Back after a long intermission

Well, it occurs to me that despite my initial goal of posting a book review a day, the beginning of the school year got in the way and it has been almost two whole months since I posted a review. I am determined to be good at this (or at least consistent). The school year has gotten off to a hectic start (for those of you in normal states, we start at the beginning of August, when it is still triple digits outside). I just completed our first book fair of the year (success!!) and found a ton of books I want to read and am excited to introduce to our students.Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at things), this leaves me with a bunch of new books to add to my "To Be Read" list. I have finally come to terms that I will never get to the end of the list of books I want to read and I believe this is an AWESOME feeling.

But, I digress. On to today's book review.

Roar by Emma Clayton

In a world rapidly filling with dystopian-society books, following close on the heels of the success of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games (although this is not a new concept, by any means), The Roar, by Emma Clayton, once again captures the imagination of those constantly wondering "What if?"

Mika, our main character, lives in a futuristic Earth behind a solid concrete wall, topped with barbed wire, and guarded night and day by Ghengis Borgs. This wall, Mika was taught, was built to keep the animals out. The animals carry a plague that devastated the human population, turning them into savage beasts who would kill without warning. The wall was meant to keep everyone safe. Or, at least, this is what Mika has always been told.

A devastated human population has been pushed behind this wall, crammed into the Northern Hemisphere. To accommodate so many in so little space, an upper level of London is built, where the people of wealth can live in relative peace and happiness.

But Mika lives Below, where water is everywhere, mold is rampant, and sickness is never far away. But Mika's biggest problem is his sister. His fraternal twin, Ellie, went missing about a year before. Shortly after, the police informed Mika and his parents that she was dead, drowned in the water. However, Mika has never believed this story. He still feels that she is alive. Because of this conviction, Mika is an outcast - among his peers and among his family. He knows that something just isn't right. When the government suddenly launches a program to get the entire generation of children fit and healthy, Mika is suspicious. When they announce that the children will be competing in a dangerous game that could bring them riches and fame beyond their wildest dreams, he sees an opportunity. Although he still does not trust the government's plan, he is convinced that this game is a way to finally get the answers he has been seeking. But what does this game really hold in store for Mika and his friends?

This book started very slowly for me. For the first 30-45 pages or so, I struggled to get into the story. There was a lot of back story and very little action. It wasn't long, however, before I was swept into the story, anxious to find out the outcome of the game and curious as to how Ellie and Mika would finally be reunited.

The characters in this book were very well developed. While I could see the petulance common in a boy of Mika's age ringing true through his thoughts and actions, I also felt the underlying desperation of a boy about to break. I constantly rooted for him to win. A couple of the characters were a little over the top, though. Mika's arch-nemesis, almost as good at the game as Mika himself, had an intense anger issue that didn't seem to fit the story. It seemed unnecessary to be taken quite to the extremes it was, but perhaps this will hold meaning in the second book.

I also found myself drawn into the plot. While you could guess that Mika would go far within the game, the twists and turns the children are put through was a surprise at every turn. I was on the edge of my seat, excited to see the real reasoning behind the training the children were given. I was also very intrigued by the wall. Much was hinted at as to why the wall was significant and the secret held on the other side, but it was very hard to guess at what was being hidden. Clayton did not reveal until the end of the story what was truly on the other side and, I must say, I did not see it coming.

All in all, despite it's slow start, I highly recommend this book for those who liked The Hunger Games. Well-written and exciting, this receives four out of five stars.

Between the Lines

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

Deliliah is quite unusual for a 15-year-old girl. Not only does she prefer the company of a book to the company of her peers, she has been astonishingly captivated - obsessed even - with fairy tale she found hidden in her school library. A type of book normally reserved for audiences much younger than her, but Delilah finds herself drawn to the book's main character, Prince Oliver. One day, as Deliliah rereads the book for the umpteenth time, Oliver really speaks to her. He tells her that the story does not simply end when she closes the book. Oliver feels trapped in his predetermined life and feels that his life is destined for more. Together, they plot to get Oliver out of the book, romance blossoming as they gather on their journey. Between the two of them, they question life, destiny, and how to write your own story.

