Monday, May 23, 2011

What Comes After by Steve Watkins

Iris was raised in the loving family of a single father
who loved animals and led a vegetarian life. Her life
turns upside down when the death of her father and the
divorce of her best friends' parents (her guardians) cause
her to move from the sea side land of Maine to the cold
lifeless place of North Carolina. Her aunt(Sue) takes all
the money from her dad's estate and constantly smacks her
around when something isn't done right. Iris who can't go
anywhere because Aunt Sue is the only living relative,
finds comfort in the farm animals, which includes a few
goats and a dog named Gnarly. Iris feels like everything
is spinning out of control when the pregnant Goat has 3
little weathers (castrated goats) and they are going to be
sent to the slaughter house. Iris, after attempting to let
them escape is forced to watch as book slaughters a little
weather in an inhumane manner. The thing she does to save
them is like an adventure.
The book was interesting right from the beginning where she is forced to leave her best friend behind right up till the end! The suspense was great and it kept the story going. I loved it and I would recommend to everyone. It was very eventful and didn't have a part where the book was putting me to sleep. I thought it was age appropriate and all the words that would have been hard for a person that doesn't know about goats, had their definitions right within the text, so it didn't feel like I was reading a dictionary or a book about goats. The only thing was there was not a lot of information about what happened at the lake, and after
everything that happened, how did Book and Aunt Sue's trial go? Another question that was only partly answered was how and who found out and reported child abuse that occurred at the lake.

There were some swear word that some parents may not find appropriate for their kids of certain age to read
Age:13 Uxbridge, Massachusetts U.S.