Skip to main content

The Unnameables

By

The Unnameables
by Ellen Booraem
316 pages
age 10+
Medford Runyuin has a name that doesn't mean anything, at least not anything "useful". He washed up on Island's beach as an infant and was taken in by Boyce Carver. He is trained to follow in his foster father's footsteps as a carver. Medford has a secret that he can't tell anyone. His secret is Unnameable and could get him banished if anyone were to find out. As if coping with his secret isn't enough, a stranger shows up on his doorstep causing even more chaos. The residents of Island have a lot to think about in resolving these issues.
I was intrigued by the idea of this story. Island was started by a group of people who separated themselves from mainstream society during the 1700's (I think, no clear dates were ever given). They believe that everything should be "useful" and have a clear "purpose". People and things should be named for their purpose. Anything that is Unnameable is dangerous and wrong. I felt that there were some inconsistencies in the story as far as using "useful" things and names. I found the Goatman rather annoying, yet I understood the purpose of the character. I loved the idea of this book more than I loved the actual book. I am glad I read it and would recommend it to others who are interested in fictional futures and dystopian societies.
Labels:

Comments

KT said…
I pretty much agree with everything you said in this review. Particularly liking the idea better than what it actually was.
June 5, 2009 at 7:54 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Teacher of Nomad Land

By
The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story By Daniel Nayeri Montclair, NJ: Levine Querido, 2025. Historical fiction. 181 pgs. In 1941 Iran, 13-year-old Babak will do anything to stay with his younger sister Sana, who is 8. After their father is killed during the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, the siblings are left orphaned and Babak takes over guardianship to prevent the two from being separated. Carrying his father's blackboard on his back, Babak and Sana set off from Isfahan to find the nomadic tribes as they make their yearly trek across the mountains. Along the way, they encounter a suspicious man named Vulf, a friendly Englishman with a name that means cabbage, and a Jewish boy named Ben who has Vulf hot on his heels. As he is known for doing, Daniel Nayeri weaves a highly readable adventure with threads of philosophy about God, the ties of family, and musings about how cultures can reconcile across differences. The setting of this novel is ingeniously unique, and a lengt...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more