Hero

Hero by S.L. Rottman

Okay, if you enjoyed The Outsiders, you'll probably enjoy this book. It's very boy-centered, very realistic, and very tough. The author even has initials like S.E. Hinton! (Also, S.R. Rottman is a girl, too!)

Sean is a 15 year old who is frequently in trouble - in school and out of school. His father is absent, and his mother is an emotionally and physically abusive drunk. After getting picked up by the police for trouble-making, Sean must complete community service at a farm owned by Mr. H. On Sean's first day there, he must help Mr. H with a difficult labor and delivery of a foal - a foal that Sean names Knickers. The foal's mother instantly rejects her baby, and Knickers must be bottle fed and kept away from his mother. Sean makes an instant connection with this young horse, and his attitude about his community service begins to change. While Sean finds purpose in his work at the farm, his mother's abusiveness escalates.

At first, this felt very programmed. However, the story goes to an unexpected place in the last few chapters, and that definitely improved the story a great deal. And while this story is a great companion to The Outsiders, it doesn't capture the deft characterization that SE Hinton manages (even though she was only 15!). (Also, I must mention that sometimes SE Hinton's characterization DEFINITELY shows her youth! Like the overly detailed descriptions of physical appearance!) It also doesn't make the characters nearly as lovable. But for fans of The Outsiders, I would very much recommend this book!

The Van Gogh Deception

The Van Gogh Deception by Devon Hicks

This was a fun mystery read for me. It started out with a scene of a crime: highly technical art forgery. The next chapter lands on a boy who is found within the National Gallery of Art in DC. He has amnesia and neither he nor all of the security cameras can piece together who he is, where he came from, or who brought him there. He quickly ends up in a foster home - and meets a young girl named Camille.

Attempting to jog his memory, the boy (Art), Camille, and Camille's mother, return to the National Gallery. Action quickly ensues - the boy holds a secret he cannot remember. A secret too precious to survive. The suspense is doubled because there are chapters that focus on the criminals' attempts to capture Art and Camille. The action and chase scenes are aplenty, and I enjoy the fact that these kids generally feel like real kids  -- not overly mature for their age.

This was fast-paced and fun. Interspersed are QR codes that link to the works of art that are described throughout the book. This was pretty cool, and as a middle-aged person, this is what finally got me to download a QR reader app on my phone. However, as a middle-aged person who has an interest in art, I didn't really need a link to the artwork mentioned. I already knew what most of it was!

Grade: B

Turtle in Paradise

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

Turtle is an eleven year old girl who has lived life on the move. Her mother's a maid during the Great Depression and jobs are hard to come by. What isn't so hard to come by are the numerous men that Turtle's mother seems to fall in love with. Needless to say, Turtle is no dreamer; she's a realist.

Mother does finally land a job, but the lady of the house won't allow young children to live there. And so Turtle finds herself shipped to Key West, Florida, where her mother's sister lives.

Key West is nothing like anything else Turtle's ever experienced. Shoes are optional, but the heat is not. Used to being a team consisting of just herself and her mother, Turtle must now get used to a house full of cousins and a town where most of the residents are related to her - somehow!  Slowly, she adjusts to her new life and her new family. She's even accepted by the Diaper Gang, a group of boys (her cousin's the leader) who have a babysitters' club type-of-thing going on - except they get paid in candy! She comes to love the boys' daily gathering to create a "Key West Cut-Up" - a tradition of cutting up whatever fruits and veggies the kids had on hand and pouring key lime juice all over it. She's even lured into the romance of the many stories of pirates and buried treasure that fill the land.

Turtle didn't want to go to Key West, but the question you ask yourself, is how could she leave it now?

This was a super charming read. Turtle is adorable and scrappy. Key West is a fantastic setting. You'll love reading about the water, the heat, the scenery, and the fruit-laden trees. The Diaper Gang is hilarious. This book reminds me of the Goonies and the Little Rascals. While I can't say I loved it, I really enjoyed it. The writing is brisk and light. The descriptions are clear and concise but not heavy-handed. It's a quick, pleasant read.

For more info on a Key West cut-up, click here.

