The Fantastic Flying Books of Mister Morris Lessmore

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mister Morris Lessmore by William Joyce

While this is a picture book, which is not normally what I choose to review, I can’t help but love this book and wanted to share it with other like-minded book lovers. My daughter and I have checked this out of the public library at least 5 times in the last year and I have the app on my iPad that animates the book for you. This habit has prompted my husband to ask me why I haven’t broken down and purchased the book yet. I have no real answer for him other than not thinking about it when doing book shopping.

I recently decided to read this to the Novels class I am teaching this year to prime them for what books offer us. The story takes the central character, Mr. Morris Lessmore, on a fantastic journey through the pages of books.

As we open this story, we are greeted with words that many bibliophiles live by and dream of people saying: “Morris Lessmore loved words. He loved stories. He loved books.” Morris Lessmore lived his life as a story. He would open his book every day and “write of his joys and sorrows, of all that he knew and everything that he hoped.”

However, as the book tells us, “every story has its upsets.” A terrible storm comes along and blows apart Lessmore’s world. It scatters the pages of his book to the four corners. Not knowing what to do, he wanders. While he wanders, he meets a flying book that leads him to a building where it appeared the books “nested.”  Lessmore lived and cared for the books – reading them, lending them, and mending them – for the remainder of his life. All along, he continued writing in his own book. At the end of his life, his book joined the masses books within the “nest.”

I love this book and the message it brings. It shows how alive stories can be and how magical their stories can make our lives. I am not sure what else needs to be said. It is a must read, no matter how old you are.

Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day

A wakes up every day in a new body, a new life. It has always been this way. There has never been any warning about who it will be or where, and it is never longer than one day. A has come to terms with this existence and has found a way to be at peace with the daily changes. Until he wakes up as Justin. Just as A always does, he tries to walk through Justin's life with the object of making as little impact as possible. But then he meets Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. In an instant, everything changes. A falls head over heels and is now in the position of figuring out how to be with the same person every day.

I was very intrigued with the premise of this book when I saw it on a table of must reads at Barnes and Nobel. I was doubly excited when I saw that it was also one of the books on YALSA's 2013 Hub Reading Challenge. This was the last of the 25 books I finished to complete the challenge.

While it started well, it quickly frustrated me. The book set out to be a tragic love story...boy loves girl, but can't be with her. I kept rooting for A to find a way to be with Rhiannon long-term. The story did have nice character development, as we learned a little bit at a time about what makes both A and Rhiannon individuals. Along the way, however, I found myself wondering if there could ever be a happy ending. A seemed to have a problem with Rhiannon not taking the constant shifting of bodies well. Can you ever truly love someone who never looks the same two days in a row? How would you deal with not being able to even predict the gender of the person you liked from one day to the next?

It was hard to really feel for either character, even as I rooted for them to eventually find a way to be together. I felt that the story built up nicely, but I felt the story had a very anticlimactic ending. For a book I was so excited to read, I was really let down. It appeared to be leading up to a sequel, but I am not sure whether or not I want to read it.

Eve by Anna Carey

Eve by Anna Carey

In the not too distant future, a devastating virus has wiped out most of the world's population. Many who didn't die from the virus died from the subsequent "cure." Orphaned at a very young age, Eve has spent most of her life at an all-girl's school, learning everything she needs to know about this new world. The night before her graduation, Eve discovers what really happens to the graduates. Horrified, she flees, escaping into the unknown.

Eve stumbles her way through the world outside her sheltered school life. She has no idea how to survive the challenges in this barren, new world. Along the way, Eve stumbles into Caleb. Since she was a little girl, Eve has been segregated from men and taught to fear them. Caleb slowly succeeds in convincing Eve to trust him,  and he wins her heart, piece by piece. When soldiers begin to hunt them, Eve and Caleb must go on the run, searching for somewhere safe to stay.

Eve is yet another dystopian society book. While the idea is not new, I found the book oddly compelling. The world is a complex twist of wild children living like adults, struggling for survival. There are sympathetic adults (few and far between) manning a new version of the underground railroad and combating the horrifying ideas on how to repopulate the earth.

Caleb is a strong character, forced to grow up way to young working hard labor in a camp rebuilding the city for the adults in power. He has been living in the wild, struggling to survive. I felt his character was strong, but was often missing from the story. I admired his survival skills, but felt the love story could have been flushed out a little better if he was more present.

While I liked Eve's character as she worked to overcome all she had been taught and come to grips with her new life, I felt that she was very needy and flawed. I was annoyed by how she continuously put herself first, causing a lot of harm to those around her. I found that her character had growth as she learned to deal with her new life, but it wasn't until the end that I felt she had finally figured out how to care for others. I am interested to see where the second book takes her character.

