Matilda by Roald Dahl

As with all my book reviews, allow me to start off with my personal attachment to this book and why I chose to read it.  I am a 90's kid and I won't lie, I feel that I have grown up with a lot of great entertainment.  I am the child of the Disney Renaissance age, Nickelodeon's golden shows, and particularly awesome book to movie adaptions - one of them being Matilda.  I owned Matilda on VHS tape and watched it quite a bit.  I related to Matilda's love of reading and was mesmerized by her ability to make objects move at her will.  I never read a Roald Dahl book on my own choosing (my third grade teacher read us one of his books called Esio Trot) and figured this would be a good way to start.
I didn't plan on reading this book.  I went to the library to grab one book and ended up grabbing this along with two other books cause I figured...when in Rome.  At first I was afraid that my love for the movie would ruin my chances of enjoying the book but that turned out to not be the case at all.  I loved reading this book!  Of course it was not identical to the film adaption - that is to be expected - but the original intent of Roald Dahl for this book is just brilliant.  It is the story of a miracle child living in an abusive home and learning how to break free.  For those of you who have no knowledge of Matilda, here is the scoop.  Matilda is a young child who lives in a home where she isn't appreciated.  She is very bright for her age and when she enters school she has already read the Dickens and can do large multiplication problems in her head.  Her teacher, Miss Honey, a very poor woman who fears standing up for herself, takes a great interest in Matilda.  When Matilda learns of Miss Honey's predicament, she vows to do whatever she can in her power to help - which says a lot when it comes to the brilliant Matilda!
As I said above, there were differences from book to film but overall, I really enjoyed Matilda.  Dahl's writing style is very witty but intelligent and you get the sense that he isn't talking down to you as the reader.  I also loved that the general theme of the book is in fact intelligence and reading and although we may not be able to do supernatural things like Matilda, I do think reading gives us our own power in some way, shape, or form.
Overall, I loved this book!  Quick read and it was excellent!  I will definitely be picking up some more Roald Dahl in the future!  5 out of 5 stars!