Oh, and more interesting info. The author, Jennifer Holm, writes the Babymouse series, which I abhor, AND Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf, which is a graphic novel-esque story that I LOVED. It's just interesting to come across a writer with so many different styles.

Luna

by Julie Ann Peters

Liam is a good-looking, freakishly smart high school upperclassman, and yet the only person who really knows him is his younger sister, Regan. Regan is the sole holder of his very heavy secret. Liam is transgendered, and planning to crossover into his new identity as Luna.

I didn't finish this book. Don't get me wrong. It was well-written and the plot was definitely one I had not encountered before. But I began to be saddled by the stress of Regan having to keep such a powerful secret for her brother. This is a stressful and tense book, and I wish I could say I know how it ends, but I had to put it down. This book is (as far as I could see, and I read 147 of the 248 pages) much more about the stress Regan encounters keeping Luna's secret as it is about Luna becoming Luna.

Grade: B (but my school librarian highly, highly recommends it.)

The Maze Runner

by James Dashner

This book has a Hunger Games, Jr feel to it. Thomas finds himself in the "Glade" with no memory of where or who he was in the past. But he's not alone, a number of other boys are also in the Glade with the same problem. They've developed their own working hieracrchy and manage to get by since whoever created the Glade had the foresight to build in all the essentials: farm, slaughterhouse, etc. The kicker is that the Glade is surrounded by a giant wall and each day the wall's gate open and each night, they close. Outside the walls is an giant, ever-changing maze which the runners (maze explorers) dutifully go out into every day trying to find an escape. But the maze changes every day as well, and there are hidden dangers - robotic, yet mythological creatures whose bite or scratch can prove fatal.

All is running normally - as normally as it can in the Glade - when another new child arrives. This child is different. He's a girl. And she's the last new child to ever be brought to the glade.

The writing in this book is fast-paced and exciting, but definitely for the 10 to 14 range, and not really older. While this is a great read, it lacks the weighty ethical issues that I found myself thinking about in The Hunger Games. One thing I loved was the fact that the storyline is so obviously based on King Minos, the Minotaur, and the labyrinth.

Grade: B

Plague (The Gone Series)

Boy, the covers are cheesy, though....

Well, stock in the Gone series has gone back up. After a tepid swim with Lies, Plague is back kickin' ass.

I love a good story about a plague. But strangely enough, the fatal flu wasn't what I flipped over. It was the absolutely disgusting parasitic worms that infected several characters and would literally eat their own hosts. Goodness, I think Grant should have gone into even more detail about those. It was stomach-turning and awesome at the same time. (An aside: Strangely, I have no stomach at all for scary movies, but do love the book versions.)

Back to the book: Albert, the self-made Trump of the FAYZ, has realized that the water levels of the reservoir are dropping dangerously low. Even with one gallon per person rations, the water supply isn't going to last long enough. He sends out an expedition made up of Sam, Dekka, Taylor, and Jack to search the outer boundaries of the FAYZ for additional water sources. While they explore their world, the kids at Perdido Beach must deal with both a devastating flu and a case of parasitic worms - that hatch and turn into almost indestructible and very hungry insects.

But, of course, that's not all. (Because it's not a Gone book unless one hundred other plots lines are happening, right?) Drake and Brittany are back - working for and against the Darkness (a.k.a. the Gaigaphage). What is left of the hate-group, the Human Crew, have beaten Albert to a pulp. Edilio is on his deathbed with the flu, and all hell, of course, breaks out.

Let's just say Caine comes back.

My review? This book really took time to explore Pete Ellison's mind - he's the five year old autistic boy who is responsible for the FAYZ. And he's the center of this whole mystery, so it's terribly exciting to see how he perceives his world. There's a lot of close-up time with Diana, and she absolutely will be the driving force  behind why readers will flock to the fifth book of the series. Character development is still a bit slow, given all the pages, and I'm particularly saddened that I don't really care much for Sam anymore than when I started. However, as always, the storyline is non-stop adrenaline that doesn't let up - or give you time to reflect on plausibility, character development, etc.

Grade: B+

N.B. The covers for these books are absolutely horrible.

