I picked up Puddlejumpers by Mark Jean and Christopher C. Carlson, on a whim. I'd never heard anything about it before, but it sounded interesting enough. I enjoy young adult fantasy novels. This one fits right into the genre--a fantastical world existing right in the middle of our normal human one, or in the case of Circle, Illinois, right underneath our normal one.
Puddlejumpers are small earthy creatures that inhabit a world below the Up Above where all the humans live. They love MotherEarth and need water, and all sorts of good stuff. But something evil and sinister is coming to destroy their kingdom! Their only hope is an ancient prophecy that says a human boy will be born who will help save the kingdom. (Are you thinking Harry Potter at this point? Me too. But there aren't any wands in this one...) The Puddlejumpers find their prophetic Rainmaker in Shawn Frazier, watch over him for 3+ months in the confines of his own human home, and then kidnap him into the Puddlejumper world. Everything goes well until disaster strikes, the Puddlejumper world is infiltrated and the Rainmaker is LOST...or so it seems.
Fast forward a number of years and enter two kids, Ernie and Joey, who decide to solve the mystery of the kidnapped baby. Their entrance into the story starts the whole prophecy thing in motion again...and the great question is, will the Rainmaker return and save the Puddlejumper's world? Will he return and make it rain again?!
The story is very reminiscent of Harry Potter and every other "there's a boy and a prophecy" fantasy novel out there. But the book is also entertaining and creative enough to keep you from making too many connections to Rowling's books. The characters have heart--especially Ernie Banks--and I found myself reading for hours, unable to put the book down. Puddlejumpers is not the greatest book you'll read this summer, but its fun, easy, and you'll have a good time.
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6 comments:
Sounds intriguing. Thanks for your post. I've already put it on hold at the library. I'll let you know what I think as soon as I read it.
I think it's hard for anything these days not to remind us of Harry Potter. Even my sacred Jelly Belly beans have been tainted. But...there's a series like this in any genre. Every epic fantasy reminds us Lord of the Rings. Every space adventure has to fly clear of Star Wars. It comes with the business.
I believe that the key to this problem is determining whether or not the new book copies the old series or builds upon it. If the book has enough creativity to move the genre as a whole forward and explore new possibilities then its existence is warranted. If however, the book merely rehashes the old ideas, its fate is to gather dust on a lonely shelf at the library.
What's your opinion?
We also have to recognize that most of these well-loved stories are simply following the archetypal good vs. evil we all know at heart because...well, yeah. So sometimes we think "Harry Potter" or "Star Wars" because those are so well known. But we shouldn't dismiss books because they follow a pattern that one or two people made famous. Its really probably successful because it follows that story we all know at heart.
Does that make sense?
"if the book has enough creativity to move the genre as a whole forward and explore new possibilities then its existence is warranted"
I agree with that statement wholeheartedly. There's nothing worse then being bored while you're reading because the book you chose was exactly the same as the last book you read. That's why, although at one time, I loved Brooks, Hickman, and Weiss, I feel like I need to move on and explore something new.
Yep. I know what you mean Felicity. Your analysis is one more step down the deconstruction ladder. I remember having a conversation with my dad about how there were only twenty or so stories that can be told. These are the "Stranger comes to town, rise to fame, etc." stories. Everything we every read or see somehow fits into those categories. Do you know if there is a list somewhere on the internet detailing these stories?
Okay, with a little Internet searching I came up with this "answer" to Jake's query:
http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/blf10/stories.html
Its obviously not a complete answer, but its definitely food for thought.
Hoodie Hoo! I just finished Puddlejumpers. Thanks for the suggestion. I really enjoyed the book. It does kind of follow the same schematic as Harry Potter, but I felt it was original enough that it wouldn't remind readers of the J. K. Rowling novels unless they were looking for similarities.
It was refreshing to see a book of only 300 pages do so much. I found the characters to be quite endearing. The plot was a bit predictable, but it's still intriguing enough to keep you reading. This is a good solid young adult fantasy novel.
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