- Hardcover: 180 pages
- Publisher: Viking Books (21 Sep 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0670061182
- ISBN-13: 978-0670061181
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 15 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 407,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
If you dare visit Paranoid Park in Portland, Oregon, you will find the Streeters and the Preps. In Blake Nelson's new novel, PARANOID PARK, the reader enters the dark side of the skate park world along with the main character, who happens to be one of the Preps.
Paranoid Park is the nickname for an old skate park being used by the less desirable Streeters. While visiting the park, the main character is dared to jump a train car with one of the Streeters. When they are discovered by a security guard, an unfortunate "accident" causes the horrific death of the guard. The Streeter takes off, leaving the Prep with the guard's remains and the decision of what to do next.
What should he do? Tell the police, tell his parents, tell a friend? He decides to keep the truth to himself, but mixed in with his parents' impending divorce, his girlfriend issues, plus school and grades, he may have more than he can deal with.
Nelson's PARANOID PARK is described as a psychological thriller, and I couldn't agree more. If you are a fan of getting into the mind of the characters, this is just the book for you. With its attention-grabbing title and its cool skateboard cover, it will be flying off young adult shelves.
Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
Paranoid Park is the nickname for an old skate park being used by the less desirable Streeters. While visiting the park, the main character is dared to jump a train car with one of the Streeters. When they are discovered by a security guard, an unfortunate "accident" causes the horrific death of the guard. The Streeter takes off, leaving the Prep with the guard's remains and the decision of what to do next.
What should he do? Tell the police, tell his parents, tell a friend? He decides to keep the truth to himself, but mixed in with his parents' impending divorce, his girlfriend issues, plus school and grades, he may have more than he can deal with.
Nelson's PARANOID PARK is described as a psychological thriller, and I couldn't agree more. If you are a fan of getting into the mind of the characters, this is just the book for you. With its attention-grabbing title and its cool skateboard cover, it will be flying off young adult shelves.
Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
11 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
A dark and intense psychological thriller
5 Jan 2007
Format:Hardcover
PARANOID PARK is a dark and intense psychological thriller of a novel that puts a normal teen in a very difficult situation.
Written as a confessional letter, it starts after a fateful night at a Portland, Oregon skatepark known as "Paranoid Park." Paranoid is "an underground 'street' park, which means there are no rules, nobody owns it, and you don't have to play to skate." But Paranoid is also "kind of a street-kid hangout. There's all these stories, like how a skinhead got stabbed there once. That's why it's called Paranoid Park. It has a dangerous, sketchy vibe to it."
After going to Paranoid Park with his older friend Jared, the narrator (who remains unnamed throughout the book) is enthralled by the experience. Skating at Paranoid meant you were in the "big leagues." The boys planned to return to the skatepark together that weekend, but plans changed when a college girl invited Jared to a party. Still lured by the thrillride of Paranoid, the narrator returns on his own.
At the park, the narrator finds himself hanging out with a "streeter" named Scratch and a bunch of other street-kid types. Scratch tells stories about how he lived up and down the West Coast, hopping trains and living in bus stations. Somehow, our "prep" narrator gets talked into hopping a local train with Scratch and the evening turns into even more of an adventure. The fun stops abruptly when a security guard gets thrown in the mix and a teenage adventure becomes the cause of a crime.
With a dead body and no witnesses, the narrator is paralyzed with fear. What should he do? Who will he tell? Will anyone believe him that this truly was an accident? Trapped by his own paranoia and the possible consequences of one night on the rest of his life, the narrator spends the remainder of the novel in a CRIME AND PUNISHMENT-like dilemma.
Author Blake Nelson, best known for his lighter works like ROCK STAR SUPERSTAR, THE NEW RULES OF HIGH SCHOOL and the seminal GIRL, does a phenomenal job portraying the raw and troubled emotions of a teen in turmoil without casting judgment. It's up to readers to decide how they feel about the character and the moral dilemma he faces. PARANOID PARK is in pre-production with director Gus Van Sant, known for films like Elephant and Good Will Hunting. It will be interesting to see how this haunting novel translates to the big screen.
--- Reviewed by Kristi Olson
Written as a confessional letter, it starts after a fateful night at a Portland, Oregon skatepark known as "Paranoid Park." Paranoid is "an underground 'street' park, which means there are no rules, nobody owns it, and you don't have to play to skate." But Paranoid is also "kind of a street-kid hangout. There's all these stories, like how a skinhead got stabbed there once. That's why it's called Paranoid Park. It has a dangerous, sketchy vibe to it."
