The Knife of Never Letting Go: Chaos Walking, Book 1

So many great points of discussion from genocide, information overload, standing up for what's right, deciding what kind of person you are going to be.

I loved this series. It is can't-put-down good; however, there is lots of violence, so I am careful about recommending it to students who might be sensitive to that. Throughout the series there are number of issues that would be excellent to discuss: the reality of war, how we are persuaded by others, when and if violence is ever the right option, and the difference between rebellion and terrorism. As the main characters come to maturity, they learn how to better people in the most difficult circumstances.

This is, hands down, the best book for younger readers that I have read. As a high school English teacher, I am in contact with teens all day long, and so I have a priviledged access to teens in their everyday lives. This book may well also be the best book written for teenaged boys, because Todd's struggle to be a man, and to come to terms with the mystery of what a girl is, as a different but equal being, goes to the heart of what boys struggle through on their way to becoming respectable and honourable men. Sadly, not all boys make it as far as Todd on this journey, and too many end up more like Davey Prentice. IT is violent, yes, but the violence is healthy: it hurts and hurts and hurts some more. It is not glorified or glamourous, it is real. So many important subjects are broached in this book, and all in the right ways. I read this book to my daughter when she was eleven, and she loved, so girls get it too. It rightly deserves the awards it has won, and because it is fiction, it makes the reality of war accessible to readers who are, thank God, almost completely sheltered from it. It is brilliant from end to end, funny and terribly powerful.

This is a violent book but it does not glorify violence it really shows how brutality sickens the soul and twists the mind The farm work is realistic unfortunately so is the hatred filled actions and statements from some characters. This *is* a book that demands discussion after reading however so it might not be for everyone

I loved it... it was violent at times and laguage was used but honesly kids are gonna hear it like its not as if a little five year old is reading it! Its an early to mid teens book... the plot is fantastic, the characters are believeable and a great message to fight for what you believe in! GO READ IT.