The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for The Maple Seed Helicopter
Because The Maple Seed Helicopter was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.
Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.
This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.
Ekta Kumari
The book follows the story of Marco and his adopted brothers who, after escaping an orphanage at a young age, move on to pursue their dreams after a farmer and his wife takes care of all three of them. I wouldn't have read the book based on its blurb as I wasn't much interested. Though, I liked how the author has crafted the narrative. The conversations between all the characters is engaging, and the first-person narration brings forth Marco's thoughts about his friends and brothers. I also like the sentimental connections highlighted throughout the read. Though, the thing I liked the most is that the narration is not hurried. I did see two errors in the portion sampled. One error is in this sentence, "After all the struggles, the selfish dreams, the promises, gluttonous greed, lies and deceptions. We will eventually conclude that life is meaningless." There should be a comma instead of a period before 'We'. I saw an official OBC review before sampling. I wouldn't suggest anything for improvements but will not read the whole book, in spite of the helpful official OBC review, as I'm not into the themes.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 10:46 am by Ekta Kumari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Rodel Barnachea
After going over the title’s Amazon page and official OnlineBookClub review, I decided not to purchase the book. I am intrigued by the weird title of this novel and how it foreshadows certain events of the story. I am not fascinated by the fact that the two main characters grew up in an orphanage. I am not interested in finding out what will happen to them after they left the orphanage. Perusing its Amazon sample failed to change my mind. I would not acquire it because nothing in the text compelled me to pore over the rest of the title. The first ten pages cover a prologue and some pages of Chapter 1. I noted some errors in the text:
1 — The phrase “parents love” should be “parents’ love” in the sentence “…to feel my parents love.”
2 — Instead of a comma, a period should have been used in the sentence “…from the trees, I was amused and happy.” (”…the trees. I was…”)
3 — There should have been a comma separating the two independent clauses in the sentence “I remember as I placed a seed casing on my nose and I pretended to fly with my arms open wide.” (”…my nose, and I pretended…”)
Since the errors above are just found in the prologue and are easily detected by an editor, I don’t think the book is professionally edited.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 4:59 am by Rodel Barnachea.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Rosemary Owolabi
The cover outlook seems perfect, after putting the title, the author's name, and the background picture into consideration.
I didn't notice any typos or errors while going through the first ten pages (which cover the copyright, dedication, prologue, and some other aspects of the sample).
I would read the rest of the book because the writer, Marco, was able to narrate the story beautifully. I noticed the friendships, the struggle for survival from hardship in a hopeless situation with no parental care or supervision. It is like a glimpse into the lives of orphans around us and what they may be going through. I am sure this story will awaken some compassion from people to not shy away from adoption. Some of the orphans may be going through some unexplained suffering or hardship. Sadly, there are many free accommodations or food waste in the country. The journey these friends were taking was one of courage, danger, and fear, but it seemed they didn't have a choice. Everyone wants a better life, and survival of the fittest may be the only option in some difficult situations.
What I liked about the bit that I read was the interesting way Marco was expressing the experience of the orphans. I like his story-writing ability and his bravery in narrating the story when the country was going through its own fight for survival.
What could be improved would be the formatting issues.
The book has an OnlineBookClub forum review that I noticed. But this didn't affect my decision.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 4:54 am by Rosemary Owolabi.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
BruceP
I read the first ten pages of the book that I downloaded from Amazon. This book's author, Marco Collina, describes how maple seedlings suddenly began to fall from the trees like helicopters. He was both happy and amused by this occurrence. Additionally, he discusses how our life journeys will vary depending on the cards we are dealt and how we decide our individual pathways. The novel featured a lot of appealing aspects. The aspect that I loved the most was the title. It is simple and complements the content in the book. In the first few chapters I read, there was not a single aspect of this book that I found objectionable. There were no errors in the sample I read, which suggests that the book has been edited by a qualified professional. I won't buy and read through this book. This is because I don't enjoy reading about war, and the novel seems to deal with it in some way. A good book to suggest to readers who enjoy fiction is this one. The book's genre had no bearing on my decision not to finish reading it. Its inclusion of several topics that I don't particularly enjoy reading about had a major impact.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 4:54 am by BruceP.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mutai Marshal
I wouldn’t have read this book outside the First Ten program as I could hardly connect with either the book's title or cover page. I didn't see any OBC blurb for this book. From the sample, I liked that the book acknowledges the importance of parents in their lives. They have to safeguard the innocence of their children. I recommend another round of editing as I flagged a couple of grammatical errors (such as ”hey[should Hey], Marco, can you and Dario get us some sausages later?” [the first quotation marks should be opening quotation]). The OBC review didn't change my mind about this book. Due to the high error rate, I will not buy this book.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 4:51 am by Mutai Marshal.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
psychopathycathy
