It’s 1983
and Sam has leapt into a very smart but troubled junior high student.The young man is part of Odyssey of the
Mind, a program for gifted students that is about to be axed.The students in the program will be devastated
if the program doesn’t continue, so Sam is there to prevent it from
being shut down.He also finds out he
needs to make things right for his host and his mom.But can Sam get anyone to listen to who they believe to be
a 12-year-old kid?
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Person
Leapt Into
Sean O’Connor.
Place
Penworth, New York.
Project
Trivia
The staff at the Project has a hard time getting Sean to stay in the
waiting room.He doesn’t like being cooped
up, is curious about the Project and wants to see where he is.Ultimately though, Al and Dr. Beeks help him
deal with some of his issues and understand what is happening to him.
Sam
Trivia
We get some information on the challenges Sam had when he was in junior
high and high school.
We see Sam’s
skill as a doctor when he helps Sean’s mom.
Sam
associates New York with New York City; he’s discovering New York State
is a whole different world.
Al
Trivia
We get some background on Al and how he got the education that
eventually led to him working with Sam.The
author explores the issues that influenced his getting married five
times.Despite some initial hesitation, Al
actually does well connecting with Sean, and he and Sean do have quite
a bit in common.
Miscellaneous
Trivia
One of the kids in the Odyssey of the Mind program turns out to be
someone with a connection to the Project.
Sam leapt
into kids in The Camakazi Kid, Runaway, 8-1/2 Months and Raped.
King Thunder
from Glitter Rock is mentioned.
References
are made to The Play is The Thing, Catch a Falling Star, Genesis, Star
Crossed, Honeymoon Express and The Americanization of Machiko—i.e., Sam
vaguely remembers being in a play, and he appears to remember leaping
into the husbands of several women, and seeing Donna when she was in
college.
Regular
Characters
Sam, Al and Ziggy.
Guest
Characters
The support staff at the Project-Tina, Donna, Gooshie, Dr. Beeks and
Sammie Jo.In the leap: The kids in
the program (and their families) Chrissi Martinez, Johnny Metz, Peter
(Pigeon) Janowski, and Sarah Easton. The
president of the school board, Regina (Gina) Fairgate has an important
role in the book.
Guest
character notes (interesting info about those who appeared in the novel)
All the kids have issues, mainly because their families are
dysfunctional.Chrissi’s parents are
divorced and her father marries a young woman who used to babysit
Chrissi.Pigeon lost his parents in an
accident and is being raised by his elderly grandmother.Johnny has a reasonably stable family, but is coping with
the possibility of ending up at a private school where he is cut off
from his friends.Sarah’s parents seem to
be focused on their own interests. However,
their families do help out and take a stand against shutting down the
program.I especially like the way
Kathleen O’Connor gets her act together for the benefit of her son.Gina Fairgate, who is instrumental in cutting
the Odyssey program, is a real piece of work.She does end up making things right in the end.
Characters
who appeared in QL TV episodes
Chrissi turns out to be someone familiar to Al and Sam.The Project support staff is mentioned in a number of QL
episodes and we get glimpses of them and the Project in Genesis,
Honeymoon Express, Star Crossed, Killin’ Time, The Leap Back, the
Trilogy and Mirror Image.
Personal
Review
This is an entertaining story that has Sam and Al dealing with some
smart but troubled kids.Barbara
gives us some background on Tina, who was only a supporting character
on the show.It’s interesting to have
someone we didn’t see a lot of in the show have a key role in the book.The story makes a good statement about parents
and schools working together to help kids succeed and having programs
like Odyssey of the Mind to encourage their creativity.The author’s take on the nonsense that happened (and still
happens) with school programs and budgets is pretty accurate.There is a good message about taking
responsibility for your own behavior and making good choices, which I
don’t think kids hear enough of these days.Of
course, there are plenty of adults who don’t understand that concept
also. However, I think a lot of problems
could be avoided if kids were taught they are responsible for their
choices at an early age.I like the way
the author references QL episodes by having Sam remember bits and
pieces from different leaps too. She doesn’t name specific characters
from the T.V. episodes.It’s very subtle,
but there is enough information that alert QL fans will know what
episodes Sam is thinking about.I also
like the fact the story is set in a small town in New York State.Many people associate New York with the city
(as Sam appears to) but that isn’t all there is to New York.New York State is beautiful, especially near
Niagara Falls.
Best
Line
(Al talking to Sean in the waiting room)
I didn’t get
divorced four-no, five, I’ll admit five-times because my mom dumped me
at an impressionable age.I don’t cheat on
my wives or my girlfriend because I feel abandoned.And I don’t drink too much because my father died when I
was ten.I do all of those things because
I made bad choices.
Best
Scene
That has to be when Al and Sam realize Chrissi, who is 11 in this Leap,
is someone they know.The way the author
works Tina into the story is very clever.
I love it
too when Gina is called on her crap—and at a board meeting no less.What better payback than to be confronted
during a public meeting with the evidence?
Say
What?
Although the line above from Al is a good one, I don’t recall anything
in the show about Al cheating on his wives.He
did cheat on Tina (and Tina cheated on him too) but that was partly for
laughs and to have the contrast between Al and Sam. The point is we are
responsible for our choices, so I won’t be too nitpicky about it.
Quotable
Quotes
(Sam and Al talking when Al is filling Sam in about what he is supposed
to be doing).
Sam:Since when are you such an expert on
adolescent girls?
Al:Well, I admit I’m not dating one at the
moment….
Sam:Will you cut that out?
Al:After the cracks you’ve made about some of the
women I hang out with?Not a chance, buddy.
(Sam/Sean
talking to Sean’s mother Kathleen as she recovers from a drinking
binge).
Sam:If you go into acute withdrawal, I want to be
here to call an ambulance.
Kathleen:Acute withdrawal?What,
have you been watching Emergency! reruns?
Sam:Uh, yeah.
Author’s
Notes
Barbara thanks
other people who were part of a real school program called
Odyssey of the Mind, and the book is in part a tribute to
them.
Info
about author
Barbara lives in New
Mexico and works as a librarian as well as a writer.I found a story she wrote at http://www.pulpcorner.com/ShadowWatch.I
also found out the Odyssey of the Mind program in the book is based on
a program that actually exists and she was a participant.Their website is http://www.odysseyofthemind.org.She is mentioned in their fact sheet.
Put on
your thinking caps, because it’s time for Odyssey!
Get schooled by
Allison Pregler, Matt Dale, and Christopher DeFilippis during another
meeting of the Quantum Leap Podcast Book Club, as we discuss the
Barbara Walton novel in which Sam Leaps into a boy genius who has to
save a gifted students’ program — lest his friends suffer terrible
consequences.
And back at the
Project, Al’s growing connection with the smart young Leapee is causing
him to dredge up parts of his past he thought long dead and buried.