Never Mind!: A Twin Novel

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7-Seventh-grade twins Edward and Meg are the first to proclaim that they are as different as night and day; Edward is a puny free spirit who attends an "alternative" middle school, while Meg is a control freak with low self-esteem. The twins take turns telling the story of how Meg's desire to fit in with the popular girls in her elite school and Edward's inability to resist taking his sister down a peg result in a fabrication of monstrous proportions. Soon everyone at Meg's school thinks she has a tall, gorgeous, rock star brother named Ted, a fiction that Edward (unbeknownst to Meg) encourages by impersonating Ted on the phone. The voices of the twins are eerily realistic and convincing, from Edward's choppy, casual comments on life to Meg's anguished ruminations. The readiness of most characters to believe whatever people tell them, leading to ludicrous misunderstandings, requires a willing suspension of disbelief, but the way events rapidly spin out of control makes this an enticing read for boys and girls alike. The climax, during which Edward's makeshift band does NOT suddenly become the next Nirvana, is hysterically funny and over-the-top, yet completely realistic. The twins' dawning tolerance and appreciation of one another at the end is a little pat considering their earlier violent antipathy, but also quite a relief. Light, fun, and sure to be popular.Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public LibraryCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 5-7. Meg and Edward are twins, but they couldn't be more different and they don't get along. She is tall, smart, and pretty, and she has just been invited to joint the High Achievers' Club at her special middle school. He is the world's biggest loser, an immature, runty underachiever. She is terrified her fancy friends will find out about him. Two of today's best writers tell the story in the twins' alternating narratives, and they have a huge amount of fun with a plot that cuts down the high-achiever snobs and reveals how smart people can fall for their own vain fantasies. Edward shows that his clever sister is "not too swift," and his narrative is hilarious--wry, touching, and very smart. The dialogue is great, especially the conversations that reveal how hard it is to listen and to say what you mean. The twins' caring parents talk to Meg about the need to communicate, but they don't listen when she tries to tell them she lied. Don't look too closely at the plot; it's too farcical to be really credible. But the wit and slapstick carry the story, which has moments of sadness that raise serious issues everyone will recognize. Best of all is the message: laugh at yourself. Readers will. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description

Edward and Meg are like night and day, oil and water. Meg zigs while Edward zags. How could two such different people be twins? Well, they are, but they don't have to like it -- or each other.

Seventh grade means different schools for the pair: Brainy Meg's at ultracompetitive Fischer, while Charlton Street Alternative School is the place for freewheeling Edward. Oddly enough, it's just when Edward and Meg are finally out of each other's shadows that the trouble begins.

Within just a week, Meg's aspirations for popularity, imaginary boyfriend, and angst over a terrible yellow ensemble her mother has chosen combine with Edward's devious planning, lack of singing ability, and top-secret soft spot to set off a showdown the likes of which twindom has never before seen.

How is it, then, that this final showdown is so much fun? Could it be that Meg and Edward are more alike than they thought?

ANNOTATION

Twelve-year-old New York City twins Meg and Edward have nothing in common, so they are just as shocked as everyone else when Meg's hopes for popularity and Edward's mischievous schemes coincidentally collide in a hilarious showdown.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Ask Avi how you know when you're a real writer and his answer is simple: "I think you become a writer when you stop writing for yourself or your teachers and start thinking about readers." Avi made up his mind to do that when he was just a senior in high school.

Avi was born in 1937 in New York City and was raised in Brooklyn. Kids often ask him about his name. "My twin sister gave it to me when we were both about a year old. And it stuck." To this day, Avi is the only name the author uses.

As a kid, Avi says, he was "shy, not into sports, but someone who loved to read and play games of imagination." He did not consider himself a good student, though. "In elementary school I did well in science, but I was a poor writer. When I got to high school I failed all my courses. Then my folks put me in a small school that emphasized reading and writing." What made him want to become a writer? "Since writing was important to my family, friends and school, it was important to me. I wanted to prove that I could write. But it took years before I had a book published."

Avi didn't start off as an author of children's books but as a playwright. It was only when he had children of his own that he started to write for young people.

When asked if writing is hard for him, Avi gives an unequivocal YES. "But," he goes on, "it's hard for everyone to write well. I have to rewrite over and over again, so on average it takes me a year to write a book." Where does he get his ideas? "Everybody has ideas. The vital question is: What do you do with them? My wife, a college teacher, uses her ideas to understand literature. My rock musician sons shapetheir ideas in to music. I take my ideas and turn them into stories."

Avi's advice for people who want to write: "I believe reading is the key to writing. the more you read, the better your writing can be." He adds, "Listen, and watch the world around you. Don't be satisfied with answers others give you. Don't assume that because everyone believes a thing, that it is right or wrong. Reason things out for yourself. Work to get answers on your own. Understand why you believe things. Finally, write what you honestly feel, then learn from the criticism that will always come your way."

