Review of Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Feiwel & Friends

Cinder: Book One the Lunar Chronicles

By Marissa Meyer

5 Scribbles

For a while there I lost my desire to read any book that was a fairy tale spin off, because a few of those I have read have been silly and trite, and so I fought reading Cinder; but then I saw all of the accolades the book is earning and I though, why not? Thank goodness that I finally overcame my apprehension and read this phenomenal book! Cinder is a cyborg living in New Beijing; she was made into a cyborg when she almost died at age 11 and scientists patched her together with artificial parts and internal computer programming to keep her alive. That makes her a second-class citizen to her stepmother, sisters, and pretty much everyone. Since she works as a mechanic to pay her "guardian" stepmother’s bills she devises a plan to run away and perhaps find her family—the family she cannot remember from before the accident. But then the plague comes to New Beijing, and suddenly Cinder finds herself the center of a study to find the cure for the deathly illness that might cost her everything, her freedom, her health, and maybe even her life.

The setting for the story is perfect and unique! Who would have thought that China (of the future) would be so appropriate for this story? Given China’s current manufacturing boom it totally makes sense, and China feels like any Western country, so it’s very easy for the reader to feel at home while reading the story! Cinder’s character, while facing daily prejudice and persecution, is so much fun to follow. The dialogue is very realistic, with Cinder talking exactly like teens today would talk, and sharing the same habits and hopes of teens today. For instance, when she meets the Prince and is asked to fix his Android, it’s all she can do to speak intelligently and not get too distracted by his good looks, even though she knows he’d never speak to her if he knew she was Cyborg! I adored Cinder’s calm under pressure, her love for her younger step-sister Peony, despite Peony’s privilege, and her sense of humor. She is a strong and admirable protagonist that any of us would like to have as a friend. And as for the plot? Perfect. Although anyone who has read Cinderella sort of knows Cinder’s destiny, it’s still a joy to find out how the author will spin the classic tale with Cinder’s character. I was riveted to this story and it’s action; I could not put it down. A great read for the middle grade, junior high, and high school ages—and for that matter, for anyone who enjoys a good fairy tale/sci-fi blend.

Review of Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

HarperTeen

Carrier of the Mark

By Leigh Fallon

2 Scribbles

Megan and her dad have moved nearly every year since the tragic death of her mother, and Megan hopes this latest move will be the last because she feels right at home in Kinsale, Ireland. Megan makes friends fast, even though (in very Twilight-esque fashion) the boy she is most interested in, Adam, avoids her. What Megan doesn’t know is that the odd gray-cloaked man she has seen in the strangest places has brought her to Kinsale for a very important event. There is something special about Megan that even she doesn’t know—and through a series of odd and mysterious happenings, Megan will soon find out what that something is.

Let me first say that while I loved the setting for the novel, I found the character of Megan…well…dull. Outside of being an American in Ireland, there isn’t anything particularly interesting about her. She doesn’t have any obvious skills, interests, or traits that make her outstanding (with the exception of her birth secret that comes out later). I loathe the fact that when Megan meets her beloved she falls head over heels for him despite the fact that she has never dated before. She doesn’t even seem to have any doubts about swearing eternal love to him and he does the same, even though they’ve only known one another for like, five minutes. The narrative seems to focus around him obsessing over her, her objecting to (but secretly relishing) his obsessing, the two sparring and then making up. What could have been a strong supernatural element gets overshadowed by the sappy romantic elements and the weak characterization. And, in true series fashion, the ending leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Sadly, this novel would have been stronger if some of those questions at least, had been answered. At this point I probably won’t pick up a next installment.

Review of Throne of Glass by Sara J. Maas

Bloomsbury USA
Childrens

Throne of Glass

By Sarah J. Maas

5 Scribbles

To be released, August 7, 2012

Celaena Sardothien knows she will live out the rest of her days as a slave in the salt mines of Endovier, days that are numbered—that is until the son of the King of Adarlan, Prince Dorian, approaches her with a deal. Win a contest against the most ferocious assassins in the combined kingdoms and win her freedom. Not an easy task for most teenaged girls, but Celaena isn’t your average teenager; Celaena is a trained assassin, and she’s eager to win her freedom, even when she discovers she is fighting not just against earthly powers, but against the powers of a dark and supernatural otherworld that are hell-bent upon her destruction. Celaena is a strong female protagonist, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Graceling’s Katsa and Divergent’s Tris. Readers will love watching Celaena face off with brutes three times her size and at the same time keep her feminine edge. In fact, key male characters fall for Celaena, but what makes this read phenomenal is that the squeaky-clean romance supplements the story and does not dominate it. Celaena has a heart and a brain, and she comes off as surprisingly moral and compassionate for someone who has been defined as an "assassin." In fact, I hope to see another installment in this series so that Celaena’s background may be revealed. Secondary characters are equally interesting, and the chapters move at a rapid-fire pace that keeps readers riveted. After this work, readers will demand more from Sarah Maas!

Review of The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison

Egmont USA

The Butterfly Clues

By Kate Ellison

3 Scribbles

17-year-old, Lo cannot walk through a door without performing a complicated routine; she collects random chatzkies and struggles to fit in socially—all elements of her obsessive compulsive disorder. Perhaps this is why, when a stripper named Sapphire is murdered in Neverland, where Lo hangs out, Lo obsesses over the case, determined to find the killer. Certainly Lo’s mental illness makes for an interesting ride; her disorder not only builds tension and conflict in the story, but it becomes a serious problem when Lo gets into dangerous spots. Lo spends a lot of time in Neverland, outside of Cleveland, a place with seedy strip clubs, crack houses, and drug-addled artists. Lo counts herself as one of these misfits; her parents have hardly noticed her since the death of her older brother years ago, and in Neverland she doesn’t have to hide her rituals from anyone—especially not from Flint, the handsome, eccentric artist who agrees to help her find Sapphire’s killer. But as the strange and sometimes over-the-top coincidences stack up, Lo discovers that her obsession to solve Sapphire’s death may have nothing at all to do with her mental illness. While necessary to the story, sometimes Lo’s rituals become tedious for the reader, and the novel concludes on a very rosy note. Otherwise, the identity of the killer is hard to predict, and this makes the work a solid read.

