11/9/14:

Noggin by John Corey Whaley

What would you do if you died and woke up five years later? All of your friends are different. They have moved on and have their separate own lives apart from you. Even though all of your identification says you're 21, you're still 16 and stuck in high school. 

That's exactly what happened to Travis Coates in John Corey Whaley's new, and recently nominated for the National Book Award, novel, Noggin. When Travis finds himself suffering and dying from leukemia, he volunteers to undergo an experimental surgery that leaves him decapitated and his head cryogenically frozen. When they find an appropriate donor body five years later, Travis is awoken and swept back into his "old" life as though he had just woken up from a nap. Only things are different. His girlfriend, Cate, is now engaged to another man, his best friend, Kyle, who confessed a secret to Travis on his deathbed, is living a lie, and his parents are divorced because they couldn't handle the loss of their son the first time. As Travis adjusts to his "second" life, he tries to make new friends, mesh with his old ones, and win Cate's heart. Coming back, though, is not that simple. Travis isn't able to just pick up where he left off and it kills him (no pun intended). 

Whaley's Noggin gives great insight into what that past means to us--how it shapes us, how each moment, while gone, is frozen in our memories, how it sometimes haunts us, and how no matter how hard we want to relive it, we sometimes just need to let it go. Whaley explores how a place evolves in our absence and how, when we return to it, things may seem the same, but much has changed. This novel is not only a great piece of semi-science fiction, but its also an excellent tale of self "rediscovery", probing at how we must really understand ourselves and our own identities before we can move on with life. No matter what--do not miss this one. You will regret it!

7/21/14:

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

In this new series by Marie Rutkoski, Zestrel must choose between the life she wants or giving that life up to save  her people. For ten years the Valorians have ruled most of the known world and the Herrani have been their slaves. When Zestrel unwillingly attends an auction of Herrani people with her friend Jess, she finds herself enchanted by Arin, a Herrani slave who is boasted to be an excellent blacksmith and a singer. This grabs Zestrel's attention because of her love of music and the piano (keep in mind it is forbidden for Valorians to make music). She bids on Arin and brings him home to her father, the Governor (and top Valorian military leader, in high esteem of the land's emperor) of the peninsula on which she lives.

As the story progresses, Kestrel begins to fall in love with Arin and she begins to let her father down, as he expects her to either become a great military leader like himself or marry a prestigious Valorian by the age of 20. At the same time, little does Kestrel know that Arin is working for a rebel movement that plans to overthrow Valorian rule on the peninsula, take back Herrani freedom, and reclaim everything that was once theirs. It is here where Kestrel must choose to support her people or to follow her heart. Either way, she'll be forced to live with the "winner's curse"--an expression that encompasses that no matter how one wins a game, there is always something they must lose in the process. So, does Kestrel choose to win by saving her people and losing Arin, or does she choose to win by leaving them to bloodshed so that she can be with the man she loves?

Part fantasy in the sense that The Winner's Curse is set in a time and place that has never really existed and part historical fiction, though the histories of the Valorians and the Herrani are completely fictional, this novel is sure to keep you turning its pages. Kestrel, as a character is intriguing and her love for both Arin and her people is is poignant. Once you're done, like me, you'll find yourself really wanting the next novel in the series to appear in print.

5/28/14:

Brewster by Mark Slouka

Brewster, New York is a small town and, for the characters in Mark Slouka's novel, growing up in it isn't easy. Often with nothing to do during the late 1960's, four unlikely high school students kindle a friendship that helps to shape each of them in unique ways. Ray Cappiciano is an outsider who is viewed as the town delinquent; Jon Mosher is a quiet, fly under the radar kid whose parents have neglected him emotionally because they blame him for the death of his older brother; Frank Krapinski is raised by overly zealous Catholic parents and he fails to connect with them; and, Karen Hartford is an intelligent young woman with high hopes for her future.

Told from the perspective of Jon, readers are thrown into a world where each of these characters, in some way, copes with his/her own demons and tries to discover their own identities as they make their ways through high school. Jon joins the track team and is pushed by a coach who becomes more support for him than his own parents and he slowly becomes a rising star in the community. As the story unfolds, we learn more about Ray and the abuse he takes from his alcoholic father, as well as the quartet's plans to "get out" of Brewster and live a stronger, better life without the emotional burdens of their parents. All of this seems possible as soon as their senior year is over, until the day that Jon witnesses Ray being abused by his father. This incident confirms what Jon couldn't allow himself to believe all along and, ultimately, leads to the death of Ray's father.

The broken lives and hopeful dreams of these four are all displayed in the shadow of the problems our country was facing during this time, including the Vietnam War. The novel itself is reminiscent of The Breakfast Club and this is reinforced by the fact that Jon, Ray, and Frank (though they all really have nothing immediate in common) become friends over their lunch periods until they find themselves together at this time every day, which then floods into relationships that extend into their lives outside of school. Overall, Slouka has written one of those novels that gives you conflicting aspirations when reading--you want to read it all really fast because it's so good, but at the same time you want to take it in chunks because you want to savor all of it. Despite the dark subject matter of the novel, primarily the neglect each of the characters experiences with their parents, Jon's voice as a narrator is filled with passionate musings about life and growing up. In fact, I regret being one of those individuals who cannot bring himself to write in his books, because I would have easily underlined at least fifty of the idyllic passages that Slouka so casually wrote in these pages.

