The Phantom Tollbooth
Written by Norton Juster
Reviewed by Lucy F (age 9)
This story is about a boy named Milo, who is very bored and does not know what to do with himself until he finds a tollbooth in his room. Just a toy right - WRONG! Once through the tollbooth Milo finds himself in an amazing world, where he meets king Azaz, ruler of numbers and his rival the Mathemagician, king of numbers. He convinces them to let him go with Tock, the watchdog, and the Humbug to rescue princesses Rhyme and Reason, who had been banished due to bad decisions. On the way they encounter friend and foe and by the end of the adventure Milo has learned a very important lesson: life is amazing and full of things to do. This is a very important lesson shared by the author.
This is a great book. It's funny and has creative ways of showing things, like when Milo jumps to conclusions he goes to an actual island. This makes it very different from other chapter books I have read. This book made me really think about how interesting life is and reminded me of how many times I have been bored [but unlike Milo I whine about it]. I also liked the illustrations which looked like they'd been done by a pen and gave me a good glimpse of what was happening.
I highly recommend this book to people who are in search of unique adventures and good humor. If someone were looking for a good book I would offer them this truly unique book.