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andreablythe's review
3.0
When underachiever Stan Claxton is recruited to coach his best friend, Ginny, a nationally ranked junior tennis player, through a local tournament, he is also supposed to find out why she has recently fallen into a slump. As he tries to lend his support, he begins to discover new feelings for her and considers sharing his secret of the whistling toilets.
It's a good enough story as far as it goes and I like the dialog for the most part. The Stan and his buddies when they are together talk like guys, and his conversations with Ginny are meandering, often talking around the point the way most conversations do.
The secret of the whistling toilets was left almost to the end, and the whole time I was reading I was wondering if the revelation would turn out to be a disappointment after the long build up. It wasn't any great thing. I think I might have been disappointed had I read this years ago when I first grabbed it, because I woukd have been expecting someting miraculous. Now, I think the discovery worked for what it was.
What really kind of killed it was the final scene in the book, which just sort of socks you in the chest and leaves you hanging. Honestly, one more paragraph, maybe even just an additional sentence would have made the ending stronger and brought things to a more satisfying conclusion. Either that or take out the last scene altogether, because though I like it, it ends things on a sour note. I mean, really, it just goes to show how important an ending is, because this book would have been so much better with just small changes.
It's a good enough story as far as it goes and I like the dialog for the most part. The Stan and his buddies when they are together talk like guys, and his conversations with Ginny are meandering, often talking around the point the way most conversations do.
The secret of the whistling toilets was left almost to the end, and the whole time I was reading I was wondering if the revelation would turn out to be a disappointment after the long build up. It wasn't any great thing. I think I might have been disappointed had I read this years ago when I first grabbed it, because I woukd have been expecting someting miraculous. Now, I think the discovery worked for what it was.
What really kind of killed it was the final scene in the book, which just sort of socks you in the chest and leaves you hanging. Honestly, one more paragraph, maybe even just an additional sentence would have made the ending stronger and brought things to a more satisfying conclusion. Either that or take out the last scene altogether, because though I like it, it ends things on a sour note. I mean, really, it just goes to show how important an ending is, because this book would have been so much better with just small changes.
watermelonvodka's review
2.0
I only read this book because of the title. It was an ok story... Nothing too exciting, and finding out what the whistling toilets were at the end, kind of dissapointed me. ha.
I just found my Grade 11 project on this book and thought it was a little funny, so I'm sharing some of it:
None of the situations in this book remind me of real life. I actually think that what is going on so far, is kind of far fetched. It is about a 15 year old girl that plays tennis, and is all pro, and basically famous. There is also a guy that is 16, and he plays tennis too, but is a tennis coach for little kids. The girl is losing her talent, and her coach and family want her to come back home, and enter a tournament for amateurs to see if it will get her back on track. Also, what I think is stupid, is that they think the 16 year old guy should coach her because they’re friends, and they think he can make her better. What I don’t understand, is why this girl’s professional tennis coach, wants a 16 year old who coaches 6 year olds, to coach her. I don’t think that would ever happen in real life.
Another thing that is just really annoying, is that the main character talks about The Whistling Toilets now, but he doesn’t say what they are. He says: “oh, I should tell Ginny about the Whistling toilets.” And “oh, if I tell Ginny about the whistling toilets, she’ll think I’m weird” and “Why did I say that about the vacuum? I could told her about the whistling toilets” and “I need the right time to tell her about the whistling toilets”. It’s very annoying. It isn’t even at the point where I want to know what they are anymore. I just want to yell at him: “HEY! You! Stop it with the whistling toilets!”
****SPOILER BELOW! ******
I was very disappointed when I found out what the Whistling Toilets were. All they are, are four toilets, lined up, without stalls separating them, that whistle all in tune and sound like a song. That’s it. And this main character was so worked up on showing them to his friend, and about if she was the right person to show, and if she would understand and all that. What’s to understand? It’s toilets that whistle.
I just found my Grade 11 project on this book and thought it was a little funny, so I'm sharing some of it:
None of the situations in this book remind me of real life. I actually think that what is going on so far, is kind of far fetched. It is about a 15 year old girl that plays tennis, and is all pro, and basically famous. There is also a guy that is 16, and he plays tennis too, but is a tennis coach for little kids. The girl is losing her talent, and her coach and family want her to come back home, and enter a tournament for amateurs to see if it will get her back on track. Also, what I think is stupid, is that they think the 16 year old guy should coach her because they’re friends, and they think he can make her better. What I don’t understand, is why this girl’s professional tennis coach, wants a 16 year old who coaches 6 year olds, to coach her. I don’t think that would ever happen in real life.
Another thing that is just really annoying, is that the main character talks about The Whistling Toilets now, but he doesn’t say what they are. He says: “oh, I should tell Ginny about the Whistling toilets.” And “oh, if I tell Ginny about the whistling toilets, she’ll think I’m weird” and “Why did I say that about the vacuum? I could told her about the whistling toilets” and “I need the right time to tell her about the whistling toilets”. It’s very annoying. It isn’t even at the point where I want to know what they are anymore. I just want to yell at him: “HEY! You! Stop it with the whistling toilets!”
****SPOILER BELOW! ******
I was very disappointed when I found out what the Whistling Toilets were. All they are, are four toilets, lined up, without stalls separating them, that whistle all in tune and sound like a song. That’s it. And this main character was so worked up on showing them to his friend, and about if she was the right person to show, and if she would understand and all that. What’s to understand? It’s toilets that whistle.
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