Trying to escape the vicious King Kobra gang and troubled life at home, eighth graders Barnie and Teresa flee the city. With only four dollars between them, they hop a bus, hoping to find a new life at the end of the line. Destination: Paradise Park. But Paradise Park turns out to be a cement-covered suburban shopping mall--not quite the paradise they had hoped for.
With no money and no home to retum to, they are forced to stay. And paradise park takes them in--in more ways than one. Barnie and Teresa spend their days and nights in the climate-controlled consumer paradise of a large department store. And just when they think they can live there unnoticed forever, Teresa and Barnie find that even Paradise Park has its secrets. Even in the dead of night, they are far from alone....
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Concrete Paradise Comment: Secrets of the Shopping Mall by Richard Peck is a very interesting and enjoyable book. Two middle school aged children, Barnie and Teresa, run away from home to escape the King Kobra gang. After being defeated in a `fight' the gang was out for revenge and would surely kill Barnie and Teresa if they found them. With only two dollars each, the two hop on a bus and head to Paradise Park. But this place was no paradise instead it was a huge shopping mall.
Barnie was an intelligent kid and had moved up to the eighth grade from the seventh, He helped Teresa and himself live a somewhat comfortable life, hiding out in the shopping mall until one strange and eventful night. They are captured by store manikins that have a whole hidden world that comes alive after store hours end. The leader of the manikins, Barbie, says they will have a trial to determine if Barnie and Teresa are Mouth Breathers (manikins mortal enemies). If found guilty the price could be there lives. Will Teresa and Barnie get out of the shopping mall with their lives? Read the book and find out the answer. Any and all Richard Peck fans will love this book although I would recommend it to readers of all genres and authors.
Customer Rating: Summary: Secrets of the Shopping Mall Comment: I had a project on Richard Peck and I had to read at least 750 pages of his books. When I first checked out this book I thought it was gonna be totally stupid! Come on, just look at the title and cover page! After reading a little of this book I got hooked! It was totally awesome, very imaginative, and creative, while some of the reasons why Theresa and Barnie left really hit home with alot of things most of us kids are going through.This was an amazing book and I would recomend it and any other book written by Mr.Peck! Customer Rating: Summary: Read it 25 years ago- still own my copy. Comment: Read this book in 1979 or 1980, as a pre-teen, and it is one of the few books still on my shelf from that long ago. Peck's writing is imaginative and vivid, and this book captured my attention. The secret world of a shopping mall at night after the lights are out! I would recommend it to any young person, male or female. Customer Rating: Summary: secrets Comment: I really liked this book because it was adventures. Sometimes it was like one minute it was whats going to happen next and the other times it relaxed. I recomend this book for people who likes adventures. My favorite part was when the main character and the new kid ran away to the shopping mall and durring the night the suciritygard came to where they were hidding with his cat.The cat came under the bed she was hidding under and started to howl. she got really scard but then the grad just walked away it was really exciting!!! I would tell you about the ending... But i would spoil it. So you will go have to read it for your self. I hope you like this book when you read it. not everyone will like it but I thought it was a really good book!!!!! Customer Rating: Summary: A classic Rod Sterling epiphany Comment: This is one of those books I stumbled across at 11 years old, read in an afternoon,and was haunted by to this day.Every kid at that age wonders what goes on in the other world-the shopping mall late at night and ponders its potential as a refuge from parents, school, or in this case a gang of hoodlums.The story flows along smoothly with plenty of small suprises but no horrible shocks to keep one awake at night. I certainly recommend it as a stepping stone-kids that read this will likely go on to enjoy Mannequin with Andrew McCarthy, and come full circle by watching Dawn of the Dead. Of note: there is a similar episode of the Twilight Zone where a young woman is shopping in a high end department store. She feels watched,hears her name whispered,(MAAAARRSHAAA...) and winds up on a floor not offered by the elevator buttons. She comes to find out that all the mannequins are "alive" and take turns going out for one month to see the real world.She has been long overdue- it's another Dummy's (sorry, I can't resist)-turn! Anyhow, the book spooked me then and still has me wondering...
