Супер!

by Michael Morpurgo, Екатерина Митренцева

Десетгодишният Роби е блъснат от кола, докато се опитва да спаси своето кученце Лъки. Роби изпада в кома. Той чува, но не може да се движи и не може да говори. Не може да каже на семейството си колко много ги обича и колко отчаяно се опитва да се събуди от комата. При Роби идват много хора, които се мъчат да му помогнат. Идва дори прочутият Дзола от отбора на “Челси”. Дали със своята обич и вяра близките и приятелите на Роби ще успеят да го върнат от прага на смъртта?

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Animals, Novels, Middle Grade, Sports, Contemporary

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Sir Michael Andrew Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL is the author of many books for children, five of which have been made into films. He also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, he was evacuated to Cumberland during the last years of the Second World War, then returned to London, moving later to Essex. After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the army, he took up teaching and started to write. He left teaching after ten years in order to set up 'Farms for City Children' with his wife. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals. In 1999 this work was publicly recognised when he and his wife were invested a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to youth. In 2003, he was advanced to an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2004. He was knighted in the 2018 for his services to literature and charity. He is also a father and grandfather, so children have always played a large part in his life. Every year he and his family spend time in the Scilly Isles, the setting for three of his books.

Reviews

[Lynda]

A coma is a state of unconsciousness where a person is unresponsive and cannot be woken.

Imagine this. You are lying in a hospital bed, in a coma, apparently dead to what is happening around you. But you experience it all the same, hear what is being said about and to you, and try in vain to communicate with your loved ones and the world outside.

That is what happened to Robbie Ainsley, a 10 year old boy who spent over 6 weeks on a life support system in Wonford Hospital after being struck by a car outside his home. Robbie was chasing his beloved dog Lucky, who had escaped through the front gate to chase a neighbour's cat, as Robbie was about to take him for a walk to the park. The last memory Robbie has is of Lucky being struck by a car, before Robbie himself is hit.

"Lucky was out of the gate and into the road before I could stop him. I ran after him. I heard the car, heard the squeal of brakes, saw Lucky disappear underneath the wheels. But I never saw the car that hit me."

Lucky spying the neighbour's cat

Unimaginable, isn’t it? Locked in a coma, hearing medical staff discussing your case, without being able to join in. Robbie listened to his parents and sister talking to him, but was unable to respond. And he tried, fruitlessly, to work out how to make contact with them.

"If I'm going to be dead, I want there to be a heaven. But I don't want to go there yet, or anywhere else. I want to stay here, and I want to stay alive. I know that if I want to stay alive, I've got to wake myself up. I must. I try really hard to break out, but my mind just won't let me. It's like it's locked from the outside and I can't find a key."

Robbie's family, classmates and teachers do everything they can to talk to Robbie, to keep him company while he is in his coma. His father organises for his favourite Chelsea football player, Gianfranco Zola, to visit him in the hospital. Zola leaves behind his no. 25 shirt for Robbie, with a promise that when Robbie wakes up, he will have tickets to the next Chelsea game, as well as a private kick with Zola on the field.


Zola and his shirt

As the weeks pass by, Robbie senses that the comings and goings of visitors diminish. Even his favourite nurse, Tracey, who sings to him, appears to be giving up.

"Mum and dad hardly say a word any more. I think they might be giving up on me. They just sit and wait, their silence and their sadness filling the air around me.
Worst of all though, even Tracey seems to be losing heart. She doesn't sing like she used to, and she was crying when she came in a moment ago. Lets face it, Robbie, if Tracey thinks you're not going to make it, then things are not looking good, not good at all.
I sleep a lot, almost all the time now. I want to stay awake in my head. I know I must, or else I'll die. Got to keep my mind awake. Got to keep living. But the trouble is that sleep is warm and gentle and inviting, and when it takes me by the hand I just want to go…."

Cool is a beautiful, moving and powerful story. It is also educational for children. I love the way that Robbie describes a coma.

"Coma - funny word, that. Looks a bit like comma. Sounds like it too. Hope my coma is a comma, and not a full stop. I'm not exactly frightened of the "full stop". But I would miss everyone, everyone at home, at school….."

The experience of being in a coma differs from person to person, and also depends on how deep the coma is. Some people remember events that happened around them while they were in a coma, while others don't. Some people have reported feeling enormous reassurance from the presence of a loved one / friend.

Cool does not just focus on negative events. The author illustrates that positive things can come out of even the worst situations.

A thoughtfully written book in which Award winning author Michael Morpurgo crams a great deal of emotion into.

