Archer's Quest

Archers Quest

Product Description

TWELVE-YEAR-OLD KEVIN, A Korean American math whiz, is shocked beyond belief when a young man, complete with bow and arrows, crash lands in his bedroom. And thats just the beginning. The man, called Skillful Archer, claims to be a legendary ruler from ancient Korea. While Kevin tries explaining contemporary life to the man he nicknames Archie, the young ruler teaches Kevin about focusing his thoughts in an attempt to help him return to his kingdom. Theres not a moment to lose as Kevin uses Korean history and folktales, math, and the Chinese Zodiac to help his friend travel back through time before the Year of the Tiger ends. If Archie cant get home, history will be forever changed.
Rate Points :4.0
Binding :Paperback
Label :Yearling
Manufacturer :Yearling
ProductGroup :Book
Studio :Yearling
Publisher :Yearling
EAN :9780440422044
Price :$6.50USD
Lowest Price :$2.82USD
Customer ReviewsWhen History Comes To Visit
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :3
Kevin is a young boy, Korean-American, who is just following his normal routine of doing his homework--his boring, irrelevant history homework--when history comes to visit him in a quite unlikely way. His baseball hat is quite literally lifted off his head by an arrow of a strange visitor who insists that he just fell off a tigers back. Unsure whether to call 911 or assume its a bizarre dream, Kevin goes along with the odd mans requests. As he begins to explain modern life--glass windows break when you try to shoot arrows through them--he determines that the only way to make his life return to normal is to figure out WHO this guy is and WHY hes suddenly in his room. This leads him to do research both online and in person.

The quest is to find a way to send him back to his proper time. The solution--critical thinking skills, communication, math, and cultural research.

While ARCHERS QUEST is not my favorite Linda Sue Park novel. I think this modern-fantasy tale may prove interesting to some young readers.

Awsome Book
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :0
I read this book on a trip. I downloaded it on my ipod from itunes. I finished it in less then two days!!! It was and awesome book and now Ive read four Mark Twain Anonami books!!!

Helping historical Korean figures is not for the weak!
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :7
I just cannot for the life of me figure out what to do with Linda Sue Park. Some authors write books that are spot-on gold all the time. Others cant churn out a decent title no matter how hard they try. Then theres Linda Sue Park. Garnering a coveted Newbery award early in her career, Park has had the unenviable job of showing the world that she remains worthy of that honor with every subsequent book she writes. I liked "A Single Shard", but somewhere in the back of my brain was the niggling suspicion that since Im twenty-seven-years-old my response probably would have been different had I been a ten-year-old who had to read it in school. Ditto my response to "The Mulberry Project", in which silkworms, rather than pottery, were the name of the game. As if hearing my silent plea, Park has now come out with the far more kid friendly (but still darned informative) "Archers Quest". The set-up is good, the story interesting, and the book a short sweet ride. Youd think Id be in seventh heaven. Instead, Im torn. On the one hand, its difficult to criticize an author who takes as much time and attention as Ms. Park does with her work. On the other hand, something about "Archers Quest" failed to grab me right from the get-go. Maybe its the fact that Park has written a story found in so many other childrens books. Maybe its the low-key action. Whatever the case, "Archers Quest" makes for a mighty fine read. It just didnt have that extra little oomph it needed to make it beloved.

You think your days been crummy? Youve got nothing on Kevin. Sure, today was a half-day at school, but is he able to appreciate it? Not a chance. The year is 1999 and Kevin is bored out of his skull with only a bouncy ball to keep him company. Next thing you know Kevins cap is hanging from an arrow sticking straight out of the wall. The arrow, in turn, belongs to a very oddly dressed man who is eyeing Kevin suspiciously and has his next arrow aimed at the boy in question. Turns out that the man is the great Korean historical figure Koh Chu-mong. Part Robin Hood part King Arthur, Chu-mong has somehow landed smack dab in Archies bedroom some 2,054 years into the future. Kevin, may be of Korean descent, but he doesnt sufficiently know his Korean history to know enough about Chu-mong (who requests that he be called Archer, shortened by Kevin to "Archie") to help him back to his own time. Together the two must discover everything they can about Korean history, magic, the Chinese Zodiac, and some basic math before the year of the Tiger is up. And the year ends that very night!

In a way, "Archers Quest" is a historical novel. Sure it takes place in 1999, but that still places it firmly in the past. Park starts with a particularly interesting situation. Youre in your bedroom, bored, and suddenly a hero from the past is looking to put an arrow in your heart. A great start, but a difficult one. Since the story must take place in the course of a single day, and since Kevin is such a realistic character that Parks afraid to ever put him into too much trouble, the storys action is downplayed. The most we get is an encounter with a real tiger, a race from a negligible enemy, and a run across a highway when the traffic has already been stopped. Her "villain" isnt even that villainous. Just misguided. Of course, limiting the action is Parks style. Therefore, if youve a kid who really got into "A Single Shard" or (more logically) "Project Mulberry", they are bound to enjoy this story just as much, if not more.

The concept of a historical or fictional figure bumming around the present isnt new, of course. Everything from "Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure" to "Inkheart" has used it to their advantage. Where Park diverges from the ordinary is in making her hero a Korean folk-hero. Kids whove never had the opportunity to learn of the adventures of Chu-mong will find much to learn about here. In this way, the book pairs nicely with another recent historical-man-to-whom-folk-tales-have-been-attached character, Dick Whittington, in Alan Armstrongs, "Whittington".

Ever attentive to supporting her stories with fact, Park includes a section on math in this story, while another attends to details involving Chu-mong, tigers, and RIT, and a bit on the zodiac. A Chinese Zodiac is located at the end of the book, and here I had a real problem with the book. Some childrens books that discuss the Zodiac do what "Archers Quest" did here and include each year with the dates ascribed to that year. For example, "The Roosters Antlers: A Story of the Chinese Zodiac" by Eric A. Kimmel, includes a bunch of dates that fall within different animal years. The book is useful because these dates go a decade or two into the future. "Archers Quest" on the other hand, stops at February 4, 2000. Thats all well and good if the kiddies want to know what animal is ascribed to the year of their birth, but does absolutely no good if they want to know what the current year in the zodiac is. Obviously it stops around 1999 because thats when the story takes place. However, it would be heads and tales more interesting if it bothered to go a little bit into the future. Even if it were just a decade.

None of this is to say that the book doesnt make for a good read. Linda Sue Park is first and foremost a premier childrens book author and dont let anyone tell you otherwise. I just wish that this book had gotten a little more work done on it. It reads beautifully and will give a lot of enjoyment to some kids with the whole time-travel aspect. For others it will start out well, then peter off into the dull. A nice title but not my favorite Park accomplishment.

Good Enough
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :1
This is a good light read. It never did say why Archer came to the different time period however I would still recommend this for fun. This book isnt extremely exciting but good enough to keep your interest.

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