By Claire LeGrand
Victoria lives in a town where everything is perfect and up to par. She's a perfectionist from her tidy room to her perfectly bouncy curls. Plus, she's top of the class at the academy. The only downside is that she does not have any friends. Pretty soon, Laurence shows up in town and is the exact opposite of Victoria- always late, shirt is untucked, hair not brushed, etc. She decides to make him her "project" to try and straighten him out. One day, he goes missing, and no one seems to notice, not even his parents, classmates, nor teacher. Only Victoria does and she finds out that she really does miss him. Victoria thinks it's the orphanage at the end of the street that is up to this, and soon is taken by Ms. Cavendish, the Orphanage's head. Victoria realizes that Ms. Cavendish was somehow able to brainwash the whole town, as well as brainwash the kids in the orphanage to become "perfect little children." Eventually, Victoria and Laurence ere able to escape, and the Orphanage, as well as Ms. Cavendish, disappear.
This book was really weird. The house was alive with all the people that found out Ms. Cavendish's secret and were taken by her roaches, and there were random hallways that would appear in the house, making it bigger on the outside than on the inside. Did I also mention that Ms. Cavendish was seemingly immortal and half roach? Yeah, it's that weird. It's a mediocre scary story. I thought at first it would be more like a Nancy Drew story or something relatable, however, it became a story of magic, bugs, and a dystopia created by Ms. Cavendish. The only way I find that it can be used in a classroom is the moral that friends are important; Victoria eventually realizes that Laurence is her best friend and not just a "project."
Overall, if you like weird mysteries like this, than I would definitely recommend this book. It's not the greatest book I have ever read, nor the worst; I found it more-so interesting. And weird. Very weird.
This book is different yet I am interested to read it. This book does not seem fit for young children maybe 4th or 5th grade but it also seems very imaginative and different. It is like Annie but with a taking house and a little more halloween type. I think this book would be best read as a fun book that the children can imagine with.
ReplyDeleteThis book seems very interesting! books like these give kids the chance to look at society maybe and themselves and try to expand to be themselves rather than follow the crowd.
ReplyDeleteWeird and intriguing! Your review actually has made me want to read this book. It kind of reminded me of the Stepford Wives. But I like that you were able to pull out something positive from this book about friendship. If it works, you could also focus on the differences that everyone has and how important they are to each individual similar to how Lawrence is in the beginning. Great job!
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