(I miss Anders, though.)

Alas, there still hasn’t been much being published that has me too excited. Since there is absolutely nothing this week that has my panties in a bunch, here are a couple from earlier this month that I am at least moderately interested in:

Title: Yellowcake
Author: Margo Lanagan
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genre: Fantasy/short stories
Blurb: Yellowcake brings together ten short stories from the extraordinarily talented Margo Lanagan–each of them fiercely original and quietly heartbreaking. The stories range from fantasy and fairy tale to horror and stark reality, and yet what pervades is the sense of humanity.  The people of Lanagan’s worlds face trials, temptations, and degradations. They swoon and suffer and even kill for love. In a dangerous world, they seek the solace and strength that comes from family and belonging. These are stories to be savored slowly and pondered deeply because they cut to the very heart of who we are.
Excitement factor: Yes please! Margo Lanagan is one of those weird fantasy writers I’ve been meaning and needing to read for some time now.

Title: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Genre: Science Fiction
Blurb: After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother–or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.
Excitement factor: Yes, please! Even though I was the only person ever who didn’t love Rick Yancey’s The Monstrumologist (I couldn’t even finish it), this sounds soooo sweet I have to give him another try.

Next up: I am reading Quintana of Charyn and I swear to GODDESS that I will review it. Cross my heart and  don’t hope to die.

A few hours later, I was sitting on the beach, halfway through one of the most surprising novels I have ever read. It had nothing to do with expeditions to Western Canada in the early 19th century, and instead, it had everything to do with a boy named Pudge, his coming-of-age adventures in a red-neck boarding school in Southern Alabama, and his unrequited love for Alaska Young, a beautiful girl living just down the hall.

One of the first signs of genius in the novel is that despite the drastic difference between expectation and reality, I was not the least bit disappointed. I am not alone in that gratification; published in 2005, Looking for Alaska is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and the winner of the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award for Young Adult Fiction. Mr. John Green, the author, has received praise from sources like Jodi Picoult, TIME Magazine, and President Barack Obama. With plaudits such as those, it is no surprise that I did not feel cheated that afternoon on the beach.

A major cause for all the accolade Green has received for the novel is his unparalled willingness to advance beyond the restrictions of the Young Adult genre. Though the book contains many aspects commonly found in YA literature–such as romance, humor, adolescent protagonists, and a high school setting–Green takes those a step further, relating the mundane plot devices to themes much more grand, with a focus on religion’s influence on ordinary life. Green studied religion at Kenyon University, and he often cites that education as a basis for the focus in Looking for Alaska.

Religion, however, is not the heaviest topic he deals with in the novel, considered a tragedy due to the calamitous climax. On his website, Green explains his approach, saying, “Basically, [when writing Looking for Alaska] I wanted to think about all kinds of different ways that young people respond thoughtfully to loss and grief, and show a bunch of different ways that people can prove so astonishingly resilient.” Green puts his characters through significant hardship in the novel, and the ways they handle that grief unveil their depth and development. While the age of the characters sets the novel firmly in YA territory, the subtlety and profundity of the issues it explores give it the feel of great literature.

Pudge, the protagonist, holds an abnormal obsession with last words, which lends a more somber air to the witty, lighthearted banter between the characters. Forever seeking something beyond the quotidian, Pudge determines to revolutionize his life, which according to him, has been one long “nonevent.”

This mission results in an increase in the common side effects of high school: Pudge dabbles in alcohol, cigarettes, and sex. This exploration has surrounded the book with controversy, causing many to wonder whether it is age appropriate for the young readers who would most likely be interested. Due to the exemplary writing, many schools have included this book in their curriculum for 11th grade literature instruction, but because of the quasi-explicit content, a case was taken to the state legislature a few years ago to ban the book from public schools.

Again on his website, Green responds to the backlash, saying, “I still don’t think it’s a dirty book. There are a few explicit scenes, but all of them are pretty nakedly arguments against vapid, emotionless sexual encounters, which does not strike me as a particularly dirty argument.” He continues: “More words are devoted to thinking about Buddhist conceptions of the desire-suffering cycle than are devoted to thinking about blow jobs.”

According to some, addressing other religions is not necessarily better than addressing adolescent sex. Green retorts that in fact, he considers the novel to be a work of Christian literature: “Good Christian fiction can explore (and celebrate) multitheistic and non-theistic responses to grief, I would argue . . . Looking for Alaska certainly explores and arguably even extolls multi-theistic and non-theistic responses to the problem of suffering.”

This is perhaps the ultimate example of how the novel transcends typical Young Adult fiction. It is incredibly rare to find a work of literature written for teenagers that both actually addresses more adult issues without coming across as a devotional and supports Christian ideology without ignoring other religions. Yet somehow, Green manages to do just that: masterfully, he blends fantastic story telling with mature dialogue and Christian principles with respect for a range of theologies, creating a novel that provides both the entertainment of light fiction with the thoughtfulness of a classic.

When we think of summer reading, we think of books we choose because we like them—books for fun.

In the past I’ve read long lists of YA books over the summer and have encouraged you to read some of them as well. This year I think I need to feed my soul with some not-so-light adult books that probably don’t have wide teen appeal. I will also be reading some books about bullying—both the cyber sort and the in-person attacks. (I listed choices in a recent post.)

Since I think you should pick some fun reads for summer, I hope you’ll read some YA books that are soon to be movies. Reading the book before you see the movie provides a good opportunity for you to compare and contrast two works; it’s a great way to think at a higher level without even realizing that your brain is working.

