Fifteen year old dyslexic Standish Treadwell with one green and one blue eye can not read or write but has an excellent imagination. Standish lives with his grandfather in dystopian 1950's England where violence, hunger, and enforced slavery are every day life. Standish is devastated when his new best friend and his family disappear like many others in the neighborhood. Eventually Standish and his grandfather are arrested and they go down fighting by trying to sabotage the regime's fake moon landing. Standish does expose the country's moon scam, but he is brutally shot and killed in the process. This theme filled novel is great for teens in grades 9-12. Reading this book I found myself on the edge in anticipation one minute and crying the next. This book would be great for teaching not only world history but teaching metaphors and symbolism as well. For example, there are many symbols for oppression, cruelty and greed. Characters are the heart and soul of any story (Lesesne 2003). One of the obvious archetypes in this novel is the mentor, Standish's grandfather. Throughout the novel, Standish's grandfather is a wise older man who seems to always know the right thing to do or say in the toughest of situations.
No comments:
Post a Comment