Carrie Ryan
320 pages

Since I have seen this one on several different blogs recently, I am going to save time and skip the synopsis. Here’s what’s on the flap:

In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

I’m not usually a fan of zombies but I have seen this one pop up on a few of the blogs that I read frequently. The zombies weren’t what reeled me in initially. It was the fact that this is dystopian fiction.

I often wonder why I enjoy dystopian fiction so much. I think it has to do with the fact that it makes this world look a lot less crazy to me once I have wrapped up a novel such as The Hunger Games or The Forest of Hands and Teeth where their world is just a nightmare. Makes my world tame by comparison.

Even though this story doesn’t unfold quickly, I was drawn in from the beginning. Mary’s world is dark and scary because of the zombies but for some reason The Sisterhood and the life in the village are what really captured my interest. It kept me hooked until it started to be more about what Mary wanted and less about the society. Then I started to have a hard time relating. I was really rooting for Mary to follow her dreams…until she stopped caring about what it cost the people around her. Then Mary went from losing my interest to getting on my nerves.

Even though I was having a hard time, I wanted to finish the story for several reasons. I wanted to find out how it was resolved(It wasn’t. At least not the way I was hoping it would be.) I think the author is a talented writer and I enjoyed her writing very much. I just didn’t like the direction Mary’s character took. However, that’s a personal preference sort of thing and I would definitely try something else by Carrie Ryan.

If you like zombies and dystopia….you should give The Forest of Hands and Teeth a shot. (2.5/5)

Jennifer Donnelly
389 pages

Mattie Gokey is 16 years old in 1906 and she is growing up in Adirondack Mountains(she calls them the North Woods) of New York. Her life is hard because her mother has died and she is the eldest of four girls so she bears a lot of responsibility for her sisters and helping her father run the family farm. She loves words, reading, and writing. She looks up a word every day and plays word games with her friend Weaver as they both struggle to keep up their chores and their hard life. They need to do well in school so they can go to the city for college. Both have shown incredible promise and have scholarships to prestigious universities.

Along the way, Mattie, who is very lonely and feels unloved since her mother’s death, dares to believe that her handsome though singularly-focused neighbor, Royal Loomis, actually notices and cares for her. Intertwined through Mattie’s story is the tragic but true tale of Grace Brown and Chester Gillette. Grace had given Mattie a stack of letters to destroy, which Mattie intended to do. However, when Grace turns up dead Mattie begins to read the letters and the course of her life begins to change.

Having read both The Tea Rose and A Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly, I was really looking forward to A Northern Light.  Mattie is a very likable character and I related to her quite a bit. When I was a child I used to enjoy looking words up in the dictionary just like Mattie did  and finding unique ways to use them in a sentence. This probably cements my first class dork status but there you have it.  

I did find myself getting frustrated with Mattie at times because I was so rooting for her to accomplish her dreams. She is gifted with talent and insight and at times it annoyed me because I wanted more for her. Can you tell I was a wee bit invested in the story? There is a section at the back of the book that tells about the real Grace Brown and Chester Gillette.

This was a very enjoyable piece of historical fiction which I recommend. I understand why this is a Printz Honor Book.(4/5)

Lisa McMann
248 pages

Janie Hannagan is back in Lisa McMann’s sequel to Wake which I reviewed last month. There is reportedly a sexual predator at Fieldridge High and Janie and Cabe are assigned to figure out who it is. Janie is also given some more information about her role as a dream catcher and what the future holds for her.

I was so excited to get this book from the library last weekend. I enjoyed Wake very much and had heard reports that Fade was even better. It’s definitely darker. Part of that is because of the nature of the crime that Janie and Cabe are trying to solve(Janie is the bait, YIKES!) and part because the future in store for Janie is dark.

I found this to be a page turner just like Wake. However, the sexual predator aspect as well as the use of date rape drugs was a bit disturbing. I can understand that stuff like this actually does happen though. I didn’t feel it was glamorized at all and I can see it as helping kids understand what’s out there.

Janie’s gift has some strings attached to it which we learn about toward the end of the book. There’s no real resolution to this aspect so, of course, I am hooked and now waiting for the next book, Gone, which comes out in 2010.

Even though I enjoyed Fade, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as Wake. I am not sure if it’s because Fade is darker or if it’s because I was just really into the different idea of the storyline in the beginning. I still liked it a lot though and would recommend it to lovers of YA. I am definitely looking forward to the next book. (4/5)

Hillary Jordan

336 pages

I had heard a lot of buzz about Mudbound on other book blogs. I was interested in reading it but when it became an Alex Award Winner earlier this year, I moved it right to the top of my list.