Review of Endure by Carrie Jones

Bloomsbury USA
Childrens

Endure

by Carrie Jones

(SPOILER ALERT)

3 Scribbles

I’ve been a fan of the Need series since book one when Jones took pixies out of obscurity and brought them to the YA audience. Thus, I was ecstatic to see book four of the series emerge after a long two-year wait. Zara is no different in this installment, soft-hearted, bull-headed, and intolerant of cruelty wherever it exists. Zara finds out the end of the world is eminent, and she is the one who will begin and end the apocalypse. She is an admirable, tough heroine. Unable to accept her role in the coming end, she and her entourage are forced to temporarily enlist new warriors in the fight against the evil pixies in Maine while they travel to Iceland to find the mythic "Hel," or Nordic underworld, and the secret to preventing the destruction of mankind.

Like other novels in the series, there is no shortage of butt-kicking action as Zara and her companions fight Frank and the evil pixies throughout the story. Jones isn’t afraid to sacrifice a human or two in the process either—which adds to the tension. The Norse myth of Hel in the story is very interesting, so different from the traditional Christian mythology of "Hell" that many readers in this country will find the narrative doubly interesting and the descriptions of Hel almost inviting. The keeper of Hel, also named "Hel" is perhaps one of the most interesting new additions to the series. Hel is a devil with a heart, and for some reason, she captures mine. I could see Jones developing a series of short stories based on Hel’s interactions with her "guests." But, I digress. What doesn’t really work in the novel is the changing relationship between Zara and Nick. Without revealing too much, Nick comes off as a major flake. And although the newly-developing relationship between Astley and Zara reveals that first loves (Nick) usually do not last forever, it is hard to make the shift to the new romantic duo—they just don’t sizzle. At times the novel lacks clarity (why does Issie’s mom keep her from going to Zara’s house after dark but let her travel to Iceland?), and it is difficult to suspend disbelief when the teens of the town start training. Despite these minor lapses, the finishing is satisfying even if it is not the best book of the four-book series.

Review of Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Katherine Tegen Books

Insurgent

By Veronica Roth

4 Scribbles

Short of sounding like Annie Wilkes from Misery, I can honestly say that after reading Divergent, book one in the series, I became Roth’s number-one fan. For one thing, I think Roth is a plotting genius, moving characters from conflict to conflict rapidly and leaving readers salivating for the next scene and chapter. Insurgent is no different. In fact, the quick, action-packed pacing is amplified in this installment because the remaining Divergent faction (namely Tris, Tobias and followers) who were not a part of the traitorous uprising with Erudite have no home and are forced to run from faction to faction for survival. Meanwhile, they must also decide how to best defeat Erudite and their limitless supply of soldiers thanks to the simulation serums that Erudite leader, Janine, has developed. How does one fight a war with limited resources, troops, and while being on the run? It’s a story rich with political dilemmas, family conflicts, and even dissension among friends. And what’s fabulous is that book two picks up right where book one, Divergent, leaves off!

There are a few flaws to this second book, and I suspect that these flaws are due to the fact that Divergent was such an overwhelming hit (sure to equal if not trump The Hunger Games) that Roth was forced to write and edit too quickly. Roth even comments about these glaring errors in her own blog .
My number-one beef with book two, however, a beef that I hope she remedies in book three, is that the main character Tris, who was tough, stoic, a strong female character who belongs in Divergent in book one…Tris she cries all the time in book two. It is over-the-top, it is melodramatic, it is exhausting to read about. It is too much. It’s just not Tris-worthy.

That being said, the twist at the end put my mind in a tailspin, and I cannot wait for book three, but I will so that quality of book three will be as stellar as book one!

Review of What a Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn

Kindle Edition

What a Boy Wants

by Nyrae Dawn

3+ Scribbles

"…girls didn’t realize the power they held. That they were really the ones pulling the strings." --Sebastion

Sebastion is a self-proclaimed "Hook-Up Doctor" who has the inside 411 for girls on how to land a guy who seems to have no interest (which Sebastion will offer up for a nominal fee). All of his clients are online; it’s the perfect way to save up some cash for a car. What Sebastion doesn’t realize is that giving away hook-up information is like telling a fisherman what bait to use and where to fish when you are a bass. He doesn’t realize that he might just be the target for one of his clients.

A strength and a weakness in the novel is the voice of Sebastion the womanizer, and main character. His narration is a strength because the dialogue/slang he uses is colorful, a bit profane, and very reflective of the way many teens speak. However, when this book is released in print (it is currently only available on Amazon Ebook), and I have no doubt it will be picked up for print, it may become dated after a number of years. The main conflict, Sebastion’s desire for and fear of a relationship with his lifelong friend, Aspen, will be valid no matter the decade or era. Who isn’t a bit unsure and afraid when they fall in love? Girls (and guys for that matter) should read this book. The peek into the male psyche and way of thinking is very insightful. So many young women don’t realize that they have power over boys—if they realized this they might be more apt to make strong choices in the relationship instead of being unduly influenced or pressured into commitments they aren’t willing to make. And for both guys and girls, the message is clear—games are the worst way for a happy dating situation. Games suck! So guys, read this book and see if it really explains what a guy wants, and girls, read this book and pull those strings!

Review of Henry Franks by Peter Adam Salomon

Flux

Henry Frank

by Peter Adam Salomon

5 Scribbles

To be released September 8, 2012

Henry doesn’t remember the accident that gave him the scars on his body, and he isn’t sure why he is losing feeling in his hands. What he does know is that his mother died in the accident that caused his father to become eerily absent and caused Henry to forget. Something is not quite right on St. Simons Island. Could that something be connected with the series of murders that have been reported?

One of the most refreshing aspects of this gruesome mystery is the voice. Unlike so many novels now told in the first-person, "I" narrative, this novel is told from the outside looking in. This outside view, coupled with the sparse dialogue between the main character Henry, and those he speaks with gives readers a more crisp view of the action, but also a more limited view, very appropriate for a mystery. Clues are planted early, but they are subtle, and I challenge readers to decipher their meaning before the revealing climax. The novel’s setting is also a strength—it certainly ratchets up the creep factor. The environment is hot and steamy, causing Henry’s scars to nag and itch, thus building the reader’s feeling of unease, and the impending hurricane, coupled with Henry’s loss of feeling, builds pressure on the reader to discover the killer. Salomon’s technique is clipped, with the only true narration appearing in news articles, which not only builds tension, but drives reader crazy trying to predict the killer and the ending, making for an extremely satisfying read. This is Saloman’s debut novel—a promising beginning to a writing career I plan to follow!

Review of Skinny by Donna Cooner

Scholastic

Skinny

By Donna Cooner

3 Scribbles
To be released Oct 1, 2012

Any time Ever sees her father, her gorgeous stepsisters, her stepmother, her classmates, or anyone else for that matter, she knows they are thinking about the elephant in the room—and that elephant is Ever. She weighs 302 pounds and is 15 years old. Will gastric bypass surgery help Ever win her crush, Jackson, and stop the embarrassment and isolation she feels every day?

Ever is a difficult character to embrace at first. She is plagued by a constant inner voice she dubs her fairy godmother, Skinny; Skinny’s voice is brutal, nagging and mocking Ever’s weight with hateful insults on a constant basis. Thus, Ever is also hateful, slinging snarky comments and sarcasm in her path wherever she goes, even to those who don’t deserve them. However, as the novel progresses, the reader begins to realize that Ever’s bitterness is all a front. What she really wants is to find friends, find love, and to fit—whether that be in her clothes or in her school—and right now she doesn’t fit anywhere. With the support of her dad and her best friend Rat, Ever chooses weight loss surgery, and through that experiences she begins to discover where her pain comes from. Without the band aid of food, Ever must now begin first grieving her mother, and then grieve food. Only then can her soul’s true beauty shine. Although Susan Vaught’s My Big Fat Manifesto presents an outside perspective of weight loss surgery, Cooner’s novel explores heretofore untouched territory of a teenager’s personal journey with gastric bypass. And while the humor falls flat in some places, and the romantic angle is predictable, teens struggling with personal overweight, or teens supporting a friend with these issues will enjoy the book. It is a timely story about the definition of true beauty, and for those who hate fairy tale retellings, no worries here, this tale is only loosely based on the Cinderella original.

Review of Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

Little Brown Books
for Young Readers

Story of A Girl
by Sara Zarr
5 Scribbles
One of the wisest women I have ever known used to say to me, “wherever you go, there you are.” And yet, who hasn’t felt like starting over in a new place might solve all of their problems at one time or another?  Deanna is only 13 when she gets caught in the backseat of a car with her older brother’s best friend, and from that moment on she is a slut in the eyes of her classmates. Worse yet, her father can’t even look at her anymore because he is so ashamed of her.  How long, and how far away from that backseat does Deanna have to get for people to see who she really is?
It isn’t difficult to have empathy for Deanna’s character. She speaks with a cynical voice that is wise beyond her years and angry, yet still belongs to a teenager. Even though Deanna is sexually experienced at an early age, she is still innocent in many ways.  What Deanna really needs is the love of her father and not his harsh judgment of her past.  She works relentlessly to restore her father’s love and respect, and yet she is continually punished, so much so that she begins to wonder if she really is as bad as what others (including her father) think she is. The setting also plays a huge role in the story contributing to the feeling of hopelessness and regret.  Deanna’s family is relatively poor, and this is evident in the peeling paint, messy yard, and stained carpeting of their home. Her brother, sister-in-law and niece live in the basement, and every member of the family has a poorly paying, but demanding job. No one really has time to spend listening to Deanna, and even her beloved brother seems to be moving away from her with his own family. Through Deanna’s eyes the reader has an authentic experience of a lower-middle class American. They see how difficult it is for struggling adults to keep their own disappointments from bleeding into the hearts of their children.  And better yet, they learn that the only way to change perception is to challenge it, to tell others who you are and who you intend to be, and usually that is done right where you are.

Review of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Quirk Books

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
By Ransom Riggs
3 Scribbles
Jacob grew up hearing his granddad, Abraham, tell stories about his narrow escape from the “monsters” that lived in Poland during WWII, and his flight as an orphan to a children’s home in Wales.  Granddad’s escape isn’t just from the Nazis, but monsters of the mythical type with bloodthirsty cravings for human flesh. When Jacob grows older he dismisses the stories about monsters as ravings from Granddad’s senile mind—that is until he witnesses a murder— and in his search for the killer, is forced to reconsider whether or not Abraham’s stories are actually true. 
There are three things that I find quite misleading about this book. The first perplexing point is most certainly the cover. Perhaps it is the intent of the artist to make the cover appear eerie and menacing, with the floating girl in vintage clothing, but what it actually does (in tandem with the long and lame title) is promote the book to primarily young female readers, even though the protagonist is a male, definitely not a good move on the part of the publisher. The third confounding element is the age of Jacob, the protagonist. At the start of the novel Jacob is an older teen using older-teen vocabulary and with an older-teen attitude. Imagine my disappointment when  Jacob seems to regress as the story moves on, acting more like a younger teen. Those errors aside, the action and the characters (including the monsters)  in the story are both excellent, feeling like a cross between the writing of Daren Shan in his Cirque du Freak series and Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus.  However, I would argue that there is nothing spooky at all about the story. The concept of possible time travel, while not unique per se, is made more interesting when described as time loops that eventually close.  And while the ending leaves a few questions unanswered (also leaving an opening for a second book in a series) this book has won several awards, and there is movie buzz surrounding it, so my average rating may fall well below the accepted mark.

Review of The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

St. Martin's Griffin

The Hunt

By Andrew Fukuda

3 Scribbles

There used to be humans in Gene’s life. There were his dad, his mom, and a sister—but that was so long ago he can barely remember. Now he lives amongst vampires. Each day he meticulously shaves all of his body hair, trims his nails, sharpens his fake fangs, and pretends to be excited about lunches of bloody, raw flesh served without anything to drink. If you’ve ever seen Ethan Hawke in Gattica, you know how little room there is for any error when one is passing as someone whose DNA is so markedly different from his compatriots. Discovery means being torn limb from limb by his bloodthirsty classmates and devoured. Gene knows he is perhaps the last human alive, and there is no future of family and friends to look forward to. The best he can hope for is survival. But then the Vampire Ruler announces The Hunt—apparently there are other humans, and the vampires are going to have a lottery to see who gets to hunt them and eat them—and guess who is chosen?

The concept of humans passing as vampires is an interesting spin on the tired vampire genre, so it’s not difficult to be drawn into the narrative of the story from the beginning. Descriptions in the book are vivid and quite well done, but in that richness is a slight flaw. Clearly, this is science fiction, and yet, it is difficult to suspend one’s disbelief that Gene can actually pass as a vampire. For one thing, he doesn’t have super-human speed, and I would think that would be very difficult to hide. Additionally, at one point in the story vampires are able to sniff out humans (Hepers) in the rain over an expanse of many miles nearly losing their sanity in the process with bloodlust—and yet, flimsy cover stories allow Gene to live amongst vampires without showering for several days undiscovered. At another point in the story Gene is near-death with dehydration, and yet he chooses to sleep rather than spend the safe hours while vampires are sleeping searching for water. Gene repeatedly makes errors that result in very close calls, and yet still seems to escape undiscovered. While this does contribute to the tension of the story, it’s a hard thing to overlook. However, if one is forgiving, the story is a bloody, action-packed start to a unique new series. Younger readers, and lovers of vampires will likely eat it up. But make no mistake, this is not the next Hunger Games.

