The best place to live is the ceiling: A novel - Hardcover

Wersba, Barbara

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 006026408X ISBN 13: 9780060264086

Publisher: Harper & Row, 1990

Synopsis

A lonely teenager from Queens impulsively flies off to Switzerland on another man's passport and finds his life turning into a James Bond adventure.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7-10-- Archie Smith, a self-proclaimed paranoid loser, is obsessed with travel and spends much time at Kennedy Airport gazing and dreaming. Dreams become reality, however, when a man he meets at the airport collapses and is taken away by ambulance, leaving behind his purse containing a passport, $2,000, a plane ticket, and a reservation at a hotel in Zurich. Thus begins an explosion of activity for Archie, as he boards the plane and takes off. There, his rooms are broken into and searched and he is chased or followed all over Switzerland by some gangster types who mean business. Accompanying him is "poor-little-rich-girl," Polo, who sleeps in the streets, steals, and uses typical "street kid" language to shock her wealthy, standoffish father, and with whom Archie falls in love. By adventure's end, Archie has achieved a believable amount of self-confidence and self-esteem, no longer espousing the philosophy of the book's title. That it is written as a diary to Archie's psychiatrist is a device in perfect harmony with this offbeat story. Those who take it all seriously will find several flaws; those who take it as intended--delightfully improbable and hilariously implausible--are in for a high-spirited romp through the Alps with a Woody Allen sound-alike.
- Trev Jones, School Library Journal
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Lonely Archie finds solace in the classic movies of the '30s and '40s, until a chance encounter in the airport sends him on an adventure as wild as a Spielbergian nightmare. Traveling under an assumed name, Archie arrives in Zurich and becomes the target of a gang of thugs. With the able assistance of his new friend Polo--the street-wise daughter of a bestselling author--Archie succeeds in outwitting his pursuers. Readers will enjoy the exhilarating pace and abundant action of this tongue-in-cheek thriller. Wersba's ( Fat: A Love Story ; The Farewell Kid ; Wonderful Me ) quirky characters are thoughtfully delineated; their authenticity makes this madcap tale seem nearly plausible. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper & Row
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 006026408X
• ISBN 13: 9780060264086
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 184