Haunting, masterful, gripping. I can see why it was on just about every “best book” list of 2010, it truly deserved it. The talented author created a beautiful and endearing narrator in a 5 year old boy who has been trapped with his mother in a single room his entire existence. Their everyday life was fascinating and the story of a mother’s love one to remember. I read it late into the night because I couldn’t wait to finish it. The book’s subject matter was difficult and unsavory but because it was written from the innocent perspective of a little boy, it stayed pretty clean. Pick it up if you are looking for a book that won’t let you go and will keep you thinking long after you are finished.

Summary via GoodreadsTo five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it’s where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it’s not enough…not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son’s bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.