Captivity

This book is about a snake named Crusher who is picked up by a kid and then ends up making friends with a live mouse that is given to him for food. He would have felt bad for eating something he did not catch himself. This book is for upper elementary school readers. ( )

A wild gopher snake is captured by a young boy, Gunnar, and given the name Crusher. Gunnar takes Crusher to his home as a "pet" and Crusher is furious. Crusher realizes that she is not alone and that there are other reptiles that are also being held captive. Being a reptile, Crusher is able to communicate telepathically with the other reptiles and they fill her in on the situation. Crusher is given a live mouse for breakfast, but she refuses to eat it. She becomes attached to the mouse and names it Breakfast. Crusher is determined to escape but in the process starts to feel empathy for Gunnar and is afraid that she is becoming "de-snaked." Eventually, Gunnar grows tired of Crusher once he captures a new snake and releases Crusher and Breakfast out into the wild. Crusher decides that it is her responsibility to take care of Breakfast and does not care if that makes her a freak because she is friends with a mouse.

Gunner, a young boy, is the new proud owner of a gopher snake. It is this snake who narrates the story through a first-person account of how the boy finds the snake in the wild, brings him home, and keeps him in a terrarium. I like this beginning reader book because the plot is interesting and the characters are dynamic. Madame Snake befriends Breakfast, a rat, and Gunner becomes more sensitive to his pets' needs.

There's been some talk about the importance of finding classroom books that appeal to boys. This might be that kind of book because Gunner and his friends are likable (believable) characters who do normal things like play video games and complain about school. Gunner also gets into plenty of mischief. This type of action might interest all of the class, particularly the boys. ( )

This is the story of the capture and imprisonment of a wild gopher snake. The child who captures her, Gunnar, puts her in a small terrarium where she can't stretch to her full length or really even move. Initially she cares about nothing but escape, but over time develops friendships of a sort with her co-prisoners, who would be nothing but food in the wild. She even develops a certain sort of friendship with Gunnar, and with Breakfast, the mouse Gunnar puts in her cage. ( )