Room by Emma Donoghue

Disturbing, haunting, fascinating, heart-pounding, incomprehensible ~ just a few adjectives to describe my experience reading this book.  To quote one of my first grade students (in response to a book she had read to me), "Holy bejeebers!"

You know you've got a good book when you're able to focus and absorb every detail of the story while battling a nasty sinus infection.  My head may have been throbbing and my eyes may have struggled to stay open, but I could not put this book down.

Narrated in the choppy, emergent language of a five-year old boy named Jack, Room is the story of Jack and his Ma and how they are forced to live in a locked, secluded, windowless (but for a skylight), and soundproof eleven-by-eleven foot shed.  Except for nightly visits from Old Nick, Jack and Ma have no access to or contact with the outside world.

During one of my child psychology courses, I remember having to watch a documentary about a girl who had been locked in her bedroom her entire life since birth.  Except for some food and a little clothing, she had been neglected by her parents, never receiving a mother's love or touch.  If I remember correctly, the child was finally discovered by the time she was ten years old.  Because no one had ever taught her how to walk, speak, eat, or perform other normal daily functions of life, neither the child's brain nor body ever fully developed.  Researchers believe she had been healthy at birth; but because she had suffered such neglect and had never left the environs of such a small, enclosed space, she never had an opportunity to develop to her potential.  It was such a fascinating yet sad story, but it was an enthralling piece of evidence proving that our environment plays a huge role in our development.

Jack's circumstances are somewhat different from the severe neglect of the child from the documentary, but there were certainly similarities that I noticed.  It was interesting to see how the author handled Jack's development and adaptation.  The moral of the story:  Love your children and provide them with a multitude of experiences.

Another great book I'd recommend regarding child psychology:

     *  A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer