Summer Assignment part 2 Maggot Moon by Sally Gardener

Standish is a character that has a complicated relation ship with most of the people he knows,
like with his teacher Mr. Gunnel the teacher is mean and abusive towards him and he takes until Mr. Gunnel beats a kid to death. Then Standish loses it starts to punch him and afterwards Mr. Gunnel blames the beating on Standish but the kid that's been beating Standish sticks up for him and tells on Mr. Gunnel, they believe him but even after this due to unexplained reasons Standish ends up being expelled from school , and this point shows him going from kind of a wimpy kid to a courageous person willing to stand up to his teacher, and the fact that has bully helps him out that has beat him up and hazed him up to this point. An interesting character moment is that  he doesn't even care when he watches Mr. Gunnel get killed, and in fact just keeps going on about his business, he isn't happy or anything it's just oh a teacher that killed a kid just got shot.

 The themes running through the book is one of a Dystopian theme, the big bad government that one person will stand up to as the voice of hope. The reason because while I like the book it is on the same path of most Dystopia books I've read were the wise old man gives an idea of freedom to the protagonist. Also how you should be mindful of what you let the people that lead you do and what powers you give them because it asks that age old question of how much your willing to give up for safety and allowing the big bad government regulating every part of your life setting curfews and if you disobey your sent to what they call a Maggot which hasn't been explained what it is but I have guesses based on the route the book has gone so far. Another theme that runs through is breaking the mold because the character while depicted to their world as dumb is quite complex and smart even if he can't read or write but can still function and is smarter then most think, and he thinks differently then everyone.

The way the book is structured is its told from the first person from the point of view of Standish, I like this because in the first person you get to know almost everything about the character versus third person you have to get to know a tone of characters and get in the mood for that character, not to say I don't like third person and in fact when done right it can be enjoyable. The book jumps back and fourth between the present and the past were at a moments notice you jump to a flash back for a while and then back to the present. Another structuring point is that so far each chapter is only 3 pages and the text is medium sized so it makes it more  readable were just after 3 pages you can put it down very easily. Overall I like how the book is structured and I do enjoy the book so far.  

Summer assignment Part 1 Maggot Moon by Sally Gardener

To start off as of writing this post and the next I am 50% through the book so this won't be the most comprehensive post about the book also the there might be some spoilers throughout, not that there are many things to spoil. To start the main character of the book is Standish Treadwell the way they describe him is a 15 year old who can't read or write, and at first they display him as kid of a wimp always needing to be rescued by his friend Hector, then later on due to some events he gets some courage and stands up to a major authority figure when he is pushed to far, another trait he has is that when he was little his parents just upped and disappeared leaving him to be raised by his Grandfather.  Another major character is Standishe's grandfather who is referred to as Gramps so far, and throughout the book he is depicted as a paranoid old man who bends the rules for the welfare of his Grandson and he really isn't a fan of the authoritative figures in the book. One of the other major characters in the book is Standishe's best friend Hector Lush who is smart, courageous, and kind of smart aleck about the authoritative figures almost the complete polar opposite of Standish , and since the story jumps back and forth between flashbacks and the present, in the present he has disappeared. The villain pretty much up to the point I read to was Standishe's teacher Mr. Gunnel who is evil towards Standish, caning him for no good reason, and has a very stern attitude towards him, and purposely sabotages him, he is also a guy that has blind loyalty to his country, he also does some things that are kind of shocking that I will go into detail about later.

The setting of the book is an alternate 1956 in witch the characters live in this place called the motherland and specifically the characters live in zone 7 which is all bombed out with few houses standing, and everything crumbling around them, and behind them is a restricted area that Standish frequents as a play area with Hector. A prediction I can make is that in that restricted area there is this wall and I predict that there is some secret government that Standish will stand up against and become a symbol of hope. The question I have is what country does the Motherland represent because I know that is what Russia is referred to but from the sounds of it could be taking place in the US so that is the big question. Also another question I have  were is Hector because he just disappears randomly no rhyme or reason and is probably going to be a major plot point. Some connections I can make are to other Dystopian works such as George Orwells 1984, or The Giver or the movie Brazil all showing the a bleak vision of the world in shambles with people trying to pick up the pieces. Also I can connect the Fallout videogame series because they both take place in a alternate 1950s setting.