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Review of Dark Song by Gail Giles

Little Brown Books
for Young Readers

Dark Song

By Gail Giles

4 Scribbles

Ames lives the fairy tale. Attentive, loving father who provides for the family. Mother who gives Martha Stewart a run for her domestic crown. Cute and cuddly baby sister. Quirky and loyal best friend. Mansion, exotic vacations, private school, cash flow—it is good to be Ames. That is until the bottom falls out. Ames’ dad barely avoids jail time for committing a white-collar crime, her mother turns into a shrew, her sister is afraid to sleep alone at night, and the family loses their house. Ames is not just angry to find out her parents aren’t the perfect people they pretended to be, she’s furious. What kind of parent violates the trust of their child like this? When the family is forced to move to a slum in Texas, Ames saves no time looking for someone to replace the parents she once loved, and she doesn’t really care who gets burned in the process. Most readers will identify with Ames because she is angry with her parents for their dishonesty and deception, who wouldn’t be? She is forced to face reality too soon—and in such a devastating way. However, what might be harder for readers to understand is Ames’ constant rich-girl whining…she’s almost comically sheltered from the real world; and yet, the reader will still stay firmly in Ames’s corner. True, Ames’s parents do take out their anger on Ames often in the story, but Ames is unable to see her part in the cycle of cruelty. Instead, she fights back by starting a relationship with a potentially dangerous 22-year-old, Marc, down the street. What she doesn’t realize is that this guy burns hot, and Ames is likely to get scorched. In trademark Giles’ style, the novel moves at a startling pace, with an introduction that teases the reader on, and short chapters that read like a roller coaster ride. Fans of Giles won’t be disappointed in this truly fractured fairy tale.

Review of Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen

Dutton Juvenile

Leverage

By Joshua Cohen

5 Scribbles

Readers will plow through this narrative like an offensive lineman on steroids, and in this novel, there is plenty of steroid use going on. Yet, that is not the thrust of the story. Kurt, a new player for Oregrove High School’s Knights, is glad to have a fresh start at a new school, having come to OHS as an orphan with a disturbing history. Cursed with a hellacious stutter, Kurt isn’t likely to share that story; instead, he plans to make the most of his new life, pumping iron not only to increase his chances at a scholarship, but also to insulate himself from pain, both inside and out. When his fate intertwines with Danny, an underclassman gymnast with mad skills, the two are unlikely friends. But a violent crime ties them both together, and they must decide if they will risk everything to speak out—including their lives. The story rockets along with a tension that is palpable, conflicts that will rip the reader apart from the inside out, and keep them awake at night. Even though some of the bad-guys seem to be a bit over-the-top in the sheer evil of their actions, I have no doubt in the wake of current news about bullying all over the country, that evil villains like these really exist. This novel is not for the faint of heart, and those offended by profanity and violence need not crack the pages—this is a story that could not be told without both. With an insight into human nature that psychologists would envy for its raw examination of courage and cowardice, I for one, find Leverage to be one of the finest, most well-written novels I have ever read.

Review of Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers



Houghton Mifflin
Books for Children

Grave Mercy His Fair Assassin, Book I (His Fair Assassin Trilogy)by Robin LaFevers

3 Scribbles

This is no average Cinderella story, although Ismae does rise up from the ashes. Sold into marital slavery by her father, she manages to escape with the clandestine help of furtive holy men who deliver her to the convent of Saint Mortain—a.k.a.— Brittany’s god of death.  There, Ismae becomes a nun who serves death.  And how does she do this? She’s an assassin who is charged with killing anyone who comes in the way of her country’s independence.  The novel begins with heart-stopping action. Ismae faces the consummation of her marriage to the filthy, pot-bellied drunk her father sells her to and immediately engages the reader’s sympathy. Prepared to love Ismae, the reader will follow her through her training in the convent and yearn for that first assignment. However, when Ismae makes her first kill, a great deal is lacking from the description. First, Ismae’s reaction to the kill seems nonchalant at best, making it difficult for the average reader to relate, even if the convent has trained her for this mission. Wouldn’t even the most calloused assassin feel something powerful after their first kill? From this point, Ismae is faced with infiltrating the Duchess’s castle as a noblewoman, becoming a spy, and murdering traitors along the way (which she does quite well). It isn’t until later in the novel, after several kills, that Ismae begins to question her task as a killer, and not entirely for the reasons one might expect. Furthermore, the romance that blossoms in the story is a stretch given Ismae’s hardened nature. Some writers can take a hate-hate relationship and turn it on its head in 200 short pages, not so in this case, not even with 400+ pages. I really, really tried to connect with Ismae, to feel those flutters with her when she finally opened her heart to love, but her distant affectation was perhaps written too well. That being said, the plotting of the novel is quite solid. The mysterious traitor is not easy to spot, several plot twists and skirmishes create interest along the way, and the setting is authentic. I am planning to read LaFevers’ second novel, featuring Ismae’s fellow sister-in-death, Sybella, because I felt that even in the brief time readers knew her, Sybella’s character was quite well-developed. I sense that Sybella has a magnificent story to tell! Overall, this is a valiant effort at a new series with an intriguing concept.

Review of The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman

Candlewick

The Obsidian Blade

By Pete Hautman

2 Scribbles

Tucker is thirteen when he sees his father, the devout Reverend Feye, disappear through a hazy disk-shaped area just above the roof of his house. When his father, the Good Reverend, returns a few hours later, he is much changed. Suddenly, everything Tucker knows and thinks he believes begins to change, and his family stability begins to shatter.

At first glance:
It is difficult to evaluate this novel on sheer surface entertainment value. There is a great deal of confusion involved for the reader as Tucker, his father, his uncle, even his mother, travel to and from different historical and futuristic periods. That does keep the reader engaged to some degree because it is impossible not to want to know how everything turns out for Tucker and his family. So from a tension and action standpoint, the novel moves forward rather quickly. Also, there are some interesting characters in the novel, for one, Reverend Feye—a man of unshakable faith whose faith is shaken. Awn, a Yoda-like character who (ironically) seems untouched by time, and Lahlia, whose presence in the novel (and soon to be series) is as of yet unclear. The flaw in the novel is unavoidable, the reader is faced with paradox after paradox, and so it is challenging for the reader to organize and make sense of the reading experience in our linear minds. Additionally, the work is planned as a series and the resolution of this first book is unsatisfactory.

Digging beneath the surface:
From an intellectual perspective the story is mesmerizing. There is a great deal going on in this text thematically. It seems that the disks, or "discos" as they are called, enable a person to travel back and forth into different times. In fact, according to Awen "time is not symmetrical," and with this idea some themes emerge in the story. First, time travel seems to create all of mankind’s mysteries; if humans understood and believed that time travel is real then we would not see mysterious events like alien visitations, ghostlike apparitions, or the Resurrection of Christ so mysterious or important. Secondly, despite the historical era or geographical location in the Universe, all humans are at their core evil, and so they leave evil in their wake. And lastly, beings that are not human (aliens) exist and at times do interact with humans.

Peppered throughout the text are also symbolic references that are hard to miss. For instance, Feye literally translated means, "destined to die," which is true for all of us. In this story it is doubly true because characters that travel well into the future, like Tucker and his father, are already dead when they go forward in time. Paradox, no? The Feye might also be a reference to the fairy folk who could trap people in their fairy land while time passed more quickly on Earth. People might spend what seemed like a day in the fairy world to return to an Earth where forty years have passed just like in this book. Father September, another character (sort of) in the text, also has a symbolic name. The beginning of September is the start of the Ecclesiastical Year in the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church. And given the events in the story, this cannot be coincidence.

Overall, I probably just scratched the surface of what is an incredibly dense and perplexing read. I asked a reader-friend of mine, John, to read the book with me. As he said, "if you like Star Trek and the Bible, you may like this book." If you have read the book and would like to comment on my review, please do!

Review of Shine by Lauren Myracle

Brilliance Audio

Shine

By Lauren Myracle

4 Scribbles

What would you risk to avenge someone you love?

Cat and Patrick were best friends once upon a time. But then something terrible happened to Cat, and she shut everyone in her small town out of her life. Cat learns that it is easier to be alone than to answer questions; besides, small towns are known for their gossip, and she doesn’t want to be a target again. But then Patrick is found bludgeoned, disfigured and left for dead outside of his job at the local gas station, and the whole town knows it is because he is gay. Now, since the local law seems to be indifferent to solving the crime, Cat risks her safety and her own terrible secret to find and reveal Patrick’s attacker. Worse, yet, Cat fears the attacker might be someone she knows.

The tension in this story builds continuously on two fronts from page one. The reader wants to know what happened to Cat in order to make her withdrawal from the world, and at the same time they want to know who attacked Patrick. This conflict, combined with the subtle, yet important commentary about poor economic conditions in the South, growing drug abuse problems amongst residents, racism and prejudice makes for a thought-provoking and powerful read. The characters are well-rounded and interesting; and while at first it is hard to believe in Miss Sweetie’s conviction that all people have good in them, even the most villainous characters in the story reveal this to be true. The dialogue in the story creates a rich texture and humor while at the same time respecting the culture of the region. And while at first I thought that some of the descriptions of attitudes in Black Creek might have marginalized people from the region, I quickly realized that Black Creek is the average American town with all the pretty trimmings removed. Black Creek could very easily be my town, be your town. The novel is raw, edgy, and honest, and I am better for having read it.

Let me add that I listened to this book on audio. The narrator, Elizabeth Evans, nailed the Appalachian accent with ease. I know this because my own parents are from the region! I was especially pleased with the way Evans was able to move from character to character, whether male or female, old or young without ever disturbing my sense of belief. A layered and significant work like this could have been a flop with a lesser reader, but Evans is to be commended. She pulled it off, "bless her heart!"

Review of The Apothecary by Maile Meloy (audio version)

Penguin Audio

The Apothecary

by Maile Meloy

4 Scribbles

What if "magic" isn’t really some mysterious force but a precisely created chemical reaction in matter? Sounds pretty sophisticated, but when Janie is forced to move with her mom and dad from Los Angeles, California to London, England she finds out that these scientific combinations are exactly what magic is made of; magic is very real, very possible, and not that complicated. Together with her newly made friend, Benjamin Burrows, the apothecary’s son, the two stumble across magical formulas that embroil them in an international plot to test an atom bomb, and a spy adventure that rivals Spy Kids and James Bond!

There isn’t a character in this novel that comes off as flat or boring, no matter how minor. Janie’s parents are the kinds of parents every kids wants, caring, creative, in love, but not too overprotective of Janie. Sarah Pennington, Janie’s arch-nemesis, could be your typical prep school snob, but she has a penchant for bad boys, even if they are poor. And then there is Pip! Pip, a character added in obvious homage to Dickens’ Great Expectations, lights up every scene he appears in with his hilarious jokes, cockney accent, pickpocketing and smooth-talking ways. The adults aren’t starchy cutouts either. Mr. Danby, Jin Lo, Benjamin’s dad, even the Gardner all have motivations and pasts. Add these characters, among others, to the mix with American Janie and earnest Benjamin Burrows, and you have a tale that captures the reader even before the author adds action to the mix. And oh, the action! The chapters are very short, and each chapter ends with a cliffhanger, often in some strange but interesting locale. Readers will worry about Janie and Benjamin, and yes, Pip too. Will the troublesome threesome survive as they spy on dangerous criminals who wouldn’t hesitate to kill kids? Will the children learn the secrets of the apothecary’s potions? Will Janie ever make it back home to her parents?

If you like audio books, I would highly recommend listening to this one. The narrator, Cristin Milioti, seamlessly switches between American, German, Russian, Norwegian, Chinese, British, and Cockney accents without stirring the awareness of the reader that it’s a dramatic reading by only one person, not a team of actors creating the narration. With such varied voices, this must be incredibly difficult to do. FYI, this book was on The American Library Association’s Notable Children’s Recordings of 2012 lists—clearly a commendation well earned.

