23.) Life of Pi by Yann Martel

“It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names.”

Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Seal Books, 2001)

Genre: Adult Fiction with Teen Appeal


Honors: Man Booker Prize (2002), Exclusive Books Boeke Prize (2003), Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee (2005) Hugh MacLennan Prize (2001), CBC Canada Reads Nominee (2003) [Honors Information found at Goodreads.com]

Review: Growing up with a father who owns a zoo in India made for an interesting childhood for Piscine Molitor Patel, aka Pi. But when his father decides to sell the zoo to move to Canada they travel on a boat with many of the animals who are on their way to new homes in North America. When the boat begins sinking Pi ends up on a life raft with the only other survivor from the boat who happens to be a full grown Bengal tiger. The novel is about the physical survival that Pi and Richard Parker (the tiger) endure, but also the spiritual survival that Pi has to face to survive on a life raft for so long.

Opinion: I surprisingly loved this book. I thought it was going to be very boring reading about a boy on a boat, but it was not boring at all. I thought it was actually quite thrilling. I was hesitant about reading it for the class assignment because it is not an actual Alex Award Winner, but Pi is a teenage boy so the story is centered around a teen. I also asked many people and many teachers are having students read this books in high school, so I felt much better about reading it for this assignment. 

Ideas: I found out that many teachers in high schools are teaching this book so it's might be a required reading to some. The book deals with a lot of religious and spiritual searching so teens who are interested in world religions might really enjoy this book. A movie was made of this book so anyone who has seen the movie might also like the book (but I have not seen the movie yet).

Movie Poster