The First Sandcastle

Author(s)
Age Range
14+
ISBN
0980141001
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2 reviews
Overall rating
 
3.5
Plot
 
3.5(2)
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N/A(0)
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Existential journey of a young artist
Overall rating
 
3.0
Plot
 
3.0
Characters
 
N/A
Writing Style
 
N/A
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Reader reviewed by Allison Fraclose

From a very young age, Marlo Clemente has possessed an incredible artistic ability. He uses his art to escape his tempestuous home life, where his mother fights for her freedoms from an over-domineering husband and his father claims that the female sex creates all that is wrong with the world. Although Marlo worships his father and struggles to win his fathers acceptance of his art, he holds on to the hope that maybe, just maybe, there may be a girl out there who isnt like all the others. A girl who wont use her body to make him buy her material things and then dump him as soon as he can no longer give, the same way Gracie did to Danny, one of his two best friends.

One summer day, while on the beach with Danny and Ivan, Marlo finally meets such a girla girl with clear green eyes who seems to see right through him and the stunning sandcastle hes built. Marlo finds himself obsessed with this girl, and paints her picture so he can always remember her. When school starts again, fate accidentally places him in an advanced biology class&with his mystery girl, Desiree, as his lab partner. As he grows more in love with Desiree, Marlo has to fight against the shyness that has built up as a result of his fathers teachings, and somehow find his place in a world where traditional art is no longer viewed as a praiseworthy pursuit. Perhaps, with Desiree at his side, he can finally build the castle he seeksa castle that will last for always and not disappear into the sea with the tide.

Marlos existential journey did not touch me as much as it possibly could have, and I think a lot of that has to do with the final conflict in the story, where I did not understand the main characters actions and motivation. Also, something must be said for the sentence structure during the more internally focused paragraphs, where the narrator (Marlo as an adult, presumably) has a tendency to speak in a way similar to a certain short, green, and pointy eared character from Lucass STAR WARS. Setting these aside, I did manage to get involved in the story, and I think that this book would probably appeal to older, high school-aged males who may be facing similar issues.
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A Timeless Love Story
Overall rating
 
4.0
Plot
 
4.0
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Reader reviewed by J. Mitchell

The First Sandcastle is a coming of age story about a young man growing up in a dysfunctional family. The main character, Marlo Clemente, attempts to reconcile the love he feels for his mother and the warped view of life taught by his father... that women are evil.

Marlo's art and his friends provide solace from everyday home life. When one of Marlo's friends (Danny) falls in love with a girl who uses Danny for her own purposes and then crushes his hopes and dreams, this only reinforces what Marlo has learned from his father.

How Marlo deals with the further confusion that sets in when he meets a girl he feels is unlike others is a captivating story that gives the reader a lot to think about. The peer pressure of growing up, and the issues a normal teen must deal with, along with the not-quite-separate issues that evolve from the family's dysfunctional relationships among themselves and others are deeply felt by the reader. The timeless feel and the steady pacing of this story should provide a basis for a wide audience, though I have the feeling that it is also the ideal YA novel.

Mr. Delgado builds the highly emotional story to a dramatic climax and makes the reader feel every minute of Marlo's pain when he discovers that he's just as his girlfriend's mother says: "exactly like all the other boys". Marlo's relationship with his own mother improves and she helps him realize that we are all human and fallible.
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