If I had not read the sample as part of the First Ten program, I would have read the book, even though I think the blurb could be written in a more narrative way than the step-by-step recount of events it currently is. There were no Amazon reviews but that did not affect my decision. After reading the sample, I have changed my mind. Unfortunately, I think this books really needs a heavy round of editing and that is my main reason for not wanting to continue. In the first line, a verb and independent clause were missing in "'Sister Mona,' As I raised my hand at the dinner table." In the third sentence, a period was used instead of a comma after "said." A few lines later, there were also punctuation errors around dialogue. There were also quotation marks facing the wrong way and letters that should have been capitalized that were not. I see the potential in how the writing started off by depicting wartime through the lack of food, but all of these errors really made it difficult for me to connect with the book. That's the biggest thing I'd change. The official reviews on OnlineBookClub did not affect my decision, as one of the reviews also mentions that there were many errors. I might recommend this to readers of memoirs and historical fiction in the 1940s era, but I would really need the book to be edited first.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 4:51 am by psychopathycathy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Eunice Geres
I wouldn't have read the sample of this book if it weren't on BOTD because it doesn't seem like one I would enjoy. The official book review mentioned that it was slow-paced. I don't usually read slow-paced because I get bored easily. Fortunately, I liked reading the sample. The book reminded me of classic books like Tom Sawyer. The vibe of the book is easy-going and it was relaxing even though there were heavy themes like being in a war. I think there's really something calming about reading anything about how life was back then. There was nothing I didn't like in the sample. At first, I thought I wouldn't want to read the book because it was slow-paced. But after reading the sample, I liked that it was easy to read. So, I will continue to read the book. I also don't have any recommendations, as I think the book was already good. I also didn't notice any grammatical mistakes.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 4:47 am by Eunice Geres.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Stellah Chege
I would have sampled this book based on the cover page and title only had I not been a part of the program. The cover page is beautifully designed and the maple seed helicopter reminded me of my own childhood. The OBC review gave this book a positive nod. The lack of a blurb did not affect my decision. After sampling the first ten pages, I loved most the innocence of Marco. I pitied his situation of eating stale bread and I would have loved to read more to find out what had led to that. I found a number of errors in the first ten pages and I believe the book is not professionally edited. For instance (“Well, Marco, that is what the Lord provided tonight, you should have some of the soup.” , she said as she pointed her baton to the soup pot on the counter.- panctuation error). I would suggest another round of editing to make the book even more worthwhile. For now, this discouraged me from reading the book until this is corrected. I will not buy or read this book.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 4:43 am by Stellah Chege.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Soraya Bayah
I have to admit I have enjoyed the first few pages. I found a couple of errors, which indicates the book is not well edited. Page 1, “Well, Marco, that is what the Lord provided tonight, you should have some of the soup.” (,) (she) said as she pointed her baton to the soup pot on the counter. - there should not be any punctuation mark after the end of the quotation marks, and the word she should be capitalized if so. The story so far is engaging and induces both a sense of mystery and empathy. I truly look forward to seeing the fate of the kids and how they will overcome all the hurdles they will face in life. The fact that this is both a fiction and non-fiction intrigues me. It leaves me wondering if the events I am reading were true or are a blend of both. The only issue so far is the editing. There seems to be more than three errors in the first ten pages. I encourage the author to reedit their work. I would not have picked up this book from the cover, genre, title, or blurb, as none of them induced enough interest for me to pick up the book. The OBC review, in contrast, and the few pages made me reconsider my choice. The cover and title are not luring, as only those who know what they mean would find them interesting. This would prevent a whole lot of readers from considering this book. I did not expect the pacing to be this fast. The German soldiers appearing from no where was shocking and exciting. I will continue the book and hopefully find it as engaging and filled in mystery as I perceive it to be. Well written and good luck!
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 4:41 am by Soraya Bayah.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Carson25
The Maple Seed Helicopter appears to have been a well-written book. Its author is a man by the name of Marco Collina. This book seems to center on the author, based on what I could tell from reading the first ten pages. The author introduces us to her sister, Mona, in the first chapter of the book. There isn't any fresh food to eat because it is a time of war. Nothing in the book should be changed in any manner because it appears to have been carefully constructed. Additionally, the editing seemed to have been done in-depthly because I saw no grammatical or spelling errors in the first few pages I read. What I appreciated most was how the book began. It starts off at a quick speed. The first few pages I read of this book made me love every single aspect of it. I don't read fiction novels, yet this one looks to have some elements of fiction in it. Therefore, I won't buy it or read it through. I will, nevertheless, recommend it to those who enjoy fiction books. Although the book's title and cover were fine, I wasn't able to finish reading it. Regarding the issue of whether the book requires any improvement, in my opinion, there is no need for it.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 4:35 am by Carson25.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Ntokozo Joy Ndlovu
This book's title and cover reveal nothing about what is inside. The book also does not have a blurb to shade any light and is listed under the Other fiction genre, an ambiguous category. Owing to this mysteriousness, I would not have sampled or read this book outside the First Ten program. The sample I read gives us a peek into the life of the protagonist Marco, a ten-year-old boy living in an orphanage. I thought the introduction was bland. Nothing of interest takes place in those earlier pages. I did not feel compelled to read on, and at this point, it is still not clear what the book is about. I did not find any errors within those first ten pages, but I also did not find anything I liked. The OBC review I read mentioned that the book was about the life of Marco and two of his friends after they escaped from the orphanage. The sample and the review helped me decide to not read the rest of this book.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 3:33 am by Ntokozo Joy Ndlovu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sou Hi
Without this program, I wouldn't have read this. The official review from OnlineBookClub, the cover, the title, and the blurb look alright, but there are no ratings on Amazon. The genre is not my cup of tea.
