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maryhannawilson 's review for:
The List
by Patricia Forde
After "the melting," the city of Ark is the last remaining safe place to live. The Ark's leader, John Noa, is determined to keep it that way by limiting the vocabulary of the residents to 500 words. He blames deceptive and persuasive language for man's destruction because politicians used words to hide the effects of global warming until it was too late.
Letta, the apprentice to the Wordsmith, begins to realize that there is more going on in Ark than meets the eye. John Noa is planning to use extreme measures to keep people safe and Letta must work with those on the outside to stop him.
Honestly, this book was only a 3-star book for me as an adult reader, but I gave it 4 stars with my middle-grade readers in mind. I think it would make a fantastic introductory book to the world of dystopic literature for more sensitive readers. So many dystopic books are full of graphic violence and disturbing images. In comparison, this world was rather mild. That made it a little slow for me as an adult fan of dystopian books, but I think it would fit the bill very well for the middle grades.
While the violence is mild, there is still violence in the book. For example, Letta does learn that her missing master was tortured for information and she overhears that his fingernails were removed. While the torture is mentioned, it is not described nor is Letta (or the reader) present when it happens.
The plot moves a bit slowly and is pretty predictable but I think younger readers new to this genre will find it intriguing. The idea of limiting words opens a wonderful opportunity to discuss censorship and freedom of speech. Some of the characters felt underdeveloped, but I did like the main character and I wanted her to succeed!
Overall, this is a solid choice for some great discussions and an introduction to the world of dystopic literature. Many fans of The Giver will find this is a gentler version of a very similar story.
Letta, the apprentice to the Wordsmith, begins to realize that there is more going on in Ark than meets the eye. John Noa is planning to use extreme measures to keep people safe and Letta must work with those on the outside to stop him.
Honestly, this book was only a 3-star book for me as an adult reader, but I gave it 4 stars with my middle-grade readers in mind. I think it would make a fantastic introductory book to the world of dystopic literature for more sensitive readers. So many dystopic books are full of graphic violence and disturbing images. In comparison, this world was rather mild. That made it a little slow for me as an adult fan of dystopian books, but I think it would fit the bill very well for the middle grades.
While the violence is mild, there is still violence in the book. For example, Letta does learn that her missing master was tortured for information and she overhears that his fingernails were removed. While the torture is mentioned, it is not described nor is Letta (or the reader) present when it happens.
The plot moves a bit slowly and is pretty predictable but I think younger readers new to this genre will find it intriguing. The idea of limiting words opens a wonderful opportunity to discuss censorship and freedom of speech. Some of the characters felt underdeveloped, but I did like the main character and I wanted her to succeed!
Overall, this is a solid choice for some great discussions and an introduction to the world of dystopic literature. Many fans of The Giver will find this is a gentler version of a very similar story.