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A review by kelleemoye
iBoy by Kevin Brooks
4.0
Reviewed at:
http://www.teachmentortexts.com/2012/05/iboy.html
When I started iBoy, I originally thought it was going to be cheesy. A boy got hit on the head with a phone and now he has powers? But boy, was I wrong. This book is an edge of your seat suspenseful thriller that keeps you reading. Although the basis of the story is about a boy who has part of an iPhone embedded in his brain thus giving him all knowing knowledge as well as powers such as electric shock, it is more than that. This book is about friendship and right vs. wrong. Tom decides to use his powers to be come a vigilante in his crime-ridden neighborhood by seeking revenge on the guys who gang raped Lucy, the friend he was going to visit when he got hurt. The books becomes quite the psychological study, because Tom has to decide if it is all worth it- is hurting a bad person okay or does it just make you a bad person too?
As a teacher, I did have a couple of ah-ha moments. 1) There is so many math and science sections in the beginning of the book as Tom is realizing his powers and recalling what happens. It would be a great cross-curricular book to share. It has sections about velocity, binary notation, and of course technology. 2) There are great references to e.e. cummings, Aristotle, and Arthur Koestler. HOWEVER 3) This book is quite explicit. Tom lives in a very hellish neighborhood in London and the dialogue in this book is raw and realistic which means cursing and violence. So, if it is going to be shared in any grade under, I'd say, 10th (though some reviews say 12 and up, but I think that is too young), only parts should be shared with students. 4) I wish this book was okay for my 6th and 7th graders, because I think it is a book that many a teenager will like as it combines comic book-like superheroes with a realism that many will connect to.
http://www.teachmentortexts.com/2012/05/iboy.html
When I started iBoy, I originally thought it was going to be cheesy. A boy got hit on the head with a phone and now he has powers? But boy, was I wrong. This book is an edge of your seat suspenseful thriller that keeps you reading. Although the basis of the story is about a boy who has part of an iPhone embedded in his brain thus giving him all knowing knowledge as well as powers such as electric shock, it is more than that. This book is about friendship and right vs. wrong. Tom decides to use his powers to be come a vigilante in his crime-ridden neighborhood by seeking revenge on the guys who gang raped Lucy, the friend he was going to visit when he got hurt. The books becomes quite the psychological study, because Tom has to decide if it is all worth it- is hurting a bad person okay or does it just make you a bad person too?
As a teacher, I did have a couple of ah-ha moments. 1) There is so many math and science sections in the beginning of the book as Tom is realizing his powers and recalling what happens. It would be a great cross-curricular book to share. It has sections about velocity, binary notation, and of course technology. 2) There are great references to e.e. cummings, Aristotle, and Arthur Koestler. HOWEVER 3) This book is quite explicit. Tom lives in a very hellish neighborhood in London and the dialogue in this book is raw and realistic which means cursing and violence. So, if it is going to be shared in any grade under, I'd say, 10th (though some reviews say 12 and up, but I think that is too young), only parts should be shared with students. 4) I wish this book was okay for my 6th and 7th graders, because I think it is a book that many a teenager will like as it combines comic book-like superheroes with a realism that many will connect to.