In Mosquitoland, the lively character known as Mary Iris Malone (more commonly referred to as Mim) takes a journey from Mississippi to Ohio to visit her mother, who had been sick for a long while. Mim had been living with her stepmom and father in Mississippi, but when she hears of her mother being sick in Ohio, she boards the next Greyhound bus alone with cash she found in her house, determined to find her mother. Along the way, she meets quite a few interesting characters, young and old, who are willing to help her and keep her company in her quest.
When I originally picked up this book, I was mainly looking for a female lead character. I was surprised while reading through, because there was a brilliant sense of adventure and a diverse cast to help contrast this main character. Not only did I get the female lead I wanted, I was also able to partake in her journey and experience not only the best part of fantasy writing, but the best part of realistic fiction. The sense of adventure that was seen through the novel resembled a fantasy story, and the monsters that the character had to fight weren’t mythical creatures as in Harry Potter, but internal monsters, such as fear and anxieties.
I appreciated Arnold’s writing style, and how he chose to deal with situations that happen often in the real world. He wrote the book in such a style that each character, whether important or not, connected with the reader. I had appreciation for this, because toward the end of Mim’s journey, she realizes that everyone she met had value and was important in some way.
Within this story, I was able to find a lesson: everything you do isn’t going to be exactly what you expect, but the journey and people you meet along the way can be much more important than the final goal. Even though this book is more commonly found in the children’s section of the book store, I believe that this book is an important read for all ages. It deals with the ideas of loss, hardship, and many other real-world issues that many teens go through.
This book can be bought on Amazon here.
This article was written by guest writer Juliana Lozano. This writer can be reached via email at [email protected].
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