Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle And Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
After finishing this, I read a review talking about how refreshing it was to read a story as told from the perspective of a bully.I think we read different books.While I suppose the bully angle sort of makes sense, it doesn’t work for me. To me, Tamara (the narrator) was a bratty loner no one likes (or really pays attention to) rather than a bully. Bullies command attention. Bullies invoke fear. Bullies are not mocked by all of the neighborhood kids and treated as a joke. Anyway, the plot: Tamara is horrified that everyone is giving the new kid and his outlandish tales a pass. It infuriates her, and she’s determined to prove to everyone that he’s a liar. Sounds fun – I certainly remember plenty of times growing up when I wished the grown ups would notice that some kids were suck ups who were real jerks when adults weren’t around.Anyway. There’s one problem with how this plot unfolds: the absurd suspension of reality required to tell this story. It requires a bunch of people who have no problem telling Tamara she’s out of line to not give her one crucial piece of information – and the only reason I can see not relaying that crucial piece of information is to create a conflict. Lame. I like the idea of a kids’ book set during the Summer of 1969, but I really wish someone had pointed out the faulty foundation upon which this story is built. Not recommended. Honestly, I didn't really understand this book. The characters are fairly well developed, but there isn't much of a plot. There are a lot of things that happen, but they don't tie together very well and I didn't ever sense that there was a problem. I didn't really care what happened in the end. The historical parts of this book are somewhat interesting, which is about the only part that held my interest. I'm hoping the rest of the Iowa Children's Choice Award books get better from here!
What do You think about Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle And Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me (2009)?
the kickball scenes go a little long, but otherwise i liked it, especially the end. a little sad.
—shayshay
sweet, unexciting, ... war and watermelon much better telling of time
—fyikitty
