Reworkings of classics into YA books are pretty popular and usually well done. Levithan's retelling of A Christmas Carol as a Valentine's Day story is no exception. It's well written and the plot is decent enough, but the story didn't really catch me. I think part of the reason is that I've never been a big fan of the original work. I did enjoy it, but of all of Levithan's books, I think this is the one I like least. If you like the original and don't mind adaptations, give the book a go. Otherwise, give it a pass. ( )

Up front I have to admit that I have never read the Charles Dickens' classic this book is so closely based on (closely enough that Mr. Levithan thanks whoever devised the concept of public domain.) However, if it is at all as enjoyable as this adaptation is it is something I should plan to do in the future.

In this story we have Ben, no scrooge he, but instead a heartbroken teen. This is not the heartbreak of mere "breaking up" but instead one of losing to death his girlfriend and constant companion, Marly, to a sickness which many people have lost many loved ones to. I cannot say that I could ever understand the depth of Ben’s sorrow; I have never lost someone so close to me that it would irrevocably change my entire life, but I can honestly say that I can see why Ben is as angry and cold as he is in the beginning of this story. This is a Valentine's Day tale of how Ben's refusal to go on with his life and how cutting everything out causes the return of Marly's ghost, bound by the chains of a charm bracelet, and three other ghosts, the ghosts of Valentine's Day past, present and future. Knowing this you may think that you could skip the book knowing exactly what will happen. However, I think this version has enough originality and depth of feeling that I would still recommend its reading. I especially liked the reincarnation of Tiny/Tim, it is just something to be expected of this author. There is even a surprise at the end in the graveyard that kind of made me laugh in disbelief. Although seemingly a little preachy at times at its heart the story means well with a moral about living and loving even after the loss of love. ( )

Mr. Levithan way of handling lost for teenagers and the drama of first love is wonderfully depicted through a somewhat mirror image of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” with a Valentine theme. We all know how hard first loves can be. But if first love is cut off by the death of one partner rather than the usual breakup, the experience can be devastating to the one left behind. So is the case with Ben and Marley who knew each other for 6 years and dated for 3. Marley dies of cancer in the first few pages, and then begins the story of Ben’s downward spiral and the visits of Marley’s ghost just like in Dickens’ tale. However, with the characters all teenagers and all set it present day, the story line will have a greater impact on today’s readers. Each of Marley’s visits tries to show Ben the error of his way, and the negative and destructive effects that his prolonged mourning will have not just on him but on his best friends as well. Teens today will be much more likely to receive the message than they would if they had to read the original Dickens. (Not that I am opposed to the teaching of Classic Literature.)

I not only read this book, my 13 yr old daughter also read it and wanted to immediately discuss it. She was extremely moved by the story and was able to see that lost of a loved one doesn’t mean you have to lose the memories or feelings that you had for that person but that life must continue. ( )

The premise sounds less than promising: Take Dickens' A Christmas Carol and update it to present day, change the holiday to Valentine's Day, and turn Scrooge into a 16 year old boy hardened and embittered against all things romantic after having lost the love of his life.

(Spoilers, such as they are, follow).

Marly is the young girl Ben (short for Ebenezer) has lost to an unnamed cancer, the chains binding her to the living are a charm bracelet filled with memories and mementos her Ben holds so dear they keep both of them from moving on. The three spirits who visit Ben are of Valentine's Day's past, present and future giving him glimpses into who he was, is and could be. The diminutive waif Tiny Tim here becomes a gay couple, Tiny and Tim, who first feel the brunt of Ben's anger and frustration only to see him turn and become their biggest supporters.

It's quite a feat to update Dickens and make it relevant to a teen audience and the effort here is admirable, if flawed. The book calls itself a remix as opposed to a retelling because Levithan has attempted to retain as much of Dickens's original text and dialog wherever appropriate. The effect is that the narrative is woven with odd little bits that never quite seem to mesh with the story being told. There's almost a sense of the archaic in some of the speech, particularly when Ben communicates with the spirits.

I'm also a little confused about the message. Is it that Ben shouldn't grieve the loss, or simply that he's gone too far in wallowing in his grief. With Dickens it is understood that Scrooge had hardened himself over a great many years and his heart hardened over so that his conversion required divine intervention. But the idea here is that Ben has succumbed so quickly that it appears no one has tried to provide the boy any sort of grief counseling at all. Granted, it removes the story from it's flow to look too deeply beyond the simplicity of its origins but it also distracts from the believability of Ben's conversion to suggest that all he needs is an extra-terrestrial reminder of what he's become (and a glimpse at being dead by age 19) to send him to the other side of the emotional spectrum. I'm not a big advocate of psycho-therapudic pharmaceuticals but a low dose and a little counseling would have helped Ben a whole better than his conversion into an exuberant pro-love apostle out to spread the good word.

When I was a teen and reading rock and roll criticism seriously there was a review for something that the critic derided snidely as "perfect for 14 year olds in love". Well, I was 14 at the time, in love, and didn't understand why that was such a bad thing. This would have been the perfect book for me back then. ( )

http://booksareking.blogspot.com/2006... ( )