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The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs
On an unseasonably warm Easter Sunday, a young girl named Ivy discovers a chilling secret in the basement of the Rumbaugh pharmacy across the street from the hotel where she lives with her mother. The discovery reveals a disturbing side to the eccentric lives of family friends Abner and Adolph Rumbaugh, known throughout their small western Pennsylvania town simply as the Twins. It seems that Ab and Dolph have been compelled by a powerful mutual love for their deceased mother to do something outrageous, something that in its own twisted way bridges the gap between the living and the dead. Immediately, Ivy's discovery provokes the revelation of a Rumbaugh family curse, a curse that, as Ivy will learn over the coming years, holds a strange power over herself and her own mother.
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 18, 2006
14 people are currently reading
736 people want to read
About the author
Jack Gantos
81 books551 followersJack Gantos is an American author of children's books renowned for his portrayal of fictional Joey Pigza, a boy with ADHD, and many other well known characters such as Rotten Ralph, Jack Henry, Jack Gantos (memoirs) and others. Gantos has won a number of awards, including the Newbery, the Newbery Honor, the Scott O'Dell Award, the Printz Honor, and the Sibert Honor from the American Library Association, and he has been a finalist for the National Book Award.
Gantos was born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania to son of construction superintendent John Gantos and banker Elizabeth (Weaver) Gantos. The seeds for Jack Gantos' writing career were planted in sixth grade, when he read his sister's diary and decided he could write better than she could. Born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, and raised in Barbados and South Florida, Mr. Gantos began collecting anecdotes in grade school and later gathered them into stories.
After his senior year in high school (where he lived in a welfare motel) he moved to a Caribbean island (St Croix) and began to train as a builder. He soon realized that construction was not his forté and started saving for college. While in St. Croix he met a drug smuggler and was offered a chance to make 10 000 dollars by sailing to New York with 2,000 pounds of hash. With an English eccentric captain on board they set off to the big city. Once there they hung out at the Chelsea hotel and Gantos carried on dreaming about college. Then, in Jacks own words, "The **** hit the fan" and the F.B.I. burst in on him. He managed to escape and hid out in the very same welfare motel he was living during high school. However, he saw sense and turned himself in. He was sentenced to six years in prison, which he describes in his novel -HOLE IN MY LIFE-. However, after a year and a half in prison he applied to college, was accepted. He was released from prison, entered college, and soon began his writing career.
He received his BFA and his MA both from Emerson College. While in college, Jack began working on picture books with an illustrator friend. In 1976, they published their first book, Rotten Ralph. Mr. Gantos continued writing children's books and began teaching courses in children's book writing. He developed the master's degree program in children's book writing at Emerson College in Boston. In 1995 he resigned his tenured position in order to further his writing career (which turned out to be a great decision).
He married art dealer Anne A. Lower on November 11, 1989. The couple has one child, Mabel, and they live in Boston, Massachusetts.
www.jackgantos.com
Gantos was born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania to son of construction superintendent John Gantos and banker Elizabeth (Weaver) Gantos. The seeds for Jack Gantos' writing career were planted in sixth grade, when he read his sister's diary and decided he could write better than she could. Born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, and raised in Barbados and South Florida, Mr. Gantos began collecting anecdotes in grade school and later gathered them into stories.
After his senior year in high school (where he lived in a welfare motel) he moved to a Caribbean island (St Croix) and began to train as a builder. He soon realized that construction was not his forté and started saving for college. While in St. Croix he met a drug smuggler and was offered a chance to make 10 000 dollars by sailing to New York with 2,000 pounds of hash. With an English eccentric captain on board they set off to the big city. Once there they hung out at the Chelsea hotel and Gantos carried on dreaming about college. Then, in Jacks own words, "The **** hit the fan" and the F.B.I. burst in on him. He managed to escape and hid out in the very same welfare motel he was living during high school. However, he saw sense and turned himself in. He was sentenced to six years in prison, which he describes in his novel -HOLE IN MY LIFE-. However, after a year and a half in prison he applied to college, was accepted. He was released from prison, entered college, and soon began his writing career.
