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#02 - A Ghastly Shade of Green
Synopsis Jason's mother takes him and his little brother on a vacation to Florida. Instead of the beach, they go to the edge of the Everglades. Alligators bellow and plants grow so thick they almost blot out the light. This is not much fun. Jason doesn't like this place at all. Then the really weird things begin. Keepsakes disappear from his dresser. His beagle winds up missing. Jason suspects burglars, but the truth is more frightening. And Jason must make a desperate to save his family ... and himself. Comments Even though the first book was a really strong start to the series, A Ghastly Shade of Green isn't really one of the books that stands out. It hadn't hit it's stride yet. Readers assume that the series was created to get a piece of the pie in the Goosebumps popularity, and while I strongly feel that the series stands on its own as a very creative, original and fantastic series, this book had not yet proven that. One of the somewhat peculiar things at this point was that the first Goosebump book was about a haunted house and the second one was about plants that were alive, and the first two Shivers books mirror those themes. It's not a bad book though -- definitely not! Placing a scientist in the Everglades is a good premise. We knew that the plants would come alive and there really wasn't much of a twist to it ... it was just a little bit more predictable than the usual Shivers outing. I liked that the dad wasn't there, and the little brother was so helpless ... it put a lot of responsibility on Jason's shoulders right off the bat. The lucky stone was an interesting touch, but ended up not being a very important detail. It was interesting to me though because I read this book outside, and used my own "lucky stone" of sorts to keep some papers from blowing away (it was a geode I got in New Mexico). I had a beagle when I was younger, so having Tannin around was pretty cool. I could picture him going nuts in the Everglades. Timmy sounded pretty cute, except for the pants-wetting part maybe =) The cabin (and the whole vacation) sounded awesome to me. I can see how a twelve year old boy would want something a bit more exciting, but what a really unique experience. I never found Snake-eye to be very threatening when he first appeared. Maybe because I knew it was the plants that were evil and not him, but I was actually relieved when he showed up. Some of the things he said were a little creepy and reminded me of a few weirdos I've known. One thing really bugged me, and that was that Jason left Timmy to go find the dog. Especially with Snake-eye (who he didn't trust at that point) lurking around. I know kids do things without thinking, but it just didn't seem like something Jason would do. Again, not a bad book by any means but not the best in the series. It's a fun read, especially if you've been to an area like the Everglades and can picture the danger he was in. Really, if the jungle turned on you, you wouldn't stand a chance. And that's another thing that bugged me a little about the book ... the jungle should've quite literally eaten them alive. It's kind of a stretch that they could survive something like that! Interesting Info
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