Keeping the Moon

I don't know why these shorts have to be this short either.

by Sarah Dessen

Keeping the Moon is about a teenaged girl who finds some solace in a resort town when she lives with her Aunt Mira for a summer. Having once been fat, Colie can't shed her own ugly self-esteem - not that any of her classmates have let her either.

In the town of Colby, North Carolina, Colie lands a job at a local dinner - aptly names "Last Chance." Here she is able to closely observe friendship between two other girls: Morgan and Isabel. While she takes orders and folds napkins, Colie learns how to be a friend herself, how to accept others' differences, and how to accept herself for the wonderful person she is.

This was my first Sarah Dessen book, and I am ashamed it took me so long. My sister has been reading Dessen for years. Regardless, I didn't want to read it, but when a self-professed non-reader finished it in mere hours, I knew I had to give Dessen a chance.

This was a soft, slow, meandering novel. There were lessens learned and lots of feel-good moments. I enjoyed it a great deal. The character development was superb, and I have been missing that. I surmise that sci-fi character development is a tad bit more shallow since the focus is on the what and how and not necessarily on the who. Anyway, I've been all sci-fi, all the time lately, and getting to really know and connect with a character was great.

Grade: B

The Compound

by S.A. Bodeen

What if the world had been nuked? 

What if your family had an escape plan? 

What if your family had a well-stocked fallout shelter? 

What would happen when things went wrong?

Eli has lived for six years in his family’s compound. An unending compound with room for the whole family, filled with enough supplies to last a nuclear winter of fifteen years. But the time for Eddy has not been one of relief, because for the last six years his identical twin, Eddy, has been dead. Left outside. Because of Eli.

For six years he has not cut his hair. He has not touched anyone. He has cocooned himself from life and from himself, just as much as the compound has cocooned the whole family. After all this time, the strangeness of his life underground doesn’t seem shocking.  But then Eli finally makes the choice to enter his brother’s room in the compound. And his world is torn apart.

Review:

Excellent! I would actually say that the ideas presented in this book were more disturbing than the violence of The Hunger Games or the mercy killing in This World We Live In. The pacing is fast and exciting, and despite the brevity of the book, I developed a connection with the characters, especially Eli (narrator) and his older sister, Lexie.

I have a few complaints. First, this book should have been longer. There are a lot of ethical issues that could have been delved into deeper. Second, had the plot been more developed, it would have given more time for Eli to discover more about the compound and his father’s insane plans. Hence, as a reader, I would have learned more. I love scientific background stories.

Grade: B+

Hunger (sequel to Gone)

by Michael Grant.

One day all the adults disappeared, and only children under fifteen were left in San Perdido, California. One day an impenetrable dome surrounded the town. One day all the children learned they were on their own, in a new world: the FAYZ.

Three months after the FAYZ occurred, life is still the same: the adults are gone, some children have superpowers, and Caine and Drake are still the menacing enemies. But now they are hungry.

As children go hungry, tempers flare, and a rift grows between the "normals" and the "moofs" (mutant freaks).

While Sam Temple, the protagonist, tries to create order out of chaos, find food, and mediate squabbles and fights, Caine - a cruel, power-hungry (with super powers to boot) kid from Coates Prep School - devises a way to topple Sam from his position of leadership. He decides to take over the local power plant.

But Caine's not the only enemy now. Sam and his friends are now fully aware of "The Hunger" a creature that lives underground and is growing more powerful and evil...

My Review:

Perhaps it's because I've read close to thousand pages of this series in the past two weeks, or perhaps it's the actual novel, but I felt like there was some real character development in this book. Astrid, Sam's girlfriend, and Edilio, Alberto, and Quinn (normals who are Sam's friends) become more interesting and create more depth in this fast-paced plot.

Once again, Grant's story was exciting and compelling - although for a brief spell (pages 200 to 300 or so) I lost interest.

Ethically, the book becomes more interesting as character have to deal with prejudices and mistrust between the moofs and the normals.

Each time you think you're unpeeling the mystery of the FAYZ, you find out there is another layer that you didn't know existed, and these mysteries have me chomping at the bit to read the next book: Lies.