Definitely a must read.

Awards

- Shortlisted Blue Peter Book Award (The Book I Couldn’t Put Down Category)
- Winner Portsmouth Book Award

Illustrations in this review are by Michael Foreman

[Tahera]

Michael Morpurgo knows how to pull your heart strings...yet another feel good story by him.

[John Naylor]

Another Michael Morpurgo book that will affect the average reader emotionally. It might be aimed at the 8-12 year old audience but it would take someone with a heart of stone not to feel something reading this.

The setting is possibly unique in literature. It is all in the head of a boy in a coma. His observations are better than many authors can write for any character in any situation. One part does set the book at a specific period of time which helps to also ground it.

I recommend this to anyone. Just like I have with every Michael Morpurgo book I have read.

[Hannah Burgess]

Cool tells the story of a young boy who after getting hit by a car ends up in hospital in a coma. The story is told from the boy's thoughts whilst he is in a coma. when his family and friends visit him you read that his thoughts lie mainly with waking up and his inability to do so and the frustration he feels (especially when his favourite football player arrives!) and it is eventually the arrival of his dog Lucky which finally wakes him up.

This story touches on a number of issues such as grief, separation and blame. It is a very gripping story which encourages the reader to read on. I found that this story was particularly unique because of the issues covered and the title 'cool', usually books with themes of grief for children, in my experience tend to have a title which gives the reader a clue about the tale. This is another one of Morpurgo's books which teaches the lesson; do not judge a book by its cover.

I think that this story is appropriate for readers aged 8 and up. It could be read independently or with some support with children.This book may be more appealing to boys due to it being written from a boys perspective and including references to popular football teams. It also covers some very sensitive subjects which leads me to believe that it might not be appropriate for all children in a class.

[My]

Very cute and heartwarming story

[ᯓ★ Isla Guthrie]

Michael Morpurgos books are so interesting and enjoyfull!

[Dan Williamson]

This book is quite a sad one. It starts with a kid getting hit by a car while playing with his dog and going into a coma. But it has a sweet ending because when the dog comes to him he wakes up from the coma.
Overall the book is great and the quality is good too!!!

Thank you for reading this review
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[Greenhill]

4.3*

[Adelinekashura]

This book is about a kid having a car accident. The boy fainted. He was at the hospital...

[Anne]

Cool by Michael Morpurgo tells the story of a young boy (Robbie) who after getting hit by a car ends up in hospital in a coma. Morpurgo is able to tell the story from the Robbie’s thoughts. When Robbie’s family and friends visit him, he has the frustration of not being able to wake from his coma. This is even the same when his favourite football player comes to see him. But will he awake when his dog 'Lucky' arrives to see him? Especially as he thought he was dead!

Morpurgo is able to touch on issues such as separated parents, blame and grief in a very delicate way. This book is similar to David Almond's book 'Skellig' in the fact that it is hard to put down!

I feel that the best age group for this book would be the upper Key Stage 2 and lower Key Stage 3 due to the sensitive areas touched upon in the book. The book should be used for individual reading as some children may find it hard to engage with, especially if they have similar situations at home, for example, their parents splitting up.

Michael Morpurgo is a great author who always finds a way to ‘tug at your heart strings’ so to speak. Every child (or adult) should read a Morpurgo book!

[Rachel Rivers Porter]

Although this is a short children's book, I found it so emotional. After a car accident, a young boy is stuck in a coma, yet his mind hasn't been affected; he is able to think and reason as before, but he can't let anyone know this. He tells the story with a realism that is both touching and funny at times. I have read this book several times and each time I have shed tears!

[faby]

This was the first Michael Morpugo book I ever read, when I was in fourth grade. He fed my love of books. This story is so immersive and so powerfully lovely

[Erwan Huguet]

J'ai lu ce petit livre quand j'étais en 6eme et franchement j'avais adoré ma lecture alors qu'à l'époque les livres et moi n'entretenions pas beaucoup de relation. Je recommande ce livre pour les enfants car il est simple à lire et cour et pourtant en dit long sur l'attention que l'on porte à ses proches. L'histoire de cette enfant comateux m'avait beaucoup touché en tout cas.

[Benjamin Stahl]

Convicted emotional sadist Michael Morpurgo is at it again.

Boy chases his dog onto the road. Dog gets killed beneath the wheel, the boy following seconds later. Now the latter is in a deep coma while his unemployed loser dad and overworked mother stand on the brink of divorce.

Have fun kids.

