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

Story of a Girl

By Sara Zarr

This is a great coming-of-age novel that deals with a teen girl who is dealing with a reputation she just can't seem to lose and a family that feels like it's definitely falling apart. This book is short, realistic, and definitely a downer. However, it's still a worthwhile read - but one I read in April. So I'm going provide a link to a great book reviewer, Karin the Librarian.

http://www.karinsbooknook.com/2010/02/21/story-of-a-girl-by-sara-zarr-review/

My Grade: A- because it was very well-written, but probably just a B because I still felt like I was just reading the book - not a part of it.

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

Lies

by Michael Grant

In the third installment of the Gone series, way too many things happen... So it's business as usual for the world of the FAYZ.

• Sam has ceded control over to the council: A council that is much to slow to make decisions or take action.
• The Human Crew forms; it's a freak-hate group.
• A prophetess named Orsay is communicating with those outside the FAYZ.
• Mary Terrafino, who cares for the children in the nursery, has become overburdened and under-medicated. 
• Astrid and Sam argue.
• Oh, and Brittany - the girl who died during the nuclear power plant fight - comes back from the dead.
• And Drake, too.

Listen, tons of other stuff develops, too, but I read this book two weeks ago. Grade-wise, I would probably give this a C+. Too much happens, and the storyline becomes burdensome with so many different angles to it. However, there were a few redeeming qualities. Astrid's character is developed more. She's conflicted and arrogant. In a way, she's one of the better developed characters. Grant has gone about giving this goody-goody such sharp edges that make her hard to like. Unlike, strangley, the bad-girl Diana, with whom (I assume) most readers probably empathize. I found the whole storyline with Mary Terrafino to be terribly long and boring. For a girl suffering from way too much responsibility, depression, and an eating disorder, I found it hard to even want to pay attention to her.

So, all in all, this book had its slow moments. But in the end, it's about the mystery of the Darkness and Little Pete. What does this five-year old autistic child have to do with the FAYZ?

Grade: C+

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+