ULOG: Book Review Gone by Michael Grant

Gone

Reading was my first love, and I have done a great job passing it down to my kids. Once of our favorite trips is going to the bookstore and sitting to read for hours - the bookstore we go to here in Chula Vista is at the Otay Ranch Mall and we usually, as much as I try to avoid it, end up at Hot Dog On a Stick where we buy a bucket of fries and a big lemonade for us to share.

I always wonder how long my kids will be ok all sharing the same straw.

Gone which was written by Michael Grant is a teeny bopper type of book in which everyone over the age of 15 in the town of Perdido Beach (which is a fictional town in Southern California) simply disappears while a barrier creates itself and surrounds the city.

Distopic, middle reader books are my favorite type of books. I like them because the drama and excitement level is high without getting into the messy relationship stuff (for the most part) and they are easy to read. I really dislike reading novels in which I end up wanting to yell at one of the characters that "that's not how relationships work" and anger myself at the author for helping spread such lies of unhealthy relationships.

This particular book gets more and more interesting as kids start developing "super powers" and realize that a lot of their problems have to do with the local nuclear plant going out of control.

I like the style of writing though I have to admit that it gets a little sexist at times. The "Boys" end up being the leaders while they each get a "beautiful girl" who has complimenting powers to them (one of them the power of being able to think things through scientifically, which is not an unnatural super power, but feels like a super power nonetheless) as their helper or sort of secretary.

The girls also end up doing the only caretaking that takes place and being the healers. The businessmen... the boys.

I didn't look too much into the sexism, though I am sure I would have found more, because I genuinely enjoyed the book and didn't want to ruin it for myself by getting too critical of it.

The book does have a low reading level, which means that my oldest, who LOVES the books (its a whole series) and insisted on reading them is not getting any credit for them in school.

But, around here, we don't just read for credit, we read for enjoyment. And since mama decided that they can only watch 1/2 a movie per night, they have opted to just turn the tv off, play outside and read when they come back inside.

I pray that I am able to keep it up longer.

Thanks for stopping by.

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