The Compound By S.A. Bodeen

On a present day summer night in the state of  Washington, Eli’s family, whose father is billionaire Rex Yanakakis, get word of a nuclear attack while they are camping on their campground, which is 3,000 acres.  Being the family of Rex Yanakakis means you can take shelter in his multi-million dollar compound on the campground.  Once they get in The Compound, they realize that they forgot Eli’s twin Eddy, and their grandmother, but it is too late, and they are to take shelter there for 15 years, while still maintaining all of their necessities and still living in luxury.  Six years pass, the food supply is slowly beginning to run out, and Eli, accompanied by his two sisters Terese and Lexi, along with his mother, begin to wonder if there a nuclear attack ever occurred.  He has even been in contact with someone on the internet who says he is Eddy!  While this happens, Eli grows as a character.  Eli was not really a likeable character because he was mean, selfish, and isolated himself once he had lived in The Compound for a while.  His blonde hair was even grown out to maintain the isolation.  As the book reaches its climax, he became kinder, less selfish, and cut his hair, and lost his isolation, so by the end of the book, I liked Eli.  I would recommend this S.A. Bodeen realistic fiction book to anyone who is ten or older because the storyline is complicated, and the subject of nuclear war is a mature and heavy topic.  Will Eli and his family escape?  Is this imprisonment plotted by Eli’s father.  Was there ever a nuclear war?  You can answer these questions and more by reading The Compound by S.A. Bodeen.

Book Talk By:  Sebastian B.

Language Arts Teacher :  Mrs. Poulton