Grade: B+

Gone

By Michael Grant

Gone is touted as a modern-day Lord of the Flies. It's not that good. By that I mean, you won't be weighed down with any heavy ethical issues. No guilt for Piggy.

But it is good fun. And like all teenaged fun, it's best not to have the adults around.

San Perdido, California. One minute - normal life. The next? All individuals over the age of 15 have disappeared. There one second, gone the next.

Sam Templeton, a quiet 14 year old boy, becomes the leader who helps band the local kids together - fighting the bullies and also the rich, private school students who come down from their mountain to try to gain control of the town. The young children must be cared for, fights resolved, and a community must be governed.

In all honesty, there's enough to that story line to develop an engaging read.

But Grant gives us more. Along with the disappearance of adults comes the children's development of super powers. And the impenetrable domed barrier that prevents anyone from leaving the area. Oh, and did I forget to mention the mutating animals?

Throughout all the trials, the characters and the reader struggle to determine how? and why?

Honestly, that's a lot of ingredients for one story. And a lot of authors (especially if they were a seventh grader) would lose control of everything. But Grant does a good job tying it all together, juggling it all to help create a compelling mystery that drives the reader forward. I imagine that the reader's hunger to know the mystery is comparable to the series Lost (which I have never watched), Defying Gravity (awesome sci-fi series that was cancelled), or Battlestar Galactica (Best. Series. Ever.).

Of course, all this action and mystery has to take a toll on some aspect of the novel and it does: character development is rather shallow. But you'll forgive the book for this because you don't care so much for the characters as for the strange events, the mutations, the super powers, the fights, and the mystery. The fast pacing of the story line won't give you a moment to reflect on the weaknesses of the book anyway.

If you liked Hunger Games, super power stories, action-packed books, The Girl Who Owned a City, I Am Number Four, you will like Gone.

Grade: B+

Birthmarked

By Caragh M. O’Brien

Birthmarked is a sci-fi (although a subtle sci-fi) story set in a dystopian future. Hundreds of years into the future, only small remnants of humanity remain – small pockets of communities. Water is scarce – so scarce that even the Great Lakes are now “unlakes.” An oppressive ruling class called the Enclave has devised a system: the privileged and chosen live inside a gated community where resources are plentiful, while those outside the wall must scrape by on what the Enclave will give them.

Genetically, the pool of genes within the Enclave was small – inbreeding occurred and recessive diseases like hemophilia became rampant. To strengthen their pedigrees, the Enclave takes what it must from those who live outside of the wall: their children. The Enclave requires the first three babies born in each month be taken-"advanced"- from their parents for a better life inside the Enclave. In return, those taken babies will help increase the Enclave’s genetic diversity.

Gaia is from the outside. She is a mid-wife. It was her mother’s vocation, and ever since the Enclave imprisoned her parents, it is now hers. For the first time, she truly begins to question the Enclave’s right to children outside the wall.

This was a very good book written by a local CT author. At times the plotline felt too convenient, but otherwise a really good read. If you liked Handmaid’s Tale or The Giver, you’ll probably enjoy this.

Grade: B+

Ender's Game

by Orson Scott Card

Ender’s Game is an interesting book, first published in the late 70s. I believe, but perhaps erroneously, that it is one of the “classic science fiction” novels specifically targeting children and young adults. But it’s hard for me to explain what this book is. If you like science fiction, will you read it? Yes. Will you like it? Maybe. Does it have a few interesting moral and ethical questions for you to ponder? Yes.

So, let’s cut to the chase. Ender Wiggins is a young boy in a society set far into the future. A society that is ruled by three separate entities, who are currently united in one fight: the fight against the buggers – an alien race that has attacked Earth twice before.

The international military is constantly preparing for their next encounter with the buggers. They prepare by picking the most intelligent children who have personalities that are highly suitable for military leadership. Such children leave their families and spend the rest of their childhoods learning, training, and fighting in Battle School.

