Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue

I need to find some new, care-free, uplifting books to read for a while. Room was recommended by my local library. It is written from the view of a five-year-old who's mother was kidnapped when she was nineteen. Jack, was born a few years later and this book takes place seven years after she was taken. He was born and raised in a small room that he has never been out of. The first part of the book who get a feel of what daily life is like for them and how they pass the time. The review on this book said that this book will make mothers feel like failures and lacking in their mothering skills. I did not feel this really at all. Yes, Jack's mother pretty much plays with Jack all day every day and makes sure that he eats as healthy as possible and gives him as much of an education she can by teaching him to read, write, and do math. His education in that sense is much higher than a normal kids knowledge. It is great that she was able to be so good with her child, but I have to point out that she also did not have the daily stress of shopping, working, bills, etc...

The second part of the book we follow Jack after he and his mother finally escape and end up in a hospital to deal with their physical and mental state after seven years of captivity. They have to deal with weak immune systems, sensitive skin and eyes, and Jack has to become acquanted with the world that he always believed was not real and only seen on TV. He is unable to socialize with others at first or do anything without his mother. He is still breast-feeding, and he bumps into things since his sense of perception and depth have not been developed for him. He misses his 'home' and is not accepted by his grandpa who wants his mother to put him up for adoption. Jack's mother is unable to handle the pressure from the press and negative feedback she gets some some who believe she was selfish by keeping Jack instead of having her kidnapper drop him off at an orphanage for a normal life and Jack is seen as an odd, deprived, mentally challenged child. Many things that we take for granted that our own children know how to do such as walk down stairs or walk in rain are terrifying for Jack.

It was a good book and does make you think about the small things in life that we take for granted and to see life as a five-year-old does. One interesting comment Jack makes is that he notices that people spend time together, but parents push their kids aside to play on their own so they can talk with other adults. There is truth in that that kids often get pushed to the side so parents who chose to have children can do what they want all the time. We chose to have kids and we need to make sure we give them the time and attention that they need to be secure and grow.