Review: Ambition's Not An Awful Word by Zack Zage

Ambition's Not An Awful Word by Zack Zage.

Ivy Court Press
Publication Date: March 2012
List Price: $16.95
ISBN-13: 9780983607823

Review: "Oh, the moon left you this message 'It's ok to dream.'" This is a quote from the book I will be reviewing today which is Ambition's Not an Awful Word written by Zack Zage. It is a relatively short poetry book, and although I honestly didn't really like this book, I respect it and love this book's moral.

Ambition's Not an Awful Word starts with a boy in class , Zack Zage, who has just been asked the question; "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The boy loves this subject and had answers various answers in a speech. Here are two pages from the book Ambition's Not an Awful Word. "If I were an artist, the critics all would flip. The bigs at New York's MOMA would cry, 'This guy's really hip.' From musicians by Picasso and the night skies of Van Gogh, to Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, and ME, a one man show. 'Oh your canvas is no Pollock. It is just a muddy mess.' Our teacher, Mrs. Grundy, thinks it's awful, more or less. 'You had better stick with finger paint, rubber stamps, and glue. 'Cause all that junk that you call are is really double doo.'" Now you're probably thinking, "Hey! What just happened? It just went completely from ambition to putdowns!" Well, yeah, that's what just happened. I can't really explain why, but he just puts himself down in all of his ambitious thoughts. This happens on every page. He'll be all excited about a career and on the next page thinks of every single possible letdown there is to that job. This is one of the main reasons I don't really love this book. In another page, he says he could be a banker; and a very successful one too. But then, on the next page, he says he'll go to jail because he would be so bad. Again, I think that is a big letdown. However, the end does make up for the rest of the book. The boy's mother does in the end teach the boy a lesson - and it's a very valuable lesson too.

I recommend Ambition's Not an Awful Wordto parents reading this book as a story to younger kids anytime. It is not as interesting to older kids, but it does have a more sophisticated vocabulary. That is why I recommend it to parents reading to their kids. It also teaches a great lesson, which that is thinking you will be successful later on in life is very good for you. It encourages you to do better. In the end, although I did not particularly love the book, it does have a valuable lesson.

Review written by Dylan (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Ivy Court Press for providing a copy of Ambition's Not An Awful Word for this review.

Have you read Ambition's Not An Awful Word? How would you rate it?