Summerland

Much to my surprise, without even knowing it at first, I've managed to read my first "children's" book for this challenge. Summerland is written by Michael Chabon, widely known for his rich award-winning writing for adults. I purchased this book from my library's book sale, found in the adult section. After a few chapters, I noticed that the writing remained very light - still rich, but more at a 10-15 year old level. Coming in at exactly 500 pages, this book certainly was not an attempt to pad my reading rate or book total.

It turns out that this was Chabon's first (and only as of yet) attempt at writing for children. It follows the vein of the Narnia books and the Harry Potter series, books aimed at children but still very accessible to adults.

Summerland tells the tale of Ethan Feld, an ordinary boy who finds himself in an extraordinary situation. After a terrible baseball game (one of many for Feld), Ethan finds himself confronted by a mythical creature. This fairy-like character explains that he's being scouted for an otherworldly adventure. His baseball skills would be of most importance on this adventure, despite the fact that Feld was perhaps the worst player in his league.

Another mythical creature, a werefox, visits Ethan one day and takes him on a journey through the other worlds that exist in addition to the world he lives in. One of these is titled Summerland, and its world intersects with our world (Middling) in the baseball field where Ethan's baseball league plays. It happens to be a location where it never rains in the summer. However, the evil Coyote (a Satan-like character) is trying to erase all of the places where the different worlds meet. Not long after this tour of the worlds, Coyote's people kidnap Ethan's inventor father.

Ethan then is pressed into service, to rescue his father and prevent "Ragged Rock," the end of the universes. Joined by teammates Jennifer T. and Thor (a very strange child who thinks he's half robot), Ethan sets off on an adventure that he certainly will never forget. Along the way he meets up with baseball legends in fairy (or ferisher, the term used for them in the book) form, giants (including a midget giant), a sasquatch, were-animals of all sorts, and many other strange mythical creatures. Naturally, they play a lot of baseball, which happens to be a sport of great importance in all corners of the worlds.

Chabon exhibits a great mastery of writing through Summerland. In addition to weaving an enchanting story, Chabon has created a mythology that resonates well with folktales and American history. Much like J.R.R. Tolkien created the Lord of the Rings trilogy to provide England with its own mythology, Chabon has given life to an American mythology. He also succeeds in writing in a style accessible to both children (10 and up) and adults. His only failure is that his characters are a bit flatter than I would hope for in a Chabon book. That's it.

If you are a fan of fantasy, you may very well enjoy this book. Fans of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings would find much to love in the pages of Summerland.


Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

58/100 books...still well ahead of schedule!