A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove

I have read many reviews for this book and am surprised about the amount of people who enjoyed this book. As an avid reader, I will happily devour any book that is set in front of me. I had to read this book for book for English and I have to say that I didn't enjoy it.

The actual way the book was written in a was good, but I grew to detest the characters and the plot. I found the main themes of the book were very repetitive and the storyline bored and frustrated me. Carl was a 15 year old with a tragic storyline and plenty of insecurities. While some people sympathised with the boy, I found him to be the stereotypical insecure teenager. Admittedly, he was living a difficult life, but I got a bit sick of the poor me routine.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone I know, but if you are into very finding youself-y family novels, then this book is for you.

Reader reviewed by Zoe Koster

My name is Zoe Koster, and I am a 15 year old reader of 'A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove' by James Moloney.
I absolutely love this book. I'm doing an assignment on it at school. I truly admire the sense of writing James Moloney does. I love the way he makes me feel as if I am in the story when I read it. I also admire the way he throws words together, and makes similies with them. His writing is amazing. One day, I'd love to meet him. That's a real writer!

Reader reviewed by Cheryl

I found it really hard to read Bridge to Wisemans cove. It wouldnt be my choice but I suppose it shows a great highlight to other critics. I found the ending great though.

Reader reviewed by Anthonyy

A Bridge to Wisemans Cove is a very emotional book. It is about a boy named Carl, whose mother and sister has left him and leaves his little brother in his hands to look and care for. Carl was very depressed and extremely shy after his mother left and because he was shy of his fat. He then went to live with his aunt Beryl who was very mean and uncaring. He met a lady named Joy who found him a fulltime job at the barge in Wisemans cove. She was the mother of Maddie, the girl that he likes, and she is best friends with Justine. During the novel Joy takes care of Carl and Harley and soon allows Carl and Harley to live with them.

 

Carl soon changes, and becomes more confident and less shy about his fat. He also begins to open up and show his true feelings of his grief about his mother, he shows his grief to Justine and Joy and learns to reconcile his relationship with his mother.

Reader reviewed by stef :)

A Bridge to Wisemans Cove is a good book. It deals a lot with the issues of teenage life and family drama. I can tell that a lot of teens can relate to these issues especially self esteem. The reasons I like this book is that it can help a lot of teenagers get through their problems and can look at Carl as a sort of role model. I read this book for year 9 English and I believe that its suitable for our age group as we understand how Carl feels with some of these issues. In the book Carl goes through many changes with his feelings, self esteem and body images issues. He gains confidence and learns how it feels to have friends, love and lose family. The book makes you feel close to Carl and the other characters. It describes every feeling, issue and problem they go through which makes you understand whats happening even more. Overall I liked the book and I recommend that teens read it.

Reader reviewed by how ya doiin :)

A bridge to Wisemans cove is an alright book, but drags on for a long time. There are too many chapters in the book, which are really short. I probably wouldnt have read it, if we hadnt read it at school for English. The book gives an understanding on how some teenagers deal with family problems and how they cope. The book starts of with Carls mother leaving him, causing Carl and Harley to be sent off to Wattle beach to live with Beryl. Throughout the novel, Carl develops and understanding and realises that he can longer hide himself from the world. The book ends, with Carl and Harley finding a family who care about them. I would recommend the book for teenagers from 13-15 as they can relate to themes and topics in this book.

Reader reviewed by Happy Cheese Pizza Cake

A Bridge to Wisemans Cove Review                        

 

This book was very interesting and had a very happy, sad and amusing storyline. I think the book was well written and since it was written in third person so I understood what all the characters very well. I liked the themes of love and family which was shown by the kids being abandoned by their mother and being taken in by Joy Duncan. I think this is what made his book interesting.

 

In the book the main theme I believed was family. There were many family issues in the book with the tension between Harley, Carl and Aunt Beryl. Aunt Beryl does not welcome them as family. She is only interested in letting the boys stay so that she can obtain their social security payments. 

 

In the book Carl had issues with his body image and self-esteem. Carl was too self-conscious about his appearance He wore a t-shirt as a paltry ruse against public humiliation. (p44) This is common in most adolescence teens whom I would recommend this I book to.  

 

Overall this book is very interesting and in some parts amusing and is a pretty good book to read if you are in year 9 and you would probably like it too. Some parts are boring.

I rate this book 3 out of 5.

 

Reader reviewed by Marj Ouna

Well well well


were do i begin to all you lovers out there this book to me was a piece of my grammas home made apple pie ill tell you why I dont like his book for a couple main reason I dont like the substituting of the osprey to me seems like an idea the author came up with half way through a joint. To me the part at the start were matt is watching maddie seems a little perverted to little kids out there creeping on girls watching them change is a sick mind. To James Maloney out there you should try and include love in this novel with matt and maddie would please all those sick minded kids youve created.

Im not just going to talk about how bad the book was I will give it credit for the front cover but besides that I did not enjoy this book at all.

Reader reviewed by Lady gaga rox

The novel A Bridge to Wisemans Cove was in my opinion was a very touching, interesting and also very funny all at the same time. After reading the first 2 chapters I was hooked and ended up reading 3 times. The start of the book is very mysterious but has a very dramatic ending but also it also was a happy ending that satisfied all the characters.

James Moloney is one of the most talented authors that I know for writing such a magnificent and touching story. Also another reason why I think James is such a good author is that he included a whole lot of different themes in the story that helps the reader understand the concept of the story more.

One of the themes in the story is Family which is a huge part of this book. In the book Carl the main character has many troubles that deal with his family. The only thing that Carl wants is to have a happy and ordinary family. Some of the problems that Carl has with family are; his mother Kerry leaving him ho we find out is end all this time, Sarah his older sister leaves him and his younger brother, he has lots of trouble with his Aunt Beryl and there is much more.

The next most important theme is love which is also shown several times in the book. The big thing that has troubled Carl during the book is that he thinks his mother doesnt love him anymore but he soons finds out that she did love him but she died on the way back. Also some other examples that show love in the book include; Carl waiting at the bus stop near the Nugents store everyday to see if his mother has come, he always looks after Harley and also leaves school for him so they have a place to live, he also works very hard on Skips barge to pay his Aunt so she lets them stay.

Another important theme in the novel is Body Image. Body image is maybe one of the biggest things that keep Carl upset and scared to speak to others. Some examples of this are; when he goes to the beach he always wears a t-shirt so no one can see his big bulges of fat and also how he was too scared to talk to any of the kids in Wattle Beach because he thinks hey would tease him and laugh at him.

Overall this book was very interesting book that is something that I havent read before. So if you like drama and family themed books you will love this one

Reader reviewed by Dick Smith II

A Bridge to Wisemans Cove was an OK book. It shows a good sense of emotion, isolation and loneliness. This book also shows that family is like a puzzle if you lose a piece, its as though it can never be completed again. But sometimes you may find the few pieces which can fit into your puzzle and make it whole again. Replacement! J