reading (Santa & Pete)

I finished "Santa & Pete" this morning. I loathe this book. For me it is the worst combination of sloppy history, moralistic nothingness, and unexciting fantasy. I really don't like the way the authors blur the lines between the things they are purporting as history fact and the poetic license of fantasy. I think it does disservice to both the history and the fantasy.

The writing and plot doesn't have the fun or interest holding tension of a good kid's book. Any kid that can understand the sentence structure and vocabulary of the book is going to feel they are being talked down to when the moralizing parts come in. In short, make the story simpler and more fun and the younger crowd will enjoy it more or take out the groan worthy obviousness of some of the fantasy parts and make it more real for the kids that are going to read 170 pages of text.

4. Christopher Moore (not the same Christopher Moore, but a different one) and Pamela Johnson "Santa & Pete"