Six-year old Ender Wiggins is chosen. But he turns out to not just be chosen; it’s like he is the chosen one. The adults quickly realize his potential far outweighes the potential of any other student, and so they begin to manipulate Ender’s life. They ensure that Ender is always on the outside to keep him from getting comfortable. They do little to prevent Ender from being bullied because they want him to learn how to deal with conflict on his own.

Ender quickly advances through the ranks, constantly outperforming everyone’s expectations. He is their genius military leader, but he begins to wonder if it’s all worth it.

Readability-wise this story reads kind of like a textbook with a B-line plot and shallow character development. It wouldn’t make a bad Made-For-TV movie. The shame of it is with more time and development of characters, I think I would have really enjoyed this book. When you enjoy this book, you’re enjoying it simply for the premise not necessarily for the writing.

Interesting Ethical Areas:

Childhood: Is it ethical to begin strict military training at the age of 6? Do we treat children like pawns? Are we unable to see children’s true potential because we see them as “children”?

Violence: When is violence justified? Exactly how violent can children be before it could be considered a “problem”? Can you justify exterminating an entire race – when those in question are attacking aliens?

Interesting point: One totally cool thing that this book focuses on is orientation, planes, and zero gravity. Ender spends a lot of time training his troops to give up their Earth orientation: where up is up and down is down. In zero gravity, you can be anyway. This is interesting because if you watch sci-fi (Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica), the ships all fly together on the same plane. Why?

Grade: B-

Stitches: A Memoir

by David Small

Stitches is a graphic novel retelling the creator's life as a child in a dysfunctional family. As a small boy, David was plagued with sinus and respiratory problems. As a treatment, David was given hundreds of X-rays by his father, a radiologist. His father believed that the powers of radiation could help solve sinus problems.

David grows up in a cold world, where each of his family members has retreated into their own world. His mother is cruel. His older brother is preoccupied with his own method of escape (drumming). His father just seems, well, absent.

Years later, David develops a "growth" on his neck. After seeing a doctor, who says that it is probably benign but should be taken care of, it takes his parents three years to take him to the surgeon.

David believes that he is having surgery to remove his cyst, but when he wakes up he can no longer speak. There is no explanation. His parents leave fourteen year old David to make the adjustment himself.

But he doesn't adjust. He rebels, and who could blame him?

I 'll leave the synopsis right there. This is a sad, tragic story. Wally Lamb style, for sure, but true. But it works. Why? It's not over-wrung with emotion. You can feel how David develops his own protective armor, his own cold separation. And yet you can still feel how disappointed the boy is. I'm not sure if this is communicated via the drawings or via the terse dialogue that goes on.

But it's good, and it's a real quick read (< 1 hour). It ends abruptly, and I can see how many wouldn't like it. But I liked the ending a lot.

Grade: B

Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life

by Annette Lareau.

I read about this book in a NYT's article, which I will post here. It is probably more informative than this review. (BTW, the article is further discussed in Lisa Belkin's NYT blog, Motherlode.)

Unequal Childhoods is about Lareau's study into the difference in parenting philosophies between different classes and races during the 90s. She and a team of researchers spent intensive time with different families as they went about their lives. She found that race does not so much affect one's parenting philosophy as class does. Working class and the poor tend toward the philosophy of "natural growth," while middle class families tend to raise their children with the philosophy of "concerted cultivation."

A lot of it comes down to money. If you have money, then you can afford to reason with your kids. You can afford the myriad of activities that help prepare your child for an adult world. Middle class parents teach their child how to elaborate, persuade, and reason. They teach them how to demand individual attention. They teach them how to get what they want and how to manage in an adult world. Hence, middle-class children often have very adult schedules. Why? Middle class parents enjoy their own adult lives greatly and see the pleasures of work, which results in financial gains. They want to prepare their children for the same lifestyle. Low-income and working class parents tend to let their children have lots of free time to manage as they see fit. Why? The parents are busy working, just trying to have ends meet. These parents give directives. Why? Because they don't have the time. In a way, this philosophy reflects the parents' attitudes towards adulthood: a time of struggle. Why try to train your kids for that?