After going to Paranoid Park with his older friend Jared, the narrator (who remains unnamed throughout the book) is enthralled by the experience. Skating at Paranoid meant you were in the "big leagues." The boys planned to return to the skatepark together that weekend, but plans changed when a college girl invited Jared to a party. Still lured by the thrillride of Paranoid, the narrator returns on his own.
At the park, the narrator finds himself hanging out with a "streeter" named Scratch and a bunch of other street-kid types. Scratch tells stories about how he lived up and down the West Coast, hopping trains and living in bus stations. Somehow, our "prep" narrator gets talked into hopping a local train with Scratch and the evening turns into even more of an adventure. The fun stops abruptly when a security guard gets thrown in the mix and a teenage adventure becomes the cause of a crime.
With a dead body and no witnesses, the narrator is paralyzed with fear. What should he do? Who will he tell? Will anyone believe him that this truly was an accident? Trapped by his own paranoia and the possible consequences of one night on the rest of his life, the narrator spends the remainder of the novel in a CRIME AND PUNISHMENT-like dilemma.
Author Blake Nelson, best known for his lighter works like ROCK STAR SUPERSTAR, THE NEW RULES OF HIGH SCHOOL and the seminal GIRL, does a phenomenal job portraying the raw and troubled emotions of a teen in turmoil without casting judgment. It's up to readers to decide how they feel about the character and the moral dilemma he faces. PARANOID PARK is in pre-production with director Gus Van Sant, known for films like Elephant and Good Will Hunting. It will be interesting to see how this haunting novel translates to the big screen.
--- Reviewed by Kristi Olson
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Crime and Punishment
25 Nov 2006
Format:Hardcover
The plot of this book is very simple. An innocent skater kid gets in a scuffle with a psycho security guard and accidentally kills him. That's when the tension starts. What should he do? He thinks his family is too screwed up anyway, to risk putting them through a possible murder charge. Plus no one was there, no one who could tell on him anyway. But what about his conscience? And what about the girl he loves? And how is he ever going to look people in the eye with the innocence he started his life with. This book asks some big questions and gives no easy answers. It is also a page turner that will keep you up long into the night. Nelson has an ear for dialogue that is so clear you will think he used a tape recorder. Great book to make you think.
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Courtesy of Teens Read Too
30 Jan 2007
Format:Hardcover
If you dare visit Paranoid Park in Portland, Oregon, you will find the Streeters and the Preps. In Blake Nelson's new novel, PARANOID PARK, the reader enters the dark side of the skate park world along with the main character, who happens to be one of the Preps.
Paranoid Park is the nickname for an old skate park being used by the less desirable Streeters. While visiting the park, the main character is dared to jump a train car with one of the Streeters. When they are discovered by a security guard, an unfortunate "accident" causes the horrific death of the guard. The Streeter takes off, leaving the Prep with the guard's remains and the decision of what to do next.
What should he do? Tell the police, tell his parents, tell a friend? He decides to keep the truth to himself, but mixed in with his parents' impending divorce, his girlfriend issues, plus school and grades, he may have more than he can deal with.
Nelson's PARANOID PARK is described as a psychological thriller, and I couldn't agree more. If you are a fan of getting into the mind of the characters, this is just the book for you. With its attention-grabbing title and its cool skateboard cover, it will be flying off young adult shelves.
Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
Paranoid Park is the nickname for an old skate park being used by the less desirable Streeters. While visiting the park, the main character is dared to jump a train car with one of the Streeters. When they are discovered by a security guard, an unfortunate "accident" causes the horrific death of the guard. The Streeter takes off, leaving the Prep with the guard's remains and the decision of what to do next.
What should he do? Tell the police, tell his parents, tell a friend? He decides to keep the truth to himself, but mixed in with his parents' impending divorce, his girlfriend issues, plus school and grades, he may have more than he can deal with.
Nelson's PARANOID PARK is described as a psychological thriller, and I couldn't agree more. If you are a fan of getting into the mind of the characters, this is just the book for you. With its attention-grabbing title and its cool skateboard cover, it will be flying off young adult shelves.
Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Children's Books > Fiction > Issues > Social
- Books > Children's Books > Fiction > Sport
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
