Mosquitoland

Title: Mosquitoland
Author: David Arnold
Pages: 352
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Adventure
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Mosquitoland” by David Arnold is an adventurous and passionate book filled with mystery. It takes place all across America, (she’s on a road trip) in 2016. The protagonist, Mary Malone, found out her mother was very sick. She decided to run away and search for  her mother. She gets into a little trouble on her run away to Cincinnati. Poncho Man, as Mary calls him, is on her bus. They stop for food, and Mary needs to use the restroom, but she gets followed in. Poncho Man follows her in and rapes her., Mary throws up on him and runs out. She decided not to press charges, as for she just wants to find her mom. Mary has a hard time after this, for example finding out her mother is very ill, getting raped, but the cherry to her sundae is getting into a bus crash and losing her friend. After she loses her friend Mary decides she has a new mission, finding Arlean’s brother (Arlean was Mary’s friend who was killed). Instead of getting on her next bus she runs to a nearby town, supposedly Arlean’s brother is working at a gas station there. After a couple nights under a bridge Mary meets a friend, who said he will help her find Arlean’s brother. Will Mary go look for mother or Arlean’s brother? The theme of my book is growing up. It’s about being on your own, making your own choices, and living life for you. My favorite part of this book is the adventure Mary takes to find her mother. She learns so many new life skills that help her. My least favorite part was when she got raped, no one deserves to be treated like that. Poncho man was a disgusting man, he haunted Mary three times later on in the book. I recommend this book for people who like adventure, passion, and mystery all in one. I also recommend it for kids ages 12 and up. It taught me a lot of good things for my future. I give Mosquitoland four stars , because at some points it was hard to follow, other than that it was really good. Mosquitoland by David Arnold inspired me to do better in the world.  

Contributed by: Laura Swanson