Crusader

Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com

A Crusader is someone who supports a certain cause and a Crusader is also a knight in the 11th-13th centuries who fought to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. Both of these definitions come into play in this long but wonderful mystery.

Roberta Ritter is a shy and lonely girl. She is plain but only because she doesn't really care how she looks. Roberta's father owns, along with his brother, a virtual reality arcade in a failing mall in Florida. The family used to have an arcade on the strip, but due to the murder of her mother they sold that franchise and opened this one.

Roberta doesn't really have a relationship with her father. He is away a lot and so Roberta and her family act as the store owners at the mall where the arcade is located. At the opening of the story, the arcade is getting a new experience in the form of a Crusader. When violence happens at the mall and an Arab is attacked, Roberta becomes a Crusader to foil whoever is doing this and also decides to find out, along the way, who murdered her mother.

This book is long, 591 pages, but excellent! The characterization of the major players was spot on. I felt like I know Roberta and she is one of my good friends. I really cared about what was going on with every character and the storyline was interesting. It wove in politics and the driving force of the media. There was dysfunction everywhere but there was also true love and caring. I recommend this book wholeheartedly!

How did this get published?

I totally agree with a previous review--Crusader is 400+ pages of painfully plodding nothingness. There's a cool idea somewhere in here, although Bloor gets bogged down with uninteresting characters and the tedium of every single nuance of working at a mall. By page 20 I was annoyed by page 50 I was angry by the end of the book I couldn't believe that any teenager would muddle through this.

Amazing

This book was, in one word, gripping. There are so many emotions, the characters are complex in each their own way, there is a historical element to learn from. It's just amazing. The twists in the plot are simply brilliant.

Crusader

Looking for a good read? A book that¿s really captivating and thrilling? Do you want a book that has you guessing until the very end and at the edge or your seat? Well, then don¿t read Crusader, by Edward Bloor. It¿s a dull book with a weak plot and no excitement. It¿s 590 plus pages or agonizing boringness and I strongly suggest that you don¿t read it. We follow the book through teenager Roberta Ritter¿s eyes. She¿s probably your average mid-teen girl except for the fact that her mother was murdered when Roberta was just a child. Anyway, Roberta works in a failing mall at an uneventful arcade store run by her selfish and thoughtless father and her arrogant and quick-tempered Uncle Frank. Other employees and main characters include: friends Ironman and Hawg, who add the smallest bit of humor to the story, and her cousins Karl, who¿s special-ed, and Kristin, a beauty who Roberta seems jealous of. The book is called Crusader, probably only because there¿s an arcade experience game with that name and maybe also because Roberta likes to watch the Stephen Cross show where he prays a lot. I¿m not really sure why Edward Bloor chose this as a title for the book, but whatever, it¿s his boring book, and how it got published is a real mystery to me! So you¿ve been warned . . . The book goes on and on about the arcade store and every tiny thing they do there, which to me is a real bore. They talk endlessly about how the employees have to de-louse everything after everyone uses the games with head sets. They go on and on about the arcade¿s ¿Asian Policy¿ where they don¿t let the Asian¿s play the Asian games where Koreans shoot the Chinese, because Uncle Frank can¿t tell the difference between them. Or their black people policy, where white people kill black people, etc. It¿s talked about for what seems like all the time in this book. Roberta¿s dad is dating and practically living with the mall¿s supervisor or overseer, Suzie, and so that really puts a wedge between this daughter and father¿s already strained relationship. Roberta doesn¿t like Suzie, and Suzie doesn¿t seem to like Roberta, so it¿s like your average evil-stepmother evil-stepdaughter situation like they always have in movies and books. Roberta comes home to an empty home every night, watches some Stephen Cross and tries to manage her own life. She talks about it all the time. Most of the book is about how Roberta is an aspiring journalist and writes about things she sees and about the failing mall and arcade store. It also talks about Roberta trying to find out what really happened to her mother that awful day that she was murdered at their old Arcade store on the strip and about the people trying to stop her. You don¿t really relate to the characters, you don¿t feel for them, you just don¿t really care what happens to them, and that equals a bad book. There¿s no emotion to the book, no real plot, and no real fun, so I would have to give this book a D, and that¿s even being nice. Doesn¿t it get annoying when I keep repeating things?

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

THIS BOOK ROCKS!!!!!!!!

This book is sooo awsome. I cried. I laughed. This is just a great book to read. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Absolutely Wonderful Book

Crusader is truly one of the best books I have ever picked up--and I read a LOT of books. This is one that captures you right from the start, and keeps you enticed as you read about the world of Roberta, her family and friends, and the mystery of what really happened to her mother. I have read this book twice and am now finishing my third time and it is just as good as it was the first two. Don't be intimidated by the length, it will go by very quickly. Highly recommended!

THIS IS AN AWESOME BOOK!

Anyone who gives this book a bad review has got to be crazy! This book is one of the best books ever! I definately think you should read this book.