Even though the story is told by Marco, the narrative is very dry and flat. I can't feel the characters' emotions at all. Besides, the numerous grammatical errors put me off. I would suggest another round of proofreading, and since I don't like anything in the bit I read, I won't buy this book. The OBC review is quite vague, so it wasn't very helpful. I made my decision after sampling the book.
Error example: "Sister Mona," As I raised my hand at the dinner table. -> The first letter of "As" shouldn't be capitalized, and the sentence is incomplete.
Dario's eyes opened wide "Yes, of course. Treasure we seek!" -> There should be a comma after "wide," as in [Dario's eyes opened wide, "Yes, of course. Treasure we seek!"]
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 2:53 am by Sou Hi.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Shrabastee Chakraborty
Based on the premise and the official OBC review, I had intended to read this book. However, reading the first ten pages changed my mind. I noticed several errors (location 1%: parents love should be parents' love, location 1%: the last two sentences of the prologue should be joined and not remain incomplete sentences, chapter 1, page 1: hey should be capitalized and preceded by an opening quotation, chapter 1, page 2: girl's should be girls'). The pages described Marco's life in an orphanage. The sisters were stern. The food was scarce and of questionable quality. Marco, however, could sneak away and arrange some extra food for his friends. I liked how the author conveyed the situation in the orphanage within a few pages. I would suggest a thorough round of proofreading. Based on my reading experience, I decided not to read the whole book.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 2:50 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Shelby Ayres
The title, cover, and genre give nothing away as to what the contents of this book. The blurb is about a historical fiction novel, yet there are no reviews. All of these lead me to not wanting to read this book. After reading the first ten pages, I found nothing to make me want to read this book. I found no errors in the first ten pages; the first ten pages are exceptionally-edited. I liked the amount of detail the author put into the book about the orphanage. I had no dislikes about the book in the first ten pages. The Online Book Clue review I read had many praise for this book, though I do not think this book is for me.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 2:33 am by Shelby Ayres.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
KafeliKe
Marco Collina's book, The Marple Seed Helicopter, sounds like a good read. There is a prologue in the first ten pages of the book that I read. The author describes his early years in this prologue. He recounts how the battle to survive marked the beginning of life. In the book, the author makes reference to how a child is given the wonderful gift of innocence and how every parent has a duty to love and nurture it. The first ten pages of this book were enjoyable to read. The cover was the aspect I liked the most. It was attractive to me and had a good design. The first ten pages I read didn't have anything I didn't like. The first ten pages of the book didn't contain any errors, so it seems to have undergone professional editing. I won't buy this book and finish reading it because the tale is fictitious. I will, however, recommend it to readers who enjoy fiction based on true events. Based on the first ten pages I read, the book seems to be adequate. Nothing more ought to be done to improve it. My decision not to finish reading the book is because of its category, not because of its cover, title, or reader reviews.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 2:24 am by KafeliKe.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Ari Martinez
If it wasn't for this program, I wouldn't sample this book based on its title, cover, genre, blurb, Official OnlineBookClub review, or other reviews because I don't like reading books about times of war, and I'm not a big fan of biographies. After reading the first ten pages, I will not read the whole book because the editing mistakes were a bit annoying, and I didn't feel attached to the characters. My favorite part of what I read was the way Sister Mona finished "The Ant and the Cricket" story. It said a lot about her personality. I also liked that the text in German wasn't translated – I felt it added suspense. I don't think the book needs to be improved. On page 4, there's a missing comma right after "Isabelle" (I said to Isabelle “Do you want to skip breakfast?”). There were several similar mistakes throughout the text.
First Ten review added on August 1, 2022, at 2:16 am by Ari Martinez.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Gabrielle Sigaki
The Maple Seed Helicopter by Marco Collina is a fiction book that talks about three orphan boys who escape from the orphanage and find a new place to live, where there are people who care about them. It contains drama, adventures, but also some historical aspects involving the times after World War I and before World War II. If I didn't sample this book, I wouldn't read it based on its Official OnlineBookClub review, its blurb, and its genre since I'm not really interested in historical fiction novels and dramas. The book's cover and title didn't affect my decision, it also didn't have customer reviews on Amazon, but its lack also didn't change my mind. After sampling it, I still don't want to read the entire book because of the reasons I stated before. The book also doesn't seem professionally edited since I found errors while sampling it. For example, the author used contradictory verb tenses in "my hunger pains throbbed and in turn I had a headache" since the story seems to be in the past. Therefore, I think it could be improved with another round of editing. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the fact that the narrator of the story is Marco, one of the boys involved in the adventures and dramatic events.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 11:02 pm by Gabrielle Sigaki.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Peace10
The Maple Seed Helicopter, by Marco Collina, is a nonfiction story about the author’s life during the American and Italian wars. Marco grew up in an orphanage. The first ten pages speak about his mischievous games with his friend. Had I not been a part of this program, I wouldn’t have picked this novel because of its title and cover. It doesn’t promise much. I probably would have overlooked it. After reading the first ten pages, I’ll be reading the rest. I bought it already. This is because I love the way the author wrote it, and I’m curious to read about his life.
