A "Room" Is Just A Room...Unless It's The World

I'm on the hunt to find great books that my students will enjoy and be willing to engage with.  Goodness knows, attempting to get them to read classic literature is failing miserably - although I do keep trying. Currently, I'm reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with my juniors and Jane Eyre with my seniors. The juniors (except one) all hate Huck Finn; my seniors haven't made up their minds yet about Jane. The tragic thing is that I love both books, which drives my students nuts. Therefore, I've decided to add some modern novels into the mix - in addition to the classics. I believe that I have found one that I can use with my seniors, Room by Irish-born playwright and novelist, Emma Donoghue.

Synopsis: "To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. . . . It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer." (Amazon.com)

Review: This novel is a fascinating look at stories that we hear about time and time again: a girl who is abducted and held captive for years. Of course, this story has a unique twist in that the abducted girl has given birth to a child. The novel is told from the viewpoint of 5-year-old Jack who has lived in Room his entire life and knows nothing about the outside world except what he sees on television. This book is a moving, amazing book and is not to be missed. Room can be best summed up with the following quote from Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry: 

"Room is a book to read in one sitting. When it's over you look up: the world looks the same but you are somehow different and that feeling lingers for days."

I couldn't have said it better myself.  I'm hoping that my seniors will love this book as much as I do! I won't know for a couple of months - we need to finish Jane Eyre first.  Then I want to do Wide Sargasso Sea as a companion book to Jane Eyre.  You don't need to wait though.  Get to your nearest bookstore or library, pickup Room and be prepared to be amazed. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars