Room

Room ***1/2
by Emma Donoghue
Book Type: Realistic Fiction
Summary: To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. 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 is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.
Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.
summary found on goodreads
My Review: Wow. This book was a fascinating concept for sure. This little boy is 5 years old. He lives with his mom in this very small room. He's been there since he was born. His whole life has been spent in a box. He doesn't know any different. He doesn't know any better. He loves his life. But he finds that his mom is unhappy more often and he doesn't understand why. She is unsatisfied with their life. The life that seems perfect to little Jack. Until one day she tells him a story. A bad story. He doesn't like the story of his mom being taken and forced into this room. He doesn't like that his mom was hurt by the man he calls "Old Nick" and he really doesn't like the plan she makes to change their situation. He would rather stay in Room. The one place he knows. But it's been too long. His mom can't take it anymore. She's getting out or she's going to die trying. Little Jack is a cute little 5 year old. He takes like a child but he is a very intelligent little boy. This story is told strictly from Jack's perspective. It's fascinating to see how his mom worked so hard to give Jack a real life. She does such a great job with what she has. This story takes on a subject that I've never read about in a book before, abduction. This poor 19 year girl's life is thrown upside down when she is abducted and shoved in a room that has been prepared for a prisoner. It impossible to break out of, layered with concrete, insulation, barbed wire fence all the way around. The walls and glass are so thick that it is sound proof. No one knows what happened to this young girl and no one can find her. Can her 5 year old son who doesn't believe their is life outside their little Room save them both? Oh my goodness. This book was gripping. I couldn't imagine what life would be like in his poor mother's shoes. It was a fascinating look at the after affects of life as an abductee. Interesting idea. Interesting story.