When I Was Older

by Garret Weyr, also Freymann-Weyr

Book Overview

Sophie Merdinger is convinced that she s a wretched daughter, a nonexistent girlfriend, and a sister who can t remember one tiny thing about her brother. Two years ago her little brother, Erhart, died... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142300934
• ISBN13: 9780142300930
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 167 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.0" x 7.1"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7

Customer Reviews

Heart-stopping Tale of Real Life for People Young & Old

Freymann-Weyr's "When I Was Older" is perceptive, lovely, & heart-stopping, a book both for young & not so young. The issues it dramatizes apply to everyone. The focus is on a young girl who faces & grows into early maturity: she must deal with the death of her brother, her own low self-esteem, her awareness of loss, her response to becoming herself an object of attraction to boys, & her new awareness of the complicated but ordinary world of her parents, including her father's affair. The narrative flows gracefully from the heroine's center of consciousness outward toward the world of real things & of other people. The writing is elegantly colloquial, sharply evocative. The dramatic situations are vividly realized. If there's anything wrong with the novel it's that it is too short. But that is a given of the genre, I suppose. And there's always, I hope, the possibility of a sequal.

I couldn't stop reading...

This is a funny, moving, story that kept me reading till the last word, and then I didn't want it to end. The dialogue is so on target, and the feelings so real. I loved the whole idea of a girl growing into a person without having to give up what makes her different from the cookiecutter types on tv or in movies. I wanted to know more about Sophie, Francis, their families, and how they all sort themselves out.

a tender, loving, funny book

I meant just to skim this book, but it grabbed me right with the first sentence, and then the story kept me locked in till I had read it all. It's a convincing and vivid look at a fifteen year old girl's struggle to take the problems of her life (death, divorce, swim team, boys -- you know the drill) seriously but with humor. A good, interesting, read.

A Novel About the Wisdom of Youth

In this vibrant, engrossing novel, Sophie takes you on a tour of what it's like to be a teenager in the 21st century. Between swim practice and English essays there is trying to cope with family and friends and learning about what love is. Readers of all ages will be drawn in and unconciously given a dose of life medicine. Freymann-Weyr's grip on all of the angst and humor that comes with growing up hits the spot. I highly recommend this book.

A Book For All Ages

The publisher is sorely mistaken, I think, in placing this book in the 9-to-12 children's category; the story will hold at least as much interest for teenagers and their parents and grandparents as for younger readers. The tale is a timely one, full of nuance, and beautifully told. While simple enough to be understood by children, it works on many levels and will more than adequately reward readers of any age. I am 73 and male, and found it perfectly fascinating.