LCE 6th grade Electronic Book Review

1. Student Reviewer’s Name: Megan S
2. Date of review of book: 6/12/2007
3. Complete Book Title: The Door in the Lake
4. Author of Book: Nancy Butts
5. Year the book was published: 1998
6. Genre: Science Fiction
7. Student rating of the book (1 the highest, 5 the lowest): 1

8. Main conflict in the book: A 12-year old boy is taken on a camping trip, but mysteriously disappears in the forest. He reappears two years later at the exact same age while everyone else he knows has changed and grown. He is having seizures and blackouts, where all he remembers is a light in the lake near his campground, so he is determined to find out what happened to him.

9. Setting of the book: (place and time)
The book takes place in present day in the Jefferson National Forest, Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia.

10. Main Characters and part they play in the book:
(1) Joseph Patrick Finney is the 12-year old boy that disappears in the light vortex at the lake.
(2) Ariel and Ethan are two college students who contact Joseph on the Internet to suggest he was kidnapped by aliens. Together, they help Joseph unravel the mystery of his disappearance.

11. Are the characters believable and interesting? The characters are all regular people who have unusual things happen to them. I think they are believable and interesting, but the events surrounding them are completely unrealistic.

12. One excellent direct quotation from the book: (include who said it, page number, and use
quotation marks!)
“I know I sound like a reporter for the National Enquirer,” Ethan said, “but yeah, I think you were abducted by aliens.” (pg. 67)

13. Good reasons to read the book:
This is an entertaining book that may scare you, but that’s why you’ll want to keep reading it. You will care about the main character, Joseph, and keep reading the story hoping he will survive.

14. Any reasons not to read the book?
None

15. Did you like this book or not? And why….
I loved the book because I couldn’t stop reading it. It is a very suspenseful story without being too realistic. It was so scary that I stayed glued to the book, but not in a way that would give me nightmares.