"The Game of Sunken Places" - M.T. Anderson

"The woods were silent, other than the screaming." (p.1)

  That's the first sentence of The Game of Sunken Places.  It starts off with a scream and continues being active and intense.  The book has its restful spots, but there aren't many of them.  Gregory and Brian visit his uncle for the summer and get caught up in a board game that comes to life. 

Sounds like Jumanji, right?

It's not.  There are far more layers and twists to this story.  You think you have something figured out, and then it gets flipped over and becomes something else.  The game is possibly deadly.  The characters aren't always what they seem.

You should also read the entire book - don't skip the afterwords. 

This book also has one of my favorite recent quotes, by a character whom I won't name:

As they walked, [character], whose television reception was poor, asked questions about the outside world.  He was fascinated by airplanes and condensed milk and mail service.  "Airplanes.  Wow.  It's hard to believe that some people take them for granted," he said.  "I've always wanted to fly.  I used to dream I was a bird all the time.  That would be great except that it was always a penguin." (p. 115)

Comments

[Singing Librarian]

Sounds most intriguing! Brilliant, brilliant first sentence, which should go down as a classic if the book catches on. Love the penguin quote as well - flight is the one thing that --isn't-- better with penguins!

[M Light]

I read the last third at one sitting because I got so caught up in it (and, really, sleep is overrated anyway).

[Maire Bozak]

horrible,horrible book.... good reveiw though!