 Win-win.

 So many good teen books are coming as movies in the next few years. Here are some that I’ve read and reviewed:

 2013:

Catching Fire

(Second book in the Hunger Games trilogy)

Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

The Great Gatsby

(OK, it’s an adult book, but teens read it in school, it’s short, and it’s great—

romance, betrayal, mobsters–all the stuff teens love)

2014 and possibly 2015:

Divergent

Graceling

The Knife of Never Letting Go

(first book in the Chaos Walking series)

Incarceron

The Maze Runner

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

The Fault in Our Stars

(Yea! It will star Shailene Woodley as Hazel. No word on Gus yet.)

Coming as movies soon, but I haven’t had the chance to read the books yet:

Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Tunnels by Roderick Gordon

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (and Jane Austen, of course.)

Actually, I have had the chance to read this one,

but I didn’t like it, and I quit after a few chapters.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Have a great summer reading on your own and at the theater!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

When we think of summer reading, we think of books we choose because we like them—books for fun.

In the past I’ve read long lists of YA books over the summer and have encouraged you to read some of them as well. This year I think I need to feed my soul with some not-so-light adult books that probably don’t have wide teen appeal. I will also be reading some books about bullying—both the cyber sort and the in-person attacks. (I listed choices in a recent post.)

Since I think you should pick some fun reads for summer, I hope you’ll read some YA books that are soon to be movies. Reading the book before you see the movie provides a good opportunity for you to compare and contrast two works; it’s a great way to think at a higher level without even realizing that your brain is working.

 Win-win.

 So many good teen books are coming as movies in the next few years. Here are some that I’ve read and reviewed:

 2013:

Catching Fire

(Second book in the Hunger Games trilogy)

Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

The Great Gatsby

(OK, it’s an adult book, but teens read it in school, it’s short, and it’s great—

romance, betrayal, mobsters–all the stuff teens love)

2014 and possibly 2015:

Divergent

Graceling

The Knife of Never Letting Go

(first book in the Chaos Walking series)

Incarceron

The Maze Runner

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

The Fault in Our Stars

(Yea! It will star Shailene Woodley as Hazel. No word on Gus yet.)

Coming as movies soon, but I haven’t had the chance to read the books yet:

Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Tunnels by Roderick Gordon

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (and Jane Austen, of course.)

Actually, I have had the chance to read this one,

but I didn’t like it, and I quit after a few chapters.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Have a great summer reading on your own and at the theater!

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday if featuring the Top Ten Favorite Covers of Books You’ve Read –

This was actually a fairly hard one b/c I read most books via Kindle or listen on Audible – so I don’t look at the covers a lot. I do see them, however on Goodreads or via Amazon — So here we go:

1. Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry — Why? I love the scene on the front – it reminds me of highschool and kissing in between classes..

2. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer — The Chess Piece at the cover of this really makes me think of the book and how all the pieces fit together in this last book. of course it’s one of my top ten all time favorite series – so maybe a little prejudice – but still love it – one of my favorite scenes from Breaking Dawn Part 1 is Edward and Bella playing chess. So sweet!

3. Flat Out Love by Jessica Park — Other than the fact I absolutely LOVE this book – I really liked the cover. I was looking around on amazon one day and I saw the cover and that is what initially drew me to the book – so to me that’s a great cover! If you’ve read the book you will know why I love the hinges too!

4. Where She Went by Gayle Forman– I like this cover b/c of the girl on the front – her facial expression just feels right. And it’s dark which is aligned with the darkness in the book.

5. If You Stay by Courtney Cole — The book is another one I saw while just searching through Amazon and the cover sold it. It also gave me something to think of when thinking of the characters..

6. The Program by Suzanne Young — This cover I really liked from the moment I saw it. The two people standing in yellow suits with the medical white blinding background in front of them – it felt cold and uncaring – and that was the tone of the “program” – it set the feeling of the book very well.

7. The Selection by Kiera Cass — I loved the dress America was wearing in this cover.   It was so beautiful.  It really stuck out to me when I first saw it. I love all the views in the mirror too – the dress looked full and fluffy and very beautiful.

8. Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire — I really, really thought this book cover was perfect for the story because it was from Travis’s point of view and it showed his hunky arm with a beautiful tattoo – of a butterfly which is something in nature that can be reborn from a caterpillar to the butterfly. Great symbolism.

9. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire — The butterfly trapped in this jar caught my eye – another book I bought for the simple fact I loved the cover when I had yet to hear really anything about the book.

10. Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren — I didn’t see this cover until after I read the book – and when I saw it – it fit the book perfectly. I loved the 2 sided nature of the person, just like the guy in the book. It is simple and great.

Hope you enjoyed the list! Happy Tuesday everyone!

Hosted by Should Be Reading @ http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/musing-mondays-may-20/

Hi all – Thanks for checking out my Musing Monday Post! Today I’m going to “muse” about what I’m currently reading and what I think so far as well as a little bit about my reading habits..

First – I’m reading “The Elite” right now by Kiera Cass – and I’m super excited b/c I really loved “The Selection”

So far I’m really enjoying it – I really love America’s character and Maxon, well and Aspen… I have to admit – and this may be a little of a spoiler so stop now if you haven’t read it or may be bothered by one – the scene with Marlee killed me – that is all I will say.. I was in tears just like America. When they started that whole scene off with the black dress my stomach was in knots wanting to know what would happen.. I also know this was a huge scene, but I’m as hurt as Maxon with the way she treats him after… I kind of wish she would simply make some type of decision – a love triangle can only go so far.. But overall I’m loving it and will write a full review when finished!

I chose this book because I loved “The Selection” so much. I’ve been putting it off a little b/c of how “Delirium” made me question sequels – and second books can be..frustrating in a series, but I have to say this has lived up to my expectations and more!

My Reading Habits-

I have to admit i’ve had a huge change in my reading habits lately – I love to listen to audible books while I drive and I commute about an hour each way everyday so I was flying through books at that rate, but now I’m on a hiatus from driving thanks to me having a seizure – so I have lost that time – and funnily enough I have gone back to reading on my kindle – but I do miss audible and hearing something read to me so I did get this on there – part of what I enjoyed so much of the first book was the reader and it’s the same in this one. I am sure in 6 months when I can drive i’ll go back to the audible – but for now i’m happily doing both!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Kelley

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” –Hazel Graze, a character in The Fault in Our Stars

^ That is exactly the way I feel about The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I just got finished REreading this book, yet again, and let me tell you…it only gets better.

Ever since I discovered the book Looking for Alaska in an Adolescent Literature course I took while attending college at LSU (Louisiana State University), I have been obsessed with anything written by John Green. Seriously, the man is a snarky nerd god! I am also still quite convinced that he should leave his wife and kid for me…just sayin’.

Up until The Fault in Our Stars came out a little over a year ago, Paper Towns was my favorite novel by John Green, but it can’t even hold a candle to his most recent literary marvel. I seriously don’t know how he does it, but he can take the crappiest subject in the world (childhood cancer) and somehow make you laugh about it…and not in an “I’m a horrible person because I’m laughing about adolescents having cancer” kind of way.

In The Fault in Our Stars, we follow sixteen-year-old Hazel (or Hazel Grace as Augustus Waters likes to refer to her), as she trudges on through life with the knowledge that she has terminal cancer, and will die soon…the successful “miracle” experimental medication she is on is basically just giving her a few more years until she “bites it.”

Having already gotten her GED, Hazel has become a complete shut-in, only venturing out a few hours a week to attend college classes at the local community college. But her mom is convinced that Hazel needs to get out more and live what life she has left to the fullest. It’s because of this that Hazel is forced to attend a youth Support Group in the basement of a church, which the Support Group leader refers to as “the heart of Jesus.”

It is in Support Group that Hazel meets Augustus. She is immediately taken by his good looks, and quickly becomes smitten with his snark and charm…the fact that he only has one “real” leg (the other taken by Osteosarcoma, doesn’t bother her at all—I mean, she has to wheel around an oxygen tank everywhere because her lungs suck at being lungs, thanks to the cancer nodes residing in them. But the fact that these kids have—or have had—cancer doesn’t mean that their since of humor is gone:

“We are literally in the heart of Jesus,” he said. “I thought we were in a church basement, but we are literally in the heart of Jesus.”

“Someone should tell Jesus,” I said. “I mean, it’s gotta be dangerous, storing children with cancer in your heart.”

It is with such wit that the book continues. Like, seriously, it will have you laughing out loud just about every other page (again, I reiterate the fact that John Green is a nerd god). And the book isn’t all puppies and unicorns farting rainbows—it actually does illuminate the crappiness of their circumstances. These kids do get extremely pissed about having cancer—and not just about how their cancer effects them, but their family and loved ones as well. They have horrible thoughts and meltdowns and tantrums, just like anybody would:

“There is only one thing in this world shittier than biting it from cancer when you’re sixteen, and that’s having a kid who bites it from cancer.”

“I told Augustus the broad outline of my miracle: diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer when I was thirteen. (I didn’t tell him that the diagnosis came three months after I got my first period. Like: Congratulations! You’re a woman. Now die.)It was, we were told, incurable.”

Just trust me when I say that you ABSOLUTELY cannot miss reading this book. For reals, your life will not be complete until you do. So do it, do it now!

This book, hands down, gets twenty-eight out of five stars!

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

So it was refreshing to pick up Hero ona Bicycle by Shirley Hughes, which is set in Florence,  just  as the Allies are working their way up the boot of Italy.

The main character, Paolo, loves riding his bike at night when he feels free from constraints of Nazi Occupation and being a 13-year-old boy surrounded by girls and women. On one of his nightly forays into the Italian countryside, Paolo encounters the partisans and becomes involved with them. The book does a great job helping readers understand the dangers of resistance work and its impact on family members. Although the language might be challenging for 4th & 5th graders, I think they would really enjoy the story. And I hope you do too.

Aedan, Central TLLC, 16

English: The logo of the blogging software WordPress. Deutsch: WordPress Logo 中文: WordPress Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I know this is a little late, but I really wanted to participate – I really like doing this each week and seeing the great new books I’m adding to my ever growing and at this point almost overwhelming TBR list!

As always hosted by Should Be Reading on WordPress — http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/friday-finds-may-17/

So here’s what I found this week —

The last one is Finally, Forever by Katie Kacvinsky – if you have read any of her stuff, you know why this will be awesome!

So – there they are, my finds for the week..

What did you find? Has anyone read these – any reccommendations?

Happy Saturday everyone!

