The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman (Dystopian Fiction)

Ten-year-old Honor and her family move to Island 365 after being enclosed in the North.  The god of the island, Earth Mother, has every family in its place and obedient to its rules.  However, Honor’s family is different.  Their family's house is a wreck because they cannot afford anything better and they do not follow the rules of the island.  Honor’s real struggle is school.  She stands out compared to everyone else.  Nobody wants to be friends with her because her name is unusual and her parents do not follow the rules of Earth Mother.  Luckily, she has one good friend named Helix.  Three years later her parents have a baby boy named Quintilian.  This makes her stand out even more because most families on the island have only one child.  Honor’s parents start doing even more unusual things.  The curfew on the island is nine o’clock, but for some reason her parents keeps sneaking out late at night.  They claim that they are with Helix’s parents watching the sky.  But Honor is growing suspicious of their behavior.  One day Helix’s parents go missing and now he is an orphan.  The next morning Honor sets out to find her parents, but they are nowhere to be found.  Now, she must live in the school with all the other orphans doing chores and taking care of her little brother.  All she is worried about now is finding her parents and what more there is to learn about the island and its secrets.

This is one of my favorite books that I have read.  The details of the story make it interesting and captivating.  The thing that I like best about this book is that there was a mystery throughout the story that made me predict what was going to happen.  I thought so much about what would happen to Honor and her family and what the future holds for them.  I think a lot of people can relate to Honor because she wants to conform to societies' rules out of fear or pressure to not be different.  I feel that Honor is a very brave person to follow her parents even though she never wanted to because she was afraid of breaking the rules – that is, of course, until she realizes that she had to break free from them to do what was right.  One thing that was my least favorite was the way the book ended.  The author left the reader guessing about Honor’s fate.  I can understand the author’s intent to allow the reader to visualize its own ending which makes it even more mysterious, but it was disappointing to not have a solid ending to the story.  I would recommend this book to someone who loves to read dystopian or science fiction, who has a vivid imagination, and who enjoys mystery and wonder. 

Reviewed by Emily B. 7th Grade