There was a page in the back of my copy of A Tale of Two Cities which read: “By the year 2000, 2 out of 3 Americans could be illiterate”. This ad was put together by the Ad Council in (I believe) 1989. I scoffed at the ad, but it made me wonder—what exactly does it mean to be illiterate? I don’t know for sure. I started reading Treasure Island—which I read once before in fourth grade. I distinctly remember understanding almost nothing my first time through; which is why it ended up on my “to read” list. This recollection made me curious. According to the introduction, Treasure Island was written in 1895 and is “aimed at a young and chiefly male readership.” I don’t know exactly how old “young” is but I’ll assume 10-13ish. This leads me to conclude that a) because the book was written for boys, I, as a 10 year old girl wasn’t able to understand it by virtue of the fact that I was a girl, b) I was illiterate, or c) I thought it was just easier to skim the book and use cliffs notes instead.
Well, even if I was illiterate at age 10, I’ve redeemed myself by comprehending Treasure Island much better this time through. It was only 190 pages and therefore made for a quick, two day read. I think I had the story mixed up with Robinson Crusoe and kept waiting for the sweet natural water slide and the treetop resort and was disappointed when I realized they weren’t coming. Aside from that, it was an action packed pirate story in which the young boy managed to commandeer a ship from pirates—so, as you can tell—it was very realistic.
Okay, I’ll stop with the mockery. In all seriousness, it was a cute story, well written, intriguing, and fun to read.
Oh, here’s a piece of trivia for you. You know the famous pirate Long John Silver? He originated in Treasure Island.
If this were a movie, I'd rate it: PG.
Overall Grade: B-
Would I recommend this book to my friends: I’d recommend it to parents who want something to read to their kids.
Why do I keep thinking of Pirates of the Caribbean?
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