Kelley

DEETS: 
Date/Time: Friday, June 21 @ 2-4pm
Place: Tacoma Public Library, Main Branch (Downtown)
Book: Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omolohu

Dirty Little Secrets is an incredibly moving, heartbreaking, captivating, and at times, a disturbing read. From Goodreads:

 I hope to see all of you in June! Please register here!

So, it’s Saturday. Ain’t life grand?

Because this is *totally* my reading nook. A hammock. In my sunny, warm, Irish garden.
Image: thewomancondition.blogspot.com

Time, I think, to do my bit to promote reading by delving right into another book review post. Today, it’s the turn of ‘Level 2′, by Lenore Appelhans. Here it is:

Image: midnightbloomreads.blogspot.com

I’m sure you’ll agree that this book has a brilliant cover. In fact, the cover design was one of the things that made me want to read it; I saw it on Twitter, and other social media sites, before it ever hit the shelves. I learned that the author was a well-known blogger (check her out over at Presenting Lenore), which also piqued my interest. So, I was looking forward to reading this book long before I ever got my grubby little paws on it.

Was my enthusiasm rewarded? Well. Let’s see.

The story outline is pretty intriguing. The book is about a teenager named Felicia Ward, who dies just before her eighteenth birthday. As it opens, we don’t know what happened to cause her death, but it hardly matters – the book throws us right into a radical reimagining of the afterlife so different from anything I’d ever read or heard of before that it was immediately arresting.The Level 2 of the title is a ‘between-world’, one through which we must pass after death, and before we enter heaven, or Level 3.

Felicia, and the other deceased young women (or ‘drones’, as they’re called) who occupy her ‘hive’, exist in sterile-seeming chambers where they spend their time accessing memories of their lives. They can, as well as watching their own memories, rent and watch the memories of others; there is, of course, a cost for this. To access the memories of other people, they must first build up a level of credit, earned from other drones renting their memories and watching them. The memories can be given ratings up to and including ’5 stars’, depending on their content, so popular memories soon rack up huge viewing rates. It’s a vision of the afterlife which may sound very strange to someone who has no familiarity with YouTube, for instance, but to the teenage audience at whom this book is aimed, the concept behind Appelhans’ idea is second nature.

I did wonder a bit at first what the purpose of Level 2, as a place, was. The norm, for an afterlife, is to move on, to come to terms with your death and reach a place of peace. But spending your time reliving your memories, particularly your most cherished ones, seems a strange way to accept your own death and allow yourself to pass on to the next level. However, Appelhans makes interesting use of this as her book unfolds – the souls in Level 2 are being held there for a purpose, and they are being encouraged to live and relive their cherished memories for a reason, too.

So. ‘Life’ (or, afterlife) continues normally for Felicia until the day the girl in the next hive (Beckah) disappears. Beckah is one of the only friends Felicia has in Level 2, and so her disappearance causes her a huge amount of upset – this is compounded when it emerges that Felicia is the only person in the hive who remembers Beckah at all, and the fact that she vanishes upsets nobody but Felicia. She begins to wonder whether someone has removed Beckah from the ‘net’ of interconnected memories shared by the hive, and why – in that case – Felicia’s memories have not been affected. Just as she is attempting to come to terms with this, a breach appears in the wall of the hive, and a figure steps through – a figure from Felicia’s past, who tells her she must come with him. He is in possession of information which he knows Felicia desperately wants, and leaves her little choice but to leave the hive.

This is a book of two halves. I really enjoyed one half, and I was ambivalent about the other. The sections where Felicia accesses her memories, and the picture she gradually paints of her life, her experiences, her fractious interaction with her family, her relationship with her deeply loved boyfriend, are fascinating. She was romantically involved with a boy named Neil, a deeply religious and honourable person, while she was alive. Neil is painted as a little too perfect, but this is probably as a consequence of our only knowledge of him coming from Felicia’s memories. Through her memories, we also come face to face with Julian, a boy about whom Felicia has complicated feelings – he evokes a sense of dread and fear in her, but her best friend Autumn falls for him in a serious way. Autumn’s fate at the end of the book, and Felicia’s actions in the weeks leading up to it, are genuinely gripping – even shocking – and it is this story, the story of her life, rather than her afterlife, which I found wonderfully well-written and engrossing to read.

It’s the sections in the hive, and the uncovering of the larger plan involving the girls in Level 2, and the role of the figure who unexpectedly turns up in Felicia’s life just as her friend Beckah disappears, which I found ill-conceived, hard to imagine, and – frankly – a little bland. The book devolves into a toothless chase around the afterlife, where people with the skills to manipulate the architecture of Level 2 with their minds find they can open doorways, access convenient memory chambers, and keep track of other people by mapping their brainwaves, which takes away any sense of urgency or drama surrounding the whole thing. I found this section of the book difficult to keep in my mind’s eye, because it is, to my taste, under-described and underdeveloped. I found the ending of the book frustrating, and the reason for the importance of Felicia’s role in the book was, in my opinion, irritating. I found the writing in the scenes drawn from Felicia’s life much stronger than that in the scenes describing the battle for Level 2. In other words, the scenes which should be gripping – the science-fiction aspects, the fantastical aspects, the ones which ought to appeal to me most – are the ones which left me cold.

In short, I would recommend ‘Level 2′. It’s a good book, with original concepts and a take on the afterlife which started off extremely well, no matter what way it ended up. I really liked the character of Felicia, and her relationship with the men in her life, and her friend Autumn. I also found Felicia’s parents, their careers, and their relationship with their daughter, interesting and different. Having said that, so much about the book made me want to just give up reading that I can’t recommend it wholeheartedly.