Review of the Death Cure by James Dashner

Delacorte Books
for Young Readers

The Death Cure

By James Dashner

2 Scribbles

First let me say that I was enthralled by the first book in the Maze Runner trilogy. I was the series biggest fan; I even made The Maze Runner my favorite book on my website for nearly a year! The mystery of the Glade and the Maze, its possible purpose, hooked me and held me. But I admit, as the series progressed, I became less and less motivated to discover the purpose of WICKED and more and more anxious for the adventure to just wrap up. I was willing to stick with book two mainly because of the addition of new characters like Brenda and Jorge, even the though "The Scorch" was just another Maze-survival formula. That being said, I found book three to be a most painful read. Typically, I don’t mind violence in a novel at all—much of what I read, even in YA, due to my tastes—includes some level of violence. But in this third installment, I found the violence to be frequent, devoid of much intense reaction from or lasting impact on the characters, random and constant. For instance, fights are drawn out repeatedly, the author even including phrases like, "yet again" to describe the repeated pummeling that main characters like Thomas take in order to stretch the action on each page. Like the characters in the story, I grew immune to the gore, skimming over conflicts and fights, attacks and counter-attacks to get to the answers—the meat of the story. When I thought I was finally at the meat of the story, a spine-chilling confrontation at WICKED headquarters reminiscent of Unwind by Neal Shusterman, I was sadly disappointed. Instead the author offered a weak anti-climax followed by more bloodletting. And so I skimmed on. I am slightly impressed that the author fearlessly killed off a few important characters, but such events happen so late in the story that it hardly challenges his skills to guide the plot into newer, more engaging territory. Worst of all is the constant reminder through Thomas’s eyes that he cannot trust anyone. Or can he? He changes his mind so frequently that I actually quit caring who is trustworthy and who isn’t. Sadly, what starts as a strong work of sci-fi, in the end might have been better as one installment.

Review of Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

HarperCollins

Pandemonium

By Lauren Oliver

5 Scribbles

Book two of the Delirium series introduces a girl who is no longer naive; Lena is tough, resilient, and stoic in the face of what she has lost. And yet Lena is slightly-broken—never having dreamed she would face her idealistic "Wilds" without Alex—the boy who infected her with the delirium. In alternating chapters entitled "Now," and "Then," the reader experiences Lena’s growth from a newly-born Invalid mourning her lost love and struggling to recover and thrive in the Wilds to a full-on member of the Resistance. Charged with her mission, to shadow the youth leader of the "Delirium Free America" organization, she moves to Manhattan and assumes a false identity. Will she survive the experience? The more fully engrained she becomes in her new life, the more she begins to wonder if the Resistance isn’t much different from the world she left. Will she be forced to evaluate her own moral code? Is it ever acceptable to sacrifice the needs of the individual in order to prosper and protect the whole? With action that builds momentum and urgency in each page, the reader is compelled to see if Lena will complete the mission she has been given by the Resistance, if she will abandon her new Invalid family, and if she will ever recover from the loss of Alex and find love again. Readers engrossed in will be equally pleased with book two and applaud the bittersweet irony of the Oliver’s clever ending. Book three, Requiem, cannot arrive soon enough!

Starters by Lissa Price

Delacorte Books
for Young Readers

Starters

By Lissa Price

4 Scribbles

Imagine being curled up in flannels, belly full, checking texts, or updating your Facebook feed one last time before bed. It is good to be healthy, strong, and a teenager, good to chill out and drift off to sleep with no worries except what is going on this weekend. Now imagine that a new day breaks, the world has changed, and all the parents in the United States are dead or dying. That’s Callie’s reality.

A biochemical weapon released during a war on the United States kills everyone between the ages of 20 and 60. Only the young and very old live—having been inoculated first for the virus that government officials knew would come—and now children who don’t have concerned, rich grandparents, or "Enders," to care for them are homeless vagrants fighting against starvation and violence to stay alive in a world that could care less. Callie is desperate to provide for her sick brother, Tyler. She volunteers at a mysterious company, Prime Destinations, where for an outrageous amount of money an Ender can "rent" her body for a time and like a teenager again. The deal seems straight forward enough, and so despite her uneasiness at having someone living in her head and body for a while, Callie signs on the dotted line. And that’s when the fun begins. Callie is a strong female protagonist who isn’t easily swayed to go against her morals despite the fact that doing so might save her brother’s life. She is angry at having to live in a world with uncaring and selfish Enders, at not being allowed to work to provide for her brother, and yet she is resourceful enough to keep them both alive. A good thing she’s resourceful too, because in the world of Enders, nothing is as it seems. Plot twists keep readers plowing through pages despite minor details that might have been touched on (for instance, how do the Enders who are "renting" manage to keep their muscles strong and not starve while reclining for months on end?), and mysterious characters like Blake’s grandfather and the Man in the Mask, force readers to move forward in search of answer. Part survival story, part apocalyptic fare, what’s best about this novel is the unique slant. In a market filled with such novels, Price has truly engineered an exceptional tale with no contemporary comparisons—and that’s saying something, especially for a debut author! Couple all of this with the (cruel) teaser at the end and readers will be begging for a second installment.

Review of Dear America: Like the Willow Tree

Scholastic

Dear America: Like the Willow Tree

by Lois Lowry

4 Scribbles

Imagine having a birthday and one week later both of your parents are dead. This is what Lydia faces when the Spanish Flu kills her mother, her father, and her baby sister. She and her brother are sent to live with the Shakers, a deeply religious people who believe in a simple life. When Lydia and her brother first arrive at the Shaker village, Lydia is accepting but apprehensive about this new life. She becomes more apprehensive when one of the sisters takes the only memory she has of her mother—the ring gifted to her on her last birthday. Will Lydia learn to live amongst the Shakers, and more importantly, will her angry brother Daniel adapt to the lifestyle and tame his anger over their parents’ death? First let me say that I listened to this book on audio—and I think that the reader, Sara Barnett, has the perfect voice to portray the main character in the story, eleven-year-old, Lydia Pierce. Her voice sounds young and her impressive use of pitch and inflection reveals Lydia’s excitement, enthusiasm, and innocence perfectly. Through Lydia’s eyes, the reader imagines what it would be like to be a Shaker, to live a simple life, but one that is always working towards perfection, towards creating a heaven on Earth, as the Shakers do. I loved the story, but even I must admit that a failing of the book was idealizing the Shaker way. On only one instance does Lydia mention treating a classmate in a mean way, and instances where women gossiped in the laundry was treated more as concerned discussion than what it actually was—gossiping about another—which I’m pretty sure is not the Christian way no matter what sect you are in. Even with this optimistic slant, I enjoyed the story tremendously, it was an easy, entertaining read, with an Epilogue that will surprise the reader.