I didn’t find any errors in what I read. It’s perfectly edited. I love the amusing upbringing of these kids. They didn’t dwell on the circumstances around their living situation. There’s nothing I found negative about this book.
No other review helped me in my decision. My decision is made based on reading this bit I read.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 10:53 pm by Peace10.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Jorge Leon Salazar
I consider the title and cover very abstract, so they do not communicate a clear idea of what the book is about. Hence, I'm unsure if the target audience will notice this book. Generally, I dislike slow-paced plots. The blurb comments that this is a fictional story based on true events. It is set at the dawn of World War II. Also, the blurb mentions that the story revolves around three little children who were placed in an Italian orphanage from which they escaped. There are no customer reviews for this book. The official OnlineBookClub review indicates the slow-paced plot deals with people's struggles. Based on these elements, I am not prone to try this book. The first ten pages were slow and emphasized the difficult life in the orphanage for Marco, Dario, George, and Isabelle. What I read, in general, was lamentable not only because the children were hungry and in need but because of the mistreatment of the Sisters and Fathers. They did not share the good food with the children. I liked the symbology that the 'Maple Seed Helicopter' represents for Marco. What I read left the expectation about what will happen with the children after they escaped from the orphanage and the German truck left them far from it. Although these first pages were interesting, I found them sad and somewhat hopeless, so they didn't motivate me to read the rest of the book. The editing looks remarkable since I didn't see any details to comment on. Overall, I didn't see anything that I believed could be improved. In short, I will not read the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 9:54 pm by Jorge Leon Salazar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Owuamanam Eberechukwu
The author narrated the story from the point of view of Marco. The beginning pages bring to light the life journey of Marco, Dario, and Isabelle. The three kids were in an orphanage after being abandoned. I like the peace and serenity in the narration. One could feel the narrator's voice and calm. I do not have any recommendations for the author. The pages I read were exceptionally well edited. The cover design and title are impeccable. I will buy and read the book based on it. On the whole, I will buy and read this book because of its calm method of narration. This is my personal thoughts and was not influenced by reviews, comments, or blurbs on OBC or not.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 9:20 pm by Owuamanam Eberechukwu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Annelore Trujillo
I would have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, OBC review, cover, title, editorial reviews, and customer reviews. I like books set in the WWI and WWII periods. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. The editing needs improvement. It definitely was not professionally edited. I noticed several errors in just the first couple pages. For example, in “to feel my parents love”, “parents” should have an apostrophe since it is possessive. I also saw punctuation errors, capitalization errors and spacing errors. I liked the story so far. I like the war-era story and reading about the hardships the kids were met with at the orphanage. However, I can’t look beyond the errors.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 8:29 pm by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sarah_Khan
At first glance, I thought the cover of this book was plain and the title was average. After reading the Amazon blurb, I would not have sampled this without the First Ten program because the plot seems sad. I did notice an editing mistake ("hey, Marco, can you and Dario get us some sausages later?") I felt bad when Marco noticed green spots on his bread. The official OBC reviews were mostly positive, except one did mention editing errors. The comments were also positive. Overall, the plot of this book is not my cup of tea. For this reason, I will not be reading the rest. My one suggestion for the author is another round of editing.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 7:25 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kaitlyn Canedy
If The Maple Seed Helicopter hadn't been the OnlineBookClub's book of the day, I would not have read the sample of it because it is a book with historical elements in it. As I am not a fan of wars, I did not think I would want to read it based on the description. At this time, there are no Amazon customer reviews for this title, but I did not need them to make a decision. I am glad the boys were able to get away from the orphanage, although the circumstances surrounding it are not very pretty. While I did not dislike anything, I noticed a grammatical error in location 13 going into 19. There needs to be a comma after the first sentence, and the first word in the second sentence needs to be in lowercase format- "Every parent should cherish the gift of their child's innocence and nurture it[,] [as] their child will carry that love..." I noticed other grammatical errors in the first ten pages, so the author could go back and correct these mistakes as a way to improve their book. An official OnlineBookClub review exists for this title, but I had decided I wanted to finish the book because I want to know what happens to the orphans.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 4:18 pm by Kaitlyn Canedy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
va2016
The title "The Maple Seed Helicopter" and the cover that shows a seed indicate that the theme is probably about maple seed. There are no Amazon customer ratings for the book, so it is difficult for me to decide if I should sample the book or not. The Amazon summary states that the story is about three boys who escape an Italian orphanage. As I got interested in the story, I would have sampled the book even if not for the First Ten program. As I sampled through the book, I found the narration describing Marco and Dario being in the orphanage. As I am interested in the overall story, I am going to read this book in full. I found the sample professionally edited. I didn't find any grammatical or mechanical errors in the sample. What I liked most about the book is its intriguing story. I don't have any recommendations for the improvement of the book. Although I found two OBC reviews of the book, my decision to read the book in full is based on my own sampling.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 3:50 pm by va2016.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
evraealtana
I agree with the official OBC reviewer that the title and cover for this book give nothing away. Unlike the official OBC reviewer, I find that that lack of divulgence actually makes me less interested in the book, not more. Based on those, I can't even begin to guess at the genre, setting, plot etc., and therefore would be very unlikely to spend any time at all looking at this book on my own. The official OBC review also doesn't really sell the plot very well, making me even less likely to look into the book. The blurb is more elucidating, but I wasn't really interested in the plot as outlined there because it sounds more like a family drama/coming-of-age story, which doesn't appeal to me. Because I want to be able to form my own opinion about books rather than be influenced by others’ opinions about them, I choose never to read editorial or customer reviews other than OBC reviews, and so I did not read any about this book, either. I was bored by the scene with the conversation between Marco, Isabelle, and George, since nothing important happened or was said. I wanted to know more about the sausage-stealing escapade and felt that that could have been expanded and made fairly exciting, but instead most of the action was skipped. As a non-religious person, the scene with Father Buckius and the mass sermon was irritating. The scene with the children pretending to be pirates was charming, although I'm glad that the author kept it short because it would have become boring if it had continued on any longer than it did. I can't decide if the German dialogue should have translations; on the one hand, it is realistic not to have them, since the children wouldn't have spoken German and wouldn't understand what was being said, but on the other hand, the reader is likely just as lost. I wasn't really interested in most of what I read in the first ten pages, so I will not read any more of the book. I found many errors in the first ten pages: a comma splice in "They named me Marco, life began with a struggle for survival" (these are two complete sentences and therefore need to be separated with a period, a semicolon, or a conjunction, not a comma); a missing apostrophe in "to feel my parents love" (parents' love); missing words and incorrect capitalization in "'Sister Mona,' As I raised my hand at the dinner table." ("Sister Mona," I said as I raised my hand); and so on.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 10:16 am by evraealtana.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
IconReviews
If it weren't for this program, I would not have chosen to read this book based on the title, page, cover, blurb, or the official OnlineBookClub review. The book showcases life in an orphanage and how three boys escaped it. I liked the emotional appeal this book had but I did not like the writing style. It was too simple and read like it was written by an elementary student. The sample was not professionally edited as I found errors on the first page. [Page 1 ”hey, Marco, can you and Dario get us some sausages later?”] There should be an open quotation at the beginning and 'hey' should be in capitals. I won't be reading this one because the sample was bland and I did not see any customer reviews so I could get more information on the book.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 10:14 am by IconReviews.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Timothy Rucinski
I didn't care much for the cover, and it would not have prompted me to look at the contents any further. The Official OBC Review didn't do much to engage me. I read no other reviews or blurbs. However, I disagree with the Reviewer concerning the errors. This book should have never been given a perfect score as the errors in punctuation run rampant throughout the text, making the book almost impossible to read because of the distractions. As a recommendation, I would suggest that the author arrange to have the book professionally edited. What I enjoyed specifically was the scene in which all of the children ran around with the seeds on their noses. That took me back to a much simpler time in my own life. What I disliked the most was the tremendous number of errors. Here are a few examples. On page 1 of the Amazon Kindle version, the letter "a" is incorrectly capitalized in the following sentence: "'Sister Mona,' As I raised my hand at the dinner table." There is a misplaced period and comma after "soup" in the following also on page 1: "'Well, Marco, that is what the Lord provided tonight, you should have some of the soup.' , she said as she pointed her baton to the soup pot on the counter."