[tori]

my literal favourite book as a child. I read this very quickly for my 9 year old self and I loved it. it was the first book I ever fully read, enjoying it and actually paying attention to it. AND I CHOSE TO READ IT

[Sienna]

This book is soo good and soo sad at the same time!

[Chrissi]

Such a cute read! Heartbreaking but heartwarming at the same time.

[Quinn Potterton]

My brother thinks I’m weird but the story felt unfinished to me. For some reason, Robbie surviving everything just felt off.

Amazing book though, Michael Morpurgo is such a great author

[Rachel]

Maybe 4. A solid children’s book that is written with a ‘cool’ narrative voice

[amber]

always been a favourite short story, since i was younger 🤍 ⚽️ 🐶

[Jade]

Similar to Private Peaceful it is written in first person, which is nice as the reader really gets to feel how the main character feels whilst in his coma. Great storyline, really enjoyed reading this book for the second time.

[Karim]

It was a very sad story throughout but happy in the end

[Harry Li]

I like this book very much and i think its very touching. The story is about a narrator called Robbie and his dog lucky, his parent are divorced long time and one day his dad came and wants talk to Robbie's mom and his mom wants Robbie avoided this conversation so she told him took lucky for a work and Robbie ask his mom for some money for ice cream and he said cool but his mom don't like cool this work and she went angry and told Robbie go out and Robbie took lucky for a walk but Robbie forgot to use the dog chain and lucky is so excited and lucky just ran out of the garden and Robbie is trying to catch lucky and a car just came out and crashed on lucky and when Robbie saw that he went forward there is another car crashed on Robbie and he went into coma and he went to hospital by the ambulance. And when he is safe the doctor said he is in a serious coma and he needs to here something extremely excited and he might have chance to woke up. And after this chapter is about the thinking in Robbie's brain cause he can hearing what people are saying and he wants to wake up but he can't and there is a lot of people came to try to wake him up by some surprise like his classmate his family his friend and his favorite foot ball player Zela but he is not waking up and at the last his dog lucky and his parents went together again and he wake up by the surprise and Zela made a promise if Robbie wake up he is going let him play soccer on the stadium court with him.

[Amy Barrett]

Cool by Michael Morpurgo

Cool is a story about a boy called Robbie. Robbie and his dog Lucky were involved in a car accident and Robbie finds himself in a coma and trapped in his own mind unable to react or move but he can still hear everything going on round him. His family and friends all try different ways to help him wake up from the coma.

As Robbie is unable to react he describes the emotions, sounds and smells he can experience. The book deals with the issue of separated parents as well as the feeling of blame, which children whose parents are splitting up can sometimes feel. Within the story Robbie takes a turn for the worse and he describes how the people coming to see him reacted when they believe he may pass. As comas are situations most children will not find themselves it does give a slight in site into grief. I think the book should be aimed at an older child around 11 due to the emotional side of the story line, the writing style is a smooth and an easy read which would make it accessible to younger readers from about 8. There are references to other books within the story which could spark interest to read other books. This would be a book which was best read by the child with the football references has more of a boyish feel.

[Liv Aird]

Read this when I was 9 and loved it :)

[Emily]

I learnt that the things or people you really love can save your life,also that dogs are really important to some people.
Another thing that i have learnt is that you can still here the people when there in a coma.
This book is about a boy called Robbie who was chasing his dog aross the road because a car was coming and his dog was running after a cat.He ran out into the road and a car hit him.He was raced to hospital and thats all he could remember.
Robbie was really brave but on some days he just got fed up.
His parents tried every thing to wake him up, they even got his favorite football player Zola in but Robbie still didn't wake up.
Robbie thought that his dog Lucky that he loved so much was dead but he wasn't.His dad brought lucky in and Robbie woke up.After A few weeks from when he woke up he got best seats at a football match.
I really liked this book because it showed what feelings Robbie had and it was really intresting to read.

[Johanna]

My friend's daughter lent me this to read and it was a brilliant children's book, with the main character (young boy Robbie) being in a coma after having been knocked down is brilliant and gives a very poignant tale. I've never read one of Michael Morpurgo's books before but would definitely recommend his children's books for kids/parents to read to their kids!

[Molly]

This book is also brilliant, but heart-braking. A boy in a coma after he ran after his dog. Nothing or no one seems to be able to wake him up, exept when his favourite footballer comes to pay him a vistis. This book makes me.............. cry :'(

[Leo]

I've found this laying around the house this morning and I gave it another read. It's better than I remember, the end brought me to tears again. Damn you, Michael Morpurgo.

[PoppyAlgie]

SO SAD AND OMG SOOOO GOOD