I want to start off by saying that I really enjoyed this book. Throughout most of the book, I thought for sure that it could put in one of our boxes. There were just a couple of ideas in the book that kept it out and that was mostly due to the age range we are focused on here at RBB. Those things were:
Pre-marital sex - particularly the notion of sex at a young age
Violence - towards the end there is a very graphic, emotional and violent scene
On the flip side, the writing is fantastic and there is a great story here that encompasses several other themes. If you have a teenager who loves to read and these topics or ideas are something they can handle, then this might be a great book for them. When it comes down to it, I personally try and think of my 8yo daughter and how she would read these books. In that respect, I thought this book might be a little bit much.
Even if you haven't read the description of this story, it doesn't take long to realize that not only is the main character different than everyone else in his village, but how things are described from his point of view are extremely unique. Some of the other themes or ideas in this book are:
Truth - What we think is true, isn't always true. Sometimes it takes a lot of searching.
Trust - Who and what we trust is important.
Power (good and bad) - Control and how we interact with others
Family - who does your family include?
Love - is there anything more powerful than this?
If you're looking for a book that has some great character development and growth, a little bit of suspense and a "more than meets the eye" storyline, then I would highly recommend this book.