But – if you read it – I hope you enjoy. Particularly if you’re reading it in a hammock.

I read it.

It still has the appeal of the first two books, but it does have that middle of the series lag, at least at the beginning of the book. It’s not so much that Smith is trying to go over what’s in the first two books–thankfully, he doesn’t fall into that trap. (Start at the beginning of the series if you want to know, right?) But he does begin with lots of gory details about Alex becoming a ‘Black Suit.’ The depth of this description will have appeal to many readers–it may hook some guys who don’t often choose, of their own free will, to read (teens whom libraries and schools call ‘reluctant readers’).

I’m not a reluctant reader, so I was getting agitated–where had the storyline gone off to? Whatever was going to happen in the novel was left to wander the desert for–what seemed to me–forty years, while I was bogged down in page after page of Alex’s surgeries, hallucinations, bloody towels and intravenous drips. To be fair, the hallucinations are later connected to the story. (It’s hard to understand how the ‘nectar’ that the warden is having pumped into Alex can make him see historical events while sedated, but there is an explanation, and it’s worth just rolling with it.)

The story does get moving along, and we reunite with Simon and Zee, have a great jailbreak scene, and more. So, if you enjoy the long descriptions of effluvia, stretched skin, painful procedures and an immoderate number of hallucinations, great. If not, it’s OK to give the first third of the book a cursory (quick, fast) read, skimming the pages. And then get down to the story.

I continue to recommend this series, particularly for ‘reluctant readers.’

I read it.

It still has the appeal of the first two books, but it does have that middle of the series lag, at least at the beginning of the book. It’s not so much that Smith is trying to go over what’s in the first two books–thankfully, he doesn’t fall into that trap. (Start at the beginning of the series if you want to know, right?) But he does begin with lots of gory details about Alex becoming a ‘Black Suit.’ The depth of this description will have appeal to many readers–it may hook some guys who don’t often choose, of their own free will, to read (teens whom libraries and schools call ‘reluctant readers’).

I’m not a reluctant reader, so I was getting agitated–where had the storyline gone off to? Whatever was going to happen in the novel was left to wander the desert for–what seemed to me–forty years, while I was bogged down in page after page of Alex’s surgeries, hallucinations, bloody towels and intravenous drips. To be fair, the hallucinations are later connected to the story. (It’s hard to understand how the ‘nectar’ that the warden is having pumped into Alex can make him see historical events while sedated, but there is an explanation, and it’s worth just rolling with it.)

The story does get moving along, and we reunite with Simon and Zee, have a great jailbreak scene, and more. So, if you enjoy the long descriptions of effluvia, stretched skin, painful procedures and an immoderate number of hallucinations, great. If not, it’s OK to give the first third of the book a cursory (quick, fast) read, skimming the pages. And then get down to the story.

I continue to recommend this series, particularly for ‘reluctant readers.’

People who have a singular favourite thing make me suspicious. With the vast amount of awesome shit out there, who can say that this one or that one is the very best of the lot? I have a million favourite everything, and thus cannot answer any question about my favourite anything without listing a dozen different things and specifying, ‘oh this is one of my favourites, this is my favourite of this genre and the best one from this author…’

What can I say, I like a lot of shit. And I always have, even as a kid. So to ask what my favourite book as a child was brings up a whole raft of questions – what age-range does ‘childhood’ entail? Does ‘childhood’ include YA reading? I read some adult books as a kid, does that count? Regardless, here is some of my favourite books that I read as a kid:

Heaps of Stuff by Victor Kelleher

(source)

I loved sci-fi and post-apocalyptic stuff even as a kid (I think it started when I watched The Stand mini-series on telly at far-too young an age.) Victor Kelleher is an Australian (by way of the UK and Africa) author who writes these amazing tales of the far-off (and not too far-off) future. Taronga is one of his best, set in Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, it tells the story of a young boy in a post-apocalyptic world who has the ability to communicate (in a fashion) with animals. There’s this great second-hand book store near my work and whenever I see an old Kelleher book that I used to love, I always snap it up. Parkland, The Makers, Fire Dancer, Del-Del, Earthsong are some other titles that I used to check out of the public-school library as a youngin’, and they all hold up to reading now.

Galax-Arena by Gillian Rubenstein

(source)

Australia was putting out some awesome fantasy/sci-fi stuff when I was a kid and this book was one of my real favourites. It’s about three siblings who are abducted and taken to another planet where they are put to work performing in the Galax-Arena, doing feats of gymnastic skill for an alien audience. But, things are not exactly as they seem… This is a pretty serious book, and it floored me when I read it as a ten- or eleven year old. In looking it up just now I’ve discovered that there is a sequel, which I’ve decided I must read.

Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park

(source)

Part historical fiction, part time-travel story, it is the tale of Abigail, a Sydney girl who ends up back in The Rocks area in the 1870′s. I adore the setting, I love the story, I care about the characters. It’s rich imagining of the early days of Sydney is especially exciting if you are familiar with the area at all, which I am! I’m going to be talking more about this one soon: I’m about to re-read it as part of a time-travel fiction binge that I’m going through and plan to write about when I’m done.

Anything by Paul Jennings

(source)

Remember Round the Twist? That television show was based on books by Paul Jennings, an AMAZING author who released collections of weird and wonderful short stories that were always on the wait list at the school library. Some were hilarious, some creepy, and all were very weird. I haven’t read a book by Jennings for a long time, and I think I should start searching the second-hand stores for his collections!

