The book The King in the Window by Adam Gopnik tells a story about boy who was chosen to be the king in the window. Overall, I thought the book was amazing. The problems the characters encountered were to save the world. Since Oliver was the king in the window, he had to try to stop the Master of Mirrors to take everyone's souls. The best part of the book is when Neige told Oliver that she was the one to make him the king in the window. I thought it was the window wraiths because Oliver kicked the homing stone home. I would recommend this book to a middle school student because some of the vocabulary is hard to understand and the characters are about the same age as us.

Didn't have to read very far to be offended by a child's misuse of G-d's name. Not necessary and unacceptable...

Oliver, a young and lonely american in paris, is sloggin through a dreary winter and a rigorous school. His father is very busy and his mother thinks he's still three years old. His only friend, Neige, had a disagreement with him and they haven't spoken for months.
Then, on the night of Epiphany, he puts on a paper crown, stands in the window and tell himself, ironically, that he is king of the window. This is the end of normal life, and the beginning of an adventure that will, in one short week, span more than the universe, include lost souls, window wraiths, an old lady with disdain for most people, particularly Americans, feather swords, bubble wands, and the Eiffel tower--all in ways you never could imagine.
this book, although it has very simple explanations throughout, as if one were explaining meanings to a child, is also very thought-provoking and requires some serious intellectual ability. and it has some serious action! replete with a high-speed chase across the multiverse, snow in Paris, and an almost quantum computer, this is not a book of fluff and nonsense. at least, not in the way one might think. This takes a strong reader armed with a high level of credulity, and a sense of wonder.

The King in the Window is an amazing book. It's been really long since I've read a Children's fantasy as good as this!

Oliver Parker is a lonely ten year old boy in gray and cold Paris. Through his young eyes, the stark contrasts between life in Paris and life in the States. Moreover, his mother is unhappy and his dad is too caught up in his work to be a dad. Olly was kind of wise beyond his years as he was able to observe these things very well, and his naivety only painted the picture more clearly.

I realized the audience bracket for this book is quite young, but it came off as somewhat mature for me. Historical references, physics, rhetorics and metaphors are simply a few of the topics explored. Although these concepts were explained as simply as possible, I imagine some kids would have a hard time relating to Oliver. Also, the writing style was also very classical, sort of like Lewis Caroll's style. Adam Gopnik portrayed Oliver as a technologically distant boy, but he defeats the enemy through his reading skills. I totally adore that concept.

The story in its entirety was very delightful and charming. Fast paced and playful, Im sure readers of all ages will enjoy this. Shoutout for the wonderful book cover (which I rarely find these days) and the beautiful illustrations.

I like the interesting tidbits on French culture and language, the witty use of historical characters, the idea of mirrors versus windows, and the emphasis on the importance of thinking. But in the end, those were small tidbits to a slow moving plot that just could not seem to grab me. I was annoyed by the constant Summaries of Everything Important That Just Happened which only made the story feel more forced.

This YA/middle-grade reader, fantasy/science fiction book has an intriguing premise, but it didn't quite work for me.

The main character, Oliver, is sympathetic, though sometimes exasperating in his self-pity, at least at the beginning of the book. He's an American child living in a nice apartment IN PARIS, with cool, loving parents. (Well, until the whole soul-stealing thing with his dad). And he spends most of his days moping because he doesn't like school. His friend Charlie is great fun; he gives what was beginning to be a rather plodding story a real boost. And the setting of Paris in the wintertime is one of the best things about this rather strange and convoluted story that tries to be both fantasy and science fiction and doesn't quite work as either. The magic system is inconsistent, the plot has holes you could drive an army of window wraiths through, the quantum computer technology is silly, and some key events just don't make any sense. I wanted to love this book, but I have to say it disappointed me, although the writing itself is very good.

Despite all that, after a few days I went back and added a star to my rating, because I found that I was still thinking about this book. The ones that are just bad, or inconsequential, tend to disappear from my thoughts after a day. Something about this one resonates with me, though, flaws notwithstanding.

This was a unique reading experience. The book is mysterious, funny, confusing, adventurous, slow-moving, historical, far-fetched, mundane, futuristic, droll, frightening, silly, and infinitely more things all rolled into one. Ultimately, I liked it. It didn't capture my interest right away, but there is something very *French* about much of the dialogue and the pacing, which I think kept me going through the slower parts and coming back after walking away for a respite. I particularly liked Mrs. Pearson. Children's literature could use more steely-spined, fashionable old ladies, I think.

This book is so poorly written and edited that I wanted to throw it across the room in disgust at least 5 times. At one point the author describes a group of characters and less than one page later describes them again, but mixes up the descriptions of them. Gopnik has seemingly not met or spoken to a child in a long time because he writes these characters like they are from the 70s not current day adolescents. He is repetitious, verbose for no reason and can't clearly articulate his very convoluted theories on quantum physics. I would have given it one star but felt obligated to add a second because the core premise is good. Such a disappointment.

12/09 Although somewhat predictable (or perhaps just too much foreshadowing?) this book intertwines interesting ideas about mirrors, windows, reflections, and souls into a story about a lonely 12 year old boy who finds friends, has Alice in Wonderland type adventures, and saves both his father's soul the world. The book would likely appeal to kids age 8-14 or so. Literary terms (irony and metaphor especially) are interspersed (taught) as part of the story. The story was interesting, but it seemed to be – just a story. I didn’t walk away from the book eager for more.

3.5 stars

The premise of this book is interesting and Gopnik is a good writer.

However, there are so many twists and turns and allusions and archetypes and other (somewhat forced) literary conventions that the story kind of gets lost along the way.

In other words, it was confusing, but I finally just forgot about trying to understand the logic and just enjoy the characters, which are pretty interesting.

I would say the meat and heart of the story are well done.

Probably not going to become a new york times best seller but still possibly one of the most original plots for a fantasy that I've read in a while. It's a shame that it's not a well-known book.

Cute, confused, likeable but not memorable.