I finally finished A Taste for Rabbit. At a recent district librarian meeting I was asked if I liked it. That’s a tough call.
The Heroic
- Rabbits are disappearing and a trend is discovered: the missing rabbits are political dissidents. I can see a connection between the Holocaust, but it could go with any dictatorship/Anthem-type scenario
- Fans of animals killing other animals, like Redwall or the Warriors series, might like it. I GIVE A DISCLAIMER, THOUGH. This series is definitely rougher. Nothing too extreme, but not every fan of Redwall will dig the book.
The Barbaric
- This book is weird. Now, I know I wouldn’t let a student get away without clarifying a statement like that, so here goes. Many times a character will run a hypothetical situation in their head. The narrative interrupts, complete with indentation and font change, to act out a fantasy scene. But! Even though AR says it’s 4.8, this makes it trickier for struggling readers.
- I know that I was supposed to learn some kind of lesson. “Don’t kill sentient beings”? “Forgive your brother”? “Don’t play moochy-poochy stones with badgers”? I love books that give a lesson, so this is kinda a positive and a negative since I felt like Marlin:
I swear he’s trying to speak to me.
I felt like the author was directly trying to teach me, like Ishmael (shudder) or Fountainhead (just threw up in mouth), instead of letting the story be the story and the reader draw their own interpretations.
I love books and I think that this one has potential, but it’s not for every reader. We’ll see if it circulates.