Between the Lines is a detour from Jodi Picolt's usual serious realistic fiction. Led by her daughter's idea of a story that doesn't end when you close the book and crafted together, the story takes on fantastical elements as the characters attempt to deal with their own drawbacks. This story builds up two characters who are trying to deal with elements of their lives they wish to escape from. They see each other as the safe harbor in the storm of unhappiness and the glimmer of hope toward their own happiness.

Delilah is quite effectively written as a teenage pariah at her school whose dad left when she was young to develop a new family halfway across the world. Her mother works hard to keep a roof over her head. You can feel Delilah's loneliness as she searches for someone to share her dreams and thoughts with. Delilah's time at school does appear a little over the top sometimes, though. It seems like nothing can go right for her, emphasized by only one person at school willing to befriend her.

Oliver, on the other hand, at times seems petulant, although I rooted for him anyway. He hates having his life preordained. He wants to do more than play the same story over and over again, bringing up the question of free will.

The entire book moved a little slowly for me. I got to the point, after yet another failed attempt to get Oliver out of his story, where I just wanted to say "Get on with it already!" I found that I wanted to find out how they were going to get Oliver out, but felt for sure that it was a doomed endeavor. Then in the end, it seemed to just wrap up. I enjoyed the characters up until that point, but felt the ending was contrived and unsatisfying, It was as if someone just said, "I think it's about time to end the story. You have 10 pages to do it." It seemed a very quick, unsatisfactory ending.

Cute story overall, just wish it had ended better. Three out of five stars.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Crazy Summer Reads

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close centers around nine-year-old Oskar Schell's attempt to deal with the grief surrounding his father's death in the World Trade Center the morning of September 11. Oskar always bonded with his father over puzzles. So when he finds a mysterious key in his father's closet, he believes it is just a sign that there is one more puzzle his father left him to solve. His journey takes him all over New York City and introduces him to people all over who are surviving day-to-day life just like him. 

When I started this book, I struggled to make sense of it. With very little build up, we are introduced to Oskar as he rides in a limo to his father's funeral. Oskar was difficult to follow at first. His ramblings are disjointed and jumbled, often being tied down by his fears. His thoughts are also muddled by the facts he hunts and devours like it is his lifeline. These facts are often uncomfortable for him, but they occupy his mind, something he finds himself needing constantly. After a while, this way of storytelling becomes second nature though. 

This book also leads us through the life and thoughts of Oskar's grandmother and grandfather, and how loss has touched their lives. Their lives have been a constant in and out of misunderstanding, miscommunication, and tragedy that only continues after the death of Oskar's father.  I found the stories poignant and touching, although it was occasionally a bit frustrating. The different methods of storytelling between the three narrators was compelling and added a complex level to the story. I found that the story created many mini-mysteries as it went on that were solved in unexpected ways as the book begins to wind down. 

Across the Universe

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

When she is seventeen, Amy volunteers to be cryogenically frozen, along with her parents. Their frozen bodies are placed upon the ship Godspeed with the expectation that they would awaken 300 years later to inhabit and colonize a new planet after Earth downward trajectory seems unchangeable. What Amy could not foresee was awakening 50 years early on the ship inhabited by those who seem to live by a strange code all their own.

However, her awakening quickly turns into a sinister plot as she realizes that it was not a simple mistake or computer malfunction - it was attempted-murder. And Amy is not the only one at risk. As she works closely with Elder, the ship's next leader, Amy races against the clock to figure out who is trying to kill all of the frozens on ship before it claims her family. As she struggles to understand the new world she is thrust into, she finds one more thing she wasn't expecting - a new love.

As this book unfolds in dual narration, I found myself more and more immersed in the characters and the plot. I found it a very compelling and page-turning read. The characters are very different; however, everyone on board Godspeed seems obsessed with how to make themselves as similar as possible. You constantly get the feeling that something isn't right with the ship and its inhabitants, but Revis keeps you guessing until the very end.

The characters are excitingly real, enhancing the premise that although things may look the same on the surface, there is always something different deep down in all of us.  The interactions between Elder and the others on board add a complexity to the story line that kept me riveted. Amy brings much needed diversity to the ship, which challenges the inhabitants in many ways. Elder cannot seem to reconcile the developing feelings he has for Amy while trying to come to terms with the trials that her differences cause between him and Eldest, and the changes she brings out in others. The one character veiled in mystery just spotlights this seemingly unimportant character.

