Roller Coasters: Or I Had So Much Fun, I Almost Puked

by Nick Cook

Supports the national curriculum standards Time, Continuity, and Change; and Science Technology and Society as outlined by the National Council for the Social Studies.

Genres: Childrens, Nonfiction, Science

56 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that was destined for the withdraw pile at my library, so I checked it out and gave it one last read. (With a title like that, how can you pass it up?)

In the never ending sea of bland kids nonfiction books that are churned out by publishing mills every year, this book was put together very well and covered a lot of information for only a short amount of pages. Mostly because it's author a coaster enthusiast writing about his passion, not someone writing a gloried book report
Topics such as the history of roller coaster (dating back the the 1700's) and a chapter lesson explaining the physics of a coaster. Plus there were several pictures of 90's era Cedar Point that gave me a personal nostalgic thrill.
Sadly because of it's publication date, some of the information is out of date as coasters have improved and advanced in the past two decades.

[Theresa F.]

Some books intended for a young people are written in such a way that adults can still appreciate them. This book isn't one of them. I'm not even convinced that the book would engage its target audience. The title is admittedly creative, and would likely appeal to kids. But the writing style comes across as if the author is trying a little too hard to interest young readers. Facts about the history and physics involved are repeatedly followed by 'isn't that amazing' style exclamations. Also, some sections were so over condensed that they seemed to end mid-thought, before the book jumped to another topic. Overall I thought the book fell a little flat, especially considering how much potential it had. The basic premise was a good one, but the book suffers from poor execution.
Did I like it? Not really.
Would I reread it? No.
Would I recommend it? Probably not.

[Rose Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about roller coasters. The third grade small group thought it was interesting.

[Sarah Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for thrill seekers. Lots of information of roller coasters for students to learn. The illustrations bring you closer to roller coasters that you might not be able to see.