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Nov 27, 2016LadyKatka rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I was put off by how sexist this book is. I understand it is from the point of view of a 12 year old boy, but really, come on. We need to do a better job of teaching boys what girls are like if this is how they really think. First of all, the (only) girl character in the book doesn't even make her entrance until page 156 of a 225 page book. Good grief. Secondly, the main character, Jack, spends the entire time questing for her. His ultimate feat is to rescue June, because in his mind she is a damsel in distress and if he saves her she will instantly fall for his heroic charms. As damsels do right. Doesn't matter that she barely knew him before the monster apocalypse, or that all interactions with him, she made it known how annoying she found him. All that does not matter because he is the hero and she is damsel. Thirdly, when she finally does come into the picture, she tells him that she doesn't want saving and he should go away. His response is "this does not jibe. I need more time to convince her." His tactic is to ignore her wishes, and (figuratively) twist her arm until she agrees to go with him. Oh and lets not forget, he also gets into a fight with his best friend and ends up calling dibs on her. When his friend protests and says "That is not how girls work" Jack's response is "That is how dibs work". His best friend agrees that she is Jack's girl and is not trying to steal her. So now she is reduced to an object that you can call dibs on. Not a person with feelings, thoughts, and opinions that matter. What the deuce? Lastly, when all of them, Jack, June, and two other boys, get into a big monster battle at the end, they all must fight for their lives. I say all of them, because all of the kids were involved in some way. After all was said and done, Jack thinks to himself "the most important thing is... I did it." He is not referring to killing the monster, he is referring to saving June, the damsel. He says "she wasn't a damsel, and didn't need rescuing, but I managed kinda do it anyway and that is cool". So in his mind, the only really really important thing is that he rescued his crush from a situation he himself created so now he is the hero who deserves the affections of said girl. This is so wrong. I can see many boys enjoying this book because of the monsters, guts, action, and adventure. However, if your boys are reading this book, make sure to talk to them about how to treat, respect, and think about girls as people not objects. Please.