The only problem I have with Across the Universe is that Revis introduces certain plot elements that do not seem to matter in the grand scheme of the story. For example, early on, she introduces that Amy's cryogenically frozen status is not normal, but this premise is abandoned as meaningless as soon as she is awakened. It begs the question as to why it is introduced at all, other than to continue Amy's part in the dual narration.

Overall, I give the book four out of five stars.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

When Thomas awakens in an elevator, he doesn't remember anything other than his name. He cannot remember where he is or how he got there. His memory is a complete blank, but he is not the only one. When the elevator opens, he is welcomed into the Glade by a bevy of kids his own age. Thomas walks into a wide glen, full of vegetation - and completely surrounded by stone walls. Outside these stone walls is the Maze.

Just like Thomas, his new friends have no memory of how they got to the Glade or who they were before they arrive. Life in the Glade centers around what they can know - every morning, the gates open and every night they close tight. Every 30 days, the elevator opened with a new boy. Everything had happened the same way for as long as anyone could remember.

The next day, something extraordinary occurs. The elevator opens once again - this time bringing the first ever girl to the Glade. What's more is that she brought them a message - that she was the last thing to ever come out of the elevator. After her arrival, things in the Glade become very stressful as things change rapidly and dangerous situations become entirely too life-or-death. What about Thomas and the girl have changed everything in the Glade?

The Maze Runner is a thrilling tale of a dystopian society, where nothing is quite what it seemed. There was a bit too much exposition in this tale, however, for me. There was a lot of build up to the ultimate conclusion, which often times, I wished would move along just a bit quicker. This book was chock full of action, driving the plot to an unexpected ending. Dashner does an excellent job keeping you guessing as the Thomas and his friends attempt to find their way out of the Maze.

There is not a lot of character development, either. We learn bits and pieces about the main characters and their relationships, both past and present, to each other, but nothing is ever flushed out. While this is certainly understandable given the lack of memory in the characters, I found I wanted more. I felt that the characters were a little two-dimensional. I am hoping that they become a little more flushed out in book two. 

Ok, it took me a few days, but here is the sequel to my last review.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

It has been three years since Mia's tragic accident and three years since she walked out of Adam's life. Both have been rising stars in their own right. Mia went off to Julliard and soared. Adam's band took off and made him a sought-after rock star. One night, while Adam wanders alone in New York City, a chance meeting brings the two together again. As Mia and Adam explore her new home, they examine their shared past and shared pain. Could they have room in their hearts once again for each other?

This book was more captivating than If I Stay. I found it very captivating how their lives intertwined as we found out how the accident changed both of them, and how Mia's desertion affected the trajectory of their lives. Forman wove a page-turning tale of tragedy and love and how our lives turn out in ways we could never imagine. Throughout the book, Adam struggles with his own personal demons, many of which center around Mia. Many of the interactions we think will bring the couple some long-sought-after closure, but you are left on the edge of your seat wondering if it might just bring new beginnings instead. I highly recommend reading both books!

There is quite a possibility that there will be two posts today (depends on how I am feeling). This first book is one of a pair, both I finished recently. I kind of feel like I should review both at the same time.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Seventeen-year-old Mia has it all - a fun-loving set of parents (both of whom love music), an adorable little brother, and a punk-rock boyfriend on his way up. She also has a promising career playing the cello and is anxiously awaiting the news as to whether or not she made it into Julliard. In one split turn of a wheel on a snowy Oregon road, Mia's life is shattered. In a flash, Mia finds herself watching her broken body being hauled from the car wreck her family experienced. While she doesn't remember the accident, she finds herself weighing the benefits of staying in her present life or moving on.

If I Stay is a beautifully woven tale, piecing together Mia's memories of how her life got to it's current point and her loved one's reactions to the accident. While the book does not always move quickly, it is a poignant discussion on what makes life worth living. I also find it interesting how the author commented on the question of what happens after death. Choice plays a large role in this book, however, Forman also weaves in the reality that we don't always get to choose. I highly recommend this book as a thought-provoker.

Book number two!! Ok, I finished this one a while ago, but seeing as how I did not finish a new book today, it will have to do.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

In nineteen minutes, the world can change. In nineteen minutes, the lives of the residents of the small New Hampshire town were irrevocably changed. In the quiet town of Sterling, the high school is torn apart when a student comes one day and pulls a gun on the students. Josie Cormier, teenage daughter of a local judge, is one of the key witnesses, but doesn't seem to remember a thing. In shifting perspective, the story details how a community deals, and heals, after this bullied teen takes drastic action.

