Review: The Most Dangerous Place on Earth

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is very gripping and also, disturbing if you have a child in middle school, and have forgotten how absolutely cruel being that age can be for most children. Many children are mean because it is what is expected by the other children, and they join in to keep from being the target themselves, or possibly just do not speak up for someone. Sometimes these harmless humiliations become deadly as in this story.

I hate spoilers, but it becomes apparent that some bullying gets out of hand, and the children involved are all changed from that day forward. This story is so heart breaking, but with such brutal truth of the things so many (most) young people experience for the sake of fitting in, or not getting humiliated themselves. When we allow our own children to abuse other children we aren't doing the any favors, or teach our kids that people with money or nice homes are the only people we will associate with. I can only accept you as a friend if all of my popular friends also accept you, but next thing you know the popular kids have changed their mind again & didn't ant you even though you dropped your real friends, or you no longer live in a nice house, or you don't have as much money so now you aren't good enough ... Exactly the way you treated another person.

I think books like this should be required reading for middle - high schoolers because the way you treat people DOES matter and no child needs to think they are above any other because of their money, popularity or any other reason. Sadly many children actually learn to be this way from their parents, but many know right and wrong but are just afraid of not being popular.

Gosh can't we all recall the cruelty, and how mean kids can be. Some kids can just shake it off better than others, but the actual abuses are still not right nor acceptable as adults nor in a workplace. Many children aren't even asked to not constantly belittle others because of who their parents are, or maybe they are so popular the football or basketball team can't make it without them.

View all my reviews