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 8:30 am by Timothy Rucinski.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jen Nghishitende
The year was 1941, and Marco was in an orphanage with some other children, hungry and breaking some rules. This book seems to promise an intriguing read, although I must say that I am not sure that based on the title and book cover alone, I would have sampled it. It sparked my curiosity for sure, and I think that having read the epilogue, the title bears a deeper meaning for Marco, but if I only had the cover and title to go by, I would not have sampled it without being part of this program. The OBC review has, however, sparked my interest in the book, as it gave me an idea of what the book is all about and after having read the first ten pages, I will read the book in full as I have already downloaded it for free on Kindle Unlimited today. I did not spot any errors in the first ten pages. I like that the book is based on true accounts, even though it’s a fictional tale. I particularly like that the bond between Marco and the other children is evident in the ten pages. There is nothing I disliked and thus nothing I would suggest for change.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 4:29 am by Jen Nghishitende.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Vidhi Adhikari
The book doesn't make the best first impression as the cover design seems a little generic, there is nothing eye catchy in the description and the lack of customer and OBC reviews further weakened my interest in the book. But since this is a historical fiction, I was willing to give the story a chance. The first few pages did have some punctuation errors ('They named me Marco,{replace with period} life began with a struggle for survival.'), but nothing that would hamper my reading experience. I loved and was a little touched by the poverty Marco grew up in, as described in the first page. Something about this book gave me the impression that it could be highly emotional and impactful. Hence I will be finishing this book. I would only suggest starting the book with an exciting incident since the story is set during wartime.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 2:32 am by Vidhi Adhikari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Jennifer Garcia 555
I like the simple cover, the cute title, and the genre of this book. I read the description and an official OnlineBookClub review. The OBC review stated that the book has some plot holes and many editing errors. Based on the review and description, I would not pick this book to read. I read the sample pages and found an editing error on the second page. The quotation marks are backwards and the word (hey) at the beginning of the sentence should be capitalized. I like how the children in the beginning play outside and pretend to be helicopters. This book could be improved with more action in the beginning. It seems like a slow moving plot. The sample pages did not change my mind. I will not buy or read this book.
First Ten review added on July 31, 2022, at 1:22 am by Jennifer Garcia 555.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Verna Coy
I loved the cover of this book. It’s simplicity drew my attention right away. I would have picked the book up for that reason alone. The title is intriguing as well. What I liked most about what I’ve read so far is how the book begins with Marco’s memories and early history. Readers love to know what the main character is thinking. I also liked how the book comments on the bonds between parents and their children. I know that aspect will appeal to a lot of readers. I enjoyed the reviews I read for this book. They were positive and showed that the book is enjoyable. I found no errors to list although the 4-star review written by the Online Book Club mentioned it does contain a few errors. It seems professionally edited to me. I found no other reasons for improvement to it, and I intend to read the whole book.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 10:22 pm by Verna Coy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Kira Bonita Reece
I like the cover and title of this book. It makes me curious as to what the book is about. I would read it based on the cover, title, and genre. The blurb could be a bit more convincing. I like reading about orphans and what life is like in an orphanage. The descriptions of the stale food the children received made the book an emotional read. I like that this book appeals to the emotion of its readers. The sample was professionally edited but I found an error on the first page. The author wrote, (”hey, Marco, can you and Dario get us some sausages later?”). Hey should be in capitals. The official OnlineBookClub review was well-written but I did not find any customer reviews on Amazon. I won't be reading this one because the sample was not intriguing. The book could be improved by making the first pages more exciting.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 9:55 pm by Kira Bonita Reece.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Shadreck Rogers
The book cover is vague and not that intriguing. In addition, the title is itself unclear and uninteresting, thus I wouldn’t have picked this book based on cover and title. However, after reading the first ten pages, I think I would buy and read the entire book. The author’s writing style is excellent and the storyline of the book is inspirational. I didn’t find any errors in the first pages of the book. I like that the way the author starts the first chapter. The way the characters, like Sister Marco, are introduced in the book incites a reader to want to know more. I didn’t find anything unlikeable in the first ten pages of the book. The book has no OBC review, and I wasn’t influenced by this fact in any way.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 8:54 pm by Shadreck Rogers.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
SweetSourSalty AndSpicy
I will skip this book outside the program. I am clueless about the contents based on the cover and title. Likewise, the blurb did not pique my interest. It sounds like a coming-of-age story, which is not among my favorites. Customer reviews are unavailable. After sampling, I liked that the book looks into a time of war from the standpoint of orphans. It is a topic that I rarely encounter. However, this was not enough to change my mind and finish the book. The storyline is not for me, and I prefer a faster pace. I have no suggestions for improvement. For editing issues, here are examples.
Page 1. Capitalization. Consider using the uppercase at the beginning of the sentence.
”[hey], Marco, can you and Dario get us some sausages later?”
Page 4. Punctuation. Consider using a comma before a direct speech.
I said[.] “Good Morning, Isabelle.”
The official OnlineBookClub reviews are equally insightful. But they did not influence my decision to pass on this one.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 7:05 pm by SweetSourSalty AndSpicy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
AntonelaMaria
"Sister Mona," As I raised my hand at the dinner table.
I don't enjoy reading historical fiction novels that have war storylines. This book is not for me, but I still appreciated the author's writing style. He painted a vivid picture of the children in the orphanage. There is an excellent Official OnlineBookClub review of this book. After reading the sample, I haven't changed my mind. This book needs another round of editing because I noticed some errors. The first is at location 24 in the book. There is a missing verb.
I like that this is book based upon true events. There are no Amazon reviews but I'm not bothered by the lack of them. It is a book I would recommend to friends. For now, I will not read it but someday I might pick it up. I like the title and the cover. It doesn't give too much away until you start reading the book and get the explanation behind it.
