From The Back Of Fruit Of The Vine
In Fruit of the Vine, we meet Justin, a sensitive, introspective boy whose physical features and personality make him a convenient target for many of his cruel peers. One night, he wakes to find himself on a mysterious island, which is inhabited by a horde of bizarre creatures. Despite his desperation to find out where he is and, more importantly, how to get home, he becomes involved in the plight of Irvino, a beast who is ostracized on this island much in the way that Justin is in his own world.
The story ends with a twist as Justin, in helping Irvino, ends up helping himself by making a lifelong friend out of Irvino. In essence, the protagonist of “Fruit of the Vine” saves himself by saving his savior, but not in typical fashion. “Fruit of the Vine” is unique from other books in the fantasy genre in that it is meant not only for the grade school-aged fantasy reader, but also for anyone interested in the topic of bullies, and how altruistic qualities can develop in children.
My Thoughts On Fruit Of The Vine
Fruit of the Vine is a heart warming story designed for 8-12 year-olds that has a powerful message of teaching us to love ourselves. Throughout the book Justin encounters a lot of “misfits” and unusual characters that teach him that he needs to love himself before others can. He also learns that he just needs to be himself to make friends.
I don’t remember there being a ton of bullies in school when I was growing up but I can attest that there are plenty of them within schools now. Perhaps they were around more and I just didn’t notice but as awareness has grown on bullying nationwide so has my own awareness. Perhaps it’s also that I now have a child in school and I worry daily that he will be bullied or teased. It seems that children are getting crueler earlier in life and pre-school just doesn’t seem that far off for kids to be cruel anymore.
Fruit of the Vine is way above Coulter’s head at this point but a couple years away and he will be able to understand more of the concepts contained within Fruit of the Vine. I can’t wait to go through Fruit of the Vine with my boys as they grow up. I am not completely into fantasy novels but the way that Fruit of the Vine is written it seems more imaginary to me. It reminder me more of Phantom of the Tollbooth which I loved as a child! I know they are probably considered the same genre but in my mind I am going to keep them separate and classify Fruit of the Vine as “imaginary” and look forward to sharing Fruit of the Vine with my boys.
Buy Fruit of the Vine by Ellen Weisberg & Ken Yoffe
You can purchase Fruit of the Vine on Amazon. Perhaps your local book store will also carry Fruit of the Vine.
**Thank you to Newman’s Publication for sending me a copy of Fruit Of The Vine by Ellen Weisberg & Ken Yoffe to facilitate this review. This did not influence my review or was it mandatory to provide a positive review.**
