The Roar
by Emma Clayton, The Chicken House, 2009, 496pp., $12.23,
ISBN 978-0439925938

Reviewed by Robert F., Grade 8
McDougle Middle School, Chapel Hill, North Carolina



The Roar by Emma Clayton takes place in the future on earth where humanity lives behind a huge concrete wall to protect them from plagued animals. Mika and Ellie Smith live in the shadows, a poor region in the floodwaters of London. When they were young Ellie was kidnapped mysteriously and now everyone but Mika believes her to be dead. Then the government introduces a suspicious new fitness program and instead of drinking the fitness powder Mika throws it in the principal’s face and gets suspended. Meanwhile Ellie is trying to escape from her kidnapper Mal Gorman in a stolen pod fighter. This book is about the twin’s struggles to reunite.
I really enjoyed this book because of the author’s style and how she made everything suspenseful and interesting. I really liked how the author started the book off with action and suspense to hook you and get you interested. Also I really liked how the author kept some things from you and revealed others, which created suspense and made me never want to put the book down. The chapters are told alternating between Mika’s point of view and Ellie’s point of view so you get to know what each of them is experiencing. What is also interesting is that the author tells the story alternating between Mika’s point of view and Ellie’s point of view sometimes when something important is going to happen the chapter ends and it changes point of view so you have to keep reading. This book was a somewhat surprising read for me because when I first looked at it did not seem very good but I read it anyway and I ended up really liking it. Anyone who enjoys reading science fiction or fantasy should definitely read this book.