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lesliethewanderlust's review
4.0
This had to be one of my favorite childhood books, about a budding young artist who's "jerk" of a brother (who his mom adores and can do no wrong in her eyes) and his pregnant girlfriend plan to move back home into "his" attic/makeshift artist studio. He basically locks himself away up there in a sort of protest. I identified with Alfie so much, wanting to be an artist myself and having a house full of people with no privacy and no place of my own. Another cute book by Betsy Byars.
delireads's review
4.0
Not sure when I read this, but it was a couple years ago. I loved this book. I thought it was really good. Would recommend it, but I'm not sure if it's even still in print. My copy is a cancelled copy from the library.
howifeelaboutbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Byars' style as a younger reader because her books aren't all happiness and sunshine, and I still appreciate that now. Alfie loves drawing cartoons, but no one seems to understand why he does it. His friend makes fun of him for it, his teacher gets angry that he draws in class, and his mother never gets the jokes. He spends all his spare time drawing in his house's attic, with all his comic strips hanging from the rafters. When Alfie's older, trouble-making brother is going to move back home with his pregnant wife, the only place for them to live is the attic. But the attic is all Alfie has, and he knows he has to take a stand to keep what means the most to him.
mrskatiefitz's review against another edition
4.0
Alfie's family home is very small and tilting to one side. His father has died, and his older brother has moved away. His mother and grandfather do the best they can, but there is very little Alfie can call his own, except for the attic. In the attic, Alfie can escape from the unhappy moments of his life by doing what he loves most: drawing cartoons. When Alfie's brother and his newly pregnant wife announce that they are coming back home to live with the family, his mother announces that she will be giving them the attic. Alfie, unable to face the loss of his private art studio, locks himself in the attic, refusing to leave until it is restored to him.
Betsy Byars writes some of the most believable - and honest - realistic fiction available for kids. This book is not about a happy child, but it is about a child many readers can relate to, even if their own situations vary a bit from his. Byars makes her readers really feel Alfie's indignation over his mother's clear favoring of his older brother, and hints about Alfie's dad's death and his grandfather's longing for the past help paint a perfect portrait of this family's particular dysfunctions and difficulties.
As is the case with many Byars books, this one ends on a note that feels a little bit unresolved. There is a resolution to Alfie's problem of losing the attic, but there is also a sense of defeat and an understanding that Alfie's life, even if he continues escaping into his cartoons, is not going to get any easier any time soon. At least one Goodreads reviewer seems to think this somewhat messy ending means the book is "horribly depressing" and has "no redeeming value," but I disagree. This story simply reflects the way things are sometimes, and, because its author is ever-respectful of the intelligence of young readers, she doesn't interpret the ending or use it as an opportunity to preach a moral. Rather, the interpretation of her message is left for readers to ponder themselves, and I'm sure there are as many impressions of the ending of this book as there are kids who have read it.
The Cartoonist was a quick, but deep read. Though it is short, I'd recommend it to kids in the upper elementary and middle school grades, as they are most likely to understand Alfie's longing for a place of his own and his nostalgia for a past life lost.
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
Betsy Byars writes some of the most believable - and honest - realistic fiction available for kids. This book is not about a happy child, but it is about a child many readers can relate to, even if their own situations vary a bit from his. Byars makes her readers really feel Alfie's indignation over his mother's clear favoring of his older brother, and hints about Alfie's dad's death and his grandfather's longing for the past help paint a perfect portrait of this family's particular dysfunctions and difficulties.
As is the case with many Byars books, this one ends on a note that feels a little bit unresolved. There is a resolution to Alfie's problem of losing the attic, but there is also a sense of defeat and an understanding that Alfie's life, even if he continues escaping into his cartoons, is not going to get any easier any time soon. At least one Goodreads reviewer seems to think this somewhat messy ending means the book is "horribly depressing" and has "no redeeming value," but I disagree. This story simply reflects the way things are sometimes, and, because its author is ever-respectful of the intelligence of young readers, she doesn't interpret the ending or use it as an opportunity to preach a moral. Rather, the interpretation of her message is left for readers to ponder themselves, and I'm sure there are as many impressions of the ending of this book as there are kids who have read it.
The Cartoonist was a quick, but deep read. Though it is short, I'd recommend it to kids in the upper elementary and middle school grades, as they are most likely to understand Alfie's longing for a place of his own and his nostalgia for a past life lost.
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
nikkibd4033's review against another edition
4.0
Byars' books are always deep without being especially lyrical. The same goes for The Cartoonist, about a boy, Alfie, being raised in a depressing family who attempts to find comfort squirreled away in the attic drawing comic strips. When his older bullying brother threatens to return home with his newly pregnant wife, and take over the attic, Alfie goes a little catatonic and locks himself in the attic for days.
In the end, the brother ends up going to live with his wife's family, much to the consternation of Alfie's mother who'd always favored the brother. The end is bleak and depressing, because, as Alfie's sister points out, he ended up getting his attic back, but he didn't really win.
And you get the feeling that that's how it's gonna be for all of Alfie's life. Rarely things will go his way, but he'll never be triumphant over anything.
In the end, the brother ends up going to live with his wife's family, much to the consternation of Alfie's mother who'd always favored the brother. The end is bleak and depressing, because, as Alfie's sister points out, he ended up getting his attic back, but he didn't really win.
And you get the feeling that that's how it's gonna be for all of Alfie's life. Rarely things will go his way, but he'll never be triumphant over anything.
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