Outside

While the book does not cover new ground, it does a decent job presenting its story.
Lee, a ten-year old girl, lives with her mothers in a dome that keeps them sheltered from the 'Outside'. Believing that the Outside is poisonous, the women inside the dome (no men! Lee doesn't even know what that would be) live a sheltered, predictable, controlled life where nothing is a surprise and food comes as tablets. When one day the dome is breached by a fallen tree, Lee's curiosity leads her to the Outside. There, she not only discovers real nature, but also a boy, and through him she learns a lot - about the false history of her kind that she was taught and that her dome is not the only one. But, most importantly, she learns that she won't be show more able to survive on the outside. Going back home reluctantly, Lee vows to forever keep the memories of this day in her heart...

There are tons of books out there about people living cut of from the outside world for whatever reason, so the basic concept is not new. However, the author expertly depicted Lee's thoughts and feelings, and her naive wonder at discovering simple things that are most common to us but utterly new to her. The ending of the book was really sad, but fitting (sometimes, a Happy End would just spoil the atmosphere). A short, but nevertheless satisfying in-between read.

(Thanks to librarything, the author, and the publisher for a copy of the book, all opinions are my own) show less

This book for middle grade readers explores the idea of a self-contained society 800 years into the future. Lee, the protagonist, through curiosity and dissatisfaction with her life, takes a big chance and leaves through a crack in their dome. It's fun to experience things with Lee for the first time--wind, boys!, and real food. She spends a day, helped by Hardy, a kind teen boy, and learns that her Dome-world is more like a prison. Much of what she's learned in school is false. Yet because of the threat of bacteria and disease in the outside world, she's happy to go back home.
This story ended too soon, with many unexplored questions. The people were packed in like sardines (said Hardy) but they were sustained only by outsiders taking show more care of all their needs. When Lee saw the real world, she saw how restricted her own was (a good thing.) But she went back, apparently without plans to ever come out again.That point is odd, and so the ending was not satisfying to me. If lies and fear kept her in the Dome, she must realize that these could be overcome in the real world. show less

Ten year old Lee is tired of her same day to day routine; it's been nothing but food tablets and water since she was seven. She wishes she could drink something blue, at least her moms get coffee and something red to drink. Lee is beginning to think life in the dome is boring and repetitive except when the Reproductive and Placement Services calls informing her moms they'll be receiving a new baby girl, but Lee isn't happy. Sleeping in her cubicle sized room she's awaken in the middle of the night by loud sounds and talking creeping down her steps Lee sees working quickly trying to cover a crack in the dome. Early the next morning Lee sneaks through the opening and out the dome to the Outside. For the first time in her life Lee feel the show more wind on her skin and the sun on her face; she sees trees and hears birds sing; Lee encounters so many new things her mind feels like its spinning. Unable to get into the dome until after sunset Lee continues to explore the Outside where she encounters a strange creature, a boy. Hardy, the boy, exposes lies Lee has been made to believe about her people and the dome turning her world upside.

Cool read. I think their could've been more to the story unless there's a second installation coming then way to pique someone's interest. I'd like to know what happens to Lee's life after she gets back from the Outside. show less

Outside, by Sandra Andersson, is a futuristic fiction that will appeal to readers ages 8-12. A young girl named Lee lives in a protective dome in which life is planned out and nothing changes. Until one day, quite by accident, she discovers life outside of the dome and nothing will ever be the same after that for Lee. If you have a reader who enjoyed The Giver, Outside will be a book they will want to read.

I didn't connect with the characters in this story at all. There was no emotion. Maybe this was the sci-fi aspect ie being inside a dome and having all emotion stopped, but you can't read a book without emotion to sustain you. The story ended with the girl not wanting to go back outside again. That confused me to no end. It didn't tie in with her thoughts in the beginning. In the beginning, she was thinking there was something wrong and she wanted to see colours.