-

Thinking about these books takes me back to my primary school library, with my library bag and the big felted steps we all flopped on to read on rainy days. When you are as book mad as I was (and still am), you fondly recall the place where that love was kindled, and I’ve got the most lovely memories of all the libraries at all the schools I went to, as well as the public library my mum took me to almost every Saturday.

What were your favourite books as a kid? Read any of these awesome Aussie authors?

Summer Reading

One of my reading goals this summer is to read and select some books about bullying—both the cyber sort and the in-person attacks. I hope to recommend two bully-themed books per month in the 2013-14 school year.

This is going to be my “Ontario Teens Read” for 2013-14.

If you want to read some of the bullying books this summer before we start the “Ontario Teens Read 2013-14,” below are titles I’m considering.

We’ll begin the school year with a few that we’ve already been talking up for a while—they have become popular on my campuses, but if you haven’t read them, you might start here:

Want to Go Private

(Mature teens only—read the review!—cyberbullying by a sexual predator—the horrible, lasting effects of having the wrong things posted online!)

Thirteen Reasons Why

A new book I want to pair with Thirteen Reasons is:

I Swear by Lane Davis

It’s similar, but the students who pushed the girl too far are trying to cover up their responsibility.

Other bullying books we’ve talked up in the past:

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci

The Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

Others I’m considering–some new, some tested and loved, some intense reads, some for reluctant readers–all got good reviews.

There are more than I can feature in a year. If you want to read a few and let me know what you think, I’d appreciate it very much!

The List by Siobhan Vivian

The Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Shooter by Walter Dean Myers

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

Rotters by Daniel Kraus

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga

Promises to Keep by Paul Langan

Playground by 50 Cent

The Beckoners by Carri Mac

Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn

Brutal by Michael B. Harmon, Michael B.

Burn : A Novel  by Suzanne Phillips

By the Time You Read This, I’ll be Dead by Julie Ann Peters

Cracked by K. M. Walton

Crossing Lines by Paul Volponi

Dough Boy by Peter Marino

Dumped by Meredith Costain

Egghead: A Novel by Caroline Pignat

Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser

Letters to a Bullied Girl by Olivia Gardner

Names will Never Hurt Me by Jaime Adoff

Poison Ivy by Amy Goldman Koss

Teen Queens and Has-beens by Cathy Hopkins

What Happened to Cass McBride by Gail Giles

Who I Am by M. L. Rice

Send by Patty Blount

Playground by 50 Cent

Everybody Sees the Ants by A. S. King

Beaten by Suzanne Weyn

I’ll decide on titles as the school year progresses, but I’m still in the selection stage. Any of these would make a great summer read.

Summer Reading

One of my reading goals this summer is to read and select some books about bullying—both the cyber sort and the in-person attacks. I hope to recommend two bully-themed books per month in the 2013-14 school year.

This is going to be my “Ontario Teens Read” for 2013-14.

If you want to read some of the bullying books this summer before we start the “Ontario Teens Read 2013-14,” below are titles I’m considering.

We’ll begin the school year with a few that we’ve already been talking up for a while—they have become popular on my campuses, but if you haven’t read them, you might start here:

Want to Go Private

(Mature teens only—read the review!—cyberbullying by a sexual predator—the horrible, lasting effects of having the wrong things posted online!)

Thirteen Reasons Why

A new book I want to pair with Thirteen Reasons is:

I Swear by Lane Davis

It’s similar, but the students who pushed the girl too far are trying to cover up their responsibility.

Other bullying books we’ve talked up in the past:

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci

The Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

Others I’m considering–some new, some tested and loved, some intense reads, some for reluctant readers–all got good reviews.

There are more than I can feature in a year. If you want to read a few and let me know what you think, I’d appreciate it very much!

The List by Siobhan Vivian

The Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Shooter by Walter Dean Myers

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

Rotters by Daniel Kraus

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga

Promises to Keep by Paul Langan

Playground by 50 Cent

The Beckoners by Carri Mac

Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn

Brutal by Michael B. Harmon, Michael B.

Burn : A Novel  by Suzanne Phillips

By the Time You Read This, I’ll be Dead by Julie Ann Peters

Cracked by K. M. Walton

Crossing Lines by Paul Volponi

Dough Boy by Peter Marino

Dumped by Meredith Costain

Egghead: A Novel by Caroline Pignat

Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser

Letters to a Bullied Girl by Olivia Gardner

Names will Never Hurt Me by Jaime Adoff

Poison Ivy by Amy Goldman Koss

Teen Queens and Has-beens by Cathy Hopkins

What Happened to Cass McBride by Gail Giles

Who I Am by M. L. Rice

Send by Patty Blount

Playground by 50 Cent

Everybody Sees the Ants by A. S. King

Beaten by Suzanne Weyn

I’ll decide on titles as the school year progresses, but I’m still in the selection stage. Any of these would make a great summer read.

My novel, Saraswati’s Way, opens in rural Rajasthan, the arid north-eastern state of India. The annual monsoon has not come; instead the land is parched by relentless heat. At the beginning of the book we meet Akash, my 12-year old protagonist, in his classroom in a poor schoolhouse in his village. Soon after the opening paragraph we learn that he has a talent for maths and, under-challenged in his class, hopes to go to a better school that would allow him to nurture and develop his aptitude for numbers.