There are distinct advantages to the natural growth philosophy: the kids really don't fight with siblings (versus regular fighting in middle class families with more than one child), the kids learn how to occupy their own time (therefore, less of the "I'm bored" stuff), they easily work and play with kids of different ages, and they argue less with adults.

The advantages to "concerted cultivation"? The children have increased verbal skills. They learn how to persuade and argue. They learn how to speak up to individuals of authority to make their concerns and ideas known. They are better prepared for a middle class lifestyle.

Each chapter begins with the recounting of a different family that was studied. This is the most interesting part. Then the chapters begin a deeper exploration of what those family practices mean for the development of the child, etc.

An interesting read, but a bit repetitive. What I liked about it was that it does shed light on some of what I see as a teacher. The town I work in has a pretty equal divide of "concerted cultivation" and "natural growth." In fact, where I live there is a lot of "natural growth" philosophy out there. It's a kick back to what I imagine the 50s and 60s were like, when most parents (regardless of class), practiced natural growth: Kids playing on the streets, riding bikes everywhere, jump roping, etc. Granted, the problem is that natural growth parenting does not always work well with the educational system. Natural growth parents tend to see school as a totally separate part of their child's life. Therefore, school problems are mostly a teacher's problem. Teachers want the best of both worlds: natural growth, which leaves the teacher alone and doesn't question him/her, and concerted cultivation, which is supportive and actively involved in their child's education.

Grade: B

The London Eye Mystery

by Siobhan Dowd

Ted (a boy whose age I can't recall and perhaps was not even mentioned) is the u-neek-ique protagonist in this mystery. Ted and his family, mom, dad, and sister Kat, live in London. Before his aunt and cousin leave to follow his aunt's career in NYC, they come to visit. Aunt Gloria is overly dramatic and pushy. Salim, Ted's teenaged cousin, is super cool and down-to-earth.Salim is reluctantly moving to America, and on their last full day in England he requests that they take a ride on the London Eye. Some gigantic Ferris-wheel type of ride, which sounds totally cool and awesome. And I always wanted to go to London, but now I want to go even more. Back to the book: Kat (Ted's sister), Ted, and Salim wait in line (or queue for tickets, since it is British) for tickets and a man approaches them. He has one ticket for free, any takers? Discouraged by the super long line, they decide that Salim should take it. Kat and Ted have already been on it anyway, and it would save money.

Thirty minutes after boarding, Salim's "pod" (Ferris carriage thing) lands.

And he's not on it.

What ensues is the unraveling of a mystery and insight into a family's interactions during a traumatic crisis. What you also see at work is Ted's unusual thought processes, his reactions to the world around him, and his growing relationship with his sister Kat.
Well-written, and an intriguing look into Ted's mind.

Grade: B+

Cool Looks at the London Eye

The photo "London eye" is copyright 2008 by **maurice** and made available under Creative Commons-licensed content requiring attribution.
The photo "London Eye" is copyright 2009 by "apdk" (Anthony Kelly) and made available under Creative Commons-licensed content requiring attribution.

Out of My Mind

by Sharon Draper.

Melody is a middle school girl with a lot on her mind, but she has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. She has little control over her movements and has no speech. Melody lives at home with a loving family that has no idea of what she is truly capable of. She is limited by the word board that is in front of her. She spends countless hours in a special education room listening to mundane lessons.

But things change, little by little (but they seem fast in the book). First, Melody is mainstreamed into several new classes. She has an awesome new aide. Most importantly, she gains the ability to truly communicate with the use of some high-tech assistive technology. Using a computer board, Melody is now able to speak - very much a la Stephen Hawking.

For the first time, Melody is able to show her exceptional intelligence and her normal middle-school personality. She makes friends - kind of. She's able to say something back to the rude and heartless. She is able to tell her family how much she loves them. And she wows her classmates by getting on the quiz bowl team, helping them win their way all the way to the nationals.

But it's not all perfect. Really. Melody is brought to such heights, you begin to become frustrated. I mean, she is dealing with severe CP, and the book feels damned optimistic. That's why you become frustrated. You know it can't go on, but you want it to. You know it can't go on, and something worse will happen. How happy can this happy ending be? (And for those of you who know me, I'm not a big one for vibrant happy endings anyway.)