On the Flap:

When Henry McAllen moves his city-bred wife, Laura, to a cotton farm in the Mississippi Delta in 1946, She finds herself in a place both foreign and frightening. Laura does not share Henry’s love of rural life, and she struggles to raise their two young children in an isolated shotgun shack with no indoor plumbing or electricity, all the while under the eye of her hateful, rascist father-in-law. When it rains the waters rise up and swallow the bridge to town, stranding the family in a sea of mud.

My Thoughts:

I usually try to write up my own little synopsis of a book but this one just had me flustered. I couldn’t figure out how to describe it in a succinct fashion so I decided to take a hand from the publisher rather than re-inventing the wheel.

It’s hard to say that I loved a book that deals with such tough subject matter as prejudice, hatred, and violence but when the author is so skilled in evoking emotion, you gotta love it.

When Laura McAllen’s husband Henry drops the bombshell on her that they are leaving her city home and all of her family behind and moving to the Mississippi Delta in a week, I was angry at his lack of consideration for her feelings and sympathetic to Laura and her difficulty in adapting. I’m not sure I could go from having a shower in my home to bathing once a week and then having it be such a chore that it is turned into something that must be done rather than an enjoyment.

The profiles of the racism and prejudice are difficult but they are moving. It’s a sad journey back into our past where these events took place but, as with other painful historical facts, it is necessary to revisit them to keep the memories alive so that the learning continues.

I was really drawn in by Mudbound, much more than I expected to be. I would recommend this to lovers of historical and/or southern fiction. There are also WWII elements to this story but they are played out to a lesser extent. (4.5/5)

It’s been a while since I had time to post anything other than a book review but I have been indulging myself in some YA Fiction reading lately. Since I have an on-going project where I am slowly reading my way through the Alex Award Winners and since I am participating in The Book Awards II Challenge, I decided to make it count for that.

I am currently reading The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig. This 2007 Alex Award Winner is about a vanished way of life on the Montana prairie. I am about halfway through it and have really enjoyed it so far. I also have Mudbound by Hillary Jordan waiting for me. This one won the Alex for 2009. Plus, I also have A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly which is a 2004 Printz Honor Book. I read and loved both The Tea Rose and The Winter Rose by Donnelly so I am especially looking forward to that one.

On the challenge front, I haven’t completed any yet. I have been pretty good about not over-committing myself even though there are a couple out there that I would really love to join. I am resisting the temptation because I hate not finishing things. I am reading for enjoyment and trying to fit my challenges around it.

I apologize for being a bad blogger lately. I have been horrible about responding to comments, commenting on other blogs and I have been ignoring Twitter completely. Hopefully, I can be more active since things seem to have slowed down around here a bit. However, with three teenagers in the house, you just never know.

So, what have you been reading?

Jay Asher
288 pages

At the beginning of Thirteen Reasons Why, Hannah Baker has recently committed suicide.The people around her, though saddened, don’t really understand what happened. One day when Clay Jensen comes home from school, he finds a shoe box of cassette tapes that list the thirteen reasons why Hannah killed herself. He starts to listen and is immediately drawn in to Hannah’s life.

I expected this to be an emotional tale because it is, after all, about a girl who has killed herself. However, I didn’t expect it to be a page-turner. I read this book in one afternoon. I simply couldn’t put it down. I kept hoping that Hannah would change her mind even though I knew that she didn’t.

This is book about the power of words, actions, and the secret heartbreaks we all carry around inside us. It’s also a reminder to really look at those around us and think about our interaction with them.  I highly recommend this book. (4/5)

Cornelia Funke
Audiobook (Narrated by Lynn Redgrave)

I have been listening to Inkheart for a looong time. Granted, the print edition is well over 500 pages so it’s a long book but still. Part of this is due to the fact that I had a hard time getting into the book initially. It just didn’t capture me. I’ve been through a bout of sickness and a reading slump but I wanted to finish because this story has gotten such rave reviews. Also, I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie.

I enjoyed the idea for the story as well as the characters of Mo, Meggie, and Eleanor. However, I guess I am a victim of the hype. I really wanted to be enchanted with the story. There is plenty for a bibliophile to love: Characters that love books and can read people in and out of stories, plenty of fantasy, fairies and magic, evil villains etc.  But I was never captivated. There were some high points and I did like the story and I am glad I finished but, in all honesty, I have to admit I am a little disappointed. I thought it was just ok. Good but not great. Maybe I will like the movie more. (3/5)

Lisa McMann
210 pages

Janie Hanagan has problems. Her mom is a drunk and it really seems that she couldn’t care less what Janie does.  She also has a secret. She gets sucked into other people’s dreams if they fall asleep near her.

Janie is determined to make a better life for herself. She works all the hours she can get at a nursing home and she studies hard because she wants to go to college. But being considered “white trash” by your peers and the secret of being a dream catcher don’t exactly make life easy. Then Janie meets Cabel Strumheller and life gets really complicated.

