Thursday, January 19, 2012

You Know Where to Find Me

by Rachel Cohn

Summary:
Miles and her cousin Laura didn't have much in common anymore.  Most of the time they spent together was when they would get high on pills.  But when Laura purposely overdoses, Miles is forced to confront her own choices.   She must decide whether or not to fight for her own life, or spiral into nothingness like her cousin. 

Review:
You Know Where to Find Me is a dark novel about the repercussions of a suicide.  Interestingly, the book focuses on recreational use of prescription drugs instead of the more typical 'trouble' drugs or alcohol.  Miles is not a character that one is easily sympathetic too, she is closed off from most people in her life and the reader can assume that it is mostly by choice.  The book focuses mainly on the pleasure that she feels being high, and it's hard to believe that no one ever figured out she was using.  Overall it's a decent read but there are better books that discuss this topic out there. 

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th-10th Grade

A Kiss in Time

by Alex Flinn

Summary: 
We've all heard the story about Sleeping Beauty, right?  But maybe we haven't heard the real story.  Maybe it is less of a fairy tale and more the real thing.  Maybe the entire kingdom is still sleeping, waiting for the princess to get true love's kiss.  At first Jack though he had stumbled upon some sort of weird theme park, one where everyone is sleeping, but when he can't resist kissing one girl, he comes to find out that maybe fairy tale's are more real than we think.

Review:
A Kiss in Time is a fluffy, fun fairy tale.  The book takes a lot of leaps which are hard to identify with-beyond the typical fantasy stuff, like the fact that Jack knows where to get a fake passport and that the Princess has no problems adjusting to 21st century life.  But overall the theme of the book is love, and it adequately addresses it.  Definitely a great read for girls who liked Ella Enchanted or similar.

Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Age Level: 7th-8th Grade

Dreams of Significant Girls

by Cristina Garcia

Summary:
Ingrid, Shirin, and Vivien could not have come from different backgrounds.  But at a summer boarding school in Switzerland these three girls, a German-Canadian, a Cuban-American, and an Iranian princess, become roommates.  Not only must they navigate through cultural differences, but over the three summers they spend together they learn the true meaning of friendship.

Review:
Dreams of Significant Girls is a novel about friendship and growing up, about first loves and first heartbreak, about hope and despair.  Though set in the 1970's, it is easy to relate to the girls without any real disconnect in the time spans.  The subplot between Ingrid and Vivien's father's is very interesting, though the book could elaborate a bit more on that (Ingrid's father was a Nazi soldier who spared Vivien's Jewish father during the raid on the Warsaw ghettos.)  One thing I liked about the book was that it did not have a happily ever after, best friends forever ending.  The book's epilogue checks in with each of the girls, and we discover that while they still think of each other, life has kept them apart.  The book overall had a similar feel to The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 8-9th Grade

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Brother/Sister: just give them a chance to explain

by Sean Olin

Summary:
They didn't mean to do it.  Any of it. It all just sort of happened.  Will and Asheley have had a hard life. Not hard like they've never had a home, or enough food, or trauma.  But their father left them when they were little.  Their mother is an alcoholic who got violent with them on occasion.  It's not an excuse you see, but an explaination. It all became too much, got out of hand.  Will didn't mean to murder those people, classmates and their sort-of stepfather, but they were all trying to hurt Asheley, and he couldn't let that happen.  What kind of brother would he be if he did?  Asheley was just trying to protect her brother by not telling anyone what he did.  At least that's what they say....

Review:
Brother/Sister alternates between Will and Asheley's point of view.  They explain the events of that summer pretty matter of factly, trying to explain why Will murdered 3 people tyring to defend his sister and why Asheley was completely innocent.  All along the book we are led to believe Will is the crazy one, the one at fault, but it's not until the very last paragraph that everything the book tells us is called into question.  It is a book that leaves the reader in suspense, wondering how much of the story they told us was real and how much was made up.  The ending is definitely what made the book.

Genre: Realisic Fiction
Age Level: 8th-9th Grade

The Future of Us

by Jay Asher

Summary:
It's 1996. Emma just got her first computer complete with Internet access thanks to an America Online CD her friend Josh gave her.  As she logs in for the first time a web page comes up, a webpage called Facebook. The page gives her a glimpse 15 years into the future.  A way to look not only at her life but at the lives of her friends and how they turned out.  But what she sees isn't that great, in fact life might not turn out all that great for her.  But she's got a chance to change it, so those sad status' she posts might never exist.

Review:
The Future of Us is a fun read about the consequences that even everyday actions might have on our future.  We have no idea what might affect the way our lives turn out, a random decision can have a radical effect on how our lives might turn out.  Emma is given a way to see how her decisions each day affect her future.  Ultimately she also must learn that even though the things we do today might shape our tomorrow, we ultimately have to live each day the best we can and hope that it all turns out alright in the long term. 

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 8th-9th Grade

The Book Thief

By Marcus Zusak

Summary:
Set in Germany during World War II, The Book Thief tells the story of a young German girl named Liesel Meminger.  As tragedy continuously strikes her young life, she turns to books as an attempt to lesson the blow.  But books are few and far between in Nazi Germany, and it is in unlikely places that she finds them. In the snow by her brother's grave, in the midst of a book burning bonfire, and in the library at the Mayor's house.  Liesel's story is that of a girl affected by a war which she had no part in, a war which destroyed everything she had.

Review:
The Book Thief did not grab me immediately.  It is narrated by Death, who tells the story of how he first met Liesel and of her life thereafter.  At first I thought the narration made the book choppy, but as I continued reading found that Death's thoughts on the tragedy of World War II truly added a dramatic aspect to the story.  It helped to bring the realities of the war to the book, a reality which a book which focuses on a young girl might otherwise forget.  It is a very intense read about WWII, but because it presents the war from the point of view of a young German civilian, it reminds us of the toll the war took on the complacent civilian population of Germany.  The book is definitely more appropriate for older teens.

Genre: Historical Fiction
Age Level: 10-11th Grade

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Unwanteds

By Lisa McMann

Summary:
Alex and Aaron are twins.  While they are alike physically, their personalities are different.  Alex is the creative one, while Aaron is studious and a strict rule follower.  Normally this wouldn't be much of a problem, but in Quill being creative is a death sentence.  As they both turn 13 they are separated, with Aaron being deemed wanted in society, and Alex being deemed unwanted and thus sentenced to immediate death.  But death isn't what is waiting for him.  Instead he finds that creativity itself can be his salvation. 

Review:
The Unwanteds is not just another dystopian novel.  The book combines the depressive characteristics of this type of novel (a city full of neutral colors, no fun, and rigid societal roles) with fantasy (mixing in magic and pronouncing that creativity can overcome any obstacle).  The book is well written and good for tweens of all ages, as it broaches topics like war but has little tangible violence. 

Genre: Fantasy
Age Level: 4th Grade