Elixir

By Eric Walters

Book Overview

The latest page-turner from Canada's bestselling children's author. Twelve-year-old Ruth must spend her summer at the University of Toronto, where her mother is hired to clean the Institute of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143016415
• ISBN13: 9780143016410
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Puffin Canada
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.5" x 4.2"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Book Review for Elixir

The author, Eric Walters, is a Canadian that has written 38 novels and won more than 30 awards. Description and emotion plays a key part in his writing. In the book, Elixir, Eric Walters goes back to the time before insulin was discovered and talks about all the issues and problems that people had to conquer in order to reach success in finding a treatment for diabetes. Ruth, the main character in the book has made friends with Dr. Banting and Mr. Best, the research partners trying to find a cure for diabetes, however, she does not think the same way that they do when it comes to the issue of animal testing. This causes their relations with each other to be in conflict. The way that this conflict was resolved might make you realize that the theme of this story is think before you do something. Even though this story may be a little too expressive in parts, I would still recommend it. I think that it should be read by people who are very sensitive to feelings because this book involves so much emotion in it. Sometimes, while I'm reading, I think that there is too much feeling in it. It starts to feel more of a fantasy fiction rather than a historical fiction because in real life, there usually aren't that many feelings around. The part where Ruth decides that she should go back to the university to correct something wrong that she did is an example of these `extra-dramatical' feelings, since no one would have felt that bad about something they did. Some of the actions that the characters do in this story aren't what real people would have done if they were going through a real-life situation. Sometimes it seems as if the author is just writing that because he wanted a good and reasonable resolution and didn't care if the events make any sense. Since this book is supposed to be something that really happened, this is very important. Real people would not have gone somewhere at around midnight to correct what they had done wrong, no matter how serious. That is a part that was only written to have a good resolution. The plot line of this book flows very smoothly so that is why it is very logical and makes total sense. Unlike most books where events are scattered all over the place and don't make sense together until the end, this book feels as if it was always united from the beginning. I do not think this book has left out anything. The feelings he put in the book combined with the smooth plot line makes this book a heartwarming story. Even though this book is not mysterious, the book can still urge you to read on like all books. This is a worthwhile and emotional book to read.

Elixir

The author of the book "Elixir" is a canadian and the book takes place in Toronto. This book is about a girl named Ruth who is stuck in the University of Toronto because her mom is hired as a cleaning women in the university. Ruth finds out that the people in the building are testing on animals and she tries to stop it. Ruth felts torn between Dr. Banting and the protestors. Ruth also feels sorry for the animals in the kennel. I really like this book because it is educational, and has issues and facts. Elixer is very emotional much like Eric Walter books like "Run" and "I Have a Idea". It is the second best book i've read. I recomend this book because it is one of my favorite books and also because it is very emotional and makes you think. I would say that Eric Walters is a very good writer and will continue to write more award winning novels. If I could professionaly rate this book I would give it a 10 out of 10. This book is great and if you want to read a good book then read this book and find some issues that you want. BY: Hina Zahoor

Elixir

The novel Elixir is written by the award-winning Canadian author , Eric Walters. A a teacher, he understands about what children like, respond to, and are inspired by. His books for children and young adults are acclaimed by teachers, parents and reviewers, and have won more than 30 awards. This novel, Elixir, takes place in Canada, at the University of Toronto, and it is based on the true story of Dr. Fred Banting, who discovered a treatment for diabetes. Twelve-year-old Ruth has to spend most of her summer at the university because her mother is hired as a cleaning woman there. Ruth befriended Dr.Banting and Mr. Best, who are doing research on diabetes to find a cure for it. Everything seems to be settled and relaxed. But when Ruth found out that Dr.Banting is doing animal testing, she becomes upset. When a group of animal right protesters shows up in front of the medical research building and tries to enroll Ruth's support, she feels torn between animal rights and medical research, and mostly, sympathy for animals and loyalty to Dr.Banting. This is a great realistic novel. The author ingeniously lead the story into many real-life facts and issues, and presented them in a way that young readers would accept easily and gives the readers a space to really think. Written in a twelve-year-old girl's point of view, this story is full of emotions, feelings and thoughts. the story leads readers through many ups and downs of the young girl's feeling toward the complication of animal testing, sometimes the readers would find themselves having some empathy with her. I think that's the best thing of this book: the emotions and feelings are very true. Also, the author added a slight humour and suspense into the text, so even though this may not be a very exciting story, it still catches the readers now and then, making them wondering what is going to happen next. If you are looking for a realistic novel that is interesting to read and full of facts and issues at the same time, then Elixir would be the very right book for you.