Review: Kidnapped

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I read this books to my boys, ages 11 and 13, for a book club discussion with some other boys.

This is an adventure story which explores ideas of loyalty and friendship, and how different loyalties might conflict. I strongly recommend it.

However, I do also strongly recommend that you don't just pick it up and read. The book has a lot of Scottish-English dialogue, and it also assumes a familiarity with the conflicts between the Jacobites and the British in Scotland in the mid-1700's. Late into the book I picked up a SparkNotes summary and read through the couple pages of explanation of the history and context. It really helped me to understand it, and I found my enjoyment of the book grew tremendously.

So, read the book, but spend a few minutes studying the context first. You'll be glad you did.



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