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Tinka Loves Wobb
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by:
ISBN:
0-7414-1834-7
©2003
Price:
$10.95
Book Size:
5.5'' x 8.5''
, 110 pages
Category/Subject:
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Situations / Emotions & Feelings
Tinka Loves Wobb is a story that will hold the interest of teens and adults alike. Written from the viewpoint of a severely depressed 15 year-old boy, it chronicles the near tragic events that lead him to face the realities of life and accept the love of those who care for him.
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Abstract:
Robb Wendall, almost fifteen, refuses to believe his mother died in a car accident when he was nine. Depressed and withdrawn, he clings to the idea that she is still alive and has deserted her family because of him. When a chance encounter with some outgoing teens develops into friendship, Robb feels that his life is finally changing. His optimism vanishes when his father remarries and he is unintentionally left to care for Tinka, the bride’s energetic three and one-half year-old daughter. In the events that follow Tinka is seriously injured and Robb must make a decision that will save Tinka’s life and force him to accept the loss of his mother.
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Customer Reviews
Inside an Adolescent's World
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05/28/2004
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Reviewer:
Ray Greenblatt
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The main character is Robb Wendall. Although he is from a rich family, that fact grants him no favors. He is like many teens today; working through psychological wounds that cause him to grow tremendously in a short time; wounds caused by his mother's untimely death in a car accident.
His best friends are twin brothers, Doug and Drew Toland, and through them he meets sweet Tracy, and learns to appreciate the qualities of teenage girls. Tinka, the three year-old daughter of the woman his father marries, has a distinctive personality that interacts with everyone.
I found myself caught on the first page when I read; --"Anytime Robb thinks of his mother, disaster strikes. The least thought triggers the craziest, most sickening unexplainable things. One second he's in daylight; the next he's in a black fog so thick it sucks his breath away! A huge thundering wave rolls toward him! Lights flash! A voice screams,'You're dead Wendall!'"
There are lots of teenage novels out there, but June Buffington can keep up with the best of them. I read the book in one sitting. I had to!
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Ray Greenblatt, an English teacher for over thirty years, has published many stories, poems and nonfiction. He has even had a few plays produced. In the Philadelphia area, he has taught in the Mad Poets Workshop series, the Marple Library Readings and the Philadelphia Writers' Conference. He has written book reviews for the Schuylkill Valley Journal, Sea Change and the Drexel Online Journal.
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An Engrossing Read
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06/03/2004
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Reviewer:
Mergaret A. Robinson
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Novelists put their main characters up trees, throw rocks at them, and let them come down. In TINKA LOVES WOBB, a short fast-paced novel, June Buffington shows that she understands the novelist's job. Robb Wendall, Buffington's 14-year-old main character, clings to the top of a tall shaky tree and gets bruised by many a rock before he sets foot an ground again, sadder but wiser. Buffington cleverly portrays Tinka, Robb's three-and-a-half-year-old stepsister, as both a rock and a ladder.
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Margaret Robinson is the author of ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES, COURTING EMMA HOWE, and A WOMAN OF HER TRIBE
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Wonderful portrait of teenage boy
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06/16/2004
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Reviewer:
Susan Balee
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June Buffington sees inside the tumultuous heart of a teenage boy in her portrait of Robb Wendall. Robb seethes with guilt (he thinks he's responsible for his mother's death), resentment (his father, often absent on business trips, is now remarrying), responsibility (he takes care of himself alone at home and also manages a paper route), and rough-edged tenderness (his caretaking of new baby sister Tinka).
Robb is a believable boy and his relationship with new sibling Tinka is likewise believable and touching. The toddler falls for "Wobb" and he rises to the occasion of caring for her when they are accidentally left alone together while their parents honeymoon. When a tragedy occurs, Robb finally learns to have faith in himself and to risk the pain that love entails.
June Buffington, who raised four children and has published in many magazines, knows how to generate a lively plot in smooth, well-crafted prose. This is a great novel for readers young and old.
---Susan Balee is the author of a young-adult biography of Flannery O'Connor and numerous articles about literature.
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