Review of Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Yearling

Moon Over Manifest

by Clare Vanderpool
4 Scribbles

A little girl with a transient past is sent to stay with a minister in a small town while her father pursues a railroad job. Sounds like a snoozer, doesn’t it? Think again. This winner of the 2011 Newberry Award is very engaging. On the first day of her arrival, Abilene, the protagonist, discovers a hidden compartment in her bedroom containing a cigar box with old letters and trinkets. Within the box, there is an indication that a spy, a.k.a. "The Rattler," lived in Manifest during WWI, and he (or she) might still be in town. Abilene begins to investigate the spy story, and in the process, meets a mysterious fortune teller who begins to reveal the secrets of Manifest, and maybe even the secrets that her father never told Abilene. The story then begins to be told partly in the present, and partly through flashbacks of Manifest’s past. Readers will see themselves not only in Abilene and her friends, but also in the characters of the past. What kid doesn’t love to investigate? Abilene and her friends poke their noses into very inch of the small town in pursuit of The Rattler, despite being warned to "leave it alone," and in the process have to wiggle out of some tight spots or else get in deep trouble. Abilene’s voice is a highlight in the story. Abilene "rhymes" when she is nervous; rhymes from the period add to the feel of living in that time, and Abilene is laugh-out-loud funny! For instance, when Abilene first sees the fortune teller, she comments that the sign on the door indicates the fortune teller is a "medium" but she feels like that is a bit optimistic—clearly, the woman is at least a size large. Such innocent, humorous word play riddles the book, and lends to the fresh feeling of being young, curious, and invincible. Best of all, by solving the mystery enshrouding Manifest, Abilene gains a new understanding of and connection with her father, and an awareness of what a true home can be.

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Review of The Fame Game by Lauren Conrad



HarperCollins

The Fame Game

by Lauren Conrad

1 Scribble

Release Date April 3, 2012

What do reality TV Star Madison Parker, aspiring actress Carmen Price, folksy musician Kate Hayes, and TV journalist Gaby Garcia all have in common? They have all been selected to star on the new reality TV series The Fame Game about four starlets climbing the ego-slicked ladder to fame.

There is a reason why Lauren Conrad’s name is the largest thing on the cover—clearly her name, and not the riveting content is what will move this book off the shelves. Readers aware of Conrad’s background as a reality T.V. star on MTV’s The Hills might expect dramatic scenes, over-the-top scandal, or double-crosses as they trod through the chapters, but the focus of the book seems to be a somewhat slow examination of what actually constitutes a bonafide Hollywood star. Chapter titles such as "Hardly Star Treatment," and "People like Us Do Not Wait in Lines," set up the air of superiority felt by main characters Madison and Carmen, while ironically, their own struggles to bag major motion picture roles and leave reality TV reinforce their insecurity. Chapters jump from character to character without apparent structure, creating a hodge-podge of lukewarm, semi-related events that all amount to nothing. The only real conflicts worth noting emerge when Kate’s boyfriend refuses to publically acknowledge her, and when Madison reunites with her ex-con, deadbeat father. With the exception of Kate, the characters are all exasperating stereotypes obsessed with designer name-dropping, exotic foods, and exorbitant price tags. What’s worse, the book ends with no real conclusion, only 300 plus pages of unanswered questions. Undoubtedly Conrad plans to answer these questions her next book of the series, Starstruck, already slated for release in October of this year. For more satisfying reality fare readers should try The Real Real by Emma McLaughlin and Nicole Kraus.

Review of the Nightworld by Jack Blaine

Harper Collins

The Nightworld

by Jack Blaine

4 Scribbles
Release Date 5/1/2012

Nick’s senior year starts looking up the moment stunning Lara Hanover invites him to her summer kickoff party. If all goes as planned, Nick will not be doomed to spend as much time alone as he has since his mother died and his dad went underground to his "off-limits" basement where work on a government project engages him around the clock. Yes, hooking up with Lara might make everything right in Nick’s world. But when the world outside changes and a mysterious storm engulfs the sky, everything turns to night. Danger, panic and chaos reign and suddenly, Nick can no longer see what lies ahead.

Young adults are no strangers to apocalyptic narratives, yet this novel offers a new approach to the genre. Far from being permanently destroyed, there may be salvation for the human race and for the skies above, and Nick may hold it in his hands. Who better than Nick? Nick’s character is old-school gentleman meets teenaged boy. Nick sticks by his best friend, Charlie, even when it means possible alienation from others, he wants to rescue his damsel in distress, Lara, he continues to see the best in others, even after he has proof that the human race is in self-destruct, and oh—he rescues a dog. Throughout the increasingly violent events in the story, Nick manages to maintain his sense of morality and optimism. Hand in hand with Lara, who turns out to be stunning and humble, Nick continues to move stoically forward searching for a place he thinks is safe and trying desperately to figure out his father’s scientific device that may bring light back to the world. The reader will dismiss more convenient plot turns, like sweet old man Gus’s appearance and the gift of Gus’s "bike" because the remainder of the story is true to reality—tough times call for tough choices and measures—and Nick makes those calls the way they should be made time and time again without sacrificing his character. The author might have placed more emphasis on the impact of darkness on the environment and the characters; as the novel stands there is a hint of the darkness, but the tremendous action and repeated encounters with others make it seem less of a "Nightworld" than a "Duskworld." Otherwise, readers of books like Ashfall by Mike Mullin and The Last Survivors Series by Susan Beth Pfeffer, will devour this book.

Review of A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd (audio version)

Candlewick

A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd (audio version)

by Patrick Ness

5 Scribbles—a marvelous tribute to the memory of author Siobhan Dowd

Conor has a dark, shameful secret. It is the kind of secret he cannot share—even with his beloved mother, who is now very weakened by her battle with cancer. But some nights, right after midnight, a Monster appears in the midst of Conor’s room—and the Monster knows Conor’s secret. When the Monster comes walking, will Conor’s secret be revealed?

Conor’s mother is suffering through continuous bouts of chemotherapy, and Conor must take care of himself at home and at school—where the truth about his mother has alienated him from other students. If Conor is anything, it’s tough and stoic, which is why it isn’t hard to believe that when the Monster first appears to Conor, he isn’t frightened at all—in fact, the Monster, as gnarly, as sinister, as powerful as it is, doesn’t encounter Conor’s fear, but his defiance. Readers can easily empathize with Conor. Faced with his mother’s death, there isn’t much else that can scare him, so—bring it. And the monster does bring it, but not through the power of his huge, earth-encrusted fists, or his thick, ropey calves, or his booming, angry voice. No, the Monster brings the fear little by little, through stories that reveal truth. Little, tricky, unfair, ironic truths that tickle the back of Conor’s thoughts and beliefs, that threaten to challenge his idea of what is fair, stories that ultimately bring Conor to the brink of despair.

