Monday, October 18, 2010

The Compound: S.A. Bodeen (by Rafiq Oglesby)


The Compound, by S.A. Bodeen, is an amazing, action-packed novel about a boy named Eli and his family. For about six years, Eli Yanakakis has lived three stories underground in a huge metal shelter. Six years ago, on his ninth birthday, his father hurried his family away from what he said was a nuclear attack and into "The Compound", leaving behind his grandmother and twin brother who couldn't make it. The door to the compound is sealed and set to open in fifteen years, which is supposedly enough time for the nuclear radiation and stuff from the attack to become harmless. The only people Eli has communicated with and seen for the six years of confinement are his mother, father, and two sisters . He really misses his twin brother, Eddy, his grandmother, and his dog and even though The Compound seems supplied with everything he could ever want, Eli knows that there are many faults in his father's plan for survival. Their food supply is decreasing and he catches his father lying about the ability to connect to the Internet. As the book continues, Eli realizes that his father's ultimate plan for a food source, what they call The Supplements, is not the result of poor planning but of his father's near-insanity. Eli knows he has to get out of there, but only his father knows the secret code to opening the door. You'll have to read it to find out what fate awaits the Yanakakis...


1.) There is a food source called "The Supplements". Eli is tested both physically and emotionally, forced to make a difficult decision that will determine his fate. If he uses the nutrients from the supplements then they will die, if he doesn't, then he might. What would you do?

2.) Do you think it would be safe/possible to stay underground for fifteen years?

3 comments:

Millie W. 7/8 said...

1) Umm I really wouldn't eat them, if I remember correctly what they were in the book. I don't know probably find a way out of the compound.

2)Umm I think it would be impossible to live underground until more into the future when you have better technology.

Sevgim A.1-2 said...

2. I think it would be possible to live underground for 15 years but it would not be pleasant. You might suffer from severe mental and emotional problems.

Adam B. 7-8 said...

I would choose not to eat the supplements because Eli's father doesn't sound like a nice man to say the least. I think it may be possible to live underground for 15 years though it may be uncomfortable and very unsanitary.