Have you ever see that 1997 film Life Is Beautiful? No? Well, it's about this Italian Jew who is sent to a concentration camp with his wife and son during World War II, and in order to shield his son from the horrors of war, he tells him that they are really just playing a super fun game and that everyone in the camp is a contestant. Not surprisingly, his son believes the whole thing (kids are pretty dumb, right?) and he is able to maintain this ruse right up until the Allied invasion. So, Room is kind of like that except without the Allied invasion. Here you've got this 5 year-old kid whose mother feeds him a pack of lies to prevent him from knowing the truth about their actual state of existence--which is that they are trapped in someone's backyard shed and probably will never see the light of day again. My inclination is to mention what happens next, but then I think I would be doing the book a disservice. What I can say, however, is that the entire novel is narrated by the 5 year-old schmuck, and while this may sound like it could be annoying, it really isn't. I enjoyed the unique perspective, especially since my engagement with the adult dynamics of the story was still somehow maintained. That's a pretty impressive feat for an author. 
 But at least 5 year-olds can be good for something: the "red couch in the TV planet with the puffy-hair lady that's the boss asking questions and hundreds of other persons clapping" is by far the best description of The Oprah Winfrey Show I've ever heard.