Caramel reviews Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman

Today Caramel is talking to Sprinkles about a book he has been reading for his English class: Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman, originally published in 2004.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, can you start us off by telling us a bit about the book? 

Caramel: Okay, it’s about a kid named Blake, who’s going to college at 16, and he is sort of a scaredy cat, at least about roller coasters.

S: Well, roller coasters can be really terrifying. 

C: True, but this kid seems to be scared of all of them, while his little brother Quinn is not afraid of anything.

S: Hmm, okay, I am sensing that you kind of liked Quinn more. 

C: He sounds a lot more like a real kid, you know? But basically, he’s just not scared of many things. Anyways, the first thing that happens in the book is that Blake, Quinn, and Blake’s friends Russ and Maggie are at a theme park. Blake wins a game, and then he is given a teddy bear by a strange and mysterious girl named Cassandra. He takes the teddy bear home and inside is a ticket to another theme park.

S: That sounds curious. Then what happens?

C: When the two boys come home, they learn that their mom is engaged, and the two brothers get into a fight over the engagement. Quinn is not happy about the engagement but Blake is more accepting. 

S: It is a tough issue of course. 

C: Sure, I agree. Anyways, the brother then is found in a comatose state, and Blake sees carnival lights in Quinn’s open eyes.

S: That’s freaky! And kind of scary!

C: Yeah, Blake then takes his two friends and goes to the theme park that belonged to the ticket he had found in his teddy bear, and he finds a carnival.

S: This is getting weirder and scarier.

C: Yes. And did I mention that it is the middle of the night? 

S: No wonder Wikipedia describes this book as a “psychological thriller” and a “fast paced horror thriller”! I am already getting all tense here, and I have not even read the book.

C: Yep, the book is kind of tense, but it’s a kind of tense that makes you wanna keep reading.

S: I guess that is a good kind of tense. Okay, go on. 

C: At the carnival they witness some weird stuff. They have to go on some rides and each of them is weird. And real! I mean one can get really hurt.

S: Not like the holodeck on Star Trek?

C: Well, actually kind of exactly like the holodeck when the safety measures are offline. 

S: I see. So the kids have to ride several rides and they are in real danger?

C: Yes. Actually they have to ride seven rides before dawn and finish them without failing. And to add to it, Blake sees his brother Quinn is there, too, riding these dangerous rides and is not taking things seriously at all. 

S: And of course Blake is very worried, I can imagine. 

C: Yeah, and he learns that Cassandra is in charge of the carnival, but I shouldn’t spoil it any more.

S: Okay, that makes sense. You have already gotten us deep into the book and all tensed up. So let us talk a bit about the book in another way. It was good at making you feel the tension, I understood that. But tell us also about the characters. You liked Quinn and kind of found Blake a bit too much of a scaredy cat, but did they feel like real people? How about Russ and Maggie? 

C: Yeah, the story is told from Blake’s point of view, so you get a pretty good sense of him and his view of things. And the others are just his friends, and they all feel quite normal to me. 

S: What about Cassandra? I mean it seems she is kind of a mysterious character. Is that how she felt to you as you were reading the book?

C: Cassandra never seemed normal, but Blake knows why now. And I do too, but I cannot tell. I don’t want to spoil the whole thing. 

S: Okay, I won’t push then. All in all, this seems like a pretty neat book, and you got to read it for your English class. Did you have many discussions in class about it? 

C: Yeah, it was neat! 

S: Okay, cool. Would you then recommend this book to other bunnies?

C: Yes, but probably not the very young ones. It is really tense and younger bunnies can get scared. 

S: The picture on the cover is scary too!

C: Yeah, it is kind of how you can picture the characters in that weird carnival. Maybe it is good that it is scary because younger bunnies won’t want to read it. 

S: I agree. I found the cover picture quite scary myself. It makes sense a bit more now that you told me about the book. So okay, I think this is a good place to wrap up this review. 

C: Sure. Let’s do that. 

S: What do you wish to tell our readers then? 

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!