Book Review: Kevin’s Point of View

Kevin's Point of View by Del Shannon

Reviewed by: Chris Singer

About the author:

Del Shannon is a full-time civil engineer and designs and constructs water projects around the world, and also a part-time writer. When not working on his projects, he has written award-winning essays, newspaper columns and children's stories. His first children's story was the serialized novella The Map, which was published in several newspapers. Kevin's Point of View is his second children's story and first full-length novel. He lives with his family in Boulder, Colorado.

About the book:

Kevin Tobin is a relatively ordinary twelve-year-old dealing with the aftermath of his father's death. To escape his emotional turmoil, Kevin has developed his imagination into a dangerous foil and powerful ally. After a mysterious package arrives at his door, Kevin and his best friend are hunted down by a ruthless villain determined to retrieve the package, unknowingly spinning Kevin into a battle for control over time itself.

My take on the book:

With Kevin's Point of View, I just may have found the quintessential action-adventure book for fathers and sons to read aloud together. This book has everything a boy wants from a story: action, adventure, great humor, time travel, several exhilarating chase scenes, kids beating up on adults (in self-defense of course), helicopters, mine shafts, a roller coaster ride of twists and turns, and one wild and surprising ending leaving you wanting more. For a first time novel, I couldn't have been more impressed as Kevin's Point of View features strong writing, an exciting and fast-moving plot and likable heroes kids can relate too.

As mentioned above in the About the Book section, Kevin is devastated by grief at the loss of his father and uses his imagination as a powerful defense mechanism to cope with the pain of this loss. Dads might have to help explain a few things at the beginning of the story as the parts where Kevin seems to be living inside of his head might be a bit confusing for kids.

I had a blast reading this and thought I recognized a hint of a possibility as to there being a sequel to Kevin's Point of View. I won't be the only reader who hopes so.