I'm going to leave it there and not say anything else. I'll just comment on the style. This book was well-written, straight forward with clean and crisp language. At times, Melody can have some beautiful poetic prose, but that's mostly just at the start and finish. It's an interesting view into the world of someone who is trapped in their body, and I think it would definitely open up any person's view into this type of disability. However, I do think that this book plays it a little too light, but as there are so few fiction books out there on the severely disabled, it's hard to judge. On a side note, this is a great companion to Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman, which was about another character with severe CP, but that book was much heavier and darker. I liked Out of My Mind much better, because Melody and her family were much more likable. I guess, although I don't profess to love happy endings, in the end I would prefer to dream that children dealt the most unfair physical hand are at least brought into truly loving and responsive families.

Grade: B

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Who decides on life?

In the faraway future of Unwind, society and policy know the answers to such questions. Through the development of new transplant technology, the debates and differences between pro-life proponents and pro-choice proponents have been solved. The Bill of Life states that while all pregnancies are protected, unwanted children can be "terminated retroactively" between the ages of 13 to 18. And how, exactly, does that conform to the standards of pro-life beliefs? Each child who is "retroactively terminated" is divided up so that all parts are used again; hence, you are not killed but simply redistributed. Unwound.

• Connor is a teen boy with behavior problems whose parents have signed his "Unwind" papers.
• Risa is an orphan who is going to be rewound because she is not talented enough to keep in the already crowded orphanage system.
• Lev is a thirteen year old tithe. His parents had him for the express purpose of donating him for the greater good. Lev believes whole-heartedly in the philosophy of unwinding, and he is proud to be a tithe.

All three are on the their way to be unwound at a "harvest camp" when Connor decides to rebel and fight back. His actions help free both Risa, who wants freedom, and Lev, who does not. While on the lam, the legend of the Akron unwind who fought back against the police grows. If each can survive on the run until the age of 18, they'll be free again.

This was a great book. If you liked the ethical issues and sci-fi feel of House of Scorpions, this is a great book for you. In some ways I wish Shusterman had been more explicit in the discussion of the life/abortion issues. I think that some kids could read this without really connecting to the issue as it stands today, in 2010. However, I appreciate the focus it does give to "newspeak" and the power of redesigning language. You're not murdered but rather "retroactively terminated"? As a Crichton fan, I loved it for the sci-fi future details. As a Stephen King fan, I loved the "unwind" scene - scary - but not too scary for a sixth grader. It also has a lot of fast-paced action to keep your attention.

I'm adding this to my list of books that I like that deal with the ethics of organ transplanting/donation:

• House of Scorpions
• Next
• My Sister's Keeper
• Never Let Me Go (This book and Unwind are the most similar. Very similar but Never Let Me Go has no action.)

Grade: B+

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This is the final companion to Life As We Knew It and The Dead & the Gone. Miranda Evans and her family have survived over a year after the catastrophic meteor hit the moon, creating an inhospitable earth. Life is a monotonous game of survival: eat now or perish? eat now or relish later? While life seems better, the government is able to send out some food. Their hope is guarded.

Hmm...honestly, I read this book awhile ago and have been putting off reviewing it for some time. It's not fresh in my mind, and I'm still deliberating how much I liked it.

Here's my quick synopsis: Miranda Evans and her family are still struggling to survive in rural Pennsylvania. Miranda dreams of something -anything- different, and longs to know if her father, step-mother, and baby sibling have survived. Her brothers go off on a fishing expedition, and her older brother, Matt, returns with a wife. She's odd, beautiful, and damaged, and she definitely makes Matt happy - but she is one more mouth to feed.

Later, Miranda's father and step-mother return. Having had no luck traveling west, they have been slowly making their way back to Pennsylvania, so that Miranda's father can be near all his children. On their trip home, Miranda's father and family have adopted others: Charlie, a happy middle-aged soul and the Morales siblings: Alex and Julie. These are the same Morales who were in The Dead & The Gone. That book ended with Alex obtaining tickets to a safe community - a town where the government provides protection and food for a select few.