He received his BFA and his MA both from Emerson College. While in college, Jack began working on picture books with an illustrator friend. In 1976, they published their first book, Rotten Ralph. Mr. Gantos continued writing children's books and began teaching courses in children's book writing. He developed the master's degree program in children's book writing at Emerson College in Boston. In 1995 he resigned his tenured position in order to further his writing career (which turned out to be a great decision).
He married art dealer Anne A. Lower on November 11, 1989. The couple has one child, Mabel, and they live in Boston, Massachusetts.
www.jackgantos.com
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May 23, 2020
seriously?
montambo recommended this book to me because i fear twins and their freakish abilities and the way they want to use mind control on us all. this book didn't make me change my mind w/r/t their potential for evil. at all. *
but for a teen audience, this? it opens with a wallace stevens quote, "in the presence of extraordinary actuality, consciousness takes the place of imagination"
already, this ain't no twilight.
and from there it goes into eugenics and mengele and taxidermy-as-love and maternal obsession and the myth of free will and family curses (natch) and awkward, creepy sex.
also a misunderstanding about why twins are scary:
sir(s), that is not why you are spooky. turn back a few pages.... there it is:
there it is - that's why people find you threatening. that is just unnatural. bluck.
but my twin-phobia aside, this is a very fun little book. yes, it is psycho, yes it is a rose for emily, but teen fiction can get away with revisiting already paved roads, because how many teens you know that are reading faulkner? his writing is good:
the book itself, however, is too brief to do real justice to the concept. there are real strengths here; i think it may be a little bit overwritten for a teen audience; it goes into abstractions that are maybe too sophisticated for people who may be being exposed to these concepts for the first time, but maybe there are smarter teens out there than the ones i see every day at work, struggling to understand the articles in the pretty-boy magazines and poring over the astrology books in between make-out sessions. if not, we are screwed.
i just read this because i felt i was too sleepy last night to do proust any justice, and i figured this would be quick and light. but with all the mother love and separation anxiety, there is a bunch of overlap between this and proust, so i am really interested in seeing where the final two volumes of À la recherche du temps perdu end up. or maybe someone could do a new mash-up: remembrance of things past and zombies.
rarrrr
this makes me even more excited to read this book.
and, because who doesn't like pictures??
shudder.
*i knew by reading the description that it would perpetuate my fears, and i am pleased and relieved that this book exists to help further my cause to put an end to them once and for all. when i run for president, this is the only issue upon which i will comment publicly. elect me and put a stop to mind control.
come to my blog!
montambo recommended this book to me because i fear twins and their freakish abilities and the way they want to use mind control on us all. this book didn't make me change my mind w/r/t their potential for evil. at all. *
but for a teen audience, this? it opens with a wallace stevens quote, "in the presence of extraordinary actuality, consciousness takes the place of imagination"
already, this ain't no twilight.
and from there it goes into eugenics and mengele and taxidermy-as-love and maternal obsession and the myth of free will and family curses (natch) and awkward, creepy sex.
also a misunderstanding about why twins are scary:
...we threaten them because we are so alike. Everyone believes that they are individuals and that their lives have been shaped through their experiences. But that's a charade, and they know it when they take one look at us because we are who we are through our genes. They believe in nurture, but we represent nature, and for most people nature is untamed and primitive and too dark and unpredictable. We live out our lives as the actors in a genetic script—that's nature's path.
sir(s), that is not why you are spooky. turn back a few pages.... there it is:
being a twin is both spiritual and physical... when Father had us adopted by those eugenics people [living in separate households—ktb:], being a twin was a blessing. I was unhappy, but I knew what was going on inside of Dolph. I could feel what he was about. We liked the same food, and what he ate I could taste in my own mouth as he could with mine. We had toothaches at the same time. Sang the same songs. Had the same favorite colors. Same handwriting. Same grades in school. Same dreams. Same pets. Same names for the pets...There are times when I ask, how does Dolph feel today? And the answer is often clearer than if I asked myself how I felt. Some days we don't even have to talk. We can just mind-read each other."
there it is - that's why people find you threatening. that is just unnatural. bluck.
but my twin-phobia aside, this is a very fun little book. yes, it is psycho, yes it is a rose for emily, but teen fiction can get away with revisiting already paved roads, because how many teens you know that are reading faulkner? his writing is good:
I opened another drawer and jerked back. It was filled with egg-shaped prosthetic eyes, and as they waddled back and forth and clicked together they stared out at me with trapped, insane expressions. I slammed shut the drawer as if it were incubating some abnormal creation and opened the next.
the book itself, however, is too brief to do real justice to the concept. there are real strengths here; i think it may be a little bit overwritten for a teen audience; it goes into abstractions that are maybe too sophisticated for people who may be being exposed to these concepts for the first time, but maybe there are smarter teens out there than the ones i see every day at work, struggling to understand the articles in the pretty-boy magazines and poring over the astrology books in between make-out sessions. if not, we are screwed.
i just read this because i felt i was too sleepy last night to do proust any justice, and i figured this would be quick and light. but with all the mother love and separation anxiety, there is a bunch of overlap between this and proust, so i am really interested in seeing where the final two volumes of À la recherche du temps perdu end up. or maybe someone could do a new mash-up: remembrance of things past and zombies.
rarrrr
this makes me even more excited to read this book.
and, because who doesn't like pictures??
shudder.
*i knew by reading the description that it would perpetuate my fears, and i am pleased and relieved that this book exists to help further my cause to put an end to them once and for all. when i run for president, this is the only issue upon which i will comment publicly. elect me and put a stop to mind control.
come to my blog!
March 29, 2011
We didn't like this. Two stars: one from me, one from Lauren. Did I mention I read this twice because I read it telepathically with my twin sister, Lauren? Then Lauren read it twice because she was reading it with me. Her read count of two doubled my read count. It adds up. It really wasn't good enough to read that many times.
I'm mind reading Lauren right now. She says that this is one of those books where the narrator bashes you over the head with what they want to tell you. I say, "It's seen and not shown." Lauren says: "Precisely. Shown and not seen." We got the point: she LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED her mother. Really? She did? Maybe she didn't want to be surgically attached to her. Maybe she didn't want to return to the womb? She did? Oh, okay. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! (Lauren adds: "Prince Charles would be proud.")
(This is the part where I would have made a mirror image effect photo of the book cover art. I don't have any graphics programs on this computer. Drats!)
Okay, I'm done trying to freak Karen out.
There's no such thing as twin telepathy. Okay, we laughed at the same time in our sleep as babies. But that was it! We totally weren't creepy.
Also, Lauren didn't read this or say any of the stuff I said she said. I just told her about it. We like to tell each other about books we've read. Sometimes we tell too much and then the other never wants to read the book (oops!).
I told Lauren that it reads like one of those true crime novels without much finesse. Too much is relied on shock value and true to life creepiness of the events. This is made up. It is made up? Lauren: "It is real! It is based on the same guy that inspired Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs." Whoops I'm not talking for Lauren anymore. Lauren would totally remember the guy's name anyway. She doesn't have an unreliable memory as I do. I've long thought that there MUST be other killers as creepy as that guy to base killers on. Cartman could make up new games than just "lambs"...
Okay, so the twins the brothers Rumbaugh are pharmacists (just like my mom! Noooooooooooo!) and their mama did a real number on them Norman Bates's mom style. They can't live without her. Just think Psycho. There's a huge surprise twist that the girl is their daughter. Her mom liked doing it with the twin freaks behind the jealous mama's back? Maybe that was the appeal. Some women want to compete with mama's boys. My uncles are twins and one of them was "stolen" from his mother by his wife (he's a wife beater, though, so I don't consider it "winning" that battle). I really didn't get the appeal of the twins. But it's like Jerry Seinfeld said, there's a freak that likes everything.
It's just an excuse to throw in science about twins. Okay, I totally get the interest factor in twins. There are real life stories about twins seperated at birth who name their pets the same names. They like the same foods, etc. It's starting life out on similar paths than most people come close to. People might treat you the same if you look the same.
BUT...
Lauren and I have lots in common. (Sometimes it's just 'cause I'm a little um pushy. Sometimes she is pushy and gets me into her favorite German filmmakers. Or she gets mad 'cause I don't like all of her lame ass synth pop.) We are not the same person. My brother happened to be reading Watership Down at the exact same time I was reading it for the first time. We called to tell each other to read it. It's cool but it really is just something cool that happens. Maybe I got it all from my father. He knew who everyone who played on every album he liked (I can't do that anymore, though). But I am not a vicious drunk. Not the same! This is stretching it too far! Genetics are not the whole of everything. It's too bashing over the head and avoiding writing REAL PEOPLE here. One factor is not the entire variable. It would have been interesting if it wasn't the whole equation. ESPECIALLY after that intro about how someone can't be their own judge. I'd have yelled, "Objection! The defense is leading the witness!" and banged my gavel on the desk.
Stupid book! *bangs on desk* Objection!
I'm mind reading Lauren right now. She says that this is one of those books where the narrator bashes you over the head with what they want to tell you. I say, "It's seen and not shown." Lauren says: "Precisely. Shown and not seen." We got the point: she LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED her mother. Really? She did? Maybe she didn't want to be surgically attached to her. Maybe she didn't want to return to the womb? She did? Oh, okay. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! (Lauren adds: "Prince Charles would be proud.")
(This is the part where I would have made a mirror image effect photo of the book cover art. I don't have any graphics programs on this computer. Drats!)
Okay, I'm done trying to freak Karen out.
There's no such thing as twin telepathy. Okay, we laughed at the same time in our sleep as babies. But that was it! We totally weren't creepy.
Also, Lauren didn't read this or say any of the stuff I said she said. I just told her about it. We like to tell each other about books we've read. Sometimes we tell too much and then the other never wants to read the book (oops!).
I told Lauren that it reads like one of those true crime novels without much finesse. Too much is relied on shock value and true to life creepiness of the events. This is made up. It is made up? Lauren: "It is real! It is based on the same guy that inspired Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs." Whoops I'm not talking for Lauren anymore. Lauren would totally remember the guy's name anyway. She doesn't have an unreliable memory as I do. I've long thought that there MUST be other killers as creepy as that guy to base killers on. Cartman could make up new games than just "lambs"...
Okay, so the twins the brothers Rumbaugh are pharmacists (just like my mom! Noooooooooooo!) and their mama did a real number on them Norman Bates's mom style. They can't live without her. Just think Psycho. There's a huge surprise twist that the girl is their daughter. Her mom liked doing it with the twin freaks behind the jealous mama's back? Maybe that was the appeal. Some women want to compete with mama's boys. My uncles are twins and one of them was "stolen" from his mother by his wife (he's a wife beater, though, so I don't consider it "winning" that battle). I really didn't get the appeal of the twins. But it's like Jerry Seinfeld said, there's a freak that likes everything.
It's just an excuse to throw in science about twins. Okay, I totally get the interest factor in twins. There are real life stories about twins seperated at birth who name their pets the same names. They like the same foods, etc. It's starting life out on similar paths than most people come close to. People might treat you the same if you look the same.
BUT...
Lauren and I have lots in common. (Sometimes it's just 'cause I'm a little um pushy. Sometimes she is pushy and gets me into her favorite German filmmakers. Or she gets mad 'cause I don't like all of her lame ass synth pop.) We are not the same person. My brother happened to be reading Watership Down at the exact same time I was reading it for the first time. We called to tell each other to read it. It's cool but it really is just something cool that happens. Maybe I got it all from my father. He knew who everyone who played on every album he liked (I can't do that anymore, though). But I am not a vicious drunk. Not the same! This is stretching it too far! Genetics are not the whole of everything. It's too bashing over the head and avoiding writing REAL PEOPLE here. One factor is not the entire variable. It would have been interesting if it wasn't the whole equation. ESPECIALLY after that intro about how someone can't be their own judge. I'd have yelled, "Objection! The defense is leading the witness!" and banged my gavel on the desk.
Stupid book! *bangs on desk* Objection!
September 7, 2014
So be sweet and kind to mother
Now and then have a chat
Buy her candy or some flowers
Or a brand new hat
But maybe you had better let it go at that... *
Creepy twins, taxidermy, smotherly-love, eugenics...this book should provide nightmare-fodder for all ages!
This is definitely one of the weirdest books I've read, yet I did like it. I guess the very oddness is what made it so compelling and absorbing. Despite the presence of a youthful heroine, I would NOT recommend this for young adults. Due to the strange, disturbing subject matter, I really don't know WHO the intended audience would be, but I'm guessing anyone who likes it will REALLY like it.
One thing's for sure...I won't be forgetting it anytime soon.
*Oedipus Rex by Tom Lehrer
Now and then have a chat
Buy her candy or some flowers
Or a brand new hat
But maybe you had better let it go at that... *
Creepy twins, taxidermy, smotherly-love, eugenics...this book should provide nightmare-fodder for all ages!
This is definitely one of the weirdest books I've read, yet I did like it. I guess the very oddness is what made it so compelling and absorbing. Despite the presence of a youthful heroine, I would NOT recommend this for young adults. Due to the strange, disturbing subject matter, I really don't know WHO the intended audience would be, but I'm guessing anyone who likes it will REALLY like it.
One thing's for sure...I won't be forgetting it anytime soon.
*Oedipus Rex by Tom Lehrer
October 14, 2008
turns out that i am not interested in mother-love OR taxidermy.
September 14, 2007
An extremely twisted story. The whole idea of taxidermy on humans is rather repulsive by common moral standards. But when maternal love is thrown into the picture, some may see this practice as nothing less than normal. Oh, and there is also the idea of eliminating men from the gene pool altogether....
July 5, 2008
Like a car wreck. You want to look away, but you just cant.
May 16, 2017
A truly superb book. One of my favourites. Literary without being pretentious, interesting without being contrived, gothic without being repulsive. This book was deeply creepy, eerie and fascinating. The characters were amazingly well-drawn. The entire book held together as a coherent whole. It was very intelligent and empathic. I loved that Gantos stayed away from the typical teen cliches - there is no romance here (except of the twisted familial kind), no boyfriends and no ridiculous subplots. It's tight, snappy and charming. Gantos is not afraid to stray into the darker regions of Gothic life and never misses a beat, encompassing history (while never stuffy), incest (while never exploitative) and taxidermy. Simply brilliant.
September 1, 2007
What a peculiar book! I didn't think I would like it, as I don't care for his Rotten Ralph books (even though I have my own Rotten Ralph!). However, it held me right to the end just because it was such a strange plot with such an odd bunch of characters.
July 19, 2012
On Easter morning, when young seven-year-old Ivy returns from church, she learns a chilling secret about the elderly Rumbaugh twins, whose pharmacy is across the street from the Kelley Hotel where she lives. These twins, Abner and Adolph Rumbaugh, are just slightly eccentric - they have a powerful love for their deceased mother and this love has driven them to taxidermy her body. In fact, the identical twins split the body in half, thus allowing themselves to create TWO mothers, one for each twin. Seeing Mrs. Rumaugh in the basement of the pharmacy was a shock to Ivy; however, it instilled in her a strong feeling of love/adoration for her own mother and she became obsessed with that fact that one day her mother would die. Needing to keep herself occupied, Ivy learns from the twins the hobby of taxidermy and soon is entering contests with her stuffed squirrels. She has the strong suspicion that one day she will prepare her mother as well.
At the age of 16, her mother explained to her the history of the Rumbaugh twins and that one of the twins was indeed her father; consequently the “Rumbaugh” curse has now been passed to Ivy. Her mother insists that she wants her body buried in the church cemetery corner that was given to her by the twins. Ivy confronts the twins, demanding to know which one is her father. They then proceed to relate their story and offer her one-third of the pharmacy, warning her that she can’t escape who she is and what her destiny will bring.
At the age of 18, she proceeds to leave her town of Mt. Pleasant to enter college. Within the first four hours of being away, her mother dies in a freak accident. The twins help her prepare her mother’s body for taxidermy, while she fulfills her love relationship/destiny.
What a crazy little book! A creepy book is more like it! I have seen all sorts of animals being preserved, but who would ever think about a mother! That's love to the extreme!
At the age of 16, her mother explained to her the history of the Rumbaugh twins and that one of the twins was indeed her father; consequently the “Rumbaugh” curse has now been passed to Ivy. Her mother insists that she wants her body buried in the church cemetery corner that was given to her by the twins. Ivy confronts the twins, demanding to know which one is her father. They then proceed to relate their story and offer her one-third of the pharmacy, warning her that she can’t escape who she is and what her destiny will bring.
At the age of 18, she proceeds to leave her town of Mt. Pleasant to enter college. Within the first four hours of being away, her mother dies in a freak accident. The twins help her prepare her mother’s body for taxidermy, while she fulfills her love relationship/destiny.
What a crazy little book! A creepy book is more like it! I have seen all sorts of animals being preserved, but who would ever think about a mother! That's love to the extreme!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2007
What is The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs? As a book, it's sort of what would happen if an old VC Andrews plot fell into the hands of a good writer and a better editor, and the 300 pages of gratuitous sex were removed. As a concept, the Love Curse is an excessive, obsessive mother-love, an Oedipal complex passed down through the generations. It's a dark, gothic story, involving taxidermy, identical twin brothers, their mother (from whom they can't bear to be parted), a young girl, and her mother. Ivy is drawn to the Rumbaugh twins; her mom wants her to leave their small town and break away from their influence. I hesitate to go into more details for fear of ruining the many, somewhat disturbing plot points.
It's certainly an original story, and well presented. It's fairly short (under 200 pages), which feels about right for this story--any longer and it would have felt plodding and tedious. It's well-written and it's weird. I'm not sure I'd call it horror, exactly, despite what the Cataloging-in-Publication data says, but I don't really know what genre I'd put it in. I guess "horror" is the closest fit, until "gothic story" catches on as a genre label.
It's certainly an original story, and well presented. It's fairly short (under 200 pages), which feels about right for this story--any longer and it would have felt plodding and tedious. It's well-written and it's weird. I'm not sure I'd call it horror, exactly, despite what the Cataloging-in-Publication data says, but I don't really know what genre I'd put it in. I guess "horror" is the closest fit, until "gothic story" catches on as a genre label.
July 12, 2011
The love curse of the title is an obsessive mother-love that leaves Oedipus in the dust. A truly bizarre book, and one that is very difficult to rate. It is indeed very well-written, and it surely succeeds at what it attempts to do. I certainly couldn't put it down. But is it enjoyable? It's dark, very dark. And it's made even more unsettling by the narrator's matter-of-fact tone. I actually felt hugely relieved that the book was over and there was no more left for me to read. I did however, start to realize that the love curse is created through the fear of it. It's never stated outright in the book, but the twins' mother is specifically said to have nurtured that obsession out of an attempt to keep her sons so dependent on her that they wouldn't reproduce and have children who could carry on the "family tradition". I have to say that this was a very well-written and fascinating book that I couldn't really enjoy.
January 14, 2013
One day young Ivy discovers Mother Rumbaughs in the cellar of The Twins. First thinking the still figure is a life-sized doll Ivy is fascinated, once she realises it is actually the late Mother Rumbaughs she runs screaming from the cellar and into her arms of her mother. And thus the Rumbaughs curse is unlocked in Ivy.
The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs is twisted, complex and disturbing. Ivy’s story is a tale of nature vs. nurture. Her mother is convinced her nurture is enough to undo a curse which has remained strong in the Rumbaughs nature for generations.
While it is clear that Ivy is a Rumbaughs, how she came to be one is one of the many mysteries that gets unravelled over time. The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs is not an exciting book, it’s more fascinating.
I liked the writing and the story (even though it’s suitably creepy) but I believe The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs is very much a love/hate book. I fall into the love category.
The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs is twisted, complex and disturbing. Ivy’s story is a tale of nature vs. nurture. Her mother is convinced her nurture is enough to undo a curse which has remained strong in the Rumbaughs nature for generations.
While it is clear that Ivy is a Rumbaughs, how she came to be one is one of the many mysteries that gets unravelled over time. The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs is not an exciting book, it’s more fascinating.
I liked the writing and the story (even though it’s suitably creepy) but I believe The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs is very much a love/hate book. I fall into the love category.
September 6, 2007
I was warned before I stuck the first CD in the player, that this was going to be a weird one. I just hope I haven't scarred my unborn child.
So it is very weird. YES! But Jack Gantos is a wonderful author and he manages to tell the story of freaky love obsession in a way that can still be poetic at times, just right before something even more strange happens. It certainly gives a whole new understanding to the term, "head on a stick."
I will be going back to Joey Pigza books, however.
So it is very weird. YES! But Jack Gantos is a wonderful author and he manages to tell the story of freaky love obsession in a way that can still be poetic at times, just right before something even more strange happens. It certainly gives a whole new understanding to the term, "head on a stick."
I will be going back to Joey Pigza books, however.
August 24, 2007
How to describe this book....strange, twisted, sadistic, icky, scary, bizarre...etc.etc.
I don't know what Jack Gantos was on when he wrote this, but it has got to be the freakiest book I have ever read! Besides all that it is extremely well written and delves into some pretty interesting ideas. Yikes! I won't forget this one any time soon.
I don't know what Jack Gantos was on when he wrote this, but it has got to be the freakiest book I have ever read! Besides all that it is extremely well written and delves into some pretty interesting ideas. Yikes! I won't forget this one any time soon.
August 7, 2009
I had to add a new shelf for this book: WEIRD. Ivy has a love curse and is completely obsessed with her mother. She's prepared to do whatever it takes to protect and preserve her mother for all time. The Rumbaugh twins are her guide in this as they also had the love curse. I listened to this while driving and frequently made "ewwww!" faces. Not for those with weak stomachs. But I liked it anyway!
September 11, 2015
Oh, Jack Gantos, you weirdo. I like you. You wouldn't think creepy mother love would make for such funny and enjoyable and sad reading. I have to confess--for a couple days, I gave my three-year-old a look when she would say "I love mommy best." I have no idea what sort of person I'll be able to recommend this to at work, but someday I will.
October 25, 2017
I heard Jack Gantos talk about this book while discussing eugenics. It sounded interesting enough to read. The introduction tells you that some of the story is true and it is up to you to decide how much. I would have really liked a conclusion that spelled it out so that I'd know. The book is weird enough to believe that none of it is true.
March 12, 2007
This book is the best modern gothic tale since ever! It is written in the genre of YA Lit, but I would recomend it to any adult as well. There are creepy elements similar to Anthony Perkins Psycho and Arsenic and Old Lace. Humorous OMG!
August 16, 2011
One of my favorite books of all time. The sentimentality, strangeness, and weird sense of humor in this book all speak to me on a deeply personal level. I think everyone who can read (English) should read this.
January 9, 2021
Interesting plot with very unique characters. Funny and haunting at the same time.
October 22, 2023
The language and story plot were so hauntingly encaptivating, a true epitome of Gothic art.
October 24, 2023
Found out this wasn’t middle grade the hard way ! I do really love the image of the narrator carrying her mother’s hands in her pockets though that’s haunting
August 15, 2018
Yeah, I don't know how I feel about this one.
This is supposed to be a young adult book? I know the main character is young (first we meet her at 7 years old, then about a decade later) but like... i don't know about that. It's a pretty gross and disturbing book.
I tend to like gross and/or disturbing, so I'm trying to understand why I didn't care much for this one. The curse was an interesting premise, but everything felt kind of hollow. The characters were frustrating. Especially the twins. They're supposed to be, but I couldn't bring myself to care about them or the main character's predicament.
Ick factor is high with this one.
This is supposed to be a young adult book? I know the main character is young (first we meet her at 7 years old, then about a decade later) but like... i don't know about that. It's a pretty gross and disturbing book.
I tend to like gross and/or disturbing, so I'm trying to understand why I didn't care much for this one. The curse was an interesting premise, but everything felt kind of hollow. The characters were frustrating. Especially the twins. They're supposed to be, but I couldn't bring myself to care about them or the main character's predicament.
Ick factor is high with this one.
June 15, 2017
Still not entirely sure how I feel about this one. A very short read, but still felt super slow at times.
October 24, 2023
FREUD PROPAGANDA ‼️
March 14, 2013
Los Rumbaughs tienen una maldición: quieren demasiado a sus madres, si, así como lo leen, su maldición es esa, no la quieren en un sentido de complejo de edipo, nada de incesto y cosas enfermas de esas, bueno, solo cosas enfermas diferentes como el querer disecar a sus madres para tenerlas siempre con ellos.
El libro empieza con Ivy, una niña de 7 años que vive con su madre, la cual descubre en el sótano de la farmacia de los gemelos Rumbaugh la figura disecada de la madre de ellos, de ahí empieza a conocer más sobre dichos gemelos y su familia, aunque, su madre le promete a Ivy que hasta que no cumpla 16 años no le contará quien es que es su padre, además, a partir de ese día la pobre Ivy vive angustiada por el momento en que su madre invariablemente morirá.
El libro es muy malo para pintar las sorpresas, como por ejemplo la cuestión de la maldición, como en la página 25 la madre expresa con miedo "tienes la maldición de los..." después de que Ivy le dice que tiene miedo del día en el que invariablemente morirá, después de eso pasan 90+ páginas donde Ivy solo habla de cuanto quiere a su madre, de como la adora, de como no necesita nada más, para que ¡oh sorpresa! Ivy .
Y es que eso es parte de lo cual hace muy malo el libro, si, ya entendí que Ivy ama a su madre, si, en serio, no me lo tienes que decir 15 veces... EN LA MISMA PÁGINA, entiendo que Gantos quería que nos quedara muy claro que tan fuerte es la maldición, pero vaya, abusa.
Ah si, también, son tantas páginas dedicadas al amor de Ivy por su madre que no pasa nada en la trama, realmente son muy pocos los sucesos que ocurren para un libro de casi 200 páginas, muy posiblemente el libro hubiera sido mejor de haber sido un cuento corto, pero lamentablemente, no es así sino que son páginas y más páginas de un insufrible leer sobre dicho amor de hija a madre.
El libro empieza con Ivy, una niña de 7 años que vive con su madre, la cual descubre en el sótano de la farmacia de los gemelos Rumbaugh la figura disecada de la madre de ellos, de ahí empieza a conocer más sobre dichos gemelos y su familia, aunque, su madre le promete a Ivy que hasta que no cumpla 16 años no le contará quien es que es su padre, además, a partir de ese día la pobre Ivy vive angustiada por el momento en que su madre invariablemente morirá.
El libro es muy malo para pintar las sorpresas, como por ejemplo la cuestión de la maldición, como en la página 25 la madre expresa con miedo "tienes la maldición de los..." después de que Ivy le dice que tiene miedo del día en el que invariablemente morirá, después de eso pasan 90+ páginas donde Ivy solo habla de cuanto quiere a su madre, de como la adora, de como no necesita nada más, para que ¡oh sorpresa! Ivy .
Y es que eso es parte de lo cual hace muy malo el libro, si, ya entendí que Ivy ama a su madre, si, en serio, no me lo tienes que decir 15 veces... EN LA MISMA PÁGINA, entiendo que Gantos quería que nos quedara muy claro que tan fuerte es la maldición, pero vaya, abusa.
Ah si, también, son tantas páginas dedicadas al amor de Ivy por su madre que no pasa nada en la trama, realmente son muy pocos los sucesos que ocurren para un libro de casi 200 páginas, muy posiblemente el libro hubiera sido mejor de haber sido un cuento corto, pero lamentablemente, no es así sino que son páginas y más páginas de un insufrible leer sobre dicho amor de hija a madre.
October 6, 2015
I picked this book up thinking it would be a nice, light hearted, middle grade novel based off the book cover. This was not the case. This book revolves around a little girl who inherits a cure that makes her obsessed with her mom. This whole book was very confusing. The characters didn’t really develop at all. The whole premise of the book seems innocent until you read it. It was just very creepy but not in a good way. There is some adult content in this book plus some Nazi things. There is nothing else I can say about the book without spoiling it for those who would like to read it, although I wouldn’t recommend it.
October 24, 2008
This book was so bizarre. I only read it because of a book discussion group I participated in. Then we heard the author speak. He was hilarious and told us that parts of the story were actually TRUE!
April 12, 2010
Another book I hated! What do some of these people think about when they dream up a book for juveniles? Necrophelia, taxidermy, rape, incest - this is sick, twisted and disturbing.
September 8, 2015
It should have been creepy but it wasn't. I hate that.
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