There is much to admire in this story: the occasional humorous dialogue that reminds the reader how normal and young Conor is and makes the reader laugh when they really want to sob, Conor’s rage and need to feel an outward pain as he accepts the abuse of bullies, the weight of Conor’s grief and fear of loss, the imagery of the Monster. Ness takes the archetype of the Green Man and weaves it into the story so naturally that one can see the symbols of life, nature, personal growth, and rebirth at every stage without breaking the magical tension of the story. The tale is a masterpiece, a merging of myth with present reality, with all of our human idiosyncrasies, our fears and weaknesses. Ness has created a true horror story that will haunt all who read it for years to come, and isn’t that what a truly fantastic "Monster" story does?

Jason Isaacs, the narrator of the story, does a phenomenal job with voice; he quickly changes from the ferocious Monster to the natural, boyish and sarcastic tone of Conor with ease. His female voice is also well done and credible with only a few instances where the transition is rocky. Particularly impressive was Isaacs vocal presentation of Conor’s dad, a former Brit, now ex-pat American whose accent and word choices have gone awry. I would most certainly choose a novel read by Issacs again.

Review of Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta

Candlewick

Froi of the Exiles (Book Two of The Lumatere Chronicles)

By Melina Marchetta

2 Scribbles
Release date March 16, 2012

After reading the first book of The Lumatere Chronicles, I was enchanted by Marchetta’s sophisticated writing, and hoped that this tale was (and I quote) "…only one installment of a much, much longer story." As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for! Book two of The Chronicles centers on the mission of rogue slave, Froi, who Isaboe saved from slave-traders. Froi, now educated and properly trained as a fighter, is entrusted with the task of assassinating the neighboring king of Charyn in order to protect the newly re-assembled Lumaterian kingdom. And while Froi is most certainly the main protagonist of the saga, Marchetta interweaves several sub-plots into the tale. While these subplots are inter-connected, so many stories taking place in the novel make a few things unfortunately unavoidable. It takes a keen reader, or one with a notebook handy, to keep up with the numerous characters in the novel. Certainly the characters are used to help augment the storyline—a great amount of backstory is provided via character dialogue which can become tedious at times—but perhaps a smaller cast, focusing more on the conflict in Charyn would be best to assist the reader in becoming more invested in the characters and more engaged in the storyline. The goings-on of Lumatere, which appear in alternating chapters, might have been better as a separate book or created as a part two in this installment. As it stands, the alternating chapters and enormous cast make for many distractions. One of the things Marchetta does well is irony, and she does use this irony throughout—there are deceptions revealed, clever switches, and misunderstandings that help to draw flagging readers back in—although I would argue that more astute readers will be able to predict Froi’s origins very early on in the book. And while most YA readers who enjoyed Finnikin of the Rock will be amped to see this installment, I would argue that much of the content of this book is geared to a more adult audience. I just hope that book three (which is clearly hinted at in the ending) will be focused on the future of the Lumatere and its neighboring kingdoms and not so focused on the past.

Review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Little, Brown Books
for Young Readers

Daughter of Smoke and BoneBy Laini Taylor
5+ Scribbles
Spunky and independent seventeen-year-old Karou has always been different from other teenagers. She has an extraordinary gift for drawing, she wears a string of wishes around her neck, she has blue hair, and she attends a prestigious art school in Prague. She lives alone and has no parents that she knows of; her only family consists of a small group of Chimaera—magical, beautiful creatures—that raised her in an enchanted workshop beyond a hidden portal, only to later nudge her into the human world. Karou knows something is missing in her life, but she accepts that there may never be answers to her questions, no solution to the loneliness that sometimes threatens to engulf her. And then one day she meets the handsome and fierce Akiva, and suddenly her world is helter skelter. Taylor paints with words the way master artists paint with brushes. Her descriptions are rich, textured, and raw, allowing the reader to travel through portals with the characters and to see through the character’s eyes. The plot has the flavor of an appetizer-sized portion of Romeo & Juliet with just a sprinkling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is impossible to reach the end of one chapter and not have an overwhelming desire to turn to the next. Readers become emotionally invested in Karou. They will identify with her when she realizes for the first time that family is not perfect, and that we all must eventually face the world alone. They will laugh with Karou and her best friend Zuzanna as they groan over life’s challenges, and they will struggle with Karou to fully understand temptation, forgiveness and redemption. All of these lessons are interwoven into the tapestry of the story seamlessly without ever being in the least didactic, or simplistic or distracting. Taylor has taken the canvas of a novel and painted a lovely and matchless masterpiece. There is a reason that this novel has been voted one of the Top Ten Best Books of 2012—a unique and refreshing tale like this hasn’t been told since C.S. Lewis. If I had a bruxis I’d wish that the next book was already waiting for me on my shelf—but alas, I love eating too much to part with my teeth.

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Review of Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

Scholastic

Gregor the Overlander (Book One of the Underland Chronicles)

By Suzanne Collins

4 Scribbles

In all the frenzy surrounding the long-anticipated release of Suzanne Collins' masterpiece, The Hunter Games in movie form, I decided to catch up on some of Collins’ other works. Students have been recommending the Underland Chronicles to me for years, Collins’ earlier series; and so I finally picked up book one, and I was not disappointed!

After his father disappears, Gregor is the man of his house despite his own pain; and, he takes the job seriously. That’s why when Gregor’s baby sister, Boots, falls down a mysterious vent in their New York City apartment, Gregor jumps in to rescue her. He is shocked to find that he and his sister have entered a portal to the Underland—a place where bats bond with humans, spiders go on quests, cockroaches talk, and rats are the super-sized kind. Oh, and did I mention? These critters all talk! Even though the environment is completely foreign, Collins’ descriptions bring the Underworld and its creatures to life. The tale is a classic quest; Gregor’s coming has been foretold to the human population of the Underworld, a strange, noble and pale people who are unaccustomed to visitors. These people are on the brink of a great war with the vicious, bloodthirsty rats. Like most of us would, Gregor has insecurities about being only eleven and being expected to embark on a journey into the unknown, but he harnesses his fear and agrees to accompany the humans of the Underworld in the hopes of perhaps finding his father and returning back to his mother in New York. His character is heroic, tender, and very protective of his sister Boots--readers will love him. And, it's hard not to adore Boots, Gregor's unexptected companion who provides humor and inspiration for the questors. The reader roots for Gregor and his entourage as the group faces challenge after challenge, all leading up to the moment when Gregor must face his worst fear—and the possibility that he may not survive the quest alive. The concluding twist is totally unexpected, and the teaser at the end will make younger readers anxious to read book two in the series, The Prophecy of Bane.