![]() Present-tense narration creates immediacy and emphasizes Kester’s limited knowledge.Īlthough Kester’s a classic special-kid-who-doesn’t-know-it, the reserved narrative tone and tender yet peculiar view of animals give this piece its own offbeat flavor. The red-eye is real, the animals are dying, and Kester must evade a murderous, stereotypically disabled bad guy and ride a majestic stag cross-country (with the cockroach and other critters) to reach his veterinarian father, who might have a cure. Although he can’t speak aloud, Kester can communicate silently with varmints and animals. ![]() Pigeons carry him to a “wild,” a group of free wild animals in hiding. In this bleak environment, Kester befriends a cockroach-who, with hundreds of fellow cockroaches, busts Kester out of jail one shocking day through a fetid drain. ![]() The whole country eats this corporate-manufactured formula, since the red-eye virus killed all animals except useless varmints and contaminated all crops and vegetables. Kester hasn’t spoken since his mother died, but is he imprisoned for that? Food is “bright pink gloop” that always, always tastes like prawn-cocktail crisps. Spectrum Hall jails kids who steal or eat too much. ![]() Kester’s spent the past six years at Spectrum Hall Academy for Challenging Children, a penal institution with a Roald Dahl vibe. This fantasy journey with a post-apocalyptic setting combines a great fondness for animals with an appreciation of the freakish. ![]()
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