Bless the Beasts & Children

To really enjoy this book I think you have to be in the right mindset-for people expecting a childish adventure or mature pyschological interpretation, disappointment is all you're goign to get out of the book. I however, enjoyed it immensely, and thought it was touching and raw. Not only did it present the characters as incredibly human, but I liked the flashbacks that detailed who the characters were and their past. This isn't the greatest book for readers who don't appreciate this style, so if you don't like a story with a deeper meaning (and a little child pyschology) then you're out of luck. And for the reviewers who read this book in English classes, etc. and did not enjoy it-perhaps that's because your taste isn't mature enough to appreciate it!

Although it is a small book it carries a lot within it's cover. As a family member of the author I must say that I feel unending pride as I see that years after it's publication people still walk away learning a lesson and being able to identify with at least one character in the book. I recommend this book to almost all ages and read it again years later and take different things away with you!

I've loved this book since I first read it as a 7th grader 20 years ago. Back then, I liked it because I identified so strongly with the screwed-up, alienated teenage characters. I've read it many times since then, and have come to enjoy it more for Swarthout's astounding writing ability. I have a feeling that the book is probably somewhat dated for young readers today, but adults, especially those who were teenagers in the 70s, might really enjoy it. Maybe that's why all those teachers are requiring it of their 8th-grade classes. :-)

I was ordered to read this book by my tenth grade english teacher, for a grade of course. Most of the time I don't enjoy reading books that I have to for school and grades. Last year I had to read The Lord of the Flies which is greatly similar to this book. After the first chapter I got deep into the book and found it very interesting and relized how the author did such a great job with the characters and setting and he really had me using my imagination to the see cages, the jeep, and the hunters. If you got deep into this book like I did then you would definatly enjoy Lord of the Flies. For a tenth grade level I don't think the book is as hard to read as others think so if I were you I would definatly check it out!

I read the other reviews for this novel and discovered that the ones who rated it boring or with a low number of stars failed to mention any other critique besides "flashbacks were hard to understand" and "misfits 'fitting'together was unreal." Apparently, we have "readers" who do not do a lot of reading (as evidenced by their own words) and readers who don't really know "how to read." (Do movie flashbacks give them problems also?) The book is a narrowed view of a growing population of "misfits," poignantly written without "tearjerking" compassion. It bares the truth of both the "misfits" AND the "normals."