Monday, April 14, 2014

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Todd Hewitt is going to be a man in 30 days, when he turns 13.  Since he is the last boy in Prentisstown, this will be a welcome change.  Todd is an orphan.  His father was killed in the war, and his mother was killed by the disease that killed every woman on his planet and gave men the ability to hear thoughts.  Every one's thoughts.  Even animals.  Todd lives with his neighbors, Ben and Cillian, and hearing thoughts of others is a curse.  Todd calls it their "Noise" and it is enough to drive anyone crazy.  The noise is constant, and can make you forget who you are.  While out with his dog, Manchee, Todd notices something different.  Silence. This is something he has never heard before, and upon investigation, finds a girl.  He's never seen a girl, but knows what she is because she is so different from him.  And silent.  She can hear his thoughts though, and together they run away from Prentisstown, in search of safety.  The men of Todd's town are raising an army and plan on taking over every village on the planet.
Overall I liked this book ok.  The narrative is written with grammar and spelling mistakes.  Its written as Todd would speak, which takes a little getting used to.  Todd is uneducated, so I see thy the author chose this style..  The biggest problem I had with it, is that it's one disaster upon another.  Seriously, can't this kid catch a break?  It goes into unbelievable pretty quickly, one character keeps coming back over and over and over.  I know I have had students really like this trilogy, but I don't think I will continue to read the next two books,

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