Here an early paragraph:

A light breeze blew plumes of sand across the empty schoolyard. On the other side of a low wall the flat desert stretched out against the horizon. Over the course of the morning the dark rectangle this side of the wall would shrink and by recess time provide just enough shade for children like Akash who didn’t like to play cricket or run after a ball. From his seat by the open window Akash scanned the sky for signs of a rainstorm, for the swollen monsoon clouds that usually built up this time of year before they exploded with thunder and lightning to unleash sheets of rain. But the breeze only died, and Akash resigned himself to yet another day of relentless heat. 

I chose certain details to describe what Akash sees from his seat near the window to express a mood of boredom and anticipation of something that might not come. He looks out on the empty, flat desert, hoping for a rainstorm that would bring relief. Instead the wind dies down, leaving everything bare and exposed to the relentless heat for the rest of the day. The oppressive temperatures and desolate landscape reflect Akash’s sense of despair at the beginning of the book.

Andrew Smith, in his novel, Stick, also uses the weather, light and the color of the sky to express an atmosphere. Stick, the 14-year-old main character of the novel, lives in an abusive home with his gay brother, Bosten. After falling out with his father, Bosten leaves and Stick sets out to find him. He is confused, anxious and often overwhelmed by his sexual desires, and Smith keeps the reader close to Stick’s inner turmoil with an intense first-person narrative. On his quest, Stick meets many people, among them April and Willie who pick him up on his way to California. They offer him a place to stay on Willie’s houseboat and when they arrive Stick is not sure if he can trust them, but also finds himself sexually attracted to April. Andrew Smith sets the tense mood of the scene with this opening paragraph:

By the afternoon of my fourteenth birthday, the sky striped flat in ribbons of chalk and slate clouds that hung so low I could almost feel the pressure and weight of them, like a ceiling of sodden sponge that I could press my hands to if I had the courage to raise my arms high enough.

The reader feels the atmospheric pressure caused by the low hanging sky and relates to Stick’s insecurity when he compares the sky to a ‘sodden sponge’ he lacks the courage to lift.

When Stick finally returns to California and is about to be reunited with his aunt, Smith adds this description:

The sun had dropped below the horizon out on the sea, and I realized that there was a certain unique color the light would cast at precisely this hour.

This is a beautiful observation. We can all see that particular hue the sky takes on when the sun is about to set at the ocean. With this description Smith captures the mood right before Stick will see his aunt by comparing it with the special glow that occurs before the sunset. Stick is worried if she will welcome him and asks the truck driver who drops him off not to leave before his aunt has seen him. Stick doesn’t know if she will be happy to see him or not. In his image Smith expresses the beauty of the moment combined with the possibility of darkness that follows.

Weather descriptions provide an effective tool to depict mood in a scene, but writers have to be careful not to overuse it. The sky should not darken every time the character becomes sad and the sun should not come out from behind the cloud when the protagonist’s mood brightens. It is important to employ this technique sparsely and avoid clichés or too many “emotion-enhancing coincidences” between weather and character’s emotional state and instead to find fresh and precise images.

***

Monika Schroder’s author website: www.monikaschroeder.com

Monika Schroder’s bio page

***

United States (and beyond)

United Kingdom (and beyond)

Australia (and beyond)

Writing Teen Novels
www.writingteennovels.com

Discounted Pre-Purchase begins TODAY, June 1st and ends June 10th!

$2.99 (ebook only, reg. $3.99) and $7.99 (ebook & EP soundtrack, reg. $8.99)

PURCHASE LINKS LOCATED AT THE SIDE BAR!

During this time, $1 of each purchase will be donated to the non-profit organization To Write Love On Her Arms!

TWLOA MISSION STATEMENT:

TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS IS A NON-PROFIT MOVEMENT DEDICATED TO PRESENTING HOPE AND FINDING HELP FOR PEOPLE STRUGGLING WITH DEPRESSION, ADDICTION, SELF-INJURY, AND SUICIDE. TWLOHA EXISTS TO ENCOURAGE, INFORM, INSPIRE, AND ALSO TO INVEST DIRECTLY INTO TREATMENT AND RECOVERY.

Visit http://twloha.com/ for more information about this amazing organization.

The blog tour is hosted by Lady Reader’s Book Tours, visit her blog today for more tour stops and to enter to win some amazing giveaways! Giveaways include a Kindle and To Write Love On Her Arms merchandise! (no purchase necessary to enter to win.)

FIRST KISS releases June 11th on Amazon.com!

If you’ve missed the Official First Kiss Book Trailer ~ You can watch it here and then click on the links below to download a FREE copy of the 5-star rated teaser novella!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12641062-skid-out

B103 pondi700 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hello Readers! Sorry this post is coming in so late – but it has been one of THOSE days – crazy and long, but I didn’t want to miss out on this. This series is, as always, brought to you by Should Be Reading on WordPress.com at http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/ !

So here we go! I know you are all dying to know this right??

1. What am I currently Reading?

So just this very night I started “The Summer I Became A Nerd” by Leah Rae Miller – I have so many things to choose from right now but this one seems to be “speaking to me” – or I’m losing my mind.. So i’m going with the fact it’s speaking to me as my next great read. i’ve seen great reviews, so I shall give it a try thanks to Netgallery! Anyone have any comments on this – have you read it yet? It was honestly between this, Epic Fail, Losing It, and the Elite… not sure why I keep putting that last one off. But i’m figuing this – I will read one book I have purchased for every book I have been graciously been allowed to review by either Netgallery or Edelweiss. Sounds like a plan right? Right..

