This was my first time reading this book and it just so happens that the movie is around the corner. I found myself imagining a movie the whole time I was reading it, so I'm happy I won't have to wait long. I got into a big discussion with some other teachers about the author's personal opinions and whether or not we should let that shape our opinion of the book. Apparently their is an uproar happening over the movie releasing based on Card's views about homosexuality. It saddened me to know this about him, while at the same time, I really enjoyed the story and there was absolutely no derogatory statements made in the book as far as I could tell. Should we judge a book by the author's personal viewpoints? Is a book ever inherently separated from the author that created it? By supporting the book, are we supporting the author? I'd like to believe that a book, especially a Sci-fi classic such as this one, can be separated from the author in that it lives alone as a piece of art, taking on and creating it's own life separate from their own. Almost like a child from a parent. That being said, I'm not happy supporting him either.
Well...the book has a similar structure to the Harry Potter type of hero journey, where a young child is thrust into a position of great importance to complete a mission that is too powerful for him. The child must go off to school to hone the skills he needs to complete the mission but the stress of what is required of him begins to become a burden he can't handle any longer. Being that this book is sci-fi and not fantasy, we are also dealing with the idea of The Other and how we would handle coming across other intelligent life forms in the universe and what our actions say about our own humanity. Very compelling stuff. I kind of wish Card would read his own writing.
Interest level: Grades 5-8
Genre: Science Fiction, Action, Space
Questions to Readers: Do you think the ending would have changed if Ender had known the plan of the adults? Do you think the adults made the right choice? How does Ender change over the course of the novel? Do you think this was a change for the better?
Read-alikes: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ready Player One
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