did understand it and frankly neither did I. But it never kept me from thoroughly enjoying this novel!
Of course, there is an evil man that wants to stop them. People don't need animals anymore as they eat synthetic meat and he doesn't want the Earth to be a zoo. He wants people to live on Earth instead of Venus with it's inhospitable air. So they are in danger whenever they collect their specimens.
But more than being an exciting story about racing through space and saving Earth and animals and trying to beat the bad guy, all of which I'm quite sure children will love, this story is also about family. Noah is very aware of his family and discovers a huge secret about himself during the course of the book. He has to come to terms with it and what it means. A lot of the novel is taken up with him trying to rescue his parents. His siblings take a back seat in the novel but there is no doubt that this family is close knit and love each other first and foremost. It was good to see that tied in to the story so subtly yet feel it's importance to the outcome.
A second book is due out next year and I cannot wait for it!
Robert Pease's writing is easy to read and engaging. It wasn't bogged down with too much Sci-Fi language that I felt like I didn't know what was going on. And every time there was something about moving through space and time, some of the characters understood it, but Noah fessed up that he never did understand it and frankly neither did I. But it never kept me from thoroughly enjoying this novel!
thehodgenator's review against another edition
4.0
The plot of this novel is nicely developed with a pacing that will appeal to its core audience – tween boys. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, told from the perspective of twelve-year-old Noah. With the help of his brother Hamilton and sister Sam, Noah will take embark on a vital mission: to rescue their parents. Young readers will find themselves glued to the pages as Noah and his siblings begin the journey to save their father from the Ice Age and to rescue their kidnapped mother.
The strength of this novel lies with its main character, Noah. He is a paraplegic who never lets this hold him back. Readers will fall in love with his spirit, and many will find elements of themselves in him. As a matter of fact, young readers can learn a lot from his strength and determination. And what would a great story be without a trusty sidekick – his dog Obadiah.
While I am not a huge fan of sci-fi novels, I did enjoy this one. The author makes a strong showing, especially choosing to tell the story from Noah’s point of view. There are many messages presented in this novel – messages from not allowing disability to hold one back to our responsibility for protecting, not destroying, our planet to showing respect to all living things (in this case, animals). This modern re-telling of Noah’s Ark serves as a cautionary tale in a mild way.
I do have one suggestion – create a starting chapter that lures readers into the world of Noah instead of thrusting us into a world we know nothing about. This was the greatest weakness; there were too many things to try to figure out in that one chapter. But for many young readers, an opening like this might be more appealing.
The strength of this novel lies with its main character, Noah. He is a paraplegic who never lets this hold him back. Readers will fall in love with his spirit, and many will find elements of themselves in him. As a matter of fact, young readers can learn a lot from his strength and determination. And what would a great story be without a trusty sidekick – his dog Obadiah.
While I am not a huge fan of sci-fi novels, I did enjoy this one. The author makes a strong showing, especially choosing to tell the story from Noah’s point of view. There are many messages presented in this novel – messages from not allowing disability to hold one back to our responsibility for protecting, not destroying, our planet to showing respect to all living things (in this case, animals). This modern re-telling of Noah’s Ark serves as a cautionary tale in a mild way.
I do have one suggestion – create a starting chapter that lures readers into the world of Noah instead of thrusting us into a world we know nothing about. This was the greatest weakness; there were too many things to try to figure out in that one chapter. But for many young readers, an opening like this might be more appealing.
manda_panda95's review against another edition
4.0
I loved it! It was a really fun and fast-paced read that had me on the edge of my seat. It was really very enjoyable. This is more of a middle-grade book, and while I usually read YA, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It was a fun futuristic take on the story of Noah's Ark with space and time travel. I didn't understand all the time travel stuff, but most of the characters didn't either so it didn't really throw me off.
Noah is your average twelve-year-old kid... except that instead of playing sports or video games, he flies space ships and time travels and saves extinct marmosets. Noah and his family, the Zarcs, are charged with rescuing extinct animals from the past in order to repopulate the Earth where no one is currently living. Unfortunately for Noah and his family, not everyone approves of this calling and will do almost anything to stop them.
I enjoyed all the characters and seeing how they interacted. The plot, as I said before, is fast-paced and exciting, making it hard to put down. I loved the way it ended, and it left me wanting more! The next book in the series comes out sometime next year. To far away! I can't wait to read it!
Noah is your average twelve-year-old kid... except that instead of playing sports or video games, he flies space ships and time travels and saves extinct marmosets. Noah and his family, the Zarcs, are charged with rescuing extinct animals from the past in order to repopulate the Earth where no one is currently living. Unfortunately for Noah and his family, not everyone approves of this calling and will do almost anything to stop them.
I enjoyed all the characters and seeing how they interacted. The plot, as I said before, is fast-paced and exciting, making it hard to put down. I loved the way it ended, and it left me wanting more! The next book in the series comes out sometime next year. To far away! I can't wait to read it!
flosmith's review
5.0
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This was a wonderful book with so many messages. Noah Zarc is a paraplegic who is part of a family whose mission it is to go back in time to retrieve animals to repopulate an earth that we made uninhabitable. And of course there's a bad guy working against them to make sure they don't succeed. Noah is a very resourceful, very capable 12 yr old that shows that being a paraplegic doesn't make you incapable. Over the course of this adventure he learns that everything isn't black and white and not everything is as it seems. Family is more than your genetic makeup its about those that love and support you. There's also an important environmental message woven in about how we should be responisible for our impact on the environment. We all need to work to fix the problems that we have caused but at the same time this is a planet for humans as well. Balance is important in all that we do. This is a perfect read for middle school to junior high age but a fun read for anyone that likes sci-fi.
This was a wonderful book with so many messages. Noah Zarc is a paraplegic who is part of a family whose mission it is to go back in time to retrieve animals to repopulate an earth that we made uninhabitable. And of course there's a bad guy working against them to make sure they don't succeed. Noah is a very resourceful, very capable 12 yr old that shows that being a paraplegic doesn't make you incapable. Over the course of this adventure he learns that everything isn't black and white and not everything is as it seems. Family is more than your genetic makeup its about those that love and support you. There's also an important environmental message woven in about how we should be responisible for our impact on the environment. We all need to work to fix the problems that we have caused but at the same time this is a planet for humans as well. Balance is important in all that we do. This is a perfect read for middle school to junior high age but a fun read for anyone that likes sci-fi.
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