Sadly this book suffered from a rather poorly wrapped up ending. The characters were developing nicely and then at the last third of the book it was like the author (and the main character) just threw their hands in the air and said "eh". Which is, after the end, how I felt as the reader as well. Characters who started strong, just languished and stagnated. The last section could have easily been a shorter Epilogue sort of thing rather than a bit over-long section which jumps from Margaret as aged 12 to Margaret aged 22 and beyond. Disappointing really because it started off with such a nice pace and some interesting ideas and characters...only to fall flat by the end. A shame.

I enjoyed this book. It was a little quirky, with a great female protagonist. I was unsure of Molly Ringwald as the narrator at first, but her sort of monotone narration actually fit the story really well.

I couldn't help but think of Moonrise Kingdom as I listened to this audiobook. For me, there was a very similar tone and feel between this book and that movie. They're not related in any way, but the sort of borderline fantastical, over the top characters and storyline, combined with protagonist that acts much wiser than her years just made me think of the movie.

Margaret Rose is definitely a fun character, and I absolutely adored both of her uncles, but Uncle Alex in particular. I also appreciated the way the story came back around to tie into Margaret's experience at camp in the beginning of the book in a way that felt really satisfying. I also appreciated the way that some of the holes left in the camp story at the start of the book get filled in by the end.

It was a nice audiobook to enjoy this week after struggling a little with my last audiobook attempt.

I loved this book. It's a funny book with witty characters and fabulous uncles. Great read.

http://dragonflowersandbooks.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-outcasts-of-19-schuyler-place.html

I listened to the audiobook and loved that it was read by Molly Ringwald.

3.5

This had so many threads in it that resonated with me -- the Hungarian, the back-yard art, the old company housing. My sister-in-law and her husband owned a house in Schenectady that looked exactly like the one described in this book, so it made it easy for me to visualize. And there used to be a back yard art installation in Austin, the Cathedral of Junk (which may or may not still exist), which strongly reminded me of the towers in this novel. So the basic aspects of the novel really inclined me to liking it. But the long, beautiful build-up felt like it deserved a much longer struggle. While the ending all made sense, it felt like it ended too quickly for me. But it's a kids book, not an adult book, so it might be my inability to adjust my perspective. There was one line toward the middle, said by one of the main character's great-Uncles in response to the question of how they found the time to build such a large piece of art, that I could really use an infusion of into my own way of being in the world: "By not being in a hurry. That's how you find the time."

This was a fun book. I liked the characters.