Jenna’s Letter Essay #5: I Have A Bad Feeling About This

I recently finished read the realistic fiction book “I have a bad feeling about this”, a 242 page novel by Jeff Strand, who lives in Tampa, Florida (about an hour from Disney world). It was published March 1, 2014. I chose to read this book because I had nothing else to read and the cover and title made the book look engaging. When I read the back I became even more interested, so I gave it a try; friends had also told me that they read it.

“I have a bad feeling about this” is about a 6 year old who would rather spend his days playing video games than doing just about anything else. His parents decide to send him to “Strongwoods Survival Camp” along with his best friend Randy, expecting Henry Lambert (their son) to come back “fixed”; meaning that they thought that in 2 weeks he would be a “fearless panther” who knew how to hunt, do archery, and “stand up for himself”. But, Henry and the 4 other kids at camp get a lot more than they expected when some people make an unexpected visit. A game soon turns into life or death and the work together with a little help from an msic camper.

If I were the author I would have had the ending be a little longer. In the book the author goes right from everyone watching the movie of the story right to the beginning of camp again. I didn’t really like that because it was less than a page and ended really with a new beginning (which is not that satisfying for me). The main character in this book is named “Henry Lambert” and he develops throughout the book. Henry starts as a kid that’s scared of everything to taking on big responsibility in stopping a few bad guys. THe author makes this character development very obvious and throughout the book Henry refers to something he does as something the “new Henry” would do, and when thinking about possible options in a situation, there will be some “old Henry” options and some “new Henry” one’s. I also noticed that towards the end of the book, the story seemed to be a little rushed; even though it’s only a story some things happen that would be quit luck. I feel that the whole story was pretty draw out and then in the end things all of a sudden get resolved pretty quickly.

I was interested in the following passage because it’s when the action really starts. It also shows how the author creates suspense.

In this passage Henry just got “out” in a game and was heading back to the campground (because the boys played in the woods). He doesn’t see his counselor, Max, standing outside…

“Henry reached for the doorknob and then flinched at the sound of a gunshot.That had come from inside the building!

Erick’s paint gun hadn’t been anywhere near that loud. Had Max lost his already-weak grip on sanity and gone on a shooting spree?

With a sense of intense horror, Henry wondered if their ineptitude had finally been too much for Max to bear. What if he’s seen Henry walking toward the building, already out of the game, and decided to end it all? He and the other boys should have seen this coming and kept Max of twenty-four-hour surveillance.

Three more gunshots, one after the other.

If Max was trying to kill himself,he was very bad at it.

Henry decided that opening the door and strolling into the building would not be the best plan he’s ever formulated…“ (pg.132 )

In this quoted passage I like how the author added suspense by really showing Henry’s thoughts and all the questions he has makes you question things too.  I also like how the the author writes with a little sense of humor too. Even in a serious and scary situation there is a small joke.

I would rate this book a 7.5 out of 10 because it was good, but not one of my favorites.

Sincerely,

Jenna S.

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8 thoughts on “Jenna’s Letter Essay #5: I Have A Bad Feeling About This

  1. I have read the book and yes I do agree myself the ending could have been better but also for me i felt like the comedy went away when Max died because I loved when he shot his gun to the sealing and everyone was screaming and how Henry always got into trouble. Overall you did a great job Jenna.

  2. Hi Jenna!!
    I read this book over the summer and I agree with everything you said. I thought it was a good book but its not one of my favorites. I really liked your quoted passage, it was an important part in the book. I liked how you included that he lives about an hour from Disney!! Nice letter essay, good job.

    -Kayleigh

  3. Dear Jenna,
    I really enjoyed reading this letter essay. I also read this book and thought that it was very good. This scene that you added was also one of my favorite scenes. It had so much suspense that I really enjoyed. Your letter essay was well written. Nice job.
    Julia

  4. Hi Jenna!
    I read this book over the sumer for my summer project. I agree with your rating of the book and feel that it wasn’t that good. I agree with the quoted paragraph you chose and feel that was very suspenseful. I feel the same way about the ending and remember not liking it very much.

    Good Job!!
    Hannah Wergeles

  5. Dear Jenna,

    I liked the amount of detail that you put into your letter essay, it was crafted very well and I have read this book, and I know that that summary is very detailed because I know every detail of this book. I especially like the passage that you quoted because that is one of my favorite passages from I Have a bad Feeling About This. Overall you did a great job, and the letter essay was very detailed. Was there one scene that you hated from the book, that you would have liked to replace besides the ending.

  6. Dear Jenna,

    your letter essay was very interesting. I’ve never read this book so it looks really interesting and something I would like to read. I really liked how you put your own thoughts into this and I also liked the description you used. It was good!

    From Kristine

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