Off the Road - Hardcover

Bawden, Nina

3.04

71 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0241140234 ISBN 13: 9780241140239

Publisher: Puffin, 1998

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Review:

It is 2040. On the Outside, people have huge families and are proud that they "belong" as they live their basic, happy lives in the Wild Wood. On the Inside, everything is clean, safe and orderly. There is only one child per family, and when adults reach the age of 65 they are taken to Nostalgia Block 95 to be "looked after forever" .It is Gandy's 65th birthday and he escapes to the Outside, followed by his grandson Tom who has been taught only of the horrors of the Outside but as yet knows nothing of the joys to be found there.

Tender and, at times, heartbreaking, Nina Bawden's Off the Road is a fresh and compulsive read. A combination of futuristic thriller and touching, tear-jerking tale of family bonds, this is a stunning, pacey and perceptive novel which successfully parallels two very different worlds without making judgments on either. --Susan Harrison

Review:

"For sci-fi buffs not yet ready to tackle Orwell's 1984, Bawden here introduces many of the same provocative issues for middle readers."--Publishers Weekly

"Through the characters' experiences, readers become aware of the rules and rewards of both societies and must grapple with issues of individual rights and freedoms and the sacrifices that are required to insure security. An interesting . . . trip back to the future."--School Library Journal

"Tom, Gandy, and the family Outside capture and hold interest."--Kirkus Reviews

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