Friday, July 27, 2012

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

by Mary Pearson

Summary:
Jenna has survived a terrible accident, by all accounts she should have been dead.  After being in a coma for over a year, she is working to regain a semi-normal life in a small beachside town across the country from where she grew up.  But as she tries to put the pieces together about what happened not just to cause the car accident, but also to her and her friends afterward, she realizes that all is not what it seems.  In a world where biotechnical advances have allowed people new leases on life, Jenna is left to figure out just what makes a person a person.

Review:
While the plot was fairly easy to guess, Pearson's book raises a lot of interesting questions about bioengineering and its consequences.  I thought that Jenna's struggles on whether or not her parents saving her was a good or bad thing to be quite poignant.  They could only save a portion of her brain, so was she even really a person? Or was she a machine masquerading as a person?  She didn't want to die, but didn't want to live if she was less than real.  The premise reminded me of Eva, another book where parents overstepped societal rules and norms to save their daughter from death.  It's a fantastic book that sticks with you.

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

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

When You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead

Summary:
It all began when Miranda's mom was selected to be a contestant on the hit game show "$20,000 Pyramid." Or was it when her best friend Sal got punched in the face walking home from school.  Or was it when the crazy guy on the corner showed up.  Or when the spare apartment key she and her mom keep in the fire hose box is stolen. Or when the first mysterious note arrives asking her to write everything down, because the letter writer is going to need the whole story in the future.  When space and time seem to collide, Miranda learns that sometimes the things we think are unbelievable are the things that shape our lives.

Review:
One of the best parts of Stead's novel is how it deftly deals with questions of time and space as it convinces the reader that things in the future can change the past.  And that things that might have changed the past from the future, like someone time travelling, won't change the past because the things that have changed the past have already occurred (she says it much better than I do here).  Miranda is a well written character, as are her friends and family.  Definitely a great read for tweens of both genders.

Genre: Science Fiction
Age Level: 5th Grade

Moon Over Manifest

by Clare Vanderpool

Summary:
Abilene and her daddy have been wanderers since the day she was born.  Together,they have rode the rails, jumping on and off trains in and out of towns they would see once and then never again.  But then Abilene hurt herself, and after she recovered her daddy sent her to live with old friends of his in Manifest, Kansas.  But Manifest is more than it appears, and it might just hold the key to her father's past, and both of their futures.

Review:
Moon over Manifest is one of the best true tween books I have read in awhile.  The writing is excellent, the characters well developed and appealing to readers young and old.  The story is told mainly in present day (present day being about 1936), with stories of Manifest in her daddy's day told by the local Gypsy woman as visions.  The result is a absolutely wonderful story about a town coming together during the hardest of times and being inspired to do so again. A fantastic read for tweens.

Age Level: 4-5th Grade
Genre: Historical Fiction

Friday, July 13, 2012

Tell Me a Secret

by Holly Cupala

Summary:
Rand never thought she would be one of those girls who ended up pregnant.  She had been so focused on not being her sister Xanda, never mentioning her, never being like her, never saying that she was dead, that it wasn't even on her radar. She was going to go to art school, have a career, do great things.  But now, living with her parents disappointment and lies, being ostracized in school by rumors that she was trying to trap the father into marriage, it's the memory of her sister that gets her through each day.  A sister that she is finding out, wasn't what she had appeared to be in life. Who, in death, becomes what can bring them all together once the truth comes out.

Review:
Tell me a secret is a book about a truly dysfunctional family.  With a mother only involved in her church, a father who buries himself in work, and a rebellious sister whose actions lead to her death, Rand is left virtually alone in a house where no one tells the truth if it's deemed too painful.  The book is about the choices we make and the consequences that they have, the dangers of believing rumor and the need we have to cling to things we believe to be true.  It's a good read for older tweens and teens, but it does talk about drinking and sex so is better for the slightly older crowd. 

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade

Pure

by Terra Elan McVoy

Summary:
The purity rings that Tabitha and her friends wear were supposed to make their lives easier.  The rings were a symbol of their promise to God that they would save themselves for marriage.  But as the girls get older, they are finding that life is not as black and white as they had thought it.  When one of them makes a decision that goes against their promise, they find themselves pitted against each other as they discover that you can't dictate your friends choices, only whether or not you value their friendship over your beliefs.