Excellent Book

Read it right away! I loved this book!!!

1 OF THE BEST BOOKS EVER!

THIS BOOK IS REALLY GOOD. IN THE START IT WAS OK BUT ONCE YOU GOT IN IT A LITTLE MORE THE BOOK WAS REALLY GOOD AND IT MADE ME WANT TO READ MORE AND MORE. I RATE THIS BOOK 4 STARS BECUASE OF THE START!

The worst book EVER!!

If you want to read a REALLY GOOD book that is very interesting, DON'T read this book!! I think that all the other people who wrote a review on this book were not telling the truth. This book had a GOOD plot but it was poorly written. I won't read this book over again. You shouldn't read it either.

Crusader

okay, i know this book is really long, but as soon as you get into it, it goes really quick, i'll confess that it's the only book i've read by Edward Bloor, but i really liked it - i even read it twice

Super Good!

I love this book. I have read it 3 times and can't wait to read it again! Roberta boldly causes chaos on a live T.V. broadcast to reveal the truth about Ray Lyons. I love how she finds out how and why her mother was murdered, and it is suprising who the murderer was. I never would have guessed! Read this book! You will love it!

okay

this book was okay,kind of weird and freaky in some parts...some parts were said like when she ends up not living with her father...the lice part was really gross!

*!You've got to read this book!*

This is truly a book with the theme of a teenager growing and finding him/herself. Edward Bloor is a great author. If you liked his book Tangerine, you will like this book.

This book ROCKS!!!!!!!

I couldn't put this book down! All I wanted to do was read it and read it and go further into the story. Even though this story is fictional, it seems so real. Roberta is a down-to-earth person whose braveness and strength helps her to realize the truth behind her mother's death. So, booklovers out there, what are you waiting for? Read this book and YOU won't want to put it down!

The tipy of book you can never put dowen.

the bookislikone of thoughs books that tell you about some of the people that are out there such as Rabertas Unkel did reassised things to one of the owners in the store. I also belive that the way the auther told you about how the quarterback of the football team killed himself or got on house areast for some thing he never even did then haw he killed him self because he was inassent that like touched me in like so meany ways. I belive that every thing that happend to Raberta was like so tragic finding out that her father sent some guy to go and robbe there owne arcade then her mom got killed trying to stope the man form taking Rabertas callege founed. I also thaought that the old Women giving her all of thoughs things was like the sweetist thing I have ever reade or even hered. I also belive that the Old Woman tell Reaberta all about her giving a baskite of things to the Camp were her Mom and Dad was that was so nice, then Raberta going to where her old famely arcade was and leving a baskit full of all the thing that remided her of her mom such as the book her mom used to read to her and some of her moms old clothing . That was so touching.

Really Good

My friend read this, and she read parts of it to me, and I couldn't wait until she was done to read it. I bought my own copy and finished it in two days!!! It was really interesting and keeps you turning to the last page! Roberta is a real character, and Kristin kicks butt!!!!!!

VERY GOOD

this book was very good. I am the type of person that hates to read i only read when i have to but this book i read on my own time. When i started this book i couldn't put it down after SSR i kept reading the book and usually got in trouble if you want a good book buy this

I didn't want to put it down!

Crusader was a great book. I didn't want to put it down. What Rebbecca sees and hears and feels is really a good insite to how her character is. How others think of her shows many things about her personality and how she lives her complicated life.

Great Book!

One must always decide for himself what is the truth and never back down from what they believe in. This is effectively portrayed in the novel Crusader by Edward Bloor, in which Roberta Ritter, a fifteen year old girl, works at a failing arcade in a failing mall. Roberta's father co-owns the arcade with his brother, Roberta's Uncle Frank. Roberta's father fails to acknowledge her, and she cannot keep herself from thinking about her mother's murder seven years ago. Roberta is studying to be a journalist, and she uses her skills to uncover details that have gone unnoticed to discover what really happened. At the same time, Roberta has other things to worry about, such as the hate crimes that are being committed at the mall where she works. A politician is trying to ruin the very same mall and she has to try and save the mall from bankruptcy. She must cope with the deaths of two friends - one elderly and one just a teen. Roberta must look underneath the surface to decide for herself the truth behind on one of the deaths. Bloor writes in a simple and yet easy to understand style. The book deals with many different topics including handling difficult family issues and hate crimes. At the end of it all, though, Roberta manages to show us that the only way to survive is to continue believing in what you know is true and never to give up. ''I'm standing here at the edge of your ditch, and I'm looking at you, with all your money, and all your people, and I'm saying, I will not jump in the ditch like all the others. You will have to shoot me. I will not give up! Do you understand? I will not give up - no matter what you do, I will never, ever give up!'' (pg 358). This book helps to provide a positive message. It showed that you have to find your own way. I really enjoyed reading it. Although it is nearly 400 pages, it will keep you reading until the last page! --