The story is a common one these days. Teen grows up bullied; the butt of people's jokes, shoved into lockers, humiliated in a multitude of ways that make you cringe when reading about them. The teen then, seeing no other way out, seeks revenge upon those who have wronged him. This brought back some painful memories for me, although what I experienced as a teen (and even young adult) was not even a fraction of a fraction of what this fictional boy goes through. Peter is forced to endure torture on a daily basis, starting on the first day of kindergarten. He is compared to his brother at home, and his parents are not supportive when told about the problems he is having. He is told constantly that he needs to grow a backbone and deal with it. However, when he finally does, the world turns on its axis.

Picoult does a marvelous job of carrying you with Peter in his trials. You cringe at what he goes through, and wonder as the other characters deal with their baggage and with the tragedy that occurs. The telling is poignant, if a bit drawn out at times. The twist at the end of the book is a bit predictable, but you wonder at it all the same. The difference in this story is that Picoult chooses to leave her gunman standing. Instead of a town dealing with a school shooting where the gunman takes his or her own life in the end, she lets him live. This brings us through the healing and grieving process of each character as we await on baited breath for Peter's trial. You find yourself wondering about whether or not Peter should be locked up in a mental facility or put away for life. I found myself hoping a little that the sentence was somewhat more lenient, although I could not picture what venue that would take.

The problems I had with this book was the constant shifting of perspective and time throughout the book. We are brought through several character's point-of-view throughout the story (I lost count on the exact number) without much indication of  who is in charge of the story or even that it changed. That part you do get used to after a while, but then you have to throw in the constantly changing point in time. The story is not told in a linear fashion, adding many a flashback to further understand how the characters interact and what brought them to this point in time. This book was good, but was very confusing to read straight through.

Welcome to my library

After 26 books so far this summer, I finally decided it was time to give myself a permanent presence in the blog world. I enjoy recommending and critiquing books that I have read, so I figured that this would be a great place to have my reviews of books I read in one central location. Like it or dislike it if you will, but here it goes.

I have read too many books this summer to do them all, so I figured I'd pick one a day and see how it goes. So, book one:

Fracture by Megan Miranda

Fracture centers around our protagonist, Delaney Maxwell. Eleven minutes after falling through the fractured ice of a lake near her house in Maine, Delaney is pulled from the frozen depths by her best friend, Decker Philips. Delaney's heart and brain had ceased to function: for all intents and purposes, she was dead. But, defying all logic and to the surprise of her loved ones and doctors, Delaney awakened seemingly fine. However, as Delaney tries to regain her hold on her op life, she begins to notice that all was not as before. She feels an inescapable pull toward the dying. Unaware if her brush with death has altered her brain or if something more sinister is afoot, Delaney struggles to understand this pull and what she is supposed to do with it.

Enter Troy Varga. Having emerged from a coma with similar feelings, Troy tries to help Delaney come to terms with what these urges are and why they are plaguing her. But, the closer the two become, Delaney begins to wonder about Troys motives. Does he really want to help her or does he have something darker up his sleeve?

In the beginning, this book moved a little slowly. You struggled to find the internal motivations of many of the characters as well as why they existed at all. Several characters seem to serve as cannon fodder and are there merely as a distraction for the characters. Early on, you can tell that Decker's feelings for Delaney are more complex than they appear on the surface, as are Delaney's for him, but, like many teenagers, you follow as they struggle to know what to do about it. You also struggle to understand exactly how and why Delaney's parents interact with her the way they do.

As the book continues and Troy is introduced, the plot thickens, as they say. Delaney begins to feel her heart pulled in two directions as her head struggles to accept the fact that she knows that people are going to die, and what she is supposed to do with that knowledge. Miranda manages to weave together complex characters, deepening our understanding of the complex webs we weave with the people in our lives and the impact we have on one another.

This book also deals with the controversial subject of euthanasia. At what point do we have the right, whether with the person's knowledge and permission or not, to determine how and when a person should die? Miranda touches on this subject with grace and refuses to judge too much one way or another. I believe this subject is done in a way that young adults can understand without being preachy.

All in all, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. I am anxious to see how Miranda writes the sequel; however, I was disappointed to find out that it will not grace the bookshelves until 2014.