This was a good book, but not great. However, this book develops a level of maturity greater than the others. It is in this book where the real gravity of their situation forces the main character to make very adult decisions that few will ever have to make in their lives. I wouldn't recommend this to a sixth grader because the decision at the end are so ... heavy. I'm not sure an 11 year old would get that. This book definitely feels more high school (lower high school) than middle-school.

Grade: B

Bitter is the New Black

Bitter Is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster

The memoir opens describing Jen’s pricey lifestyle: expensive shopping trips, expensive salon visits, and expensive apartment. She works in the finance industry, and she’s paid dearly for her expertise. She comes off as a spoiled bee-otch, but slowly you begin to realize that she does indeed work her butt off for her job; and you have to respect that. She calls it like it is – even when it’s shockingly cruel. She lacks all tact, and she’s all about business. That is, until in the recession that hit after 9/11, she finds herself laid off from her job.

(SPOILER AHEAD.) For almost two years, she pounds the pavement searching all of Chicago for jobs, but there are none. She’s over-qualified and on a job search when a large number of experienced professionals are doing the same. Eventually, she goes on the dole, but it takes her months and months and months to ever realize that she needs to curtail her spending. However, as your sympathy for Jen finally begins to build - she becomes a volunteer, gets closer to her family, starts a blog – she reverts back to spoiled brat. As she and her boyfriend, who has also lost his job, begin to hit rock bottom, she comes up with another spoiled, brilliant idea: Using a wedding as a means to further pay for their lifestyle. As much as I balked at this selfishly concocted idea, I could help but think “Why not?” She and her boyfriend are in a long-term committed relationship, and when the economy is tough you’ve got to do what you can to survive. As her story winds down, things finally start working out: Fletch, the SO, gets a job; they realign their spending habits to their actual financial limits; and Jen’s blog becomes hugely popular.

In the end, this was exactly what it looked like: chic-lit. Jen’s funny, sarcastic, and witty. It’s fun to live in her high-priced luxury world in the beginning; it’s fun to cluck your tongue in disapproval as she continues to spend recklessly when out of a job; and it’s satisfying to see her finally find her way. However, it was REALLY nice to see a book in which the protagonist maintained a committed relationship throughout the entire book.

Grade: B

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landeau-Banks

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Frankie is a smart, witty, and observant sophomore. She is an overachiever. She has a trajectory. A plan. A blueprint. All leading to success. Frankie also now has looks. Once a plain Jane honor student at a prestigious boarding school, Frankie returns her second year looking HOT. Her new looks attract the attention and sentiments of Matthew, a senior who lives the highest echelon of her school's social hierarchy. And -Boom- Frankie falls in love.

Typical, eh?

But Frankie doesn't just fall in love with Matthew. She falls in love with his group of guy friends, too. They exude an easiness, a confidence, a friendliness that is charming, magnetic. Frankie both loves these boys and envies them. She envies the time they demand from Matthew and she envies their self-assured natures. Frankie, who is by no means underprivileged, realizes that these teen boys are like this because they are at the top of the world. They are a part of the "Old Boy" society. They are the next generation's future leaders. What have they to doubt? What worries might they have? They have their intelligence, their culture, and their family status.

But that's not really why Frankie's upset. Through her own snoopery, Frankie realizes that these boys are a part of a secret all-male society at the school called the Basset Hounds. One that she is not privy, too. Frankie, frustrated by her own lack of "power" as a girl (because she wants to exert power over these boys) decides that she will find a way to infiltrate the society and become the new "King".

The book is full of intelligent insights and a likable protragonist. Her misdeeds are clever, and the reader will happily speed through the pages to discover more about the mysterious order of the Basset Hounds and to learn of Frankie's newest pranks. In some ways, I loved the way information was presented in this book - somewhat reminiscent of Dan Brown.

One caveat: I had trouble "connecting" with the protagonist. I didn't really feel a strong emotional connection, but this book is more about the ideas and the plot rather than the emotion. But that's easily beat out by the following: I really enjoyed the fact that this book used a sophisticated vocabulary. While I love YA books, I feel that sometimes the vocabulary is less than challenging.
Grade: B+