World Famous Comics: The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
By: E.L. Konigsburg Publisher: Aladdin Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Aladdin Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 304 Publication Date: December 20, 2005 Reading Level: Ages 9-12
That's Margaret Rose Kane's response to every activity she's asked to participate in at the summer camp to which she's been exiled while her parents are in Peru. So Margaret Rose is delighted when her beloved uncles rescue her from Camp Talequa, with its uptight camp director and cruel cabinmates, and bring her to stay with them at their wonderful house at 19 Schuyler Place.
But Margaret Rose soon discovers that something is terribly wrong at 19 Schuyler Place. People in their newly gentrified neighborhood want to get rid of the three magnificent towers the uncles have spent forty-five years lovingly constructing of scrap metal and shards of glass and porcelain. Margaret Rose is outraged, and determined to strike a blow for art, for history, and for individuality...and no one is more surprised than Margaret Rose at the allies she finds for her mission.
Amazon.com: Twelve year old Margaret Rose Kane is incorrigible. Not only does she refuse to bend to the will of her manipulative cabin mates at Camp Talequa, she stands up to and inadvertently insults the camp director and Queen-in-residence, Mrs. Kaplan. The intimidating and cruel confrontations that threaten to break Margaret's spririt only serve to strengthen her resolve, and everyone is happy when Margaret is finally banished/rescued from Camp Talequa. Luckily for her, with her parents in Peru, this means she can spend the rest of the summer with her delightfully eccentric Hungarian great-uncles, Alexander and Morris Rose. Margaret adores her great-uncles, and loves the house at 19 Schuyler Place--especially the three peculiar clock towers (tall painted structures covered in pendants made from broken china, crystal, bottles, jars, and clock parts) that the Rose brothers have been building for as long as she can remember. For Margaret and the Rose brothers, the towers represent beauty for beauty's sake--they sparkle in the sun and sing in the wind--they exist only to spread joy. Not everyone loves the towers however, and forty-five years after the birth of the project, the city council declares the towers "unsafe," and demands that they be dismantled and destroyed. Filled with the same fiery resolve that helped her survive Camp Talequa, Margaret (with the help of a handyman named Jake, a loyal dog named Tartufo, and few other unexpected allies) launches a plan to save the towers in the name of art, history, and beauty.
A companion novel to the award-winning author's acclaimed Silent to the Bone, Outcasts is strikingly unique, incredibly interesting, and, with references to "Bartleby the Scrivener", and the rose windows of Notre Dame, exceptionally literary. In other words, The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place is vintage Konigsburg. This quirky masterpiece will be enjoyed by young fans of Konigsburg’s other erudite works, and Polly Horvath’s The Canning Season.. (Ages 10 and older)
Thumbs Down for Outcasts Perhaps I an too old to get it, but I bought this book as a read for my students before putting it in the class library. This book is so boring that school has long since been over here in Florida and seconds from beginning and I have not completed this story. I would not recommend this particular story. But, if you are a fan, then go for it. Just not my cup of tea...
Great book! This book was nominated for the Massachusetts Children's Book Award for the 2006-07 school year. The students in my class who read it, enjoyed it. It was an interesting story.
the outcasts of 19 shhuler place amazing, if you want a book about if you want to save something do what ever you can to save it.
Book Review
"I prefer not to" those are the words of Margaret Rose Kane she says them every time she is asked to do a summer camp activity. Actually she doesn't really want to be at this summer camp at all but she is forced to while her parents are in Peru. The summer camp experience would not last for long though as her uncles come and rescue her from the apprehensive camp director and the cruel cabin mates. They bring her back to their exquisite house at 19 Schuyler Place. This story takes place in the year of 1983 when many things happen. For example Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space but in the town of Epiphany something even more exciting is happening! As you know the main character in this book is Margaret Rose Kane who also is the one who is telling the story. Some other main characters are her uncles Alexander Rose and Morris Rose. Also there is the camp director, the very strict Mrs. Kaplan and her son Jake Kaplan. Jake isn't as bad as his mother and actually helps Margaret. Some final important characters are Margaret's cabin mates, Peter Vanderwaal and Loretta Bevilaqua who also help Margaret. When you read this book you will instantly get hooked. After Margaret gets home from her awful camp experience she learns why her uncles did really want her to stay with them. In the uncles back yard they have everything from peppers to roses but most of all 3 amazing towers that the uncles have been building for the past 45 years. The towers were made of steel and they were built like a network of ribs which cast more light than shadow, almost like a spider web. All of the towers also had rungs on them, from each rung hung thousands of chips of glass and shards from porcelain and the inner workings of old clocks. They were of all different colors and different sizes making each and every one of them unique. Margaret is appalled to find out that the city has demanded that the tower must come down because they are not safe and could fall in something like a wind storm and damage property. Margaret is astonished by this and tries to do everything it takes to save the towers even if she needs a little help. This book had many good scenes and in my personal opinion was one of the greatest books I have ever read. It could go into a little more detail though. Also in the very end of the book I think it should have explained a little more about what she was doing. This book could definitely have a sequel. All in all this is a must read book for any age. It's a great book that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time you're reading it. I would recommend this book to anybody because it is an all around book that anybody would enjoy!
The Outcasts - A Great Book Margaret never wanted to go to summer camp. She wanted to go to Peru on a mission with her parents, or stay with her uncles. The brothers live together and own a watch shop. They build towers out of clock parts. Her parents insist that she will love camp, but she is determined not to. When the girls go water skiing she refuses, she does this for many of the camp activities.
I enjoyed the book because Margaret's camp life was interesting. The girls didn't like her because she refused to go by her camp nickname. The girls pulled pranks on her. One of the meanest tricks the played was peeing on her bed, to make the counselor think Margaret wet the bed. Because of this she was given the nickname dippers. The head counselor called Margaret's uncle to come pick her up. Her uncle didn't have a car so the camp handyman was assigned to drive Margaret and her uncle home. The handyman, Jake, is assigned to drive them home. Jake is the soon of the camp owner, he becomes friends with Margaret and her uncle on the drive home.
This story has an interesting and original plot. The handyman Jake, is also quite the artist, he volunteers to paint a rose mural in Margaret's room. Margaret accepts. Jake falls in love with the towers, and is shocked when Margaret tells him they are about to be torn down. The historical comity for the historic section of town the uncles live in has deemed them to as not historically accurate. The uncles have tried to save them but their neighbors don't let them win. Margaret contacts two former neighbors who love the towers one, Peter, works for an art museum and decides to form a comity of art experts to save the towers. Margaret also contacts Loretta, who is a lawyer for a phone company. She plans to save the tower by using the law for her. She orders Margaret to buy the towers from her uncles and get the deed. She buys them for a dollar.
The book's ending was very suspenseful. With Jake's help Margaret plans to chain herself to the towers to prevent them from being taken down. The construction workers come, but cant get Margaret down so they leave they come back and try to hose her down. The people from Juvenile detention center come and take her away. With her one phone call she calls Jake. Jake gathers all the girls from Margaret's cabin. Jake reminds them how mean they were to her and convinces them to come help her. He takes them to Margaret's house and they climb the towers. News people get coverage of the girls in the towers. Loretta is able to convince her company to buy the towers and use them as cell towers, the towers are taken to a nearby park, where they become cell towers, and remain landmarks.
This book was a quick read. It was original, suspenseful, and interesting. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a good book, but I think middle school girls would like it most.
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