Gear book review and discussion questions
Book: Gear
Author and Illustrator: Doug Tennapel
Pages: 160
Published (Anniversary edition): 2018 (Originally from 1998-1999)
Rating: 4 stars
Warnings: Death of a friend, suicidal thoughts, comic violence
Summary: Cats, dogs, insects, and robots! A fairly quick and fun looks at another universe with talking animals…that does have some interesting points.
Gear Book Review:
Gear is a look at another world where cats, dogs, and giant insects (think praying mantis) are all fighting each other – with the aid of giant robots. The story starts in a small town of cats whose city is surrounded by larger, more intimidating animals. One of the giant robots mentioned earlier is the guardian of the city. There is a fair amount of intrigue as the groups align with and then seek to betray the other groups. And of course we have lots of explosions and such. Thrown briefly into this is an interesting meditation, after one character dies, on the afterlife – which has obvious Christian overtones. Their is also self-sacrifice. It would be a fun read for kids 10+. The older the kid, the more possibility of picking more up from the story.
Discussion questions:
(1) For fun – there is a quote from the story of David and Goliath in Gear. Can you find it? Do you think the author intended you to think about David and Goliath? If so, why?
(2) Who is your favorite character in Gear? What did you like about them?
(3) Is Gear, at the end, a happy story or a sad story? (note – I have not decided this one myself) Why do you think so?
(4) If you could build a giant robot, what would it look like? Would it look human, or like something else? What did you think of the Guardians in Gear?
Check out our other graphic novel reviews:
–Space Boy Vol 1
–Space Boy Vol 2
–Cardboard
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