By: Robert Cormier Publisher: Laurel Leaf Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Laurel Leaf Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 208 Publication Date: April 01, 1991 Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: March 01, 1991
Product Description: Meet seventeen-year-old Mike, who visits his grandmother's bedside and learns a family secret.
A divorced father who discovers only love, not bribes, can keep his daughter 'his' on Thursdays.
And Jerry, a young boy desperately looking for the missing Grover Cleveland card to complete his set of president cards.
Here are nine stories by Robert Cormier, one of the most gifted writers of young adult fiction today; stories that are warm, touching, and intensely personal--to be savored by readers of all ages.
A Writing Teacher's Perspective Fine craftmanship is the hallmark for Robert Cormier's storytelling abilities. This book is different from his other works. Each short story begins with an introduction that focuses on a different concept for writing. He not only tells the story, the introduction tells how he came up with the story idea. For example, the introduction to the first story focuses on choosing your perspective when writing. The themes of the story are love and the agony of middle age. Mr. Cormier uses the short stories to model his craftmanship for other writers. If you are looking for his usual work, this book isn't like the others and you might want to keep looking. If you are looking for insight into the craftmanship of writing, this is a great book!
Only sporadically interesting. Eight Plus One is a collection of short stories inspired by Cormier's life as a father and teenager - three set during the great depression, four from the view of a father, and five as a teenager.
`The Moustache' is from the view of a teenager who grows a moustache. He visits his grandmother, who thinks he is her husband.
`Mine on Thursday' describes a father's weekly day-out with his natural daughter. He lets her go on a ride in a fun park, but she comes out depressed from the experience. The father comes to realises that he does not own his daughter on Thursday.
`Another of Mikes Girls' shows how a teenager guy goes out with an attractive girl, but eventually split up. The father, who narrates the story, knows that she was just another of Mike's Girls.
`President Cleveland, where are you?' is set during the depression where card collecting and trading was the trend.
`A bad time for Fathers' shows the depressing time for a father when his daughter leaves to college.
`Protestants Cry, too', is a short story on religious discrimination, where a Canadian teenager becomes engaged to a Protestant.
`Guess What? I Almost Kissed my father Goodnight', is the story of a teenager's discovery that his father is all too human.
`My first Negro' shows how an African American and a White American can be friends if they break the barrier of discrimination.
`Benny Berigan - Wasn't he a Musician or Something?' is a short story of a father's friend leaving his wife for another woman who, though extremely attractive, will one day loose her beauty.
My Review Have you ever felt like you were living the story that you were reading? Well that is how I felt reading 8 Plus 1 by Robert Cormier. It is a collection of 9 short stories. The one that I enjoyed the most was the story called "Bunny Berigan----Wasn't He a Musician or Something." In this story I felt like it was very detailed, you just get trapped into the story. I liked the fact that Robert Cormier was so specific about the story that he just made me feel as if I knew the characters and as if I was part of the story. I felt like it related to everyday life, it wasn't just fiction story, I felt as it was very realistic. It is stuff that could happen every day. It was kind of difficult at the same time because they are all different stories but the characters are all kind of in the same setting and situation, for example he used the same characters and the same situations in a couple of the stories.( when I first started to read it I thought it was all one big story). The stories are all in the same setting and in the same time period. Also the stories are all kind of based on family issues and depression for all of settings of all the stories. I have heard that Robert Cormier actually put together stuff that actually has happened to him and created it in to this book. I think that it just is amazing to be so open about your whole life. In conclusion I thought that the book 8 Plus 1 was pretty awesome it had some bad and some good, but mostly good. It was very interesting.
Rather. . . pointless As much as I hate to admit this, 8+1 was so flat and monotonous that I could barely finish it. Cormier's purposeless stories meant nothing to my mind, and as the ALAN Reviews calls him "a sensitive loving writer", I prefer the Cormier that writes the engaging, page-turning thrillers that I've read before. Much rather than this insignifigant collection.
A Review on 8 Plus 1 8 plus 1 is a very well known book by Robert Cormier. This book is intended for young adults. Cormiers draws from his past life experiences to come up with his fictional yet realistic characters and plots. For instance he uses the Depression as a setting for many of his stories. The stories include everyday and sometimes sensitive themes for the growing generation, like stereotyping and prejudice issues. Before each story, Cormier uses an introduction to each story to give a general backround. By reading this book, I have gained a stronger sense of life through his character's problems and solutions. These interesting and ever maturing characters with their suspensueful plots kept me constantly intertwined with the story. The following are less desirable qualities about the book. For the fact that Cormier uses the same characters for some of his stories, it makes it a little confusing. Also some other events that he uses for his plot are offensive or perhaps shocking to a more sensitive viewer. Overall, Robert Cormier uses themes that involve regularly occurring problems that previous authors dared not venture.
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