Outside the Cage is a really interesting book about a world in which dinosaurs are still around. There is a big cage around towns like Fern Flats, to help keep the wild dinosaurs away from people. But there’s a family who live on a farm outside the cage, including an 11-year-old boy named Spencer, his older brother, younger sister, parents and Grandad.
Their farm has herbivorous dinosaurs, ones that aren’t meant to be dangerous. But then some attacks start happening inside the cage, in the town of Fern Flats where Spencer and his siblings go to school every day, and people blame the dinosaurs, and Spencer’s family. It’s very interesting because it’s a book about dinosaurs and nature, but also about how people just throw comments and insults around, or make up things about people without even really knowing them. Spencer and his brother and sister are teased and bullied about living outside the cage, even before the attacks, then they get blamed. Everyone accuses the family of being in charge of the dinosaurs doing the damage, even though they only have herbivores and not dangerous dinosaurs that eat meat, or people.
Spencer tries to find out the truth of what is going on, so it’s a mystery as well as an adventure. I liked learning about different types of dinosaurs, and that made the book interesting, but it was also about our real world too, how people treat each other or blame people or bully them. The characters were very interesting, there are some unexpected things that happen. I’d love to read another book about Spencer and his family.
Reviewed by Maddie, Year 5,
Singlegate Primary School, London, UK
Age Guide 8+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carly lives in Christchurch New Zealand with her little people, husband and fish. Originally from Lincoln, United Kingdom, she moved to New Zealand in 2009, and despite earthquakes, fires and the challenges of a pandemic, she still loves to call New Zealand home.
She has been twisting words into stories and poetry since she was little, and had her first poem published, an unusual tale of a bee, when she was 8. Since then, she has had many poems published in anthologies and pamphlets.
Despite writing for almost three decades, it is only in the last 18 months that she has truly given herself permission to spend time honing her craft.
The things that bring her joy and energy, other than writing, are surfing, fishing being with her family and a good roast dinner with lashings of gravy.
0 Comments