Review:
Pure is a very readable story about young girls growing up and realizing that their insulated world of religion is not always going to have all the answers for them.  Tabitha in particular is a voice of reason throughout, finding ways to rectify her religious beliefs with everyday life, and helping others to as well.  The book does not really focus on whether sex is right or wrong, nor is it overly preachy on the topic of religion, but does a good job of showing the potential problems that many young people who are religious face.  It's a good read, semi-along the lines of the movie Saved, good for older tweens and teens.

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

Trash

by Andy Mulligan

Summary:
Raphael, Gardo, and Rat have never known a life without want.  Their days are not spent in school, but sorting through the trash dump looking for things they can use or sell.  Then one day their lives change with what they find.  It may have seemed to be just a simple brown leather satchel, but the map it contained would lead them to a treasure that would change their lives forever.  As long as they lived long enough to find it.

Review:
Mulligan's book is told through through the alternating perspectives of Raphael, Gardo and Rat, as well as other important characters who appear throughout the book.  While the writing itself is not stellar, and the story itself is a bit underdeveloped. the 3 boys are decent characters who hold your attention.  The story does seem to come together a bit superficially, how 3 mostly illiterate boys are able to decipher a complex code is just a little unbelievable. Overall it's good for a quick read for those who like a bit of adventure and danger in their books.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 6th Grade

Thursday, July 5, 2012

The Beduin Gazelle

by Frances Temple

Summary:
Hamila and Atiyah have been betrothed since birth, as tradition dictates in their nomadic culture.  When Atiyah is sent to Fez to school so he can learn and better their tribe, Hamila is left behind.  But when a freak sandstorm separates her from the rest, and leaves her alone in the harsh desert, she relies on the kindness of a neighboring tribe for survival.  When the cost of their hospitality becomes her hand in marriage, Hamila is left to desperately hope for an escape.

Review:
Temple's book is a fast paced, quick read for tweens.  The characters are engaging and well written, and the story is excellent.   The book is loosely tied to The Ramsay Scallop, another marvelous book by the author.  Both are rooted in historical fact and definitely appealing to younger and older tweens.

Genre: Historical Fiction
Age Level: 4th Grade

Double Helix

by Nancy Werlin

Summary:
No secret ever really stays a secret.  It doesn't matter how hard you try, in the end, especially if it's a big one, it's going to come out.  When Eli starts work for world renown scientist Dr. Wyatt, he is warned by his father to stay far away from him. Suspicious and confused by his father's pronouncement, given with no explanation, Eli begins to investigate further into Dr. Wyatt's experiments.  But what he finds may be more personal than he could ever imagine.

Review:
Double Helix is about the dangers of genetic engineering.  The book deftly brings up the very sensitive topic about the moral complexities of genetic modification.  Is it right to destroy a potential life because you ultimately know it is going to die of a terrible disease or is it better to only allow the healthy to survive?  Eli's mother dies of Huntington's Disease in the beginning of the novel, fueling the debate brought up in the book.  It is a well written novel with engaging characters which older tweens will like.  It's got a bit of conspiracy, a love story, and is overall very though provoking. 

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade

Dark Water

by Laura McNeal

Summary:
Life has changed rapidly for Pearl and her mother.  Once they lived in a large house, the perfect family living whole with her father.  But then he left, leaving her and her mother to fend for themselves amid a huge pile of debt and without an income.  Now they live in her uncle's small cabin on his property, and while they are happy and welcome there, Pearl finds herself searching for more.  For love and adventure.  As she finds herself falling in love (that all consuming first love) with a migrant worker who works for her uncle, she learns that the choices we make for ourselves can have disastrous consequences for those we love.

Review:
Pearl is a self-centered, ignorant teen girl who makes a series of selfish choices that ultimately lead to (*spoiler alert*) the death of her uncle.  Pearl can't see past her own desires and wants to anyone else's.  Watching her fall in love with Amiel makes little sense, as he pushes her away constantly and they barely interact.  What is redeeming about the book is the way it does make the reader think about how the choices of one person rarely just affect them.  Pearl didn't cause the fire that started, but her actions lead to someones death.  Ultimately she ends up alone and shunned, and it's only then that she grows up.  A decent read for older tweens but not something I would really recommend.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 8th Grade