The Prince of Venice Beach

This book felt surreal, because it was about homelessness and teens with mental problems, but it was so down to earth. Somehow, the subject matter only bred hope and you almost never pity these characters. Nelson was never trying to make readers feel guilty, and did not try to shove any values down readers' throats. It blended realism and the mundane into a subject that would be abstract to most people. I appreciate the effort in keeping this story grounded. It is difficult to wrap one's head around the mind set of some of these characters, but that does not lessen how endearing they are. Cali, shines with optimism and great morals throughout. Jojo just sounds like the best guy you'll ever meet who wears Spongebob sneakers and sleeps on the beach. Other characters play their roles and most are brief, they feel like they exist their in this world, not just plot devices. I did have a few issues. The first person narration lead to Cali making generalizations about characters before we got to meet them which tampers with their images. I would prefer if he did not fill my head with the preassembled description that I have for "nerdy girl" and just let a character breathe a bit. I get that we want to see how he perceives her, but that will tamper with how I view her if he makes this statement before he meets her. I also felt like the evil twins showed up too often, too at random. They seemed like they were shoehorned in wherever the plot needed them.

I purchased this book to read and then pass to my teen. I generally liked the characters and the setting a lot, but wasn't really keen on the ending which seemed forced. It felt like the author wasn't sure how to wrap up the story and so he created a situation that seemed a bit too extraordinary and unexpected. There were also some instances where the main character, a streetwise kid, did things that were pretty, well, not streetwise.

This is a really wonderful book to read while on vacation, it took me approximately 1.5 days to read while I was sitting by the pool. The story is different from any of the books I have ever read. The ending is quite a twist. Highly recommend.

Not an award winner, but a catchy tale of runaway teens around Venice Beach.

Good book. easy read for teenagers, with some good lessons as well.

Love it!

Good characters and a credible story well told. Maybe a lose end with the Evil Twins: they didn't get their proper punishment.

Good summer read but a little slow for my liking! Loved the setting and main character.