I saw this book at the bookstore last weekend when I was browsing the YA section. Lately, I have just really been in the mood for some pure escapism and this seemed to fit the bill. I’m glad I chose this one. It reminded me a bit of A Nightmare on Elm Street without the gore. Anyone who knows me knows that, as a rule, I hate horror flicks. However, I loved the premise of dreams and the boogey man. It worked really well for this book only on a much tamer level. Still, I found it to be a fast-paced page-turner that kept my interest right up until the end.  I didn’t really have a guess as to where the story was going and I like that. I did find it hard to suspend disbelief in a couple of places but to say where would risk spoiling the plot for others.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wake.If you’re looking for a quick read and you enjoy YA fiction, you can’t go wrong with this one. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Fade,as soon as my library gets a copy. I’ve heard it’s even better than this one. (4.5/5)

Suzanne Collins

374 pages

In a future North America, now called Panem, Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12. There Katniss hunts to feed her family and to trade and sell for other necessities.

Once a year a lottery is held  to choose two teens, one boy and one girl,  between the ages of 12 and 18 to fight in The Hunger Games. Katniss winds up representing her district and she knows that she will be forced to fight to the death.

I have been seeing a lot of buzz around this book on the blogs and since I tend to really enjoy both survival stories and futuristic societies, I was thrilled to find out that there was no wait for this at the library. Either I beat the buzz to my branch or I am way behind it, I’m not sure which.

Katniss is a real survivor. She steps up and takes over the responsibility of feeding her mother and sister when her father is killed, she doesn’t like owing anyone anything, she faces her lot in The Hunger Games with grit and determination and she is as smart as anything when it comes to outfoxing her opponents. She is tough, abrupt, and almost mean at times and that’s to the people she likes.

Coming off of a sickness-induced reading slump, this was the perfect book to get me jump-started. Once I picked it up, I didn’t want to put it down. It’s violent and disturbing but I expected that once I knew it was about a death match and the circumstances which changed North America into Panem.

My only complaint is that I wish we would have seen more about the government. I kept wondering if I was seeing clues to a revolt or things not being what they seemed as I read. I guess I will have to wait for a sequel. Rats! Another book to eagerly anticipate.

There’s also a sort of a love triangle going on here but, again, we will have to wait for the next book to see any resolution on that front.

I thought the names were a little lame but I really enjoyed reading this book and am looking forward to the next one. (4.5/5)

Audiobook (Read by Michael Maloney)

Library Book

I knew only the basic premise of this book when I chose it for several challenges. I knew that it fit into the WWII category, that it is categorized as YA,  and that it was Jewish Literature about the Holocaust.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is the story of Bruno, a nine-year-old boy, who comes home one day to find that his family is moving due to his father’s job. Bruno is the son of a German officer who will be the Commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp. From his bedroom window he has seen people in “striped pajamas” behind a fence. Curious about why they are there as well as lonely, Bruno sets out exploring.  He goes to the fence and he happens to meet a boy named Shmuel who is very similar to Bruno in many ways. They even share the same birthday. However, their lives are obviously very different.

As I was listening to this book, I kept thinking that I was really enjoying the fact that I was hearing this from the perspective of a German child. I have read about concentration camps from the perspective of a Jewish child. The horrors are unimaginable. But to gain some insight as to how it is possible that people stood by and allowed this to happen is definitely different.

Bruno is pretty naive. He is just a little boy who counts on his parents to take care of him. He figures they know best and doesn’t worry too much about the rest. In fact, I thought that Bruno’s cluelessness was a bit unrealistic until I listened to the author’s interview at the end of the book. He spoke about the fact that The Holocaust is hindsight for us. We look back with the perspective that we know this happened. It is part of the landscape of our past. However, during the time that this was going on and when the concentration camps were liberated, even adults believed that the stories of the atrocities were just rumors and that something this monstrous could not be happening. He also talks about complacency and the fact that victims of the concentration camps were marched through neighboring villages and people did nothing. That is something that I hadn’t considered and changed my opinion. I do think that Bruno was immature for a nine-year-old by today’s standards. I did have a hard time believing that he couldn’t catch on to the names of Auschwitz(Out With) and the Fuhrer(The Fury). However, I concede that it’s possible that without some of the outside influences we have today in the picture, nine-year-olds were much more innocent sixty or so years ago.

At any rate, those things were minor for me as was the fact that I figured out what was going to happen pretty early on it the book. There were no shocks and though the convergence of the events seems improbable, stranger things happen every day and ultimately, I was willing to suspend disbelief for the message that was conveyed.

I am not sure if the author interview is available in the regular book. However, listening to John Boyne explain why he did what he did with his characters made a huge difference to me. The book and the writing are excellent. The thought process behind them make this book superior.

This is a must-read for anyone who is breathing so that we don’t become complacent again. (5/5)