Per Goodreads short summary of this book:

On the outside, seventeen-year-old Madelyne Summers looks like your typical blond cheerleader—perky, popular, and dating the star quarterback. But inside, Maddie spends more time agonizing over what will happen in the next issue of her favorite comic book than planning pep rallies with her squad. That she’s a nerd hiding in a popular girl’s body isn’t just unknown, it’s anti-known. And she needs to keep it that way.

Summer is the only time Maddie lets her real self out to play, but when she slips up and the adorkable guy behind the local comic shop’s counter uncovers her secret, she’s busted. Before she can shake a pom-pom, Maddie’s whisked into Logan’s world of comic conventions, live-action role-playing, and first-person-shooter video games. And she loves it. But the more she denies who she really is, the deeper her lies become…and the more she risks losing Logan forever

2. What did I just Finish Reading?

Ok Folks – I’ve been gabbing about this for days, and  you know i love it already – but I finally finished “Pushing The Limits” By Katie McGarrry today and as I thought, loved the ending – sad at moments, even tears at some points, but loved it and cannot wait to read the other book about Beth. Unfortunately, I was not approved to read this via the gallery sites — sad face here.. But I did come across a mini-novella today about this series featuring on Leila – for like $2 – what a steal so i picked that up. I won’t go into details or  plot with this because A- i’ve already talked to much about it and B- I want to leave something for my review right? It will be up by this weekend.

3. What do I plan on reading next? Now this is a really loaded question – I never really decide anymore until the very minute before I read it.. So for right now I’m going to commit to “The Elite” by Kara Cass – I so loved the first book and b/c of Delirium (no offense to Oliver) i’m a little gun shy about the seconds in a series – but I have heard good things about this so I’m going to bite the bullet and read it, there, I’ve said it and commited – I’m doing this and I expect you all to hold me to this — OK?

GoodReads Summary:

The hotly-anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestseller The Selection.

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

I surely hope someone talks back to me or reads this, or else I’m just going nutty – So what are you all reading/finsihed reading/planning on reading today? Why not ponder on a Wednesday night – gets you ready for the weekend right?

I have to add a little rant to the end of this WWW Wednesday – do you all find that your blogging or creating of the blog entries/driving traffic to your blog takes away time from your real reading – I was reading 2 books a week on average and now i’m at 1 — maybe I’m doing something wrong here? Help please if you have any suggestions, I’m still a little green here…

All right – that’s all for my rant/breakdown for this Wednesday. Hope to see you all back here next week! and don’t forget – comment back and let me know what you are reading, if you’ve read anything on my list, or discuss anything else at all you want ot talk about!

Happy Wednesday Fellow Bloggers and Readers!

Kell

Related articles

• Monday Musings! (bookgirlfromsouthcarolina.wordpress.com)

Song of a Stone Heart by Magdalena

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

Jonas lived in a community that valued the notion of sameness, order, and predictability–perfection.  There was no pain, color, or choices.  Within the community, there was a Committee of Elders that made all the decisions for the citizens, because it was believed they were incapable of making the right selections from themselves.  If an individual was deemed undesirable, old, or committed a transgression more than three times they were released from the community.  December was approaching and Jonas was looking forward to and a little apprehensive about his upcoming rite called the Ceremony of Twelve, in which he would receive his assignment.  Each child’s assigned role was picked by the Committee of Elders; it was based on the observations made during the child’s years of volunteerism.  Jonas worried about what assignment he would receive and whether he would like it or not.  The anticipation was mounting on ceremony day as Jonas sat and waited for his name to be announced and finally learn what duty was chosen for him, but once his turn arrived he was skipped over.  Jonas started to panic and fret that he had done something wrong, or why else would he get bypassed.  He did not have to wait long to discover his fate, it was revealed that Jonas was selected for an honored position as the Receiver and train with the Giver.  During his instruction, Jonas experienced true pleasure and pain as the Giver transferred memories of a time long ago.  Jonas began to question the confines of the community, after he became aware of certain truths.  What will Jonas do with the knowledge he now possesses.

Lois Lowry’s The Giver is a disturbingly imaginative and thought provoking, dystopian fantasy written for Young Adult and tween readers.  Readers will have plenty of unforgettable material and symbolism to discuss and ponder.  One of the essential themes in Lowry’s novel was the concept to have free will and the capacity to make choices.  Children relied on their parents to make the best decisions for them, but as they grow into young teens a desire for autonomy manifest.  This book shows tweens that the ability to choose what is right and wrong for themselves exhibits an independence.  Jonah’s tale also emphasized the value of differences and the power to obtain knowledge.  Juveniles long to fit in, but The Giver demonstrates they should celebrate their individuality and be proud of their special and unique qualities.  Jonah had the aptitude to see beyond the veil of ordinariness to a world that was rich with vibrancy and readers can appreciate that in their own lives.  Teachers and librarians should recommend this book for book clubs or individual readings.  Parents might be a little apprehensive, because of some of the graphic content but it is a quality read nonetheless.

Subject:

Science Fiction

Awards:

Newbery Honor

Other Books By Lois Lowry:

Recommended Books with Similar Themes:

 Spacer and Rat by Margaret Bechard

 Mergers by Steven L. Layne

 The Mystery Machine by Herbie Brennan

 Truesight by David Stahler