STEPHEN ALTER is the son of American missionaries to the Himalayas, and was raised in India. The author of seven books for adults, he is the former Writer-in-Residence at MIT, and a recipient of a Fulbright grant. He currently lives in India with his wife, where he is researching his newest book for adults—a behind the scenes look at the world of Bollywood.
As a fellow Woodstock alumnus, the book hit me with so many emotions (special mention: the dedication). Alter weaves his imagination of a beautiful world, taking so much from our wondrous Landour home, into an adventurous and gripping story of the cloudfarers - a bunch of bright misfits in a school changed by destructive new forces of idiocy. While the book is for young adults, it’s an equally amazing read for adult readers as well.
I bought this book at a book fair just because I liked the cover of it and I'm glad I did. This is one of those book one would read at the age of 13- 14 but I read it when I was having a reader's block. The story is so fast moving and easy that I pulled an all nighter to finish it. It's a bit magical and whimsical. The story had the power to develop into a lot more that it is already. There were a lot of possibilities for making it more interesting and elaborate but it's okay still and it's a nice read. Also I'm thankful that I got me of of my reader's block.
This was a delightful little book. This was a cover buy for me, I won't lie. The cover art looked really mesmerising and I just found the title very unique.
It has a school setting and a journey/adventure : two of my favourite things. The premise was pretty unique too. Think about being able to walk on clouds- literally. The author somehow managed to create this imagery of clouds, the sky and mountains which I was pleasantly surprised with. I've lived on the coast most of my life and so mountains for me are rare occurrences. So being able to imagine that you're on a journey to the mountains was pretty exciting.
This is a Middle Grade story, which I didn't know when I picked it up, so just a heads up. The characters were under-developed, but then again the target audience for this would have been children, so expecting a rich characterization maybe too much to ask.
Nice book if you're looking for escapism and you want a short,simple book to achieve it.