Book Talk #9- Of Mice and Men

 

              Of Mice and Men is about a two friends George and Lennie who are from the same town.   George has taken care of Lennie since Lennie’s aunt died.  These companions are basically homeless and travel around looking for farm work.  It is obvious that Lennie had a mental disability which George tries to hide from people they meet. Lennie is big and extremely strong, but does not know his own strength and is attracted to things that are soft and fluffy.  For example, he squeezed a mouse to death because he loved it so much but he really does not have a mean bone in his body.  George gets him and Lennie a job on a farm and when they get there George does all the talking so that no one knows the Lennie lack intelligence but this makes their new boss suspicious because it seems that George  is trying to protect Lennie.  This new job goes pretty good for the two of them.  They work hard and live in the bunkhouse and even Lennie has a job taking care of the rabbits.   But Lennie’s brute strength soon gets him in big trouble again and the story ends in a way you won’t be expecting.   

                I think this story would be a good story for a reader at a 8^th, 9^th or 10^th grader because although the reading is not difficult some events in story are not appropriate for the younger crowd.  This is a very short read and the storyline moves quickly so I think that it will keeps students’ interest.  You can use this book when teaching about the Wage Worker’s West of the late 1930’s and what people did for at time. I like this book and it’s one of the few that I actually enjoy by John Steinbeck