Room

An interesting little book. The whole thing is told from the perspective of a 5 year old boy, who's been locked in a room his whole life. His mother was kidnapped when she was in her early twenties, and locked in a modified shed in the kidnappers back yard. For years he's kept her there, "visiting" from time to time. Eventually the boy is born, and lives until he turns five. After his 5th birthday, his mother and him escape. About 1/2 of the book is their life pre-escape, and the rest is how they adjust back into the "real world".

I don't know what the background of the book was (i.e., why the author chose to write it). The perspective of the young boy makes for some funny moments - especially as he learns that the outside world (that he's seen on TV in the Room) is actually real. About 2/3 of the way through, it gets a little slow (when him and his mother are in the hospital recuperating), and there's probably about 50 pages that could be re-written or re-worked to make that portion a little more interesting. By the end of the book, the young boy has almost reversed roles with his mother - helping her to re-acclimate to the real world, where before it was her helping him to get along in the Room.

This was another one from the Amazon list - and again another one that I don't know if I'd have read if it wasn't on that list. Overall, though, I'd probably give it 4 stars.