Overall, I liked the book, but would have liked to see a bit more character development and Eve figuring out how to not be selfish a little faster.

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Splintered by A.G.Howard

I learned about this month somewhere around the middle of last year and was very disappointed to find out that it didn't come out until January. That being said, it took me until February to finally purchase the book and until May to finally read it. But, once I started it, it took me a mere two days to finish it (and only that because I fell asleep while reading). 

Alyssa Gardner has been hiding a secret for years. Desperate to avoid landing in a mental hospital like her mother, she hides the fact that she can hear bugs and plants talk. The women in her family have been afflicted with this curse all the way back to Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

However, as her mother's mental health begins a rapid downward spiral, Alyssa learns that there is far more to her family's history than Carroll's story lets on. Not only is Wonderland a real place visited by the first Alice, it is a dark and twisted world filled with mortal danger and disturbing mystical creatures. Alyssa must enter Wonderland and fix the problems Alice left behind in order to save her family before it's too late. Along the way, Alyssa must also choose between Jeb, her best friend and secret crush, and Morpheus, her gorgeous and suspicious guide through Wonderland. 

This story was a captivating mix of intrigue and romance. Howard twisted the elements of Carroll's original story, making for a much darker version of Wonderland. At the same time, I ended up enthralled by the complicated relationship between Jeb and Alyssa. The two ended up saving one another, creating an entrancing romance neither saw coming. 

In the end, I also couldn't hate the darker character of Morpheus. Although he always has his own motives for what he does, I believe he cares for Alyssa in his own twisted way. His character is responsible for much of the growth we see in Alyssa throughout the story.  I thoroughly recommend this book for lovers of fantasy. romance, and twists on old classics.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

I recently finished this book as part of YALSA's 2013 Hub Reading Challenge and found it utterly page-turning. 

The story centers around Jasper "Jazz" Dent, a charming and likable teenager with a spine-tingling past. Just four short years ago, Jazz's father, Billy Dent, was identified as the most notorious and terrifying serial killer in the world and sent to prison to serve multiple consecutive life sentences. His murders number in the triple digits. Jazz went to live with his senile grandmother and has been trying to keep his insane life together and deal with memories of the life with his father that plague his waking and sleeping hours. It seems Billy took "Bring Your Child to Work Day" to a new level while raising his son as an heir apparent.

While Jazz fights his inner demons and struggles against becoming his father, a gruesome murder appears in his hometown of Lobo's Nod. While the town's sheriff doesn't believe Jazz was involved, he feels a relentless drive to convince the local police that he is not the same man his father is and that the murder is the work of a new serial killer. 

The whole book is a relentless drive of intrigue as Jazz works to figure out who the killer is before more bodies pile up. I found myself eager to follow the clues along with Jazz and was constantly on the edge of my seat trying to figure out where the clues would lead. The best part was that I had a little trouble guessing who it was going to be. I loved not being able to figure out the ending at the beginning of the story.

Growing up with his father, Jazz is able to see the murders the way a killer would. It was fascinating and a bit disturbing what memories Jazz dredges up in an attempt to glean some inside knowledge of the killer. The scenes from his father's crimes, as well as the new murder scenes were a bit graphic for my taste. I also found them a bit specific for a young adult book, but I know they will captivate young readers. This movie was thoroughly suspenseful and well-written. The sequel, Game, is already out. I am both terrified and excited to read it.  

Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller

Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller

I found the 2013 Hub Reading Challenge a couple of weeks ago and finally took the plunge today! The reading challenge entreats you to read at least 25 of the books on their reading list. I completed my first book today reading Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller by Joseph Lambert. This book tells of the story of Annie Sullivan teaching Helen Keller to communicate through graphic novel form.

The story oscillates between the trials Annie has with Helen and Helen's family and the trials Annie has as a young and partially blind girl growing up. The story does not tell all of Annie and Helen's life, leaving the reader open for more research, which I like. However, I felt the telling of the story was slightly disjointed as it continued to flip back and forth. I liked learning about Annie's life, but I found the way the story was told confusing. 

I also had trouble reading the narration as Annie explains Helen's progress in letter form to her previous teacher. It is in cursive and is written pretty small. It may be my bad eyesight, but I found it hard to read. 

All in all, a decent book. Check it out!

