The Lottery

Surprisingly, given my profession, I've never talked about a book I enjoy on this blog. Well that all changes today.

I loved reading "The Lottery" by Beth Goobie. It's about this school in Saskatchewan where all of the cool kids from all of the teams and clubs are in this joint group called "Shadow Council". Every year, they put all of the names of the students into a draw, and one student wins this "lottery." No one is allowed to speak to the winner of the event for the entire year-- no one at all. If someone does try, he or she is punished by having to do menial tasks or through social ostracizing. It's pretty intense, and it really highlights issues surrounding bullying.

I obviously don't love what happens in this society-- bullying is a very real problem for today's youth, and although I was fortunate to not be bullied too much growing up, I still see its importance. I think I like how I've seen dozens of kids connect to this book as they read it. It's easily accessible to them, and they often really get into it.

Any novel or author that can do that gets high marks in my books.