I don't enjoy reading historical fiction novels that have war storylines. This book is not for me, but I still appreciated the author's writing style. He painted a vivid picture of the children in the orphanage. There is an excellent Official OnlineBookClub review of this book. After reading the sample, I haven't changed my mind. This book needs another round of editing because I noticed some errors. The first is at location 24 in the book. There is a missing verb.
- "Sister Mona," As I raised my hand at the dinner table. - I like that this is a book based on true events. There are no Amazon reviews, but I'm not bothered by the lack of them. It is a book I would recommend to friends. For now, I will not read it, but someday I might pick it up. I like the title and the cover. It doesn't give too much away until you start reading the book and get the explanation behind it.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 7:03 pm by AntonelaMaria.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Amy Luman
After church, when the kids were done with recess, Sister Mona said, "Time for class children." There should be a comma between class and children, otherwise it sounds like she is talking to the children of class, not calling them. I still believe that this was professionally edited. The title and cover are very captivating, and they made me interested in finding out more about this book because it was labeled as fiction. The reviews, including the OBC one, and the blurb revealed that it is historical fiction, though, which I don’t really like. I won’t be finishing this one. My favorite part was where Marco and Dario brought food to Isabelle. I can’t see where improvements can be made since this will probably appeal to some.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 5:14 pm by Amy Luman.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Stephanie Runyon
The maple seed on the cover matches well with the title. I would not have sampled the book since it is a historical fiction story. Normally, I prefer to avoid this genre. I liked the adventurous spirits that Marco, Dario, and George had. Domenico and Elisetta seem to take the boys in stride, as if they wanted them to stay. Marco and I would agree with not returning to an orphanage where I was always hungry. There was an error early on in the book; however, beyond some minor editing, there is nothing to improve the story. The OBC did not influence me to read this story. I didn't read anything online to persuade me to read the book either. However, I am curious to see how the boys progress in the story with their new accommodations.
ERROR: After all the struggles, the selfish dreams, the promises, gluttonous greed, lies and deceptions.
This is a fragmented sentence, as a reader would not be able to know what the author is talking about.
ERROR: "hey, Marco, can you and Dario get us some sausages later?"
Hey needs to be capitalized since it is the beginning of the sentence.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 5:00 pm by Stephanie Runyon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Ayomikun Babalola
With its first ten pages, Collina's book delivers a core message of innocence and its preservation. Reading about Marco and his friend's tales of loss landed a heavy hit on my heart. It's easy to love Marco and his friends as they plan to steal some sausages at night. Collina expertly depicted childhood innocence while still infusing suffering and pain. The cover and title maintain the projection of childhood innocence.
The lack of editorial and customer reviews did not dissuade me from buying this book, but rather it was the genre and blurb. This is because I am not interested in reading this genre. The official OBC review had high praises, but this did not influence my decision to not buy this book. Its error-free content and the fact that I hated nothing about this book did not change my decision either.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 4:47 pm by Ayomikun Babalola.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Ohna Martin
I would love to read this book, even if I was not part of this program. I love the genre and although books with a WWI and WWII background are not really my taste, I would love to see what happens to Marco and his friends, and Isabelle that was left behind at the orphanage. I love the cover and the name it looks so inviting. I found no spelling or grammar errors and I like the authors writing style. I do not have any suggestions for this author as there is nothing about this book that I dislike so far. No other reviews, OBC or otherwise, or blurps, influenced my decision, this was solely based on the first ten pages of this book.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 4:38 pm by Ohna Martin.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Laura Ungureanu
The cover reminded me of a self-help book. I was pleased when I found out from the blurb and the OBC review that the book is actually historical fiction. I was interested in reading more because the plot appealed to me. There were no Amazon reviews to check, but I guess they will come soon. I liked how real the characters felt. The bond between Marco and Dario felt genuine and reminded me of some of my childhood friendships because Marco didn't exactly know Dario's story or why they were so close. All the stories seem tragic, including how the kids were always hungry. However, their pure hearts makes everything better and lighter to bear. The first pages convinced me that this book has a lot to offer me. I am curious to see how the children grow and what life in Italy was like during that period. I have no suggestions to make. Regarding the editing, it seems that there is a missing possessive apostrophe in "to feel my parents love." The book could benefit from some more editing.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 2:18 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Emy Katherine
As a big fan of crime thrillers, I would not have read the book based on the genre, cover, and title. I found neither editorial reviews nor customer reviews, but the Amazon blurb was quite descriptive. The story follows the journey of three young boys (Marco, Dario, and George) as they escape from an Italian orphanage and find themselves living with a kindly farm couple who will provide for them until they reach adulthood. I did not change my mind after reading the first ten pages and OBC review, but I appreciated that the story was told from Marco's perspective. I especially enjoyed the engaging dialogues; the inclusion of Italian and German words also made the story more believable. What I disliked, however, was that the book had editing issues. For example, I found a missing closing quotation mark at the end of the following sentence: "'Okay, but let’s not stay too long as we will need to get back before dinner, or they will notice we were gone." (page 9) It should be written "dogs' names" in the following sentence: "Mr. Domenico, what are your dog’s names? They are very nice." (page 14) It should be written "dogs" in the following sentence: "Domenico looked at his dog’s and smiled as he rubbed them on their chests." (page 14) Other than another round of editing, I found nothing that needed to be improved.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 1:41 pm by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sushan Ekanayake
The Maple Seed Helicopter by Marco Collina belongs to other fiction. The title and the cover page were not much revealing, and I initially thought of this as non-fiction. The blurb revealed that the story was related to the world war era. It had neither editorial reviews nor customer reviews. None of the above facts were attractive enough to make me sample the book if I had not been a part of this program.
