Ender's Game

Looking at this picture, I'm glad that I read this on my Nook, or I would not have wanted to read it.  I guess I do judge books by their covers!  With that said, however, I am really glad that I did read this one - I loved it.  Loved.  It. 

I had always avoided Ender's Game, because “boy books” are not usually high on the never-ending list of books I want to read (Harry Potter being a glaring exception!) I always just heard it described as sci-fi, and probably would have read it sooner if I had known that gifted children played a prominent role in the story. I have very mixed feelings about gifted education, and have struggled with my own issues when deciding whether or not to let my kids participate in gifted classes. Granted, they're not “save the human race” gifted like Ender, but I do see some of the same isolation/social issues. I think that this is what makes this book a classic – the timeless themes of exceptionality and responsibility. As with many books, reading (or re-reading) them as a parent shines a whole new light on the book. If I had read this as a child, I would have been angry on Ender's behalf for what he missed. I still felt that as an adult, but it was also heartbreaking to feel Graff's agony at what he was doing.

The resolution seemed a little bit rushed to me,  but I get that it needed to be that way to be a successful revelation.  I wish we had a little more about Peter and Valentine's adulthood.  Those are really my only complaints about the book.  I even enjoyed reading the foreward.