Title: The WilloughbysAuthor: Lois Lowry
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Description: Four unhappy children wish to be orphans because they hate their parents, and and old grouch finds happiness again. I guess.
After some thought, I have found I do not know how to describe this book and its story. Maybe I could say it was random. Possibly undecided. A very simple story. The author had NO IDEA what she was doing.
Just kidding. But it is true that this book isn't the greatest piece of literature.
My first thought on this book was that it was sick and slightly racist. That sounds harsh, but what kind of kids wish their parents were dead so they could be orphans? What kind of parents name their twins the same name, then can't remember their other two children's names? Then the parents go on a vacation, leaving their kids behind and Put their House up For Sale. The trip turns out to be a perilous journey, and some fellow tourists die. And the parents say: 'It doesn't matter that they died, they were French." I mean, what kind of book is this?????? It is for children, right?? What is the book world coming to???? ....Okay, I'm calm now. But I don't understand why my sister likes this book. And one more thing. The oldest Willoughby child, Tim, is an absolute beast. For example, if his brothers and sisters don't do something absolutely right, he docks "points" off them. At the end of the day, he always has the most points, because he does everything perfectly. Ha ha. As an older sibling myself, I am appalled.
As I said before, I found the story random. One moment, you are learning about the aggravating Willoughby children and their horrible parents. Then, they find this abandoned baby on their doorstep. You may think this is a turning point for the Willoughbys, but it's not. Instead they shave the baby and dump it on somebody else's doorstep. Now it is time for the parents to go on their vacation. A nanny is being hired. There is this big fuss over the nanny, and you think, oh, this is going to be sort of like Mary Poppins! But think again. After that chapter, the nanny doesn't come up much, except when she makes cookies. Now enter another character, the old grouch. He finds the unwanted baby, and now the baby has to affect his life a little tiny bit, or otherwise, why have the baby in the story at all???
1 comment:
i thought the nanny was a big turning point in this story because she stops tim's evil ways. i thought she stayed pretty active throughout the story, being a big part in the children's lives.
the rest of the "wickedness" is just supposed to be viewed as irony because of the way the whole story is portrayed as "old fashioned". you have to see the humorous side of the story.
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