Room: A Novel

I don't give up on a book very often, but this one just didn't hold my interest.  I really thought it would because it has references to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  But, even that wasn't enough.  The main character (I can't even remember her name!) is on a quest to find out what happened to her parents when they lived in Italy.  The novel flips from the present to the 1300s when the original story of Romeo and Juliet is said to have begun.

I don't know...I guess I just didn't like the characters that much and the plot just lagged!

I didn't go to the end to see what happens (although, I have a pretty good idea) so I might go back to it sometime.

Then I downloaded this novel.  And fell in love!  Room is narrated by Jack, a five-year-old boy who has been raised in a locked room.  Seven years earlier his mom had been abducted and kept by her rapist captor in a soundproofed room in his back yard. 

That sounds pretty gruesome but Jack's naivete and wonder keep it from being depressing.  His voice is unique.  The story begins on Jack's fifth birthday.  He remarks to his mother, "You were all sad till I happened in your tummy." 

Jack's mother schedules each day into learning segments and Jack is way ahead of kids his age in reading and math.  Room and Ma are Jack's whole world.  He sleeps in Wardrobe so Old Nick won't see him when he visits his mom at night.

Then Old Nick loses his job and turns the electricity off.  What Jack and his mom do makes for a nail-biting story.

School is still crazy.  Our juniors have to take the state test this coming week and another teacher and I have been preparing a presentation on writing for them.  So, I've been really busy during the week but am enjoying a nice, relaxing weekend here at camp.  I pedaled my bike to the beach yesterday and sat in the sun for a couple hours.  I needed that!

Happy Reading!