Then I read the first ten pages, which included a prologue and the first chapter, which described a scene at the dinner table in the orphanage. The pace was slow, and the story felt quite ordinary. So, after reading the first ten pages I decided not to continue reading this one.
I liked the simple language and the slow and steady development of the story from the beginning. But I think it could have been better if the prologue was not included, which felt quite distracting. I found no errors in the first ten pages. I saw the official OBC review. It gave a clear idea about the book, but was not enough to change my decision.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 1:12 pm by Sushan Ekanayake.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
I like the simplicity of the cover. The blurb, however, reveals too much. I don't feel like reading the book when the blurb tells pretty much everything. The book also lacks ratings, so I wouldn't have bought it based on my first impressions.
I found the first ten pages adorable. Marco, Dario, and Isabelle are kind, innocent kids. I loved that the boys took the risk of sneaking some dinner to Isabelle. But I don't want to see them lose that innocence and that sparkle, as the prologue says. I don't want to see the adorable kids that played to be pirates and Tinkerbell suffer and turn into adults. They already found a Luger, so this can't go well for them. What I mean is that the author did such a good job of depicting their innocence that in an effort to shield myself from sadness, I won't keep reading the book. There are some editing mistakes. For example, in the following line on page 1, there is a punctuation mistake: "Well, Marco, that is what the Lord provided tonight, you should have some of the soup.” , she said as she pointed her baton to the soup pot on the counter." I suggest fixing the edition and making the blurb less revealing and more captivating. The official OBC review didn't change my mind.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 12:08 pm by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mariana Figueira
Before reading the book's first pages, I wasn't interested in it because nothing on the cover or the title got my attention. After sampling the book, I don't want to continue reading it because the story didn't captivate me. I like that the meaning of the title is explained at the beginning of the book, with Marco's story about feeling happy playing with maple seeds. This book seems professionally edited, I didn't see any typos; plus, it has an official OnlineBookClub review. I didn't see anything that needed improvement. Neither the blurb, customer reviews, nor editorial reviews affect my decision not to read the book.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 11:32 am by Mariana Figueira.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Theresa Moffitt
I would not have picked this book up based on the cover alone because I can’t tell what the book is about from the title or the cover art. The onlinebookclub.org review that I read provided me with enough details about the book to decide that I might like to read it. It was an informative review that gave the book a perfect rating of 4 out of 4 stars. It recommended it to readers who like fiction and biographies. It noted that there were a few errors in the book. I noticed some errors in the first ten pages. The first error is on the second page of chapter one, it states, “ ‘Well, Marco, that is what the Lord provided tonight, you should have some of the soup.’ , she said as she pointed her baton to the soup pot on the counter.” There is a a period and a comma after “soup.” There should only be a comma since the sentence continues after the quote. The author could have improved the book with additional editing. I didn’t read any additional customer reviews or blurbs because the OBC review was so informative. The first ten pages explain the title and cover art. The maple seed helicopters are in reference to the innocence of children. It reminded the author of his youth. The story begins with a disturbing scene in an orphanage where the child named Marco is fed moldy bread. Some of the other children in the orphanage ask him to steal sausages for them. I like the author’s writing style and the dialogue is interesting to me. For those reasons, I would like to finish reading this book.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 10:46 am by Theresa Moffitt.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Bertha Jackson
The maple seed on the cover and the title grabbed my attention right away. I enjoy reading fictional books, so I would have checked out this book outside the First Ten program. There were no customer or editorial reviews to influence my decision. The blurb and OnlineBookClub review had no impact on my decision to read this book. The first ten pages pulled me into Marco, Dario, Isabelle, and George’s lives. I wonder if the boys regret they did not claim responsibility for stealing food instead of leaving the orphanage and being captured by the German soldiers. I wonder how this impacted Isabelle, who was their friend. My only suggestion for the author is to provide translations for the German words. Overall, the first ten pages appeared to be professionally edited. I did find a couple of errors in the first ten pages. The first one was on Page 1: “Well, Marco, that is what the Lord provided tonight, you should have some of the [soup.” , she] (soup,” she) said as she pointed her baton to the soup pot on the counter. I enjoyed reading the first ten, and I have downloaded the free copy of the book and will eventually read it.
First Ten review added on July 30, 2022, at 10:20 am by Bertha Jackson.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Total ~ 33%
The Maple Seed Helicopter earned a score of 33%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 33% plan to read the whole book.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.
Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.
Go to main Bookshelves page for The Maple Seed Helicopter
