A Door in the Woods

James Dashner

3/13/2004

Review by Molly

Jimmy’s tale begins with a tree. It was the beginning of summer vacation, and Jimmy says it was a good day when it began. Ole Betsy was a great climbing tree, and Jimmy could hardly wait to get out to the woods behind Mrs. Jones’ Place and climb that tree. Jimmy was up in his tree when the mayor Borbus T Duck Jr., of Duluth, Georgia appeared, struggled with someone then looked right up into the tree where Jimmy was almost hidden in the branches. Before Jimmy knew what was happening here came the mayor climbing right up to his hiding place in the tree. And so began some of the strangest adventures of Jimmy’s life. A monster, time to see the Sheriff, held in a small room, escape, a strange phone call home all figure in Jimmy’s tale. Jimmy with his backpack, five thousand dollars and his lucky Braves hat found themselves on their way to Salt Lake City, Utah. Stompers, the Gift, and more adventure are to follow. At last summer vacation, Jimmy’s love for his family and a trip to Japan help him put his adventure in perspective.

On the pages of A Door in the Woods writer Dashner has produced a sure to be crowd pleaser among the target audience of 9-14 set. Formidable happenings, quest, and thrilling escapades teem on all fronts in the fast paced adventure narrative. Ingeniously interwoven scenarios abound in this intricate tale of potent motivation, paradoxical predicaments and monumental encounter.

Nicely achieved characters are engaging, brilliantly depicted, voices of the predominate players are unaffected and acceptable. A Door in the Woods grabs reader attention at once, holds it fast right to the end in this galvanizing caper across exhilarating surroundings, pitfalls and hazards and concludes with a optimistic finish. Author Dashner nimbly seizes the vitality of challenging experience, paints a keenly focused tale in A Door in the Woods to bring about an smoothly perceived fast paced read filled with picturesque subjects, set and solution. Contention abounds, resolution is satisfactory, result is acceptable.

A Door in the Woods has a place in the home and school library. Classroom and home teachers will find the work a valuable asset for both assigned and pleasure reading in the classroom setting. Youngsters in the target audience are sure to find the book to their liking for their own pleasure reading choices. Vocabulary is well within the range of target audience, those reading on third reader level may need a little help with a word here and there.

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