Gillian McDunn
Author of Caterpillar Summer
Works by Gillian McDunn
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- United States of America
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Statistics
- Works
- 7
- Members
- 345
- Popularity
- #69,185
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 20
- ISBNs
- 41
- Languages
- 1
I get what this one is trying to do, but I don’t think it works. Elliott is just…not a likable character. And I get that the author is trying to give him a growth arc (from so hyper-focused on something that he’s unaware that he’s being offensive to other people’s feelings, to having a wider appreciation for the fact that those other opinions can also be valid), but the beginning of that arc is painted with too strong a brush stroke and with way too much paint, so that it’s difficult to redeem the character in a believable way. There’s also too much of Elliott’s inner dialogue that tries to be clever/funny and instead feels forced, which makes it easy to pull back the curtain to see the adult author behind there pretending to be a kid. It just didn’t work for me. To be fair, I think that that must be the most difficult part of writing for children: getting those young voices right and authentic. And I honestly think it’s rarely done really well.… (more)