Such a Rush

Such a Rush

Such a Rush tells the story of Leah Jones. a girl who has moved many times as her mom follows this month's latest flavor to new towns. In Heaven Beach, South Carolina, Leah is the adult of the family; negotiating rent with the landlord, making sure bills get paid reasonably on time, and getting a job at the nearby airstrip. At only fourteen, Leah quickly falls in love with the planes, flying, and all that comes with it. Secretly saving every extra penny she can, she begs Mr. Hall, who runs a banner-flying business at the airstrip, to give her a lesson. Forging her mother's signature seems like a small price to pay to touch the sky. Mr. Hall soon offers her cheap flying lessons and Leah is hooked.

Four years later, as a high school senior, Leah is a first-rate young pilot, earning a job offer to fly for Mr. Hall. However, his unexpected death leaves Leah in a bind. The business is left to his two teenage sons: perfect Alec and bad boy Grayson. While Leah has harbored a secret crush on Grayson since she first met him, she is not sure that getting involved with a short-lived business (as she is sure it will be with teenagers running it) is a good plan. However, Grayson soon blackmails her into helping for reasons of his own, entangling Leah in family drama she cannot hope to understand.

Having never been in Leah's situation, I still found her easy to relate to within the prose. I cheered her on as she strove to reach her dream. I cried in frustration with her as she met road block after road block. And I wanted to hit Grayson every time she did when he was too boneheaded to know what was staring him in the face.

That being said, it was not a perfect book. Naive as my notions are, I often felt a little uncomfortable at what were serious adult moments left in the hands of teenagers. I could understand, on the one hand, that all three of them were forced to grow up at young ages and were forced to make adult decisions. I thought, however, that we should strive to keep teenagers teenagers. The relationship between the two protagonists seemed way too intense and physical for my tastes.

Nevertheless, I would recommend this book. The fast pace and snappy dialogue kept me turning the pages.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder is often sought out in the New Beijing marketplace as one of the best mechanics around. One day, she is approached by the handsome Prince Kai to fix a malfunctioning android he can’t get anyone else to fix. Flabbergasted by the Prince’s attention, Cinder listens to the problems all the while trying to hide the fact that she is cyborg.

In New Beijing, androids are the norm and technology encompasses every home. But cyborgs, part human and part machine, are considered second class and unworthy of most people's time. Cinder has always been less than a servant in the house of her "stepmother" and "stepsister." The only one that treats her with any kindness is her stepsister, Pearl, who's sickness Cinder is blamed for. 

As Cinder battles her family's disdain and her growing attraction to Prince Kai, Cinder faces an even bigger foe in the Lunars, a sinister people descended from a moon colonization. The Lunars wait, watching Earth, waiting for a moment to attack. These people also possess strange powers, enabling them to make others see what they want them to see and do things they don't want to do. Cinder is quickly drawn into a battle she knows little about. In order to help those she cares for, she must uncover dark secrets about her past. 

For years, I have been obsessed with the Cinderella story. My obsession has spanned Disney movies and  books and even centering my own wedding around a Cinderella theme. So when I heard of Cinder by Marissa Meyer, I was excited about a new spin on an old favorite. Granted, by her own admission, Meyer took massive liberties with the Cinderella story, but I found it increasingly enjoyable to hunt down the elements of the original story within the new.

This story has more in common with the original fairy tale than I expected. It tells of an orphaned girl living with a cruel stepmother and at least one stepsister, forced her to work as little better than a slave. Meyer also weaves an enchanting tale of a growing attracting between Cinder and handsome Prince Kai. Throughout the story, I marveled at how Cinder grew from a timid girl resigned to her own fate (less than others, looked down upon by many) to a self-assured girl willing the sacrifice herself for the better of others. Don't get me wrong, throughout the story, you see a girl willing to throw jibes and sarcastic comments about in an effort to assert even a little freedom. However, it is not until the end that we see Cinder willing to throw off the shackles that have held her prisoner for so long. 

The ending of this book frustrated me if for no other reason than I desperately want to know what happens next. Meyer left the first installment on somewhat of a cliff-hanger, opening several different possible story lines. I was excited to find out that the second book in the Lunar Chronicles, Scarlet, came out just last week. I will be reading it soon.

The only thing that I found lacking in this story was little plot twists that did not follow the story. I understand that some tragedy was necessary to force Cinder forward in character development; however, small bits of information seemed unnecessary. At one point, Cinder saves the life of a small boy with no real reason as to what this might mean in the long run. A cruel woman's continual resurgence also makes little sense to the advancement of the story line. These little annoyances were not enough to prevent me from giving five stars to this remarkable book. This short novel is one I will be recommending to several of my students.