Matilda

 

Matilda by Roald Dahl, 240 pgs.

What a fun book. My daughter started reading this one night, finished it in a day, and declared it as her favorite book of all time. I've seen most of the early movie versions of of Dahl's books but I'm just starting to read them now and really wished I'd experienced them as a kid. Matilda is one of those kids who is born to neglectful, awful parents and who don't encourage her natural abilities so she develops them herself. I love that this is basically a kid experience some massive trauma and ends up developing a superpower as a result to counteract all the bad people in her life. Books that feature kids who develop a power over grown-ups is always a good read, it's nice to see mean adults get their comeuppance at the hands of someone so small. Kids and adults.