Thwonk

by Joan Bauer

Book Overview

From the Newbery Honor author of Hope Was Here , Thwonk is a delightful story overflowing with funny, stylish writing. Imagine having a personal cupid--an actual winged being--pop into your life and offer to make your dreams come true. The catch is he can help you in only one way: artistically, academically, or romantically. That's what happens to aspiring photographer Allison Jean (A. J.) McCreary. A. J. knows she should concentrate on getting into...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142404292
• ISBN13: 9780142404294
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Thwonk

Allison Jean McCreary or A.J. as her friends call her, is a senior. She has a talent for photography and is dying to go to art school. She is artistic and has a great imagination. But, on the other hand she is obsessed with Peter Terris, a guy from school, and she has liked him for five months. Then all of the sudden a cupid shows up and offers A.J. one wish. This one wish can help A.J. in only one way: artistically, academically, or romantically. She has to pick one of these things. Would she want to go to art school and have a great career in photography, or will she choose the love of her life, Peter? She knows that she should concentrate on going to a top-quality school, but of course, A.J. picks... I thought this book was really good and interesting. I liked it because it was not boring and it was like the life of a teenager, even though, you know that a real cupid cannot really come into your life. But overall I thought this book was very exciting and well written.

V-day gone Bad

Imagine your sixteen years old and you're a junior in high school. You've got your eye on the popular jock who's way out of your league. Another Valentine's Day is appoarching and you are again dateless. It's not like you're ugly or anything. You've had boyfriends, plenty of them! But when Valentine's Day rolls around the boyfriends just seem to dissappear. As this Valentine's Day appoarches you a get a special gift, a personal cupid. Welcome to life of A.J. McCreay. An average high school junior who finds out what love really is.

Different, comical teen romance

A.J. McCreary, ace photographer, has only two problems: her father's refusal to acknowledge her talent and her unrequited adoration of hunky, popular Peter Terris, foxiest of the foxy guys and boyfriend of evilly beautiful Julia Hart. Suddenly, A.J.'s life is invaded by a tiny cupid named Jonathan, armed with magical arrows, sarcasm, and help for the cosmically confused. Will A.J. learn to look beyond appearances? Or will she be content to "date royalty", no matter his personality?After reading typical teen romances, this is a refreshing change of pace. The story is told with the kind of irony and humor that Joan Bauer is known for, and girls will easily sypathzize with the confused, lost A.J. and her search for truth through photography and true love. I reccomend any book by Joan Bauer(Squashed, Rules of the Road) for teenage girls, and even older ones(my mom loves her books).

One word: WOW!

This book was the perfect book for me, a 14 year old girl, and I definetly think any teen, no matter what age or sex, whether a "geek" or "cool person" will agree. I found myself relating to so many aspects of this book: A crush turned obsession, feeling like the person you adore doesn't know you exist, parents which push you in the direction you don't want to go, making a hard decision, regreting something which at the time seemed good, feeling embarassed...the list goes on and on. I was so amazed when reading it I felt as if the author identified with teens so well, that she must have read my own personal diary. If you have not read this book, you definetly should.

A good find for any teenage cynic

Thwonk, is an excellent book for a teen who, like myself, scorns ordinary, flouncy teen romance novels (or romance novels period). The story journals A.J. a gifted, but somewhat tortured photographer, who is in her last year of high school and is plagued by several problems many students go through: One, being friction between her fathers pushing for her to enroll in a good liberal arts or bussiness school and get a "useful" degree and her desire to enroll in an art school to study photography. Another, being the common fretting over grades and exams. The last, the one that seems most important to her, the fact that she's seventeen years old and is having trouble holding on to a boyfriend, constantly picking up jerks and players. A.J. sets her sights on Peter Terris, who unfortunately is way out of the question. But when something extraordinary happens and A.J. is given the opportunity to magically wipe away one of the many problems plagueing her, she has to decide whether getting into the college of her choice or patching it up with dad, or getting Peter Terris (the one the most frivilous, but seems most benefitial at the time). Will the wishes be all they're cracked up to be? Bauer deleviers this story with humor and sarcasm any teenage cynic will appreciate.