Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

As I was looking through some lists on Goodreads.com for books for my 9- year-old son to read, this book seemed to be at the top of many of the lists of favorites. Although this book can be found in the Young-Adult section of my library, I found it on a list for 10 year-olds to read. I thought I'd better find out why it was in the YA section before letting my 9 year-old get his hands on it. I'm glad I did.

Taken from Wikipedia, here is the general summary of the book:

"Set in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind who have barely survived two conflicts with the Formics (an insectoid alien race also known as the "Buggers"). In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, an international fleet maintains a school to find and train future fleet commanders. The world's most talented children, including the novel's protagonist Ender Wiggin, are taken at a very young age to a training center known as the Battle School. There, teachers train them in the arts of war through increasingly difficult games including ones undertaken in zero gravity in the Battle Room where Ender's tactical genius is revealed. "

This book is very well written with wonderful character development, and a sense of mystery throughout the book. I can see why it is a favorite of many. Although I enjoyed the plot the main character, and the storyline, I found myself having a hard time getting through this book. It has a general dark feeling to the book. There isn't a lot of happiness or hope in the story. There is also a lot of cruelty in the story, which I didn't enjoy reading about. I was also surprised at the amount of language used in this story. More language in this book than in any I've read for a long time. Not what I expected from an LDS author.

I don't think I'll be reading any more of Orson Scott Card's books. It took me a long time to get through this one and I didn't feel like I came away with anything of benefit. I would definitely not recommend this book for anyone under the age of 16. It had a lot of manipulative personalities and strategies that would be hard for a younger child to really grasp. It also had so much language and cruelty, I don't think it would be appropriate for younger children, either.

Sorry Mr. Card. I'm not a fan.