Summer Book Rewiew

By Madiba JohnsonTuesday,                                                                           September 6th 2016

Tick, Tick, Tick… Is that the watchdog? Because it’s the    Phantom TollBooth by Norton Juster! This book takes place in New York City for a tenth of the book and then takes place in a world of wonder and imagination for the rest of the book. The main character is named Milo and for him, everything is dreary and all the same. One random day he goes into his room and finds instructions on how to build a tollbooth with a sign that said FOR MILO, WHO HAS A LOT OF TIME. The tollbooth also had other signs next to it saying SLOW DOWN APPROACHING THE  TOLLBOOTH and PLEASE HAVE YOUR FARE READY as well as HAVE YOUR DESTINATION IN MIND. Milo picks the destination Dictionopolis. He rides into the tollbooth and that is when his adventures begin. Later on, he makes a friend named Tock, a watchdog. The problem that Milo had to solve was saving Reason and Rhyme (two sisters and queens) from two brothers (Azas and the Mathemagician are arguing about which one was better, numbers or letters.

 

Milo did not make any really big decisions except deciding to bring Tock with him on his adventures. Tock claimed to be a guide so Milo brought him along and he was very helpful. In the end Tock, Milo and the Humbug (one of the characters, not too much of a main character) end up saving Reason and Rhyme from the castle of air. A quote from when the crew (Milo, Humbug and Tock, mostly Milo) is “We have come to save you.” said Milo very seriously. “The demons are close behind” said the worried Humbug, still shaky from his ordeal. “And we should leave immediately” advised Tock.” This is when the “crew” went up into the castle of air where the two brothers had placed Reason and Rhyme and when the “crew” was running away from tons of demons and monsters.

 

I loved this book a lot because I like fantasy and magical stories like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and The Ranger’s Apprentice, (all great books!) Readers that like fantasy and magic would enjoy this book a lot. This book was also made into a movie. Sadly I have not watched it yet though I know I would love it. I would rate the book with ✬✬✬✬✬ stars.

 

Thank you for experiencing the Phantom Tollbooth!