Avi's many award-winning books for young readers include the Newbery Medal-winning Crispin: Cross of Lead, the Newbery Honor Books Nothing But the Truth and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, as well as the Tales from Dimwood Forest, including Poppy, winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, Poppy and Rye, Ragweed, and Ereth's Birthday. His many other books include tales of mystery, fantasy, and historical fiction for young readers of all ages.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Collaborating on a novel alternately narrated by middle-grade twins, Newbery Medalist Avi (Crispin) and Vail (the Friendship Ring books) invent a sit-comish plot but redeem it by endowing their characters with strong voices and relaying their mishaps with plenty of wit. Entering seventh grade, Meg and Edward Runyon attend different schools for the first time. Meg has been accepted to a gifted and talented program (she confesses that she is neither gifted nor talented, just always tries "too hard"), while less academically inclined Edward opts for an alternative school. Resentment and rivalry kick in when Edward eavesdrops on desperate-to-impress Meg's phone conversation with the popular, snobbish Kimberly Wu Woodson and hears himself renamed Ted and described as the star of an almost-famous rock band. To pay Meg back, Edward becomes Ted, calls up Kimberly and agrees to have his band (he calls it Never Mind) perform at her party the following Saturday night. Avi and Vail let each twin take turns recounting the events of the intervening days as (predictably) complications multiply and tempers flare, and witty remarks rebound and insights come into focus. Although this novel doesn't measure up to either author's usual work, it vibrantly expresses universal tween woes, and underneath the hokey set-up, the characters' growth feels realistic and rewarding. Ages 10-up. (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Rihoko Ueno

Meg and Edward are twins but they are such opposites that it is hard to believe they are related. Meg is tall, studious and ambitious whereas Edward is short, free-spirited and rebellious. Personalities this different cannot stay in the same place for long without sparring so the twins' parents place them in separate schools—but if the two are so happy to be apart, why is it that both Meg and Edward both go out of their way to intrude on each other's social life? In alternating chapters, Meg and Edward talk about seventh grade and the party of the year that changes the way everyone views the twins as well as the way they view themselves and their fractious relationship. The novel is funny and is well paced. Meg, always the straight-laced student, and Edward, eternally up to mischief, come across as caricatures at times but both find some personal balance by the end. Readers who feel they just cannot relate to their siblings will find this book entertaining. 2004, HarperCollins Publishers, Ages 10 to 13.

KLIATT - Michele Winship

Meg and Edward are twins, but as different as night and day. Meg looks almost grown-up and is a star athlete. Edward is small, uncoordinated and prefers video games. Meg has tons of friends. Edward has one. Meg tries too hard. Edward just gets by. And, at the beginning of their seventh grade year, Meg has transferred to a school for the gifted and talented, leaving her friends and especially Edward behind. All of the popular girls belong to the "High Achiever's Club," and Meg desperately wants to fit in. So desperately that she makes up a little white lie about her brother that snowballs out of control. Little does Meg realize, though, that the connection between twins can go beyond the obvious into the almost absurd. In alternating chapters with two distinct characters, Avi and Vail tell the tale of a week turned inside out and upside down on parallel tracks that are destined to converge. Readers find themselves rooting for Meg, and then rooting for Edward. And if you think you know how the story will end, never mind! Identity and acceptance, the twin motivators of adolescence, are given a light touch in this funny and fast-paced novel in two voices. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 2004, HarperCollins, 208p., Ages 12 to 15.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-7-Seventh-grade twins Edward and Meg are the first to proclaim that they are as different as night and day; Edward is a puny free spirit who attends an "alternative" middle school, while Meg is a control freak with low self-esteem. The twins take turns telling the story of how Meg's desire to fit in with the popular girls in her elite school and Edward's inability to resist taking his sister down a peg result in a fabrication of monstrous proportions. Soon everyone at Meg's school thinks she has a tall, gorgeous, rock star brother named Ted, a fiction that Edward (unbeknownst to Meg) encourages by impersonating Ted on the phone. The voices of the twins are eerily realistic and convincing, from Edward's choppy, casual comments on life to Meg's anguished ruminations. The readiness of most characters to believe whatever people tell them, leading to ludicrous misunderstandings, requires a willing suspension of disbelief, but the way events rapidly spin out of control makes this an enticing read for boys and girls alike. The climax, during which Edward's makeshift band does NOT suddenly become the next Nirvana, is hysterically funny and over-the-top, yet completely realistic. The twins' dawning tolerance and appreciation of one another at the end is a little pat considering their earlier violent antipathy, but also quite a relief. Light, fun, and sure to be popular.-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews