Grinny (Puffin Books) [Paperback]

Author: Nicholas Fisk

Publisher: Puffin Books 1975, 1996. Book also published by Harper Collins in 1984.

My Book Review on Grinny

by Joshua Atwell-Skevington age 10, 14/1/01

First of all, soon after its release to public eyes in 1975 Grinny became a lot more than just a book!

In 1983 Grinny was adapted to theatre. The same happened in 1991 and like its predecessor it became a sure-fire hit! The book even travelled to the big screen in 1987.

If all of this seems a bit too garish to you then just reading the book will tell you that though slightly early and primitive, Grinny is an excellent science fiction title!

This book is set around a boy called Timothy Carpenter, his sister Beth and his best friend Mac (Steven) Rainier. The text itself is written in the first person, by Timothy. To be precise, the whole story is actually Timothy's diary.

At the beginning of the book, a woman who her parents say is called Great Aunt Emma turns up on the Carpenters' doorstep.Tim's parents don't seem to remember a Great Aunt Emma but as soon as GAE (what Tim starts to call his Great Aunt near the begining of the book) gets the phrase 'You remember me' out of her mouth Tim's parents suddenly remember 'Great Aunt Emma'. Tim realises after a short time that something isn't right. GAE has brilliant short term memory but she can't remember what a conquer is....

Timothy is the main character in the story. I think that he is sensible and not reckless like Beth. Here is some dialogue from one meeting of the GCG that I think proves my point adequately:

Beth: I vote we kill her. Tonight.

Tim: Killing her proves to Them, whoever They are that we've got a limited amount of power - but only limited.

Instead of simply running off to do things as soon as they come into his head, he stops and thinks about things, drawing up logical conclusions...Tim seems to like sports as he likes to go and play football with Mac on numerous occasions. As for Tim's personality, he likes to tease Beth, but not to really hurt her, just for fun. Deep down I think he is a good, nice person.

Another main character is Beth. When Beth is angry and upset, she can be reckless as shown above. She was the first person to work out that there was something wrong with GAE. At first it was 'She doesn't smell!' (Beth finds kissing GAE goodnight horrible because GAE hasn't got any smell) and then she saw GAE's metal arm. Beth can be touchy, especially when Mac says things about/to her Beth absolutely despises GAE. When the group were trying to throw emotion at Grinny Beth was the best as she had chosen to launch hatred and anger at GAE like a burning projectile... At the start of the story Beth is seven. She was extremely upset that Tim and Mac wouldn't believe that GAE 'isn't real!'.

Mac is Tim's best friend. He is eleven at the start of the story and, like Tim, likes football. Mac lives to tease Beth. Every time they see each other he makes fun of something that she says! You could say that Mac's sensible and intelligent for the same reason that Tim is. On the other hand, in that situation Mac seemed rather queasy which could lead to you saying that he simply objected because he didn't want to kill anything, Human or not! Mac seems a bit cheeky, the sort of person who would stir up trouble just for the fun of it.

This book is quite exciting to read. Strange things appear start to finish in this story. Diary entries are interesting, commonly ending in a 'what if.............' or 'I wonder..............' which keeps you wanting to turn to the next page.

I think personally that this is the sort book that anyone can like as long as they can understand it. I think that anyone apart from babies and toddlers will find this book mindblowingly good!

Overall I think this is a brilliant book! Good suspense but not a long, boring buildup, an interesting perspective and an imaginative plot help to make this book a sci-fi classic!