“‘With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a  damn about us’” (Steinbeck 14). Of Mice and Men is a realistic fiction novella that takes place in California during the time of the Great Depression. The novella is about two migrant workers, George and Lennie, and their time working at a ranch. In Of Mice and Men Lennie frequently gets the pair in trouble and George gets them out of it. The novella ends when Lennie does something unforgivable and there is no way for George to help. I did not particularly enjoy the book because it did not have many exciting events and started off slow. I think children should be at least 12 years old to read Of Mice and Men because of its use of strong language.

I would recommend the novella even though I did not enjoy it as much as other books. I recommend it because of its prominent themes of friendship, dreams, and innocence. I enjoyed how Steinbeck connected the characters and events to real issues of the time. The reader relates to George because most people would help their friends if they were in need. We connect to Crooks and Curley’s Wife since they were lonely people. Since the plot was believable, it made it more enjoyable.

During the Great Depression migrant workers were very common. I can picture Lennie and George, friends since they were little, traveling to ranches together, trying to earn enough money to live on their own.

The writing style in Of Mice and Men was easy to follow except when the characters were talking. Since improper grammar common to this era was used, such as when George said, “‘I seen plenty of ‘em. Like the old guy says, Curley don’t take no chances. He always wins’” (Steinbeck 29). However, I do think the improper dialogue made the novella more realistic and I enjoyed it.

The major surprises came at the end of the story when Lennie killed Curley’s Wife and George killed Lennie. Lennie had killed animals before but I never thought he would kill another person. However, George killing Lennie was an even bigger surprise because George and Lennie had been together for so long and George had always helped Lennie out of the messes he made.

Besides the two major surprise there was little action so it made the story boring. There weren’t cliffhangers at the end of chapter which also made the story less interesting. I think 12-13 year olds would enjoy reading Of Mice and Men the most because they would find the storyline more interesting.