March Reader Response

March Reader Response

I am responding to The Story Box by Monica Hughes. I have read 200 out of 200 pages. This text is fiction because it is not based off of a true story. The genre is drama. The main characters in this book are Colin, Etta, and Jennifer. Colin is the protagonist. The setting is on the Isle of Ariban, in the past. I think it is in the past because the people of the island farm and fish for food and work all day and don't have technology. The conflict is that dreaming, storytelling, and imagination is outlawed on Ariban but then a stranger comes from another land who is a storyteller and gets Colin and his family in trouble. The climax is when Colin rescues Jennifer and Etta from jail and sail off with the widow Aileen in search of another land. The theme of The Story Box is what decisions you should make because Colin is often confused to what he should do: Stand up for Etta and Jennifer and help them escape the blame or save his own life by supporting the other side?

Retell

To summarize this text in a few sentences I would say that on Ariban dreams are not allowed to be spoken and stories, or anything made up and not real, are not allowed to be told or you will be severely punished. Then a stranger washes up on Ariban, Jennifer, who comes from a foreign land where stories and imagination are treasured. Colin finds her unconscious on the beach with a secret box filled with books and takes her home to be sheltered, however he doesn't know the trouble he is getting himself into. Soon Etta and Jennifer become friends and trade stories back and forth and the Elders of Ariban find out and blame them and Colin and his family for sheltering her. Colin has to protect Etta and Jennifer from the threat of execution until trading season comes and Jennifer can escape on one of the boats.

The character I dislike the most is Elder Fisher because he thinks that dreams and stories are dangerous and anyone on Ariban who tells stories should be gotten rid of. He shows no mercy for Etta even though she is only a little girl!

My favorite part of the text was when Jennifer, Colin, Etta, and Aileen escape from Ariban on the boat, Wind Runner. This is my favorite part of the book because at first it is exciting and suspenseful as they make a break for it and the villagers soon spot them and start throwing rocks to make holes in the boat, but they make it and get far enough away from the shore to be safe. I like this part because they can finally be free and lead a free life on another land.

Relate

Compared to other books by this author, I would say that this one is a lot different. I like this author because not all of her books are the same, they are all very different. Some of them aren't even the same genre, but this author always manages to pull it off and make a good book and you can tell it's written by the same person because the writing is recognizable and good.

The setting of this book reminds me of the setting of Eragon because it is on an island where nobody knows of any other land besides the island and instead of going out to look for other land, everyone just deals with the problems on their own country. Another reason Ariban of The Story Box reminds me of Alagaesia in Eragon is because it is likely set in the past. I have read a lot of fantasy novels and one thing I noticed is that most of them, but not all of them, take place in a past setting, almost like medieval times. They have no gadgets of the future such as computers, phones, or even cars.

The ending of this book reminds me of A Series of Unfortunate Events because at the ending of this book, they escape the island on a boat in search of new land and a new life, but it ends there and doesn't go any further. This is the same thing in the Unfortunate Events books and when I read it it really reminded me of when I was finishing the final Unfortunate Events book.

Reflect

I predict that Etta, Colin, Aileen and Jennifer will find the island that Jennifer came from and live there happily. Maybe Colin and Etta's parents will come after them and realize that they were right about the right to imagine and they will live there with them. One thing I like about this book is that the ending is not closed and instead is left open making you think, “Now what?” I think authors use this strategy because some people will be disappointed with the ending, so they leave it open for the reader to make it whatever they want. Maybe if the reader didn't like Colin and Etta, they would predict that they would be caught and trapped again by the Elders of Ariban.

However this book isn't perfect. One reason I didn't like it is because it kind of drags on and while t one point it can be hard to put down, sometimes there are boring parts. It is hard to judge this book because sometimes you love it and other times you don't like it. I think there are some parts that are boring and that I think the author should have taken out, such as when Colin is talking to his parents normally and doing chores. There is little excitement or interest in these scenes and you wish you could just skip it. If the book was more fast-paced it would be more exciting but it feels slow sometimes when you're reading it.