Life

So I finished The Thirteenth Tale last night and it was absolutely incredible! I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it. It wasn't blindingly fast-paced like The Hunger Games was, although there is nothing wrong with that, but it was one of those books that didn't have to have me on the edge of my seat for the entire book for me to want to keep reading. But I'm rambling. I will do a full review on that book in a couple of days, I just thought you should know that it was great. Now that I am done with that, I am resigned to finishing Pride and Prejudice, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, and Fast Food Nation. But I am going on a very long car ride this spring break so I should get a lot of them read and done.
Now for today's book, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass. I read this book a few years ago, actually, but even though it wasn't my favorite book, it kind of stuck with me. The book is about Jeremy Fink (obviously) who is going to turn 13 in a month. He is kind of an introverted kid, he collects "mutant candy" and if he can help it, he is never more than 4 blocks from home. His friend Lizzy is the exact opposite. She is ready to do anything at anytime, no matter what the consequences, just so long as it is an adventure. And she gets her wish when Jeremy receives a strange wooden box in the mail. A note that comes with the box says that inside is the meaning of life, but to open the box, you need all of the keys. If you try to open the box without the keys, the contents will be destroyed. Only one problem, how do you find all of the keys with no idea of where to start. Soon Jeremy and Lizzy start their amazing adventure to find the meaning of life, but when they start meeting strange people and going on strange trips all over the city, they start to think that maybe there is more than one way to find the meaning of life.

I enjoyed this book, though like I said before, it wasn't one of my favorites. The characters were nice, but I thought they needed more dimension than they had. I really enjoyed the ending, it was a good pay-off, but the rest of the book needed a little more editing before it went to print. I recommend it for kids about to go into junior high or kids already in junior high struggling with who they are and what they want to be. The ending really is inspiring, and it gave me a much better perspective on some parts of my life when I read it. I'm glad to have had it in my reading library.

Rating: 3.5/5

P.S. There is also a movie, which I just barely found out about. If anyone has seen it, please let me know how it is. But based on the IMDB page, not enough people saw it for it to even count as a movie. So I'm guessing it's not great.