Utten And Plumley

First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

Utten and Plumley by Reade Scott Whinnem. Hampton Roads, 2003.

Utten and Plumley, is a book about the adventures of Utten, Plumley, and Corker. Utten is a 2 in tall man who can transform himself into a little blue bird, Plumley is a grumpy old man who all his life just wanted to be left alone, and Corker is Plumley’s dog who is a good friend to keep him company. Over the course of the story, the main setting changes, but the most main would be Plumley’s house; the old boarding school for boys which he used to attend. In the beginning of the story, Utten is dared to go to Plumley’s house by his friends Cranston (who is a giant), and Woody (who is Cranston’s pet ant). He goes to the house and sure enough, befriends Plumley and Corker who aren’t really who Cranston makes them out to be. Utten and Corker decide to go back in time to Plumley’s childhood, so that they can see what about it made him so miserable as an old man, and they try to change that by taking him on an adventure! The rest of the book is about how the three musketeers have to over come all these obstacles to get back home.
“Utten uses his brains and his magical skills to survive the ordeal, but when his magic backfires, he falls sixty years into the past to the doorstep of the horrid Liverstanes Boarding School for Boys.”
This book is basically written in the third person ominous because it seems like there’s a narrator who is overlooking all of the events, and then describing them to the reader. In this book, Plumley is very stubborn, so the author uses sarcasm to show that. Also, he will just have Plumley say the rudest thing whenever someone tries to be nice to him.
This writing style reminded me a lot of the series The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants because the author, Ann Brasheres uses sarcasm to describe Tibby’s personality. I think that in a way, Tibby and Plumley are a lot a like because for the most part, they both go around hating the world and everyone around them just because. But near the end of the books they both change into more worldly people, and go out of their way to help each other.
“No!” shouted Plumley. He backed towards the door. “No! It’s mine! It’s my life, and you can’t have it!” (188)
I really enjoyed this book because it has a very simple meaning on the surface, but underneath its all about life, and how people can really affect you, hopefully for the best. In the end, Corker and Plumley both die, but at least Plumley died a changed man, and Corker died knowing that she helped a friend whom she really loved. I can relate to this book because there are so many times when I would just go around screaming things about how much I hated my life, and how bad everything was. But now when I do that, I can think back to this book and think about how much Plumley changed and his frustration and anger was way worse than mine, so if he could changes I bet anyone could. I think the theme of the book would be to never take anything for granted, and really cherish your friends and people who try to be there for you because it can only help you in the long run.