The Frog Prince (Adult Fiction) by Jane Porter.
This was a book from the book bin in the teacher's room. A colleague had it, lent it to another, and it finally found its way to me. Honestly, I doubted whether I should read past the first few chapters. It seemed old. It seemed uncomfortable. Honestly, it started off in all the ways that chick lit does; and in the end, it pretty much wrapped up in the same way too. But like all good chick lit, it was fun and silly and vaguely uplifting. And like all chick lit, I definitely felt myself angry for living in this podunk town. Argh. I've always wanted to live some place urban; someplace where I could forgo the necessity of a car. (Ha! I just financed a new car!) Like most chick lit, it made me feel a bit old and a bit behind, since most of the protagonists are younger and seem more professionally advanced than I am. But enough of my kvetching.
This is a great weekend read. Really. A solid B+, temptingly perhaps an A-. But that's only within the definition of chick lit.
What's Next? IDK.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Dead and the Gone
The Dead and the Gone (YA) by Susan Beth Pfeffer.
Wow. But you can't end that "wow" with an exclamation. This book is too intense for that. Like Life As We Knew It, the companion book to The Dead and the Gone, there are no easy answers in a post-apocalyptic world. But this story has more gravitas. While Miranda, the protagonist from LAWKI, lived through the death of one world and the birth of another, she did so under the protective and guiding supervision of her mother and older brother. Alex Morales, the protagonist of TDATG, however, is left as the head of the family.
The Morales family lives in NYC, and when the asteroid hits, both parents die. Alex is left with little more than $50 to his family's name. What I found intriguing about this book was the aspect of religion and social hierarchy. While LAWKI focused on one family, because it was in a rural setting we rarely saw what happened in the community. In TDATG, we see how a community unites, dies, and even turns against itself. Pfeffer also allows readers to witness how social class differences allow the privileged to survive and escape, while the average and the poor are left trapped to die on Manhattan. Another interesting aspect is the strength of the Morales family's faith in God and their love in each other. While the situation surrounding the Morales family seems harsher than that of Miranda, in other ways it seems more heart-warming. Despite the violence, the characters seem to have more empathy, hope, and faith.
I think I like this book better than LAWKI, but it's a hard call to make.
Wow. But you can't end that "wow" with an exclamation. This book is too intense for that. Like Life As We Knew It, the companion book to The Dead and the Gone, there are no easy answers in a post-apocalyptic world. But this story has more gravitas. While Miranda, the protagonist from LAWKI, lived through the death of one world and the birth of another, she did so under the protective and guiding supervision of her mother and older brother. Alex Morales, the protagonist of TDATG, however, is left as the head of the family.
The Morales family lives in NYC, and when the asteroid hits, both parents die. Alex is left with little more than $50 to his family's name. What I found intriguing about this book was the aspect of religion and social hierarchy. While LAWKI focused on one family, because it was in a rural setting we rarely saw what happened in the community. In TDATG, we see how a community unites, dies, and even turns against itself. Pfeffer also allows readers to witness how social class differences allow the privileged to survive and escape, while the average and the poor are left trapped to die on Manhattan. Another interesting aspect is the strength of the Morales family's faith in God and their love in each other. While the situation surrounding the Morales family seems harsher than that of Miranda, in other ways it seems more heart-warming. Despite the violence, the characters seem to have more empathy, hope, and faith.
I think I like this book better than LAWKI, but it's a hard call to make.
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