The House Plant

My favorite book in the 4th grade was The Plant that Ate Dirty Socks by Nancy McArthur, so when I was approached by the author of this short story to read and review honestly, I was more than happy to. The language used by authors while writing sentient objects is generally a hit or miss for me. While I liked the way George the fern talked about his humans after he grew to care for them, I think having more than one description name for characters made me less endeared to George than I wanted to be. For example using “boy-human” and “boy-offspring” when referring to one character became more confusing than quirky. I loved how the plant became a connection to Brenda for the family in the end and that George finally got a palm friend, but for some reason I felt stronger about George's affection for Tyler than Brenda. It's a cute read for when you have 15 minutes to spare and the micro story in the beginning is absolutely adorable. It makes me wonder if the reason I can't keep plants alive is more to do with their stubbornness or mine...