The Road to Oz - L. Frank Baum Book Review

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"The Road to Oz"
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Review Summaries

"The Shaggy Man, a pleasant and philosophical hobo person, happens by Dorothy's farm in Kansas, and after a friendly conversation she and Toto find they are lost. So they go wandering with their new acquaintance and encounter various old friends, make new ones (notably Button-Bright, the little boy in the sailor suit, and Polychrome, the lovely Rainbow's Daughter) and experience new curiosities on their way back to Oz in time for Ozma's birthday party. (This time Dorothy crosses the deadly desert into Oz in a sand-boat quickly built by contractor Johnny Dooit, who is summoned instantly by the Shaggy Man.) The fifth Baum story of Oz (1909) proves to be even weaker than its predecessor, because apart from a couple misadventures (the Shaggy Man gets temporarily stuck with a donkey head and Button-Bright a fox head), and only one brief, delicious threat (the Scoodlers, who have a black side and a white side and can show and walk in either direction, are able to toss their heads at our heroes as weapons, and intend to cook them for soup!), it's mostly old home week: not only reuniting with a range of characters from the earlier four books (from the Tin Woodman and Scarecrow to Tik-Tok and Billina), but meeting a variety of characters from Baum's other recent books, such as Queen Zixi of Ix, the Queen and Candy Man of Merryland, King Dough the First (a gingerbread monarch), and even Santa Claus."
David Loftus, Resident L. Frank Baum Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 60%

Tone of book - very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes
Plotlets: - exploring a CUTESY fantasy world
Is this an adult or child's book? - Kid's book (ages 7-14)

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Age: - a kid
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - magical being
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - can talk to animals
Eccentric: Yes - wild
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Intelligence - Dumb

Setting
Terrain - Desert - Mountains
Earth setting: - 20th century
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
scientific jargon? (SF only) - none/very little science jargon needed
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Most similar books by Gordonator ranking
Kabumpo in Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson
Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson
Jack Pumpkinhead Of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson
The Scarecrow of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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