The Worry Website (Cover to Cover)

Rating:
Summary: It is not a terrible book!
Review: I noted with apprehension that the previous reviewer condemned this book, saying that the book has no point to the plot.

I would like to redeem the book's worth by highlighting the following points:

1. Each chapter of this book starts off with a 'worry' entered by one of Mr Speed's students. And it is this 'worry', that the entire chapter is based on. The chapter does not take the form of a diary entry, so it is different from books like Anne Frank's diary or Dear Mr Henshaw. It is instead narrative in nature and takes on a first-person perspective from the point of view of the student entering the worry. Hence, it is conversational and 'spoken' in the manner that children of that age would speak in, resulting in many humorous/depressed observations and happenings.

2. From each chapter, you don't just get to know more about the student who entered the worry, you also find out about the other students in the class and other outside characters as well, through the various dialogues and observations from the student.

3. Since information is provided in snippets about various characters from each chapter, there is a great sense of continuity throughout the story. For example, in the first chapter when Holly enters her worry, she mentions characters like Greg and Claire etc. Then in the second chapter, Greg enters his worry, and his character development carries on from where it was left off in chapter 1, expanding the reader's perception of Greg's life. In the process, Greg would also bring the reader to view snippets of other characters, and the same process goes on.

To put it simply, this book is like a collection of short stories of the lives of some of the students in Mr Speed's class. However, it is unlike a usual short stories collection, in the sense that it links all these short stories together - the glue being Mr Speed himself, who tends to appear at the end of every chapter to apply some level of resolution to the short story.

Kudos to Ms Wilson for her skill in writing!