Brewster was a 2014 Alex Award Winner, meaning that it is an adult novel that has high appeal for young adult readers. If you're looking for a great read for one of your "award-winner" novel projects in English, this is definitely one worth checking out.

5/6/14:

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

It's the late 1970s and Mira is best friends with her neighbor, Sal, until one day he is mysteriously beat up on his way home from school by Marcus. That's the day her life changes--she loses her best friend after Sal shuts her out, her school goes on lockdowns because of a mysterious man running naked down the street, and she begins to receive a series of crumpled up notes warning her that when the messenger arrives, she needs to be ready because one of her friends' lives is at stake. In the meantime, Mira goes on with her life, making friends with Annemarie and Colin, working during her lunches at a neighborhood sandwich shop, and fighting off Julia (Annemarie's ex-best friend and Mira's new sworn enemy). Throughout the novel, Mira is determined to discover who Marcus is and why he hit Sal. With each walk to and from school, we see Mira grow as a person--one who tries to help others, including Sal and the crazy laughing man who keeps lurking by the mailbox outside her apartment building. When she finally starts talking with Marcus, Mira learns about his obsession with time travel (which also ties into her love of the novel A Wrinkle in Time) and she starts to wonder if it might actually be possible and if the notes she's found are from someone who came from the future.

Over all, Mira is a strong character who comes from a poor lifestyle--her mom hopes to get rich on the game show The $20,000 Pyramid--and she befriends people of all social statuses. As she does this, she goes from viewing the world in a child-like way to learning to accept all people, even Julia, for who they are and seeing the compassion that resides in all people.

To be honest, my discussion of this Newberry Award-winning book doesn't even do it justice. Just read it--you won't be disappointed!!

4/17/14:

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Mary E. Pearson is one of those rare authors who can basically write in any genre--realistic fiction, science fiction, and now fantasy fiction--and still weave a great story. In The Kiss of Deception, Princess Lia is about to be betrothed to a prince from a neighboring kingdom that she has never seen. Tradition has it that prior to being wed, she is to be tattooed with a kavah that depicts the merging of the two kingdoms. In addition to this, tradition also states that she is to move to her husband's kingdom and never return to see her family again.

The morning of her wedding, Lia jilts her husband-to-be and runs off with her friend Pauline, a servant in Lia's kingdom. The two end up settling in a distant village where Lia believes she will never be discovered and Pauline thinks the love of her life will come meet her there. To Lia's surprise, she's less isolated than she thought. She meets two men who take a keen interest in her--one is Raif, an assassin contracted to kill her, and the other is the prince she left behind. Throughout the course of the novel, Lia falls in love with the Prince (who she really doesn't know is a prince, let alone her prince) and she is kidnapped by Raif who has become smitten with her. As Raif and his band of assassins take her to the ends of the earth and into a world everyone fears, the only thing that keeps the other assassins from killing her is the belief that Lia has the gift of sight and that she can predict the future, something their leader hopes to use to his advantage. With each step Lia takes away from home, she slowly begins to discover that much of her life has been a lie and that she may be more than her parents have led her to believe.

The Kiss of Deception is the first book in Pearson's The Remnant Chronicles. Readers of The Hunger Games will appreciate this title, as Lia is a strong, confident, and independent character who works to define her own identity and thwart tradition. While the amount of fantasy in this first novel is sparse--there are only points where Lia's clairvoyant nature is hinted at and most of this isn't until the end of the novel--this first installment is sure to lead to a strong, twisted, and captivating story. Be sure to check this one out--publication date is July 15th, 2014.

1/7/14:

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

The Seven Stages of War have left the world in complete ruins. The poor decisions of previous leaders have led to nuclear and biochemical war and much of what was once the United States is under water, except for the the center of the country. Since world governments have collapsed, survivors have taken on the challenge of rebuilding humanity and have established the United Commonwealth--a new government dedicated to keeping its separate colonies in check and ensuring that the levels of destruction in the past are never recreated.

Malencia (Cia) Vale, a recent graduate in the Five Lakes Colony (previously the Great Lakes), is anxiously awaiting a shot at The Testing--a series of exams that only the United Commonwealth's most intelligent graduates are allowed to take part in. The selection for and passing of these exams will ensure her a place in the country's University where she will be able to study to be one of the next great leaders. The only frightening thing about The Testing is that no one knows anything about what the tests are like--even those like Cia's father who can only remember fragments of what it was like to be tested.

Surprisingly Cia's selected (no one from Five Lakes Colony has been tested in years) and she must choose to follow her own insticts or to heed her father's advice to "trust no one". In addition to this fear, she must prepare herself to never see her family again since no one who goes to The Testing ever returns to his or her home colony. When Cia arrives at the testing center, she is placed through four grueling exams--one on paper, one designed to assess her knowledge and problem solving capabilities, one to test how she collaborates with others, and, finally, a long trek from Chicago to Tolso City (the United Commonwealth's capitol city) where she faces desolate country, elaborate mazes, mutated humans, and near certain death from others taking the same test. All the while, she falls for Tomas, another Testing Candidate from the Five Lakes Colony, who she must work to trust even though he seems to hold secrets she can't yet fathom.

The testing is a great dystopian novel in the spirit of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. While remarkably similar to Collins' novel, The Testing is strong in its own right, as Cia must evaluate every move she makes to try and determine what the Testing Officials expect from her and the premise is not suppression of the country's citizens through fear of the death of their children. In fact, by the end of the novel, there are still several questions that will beg to be answered by the rest of the series since, as readers, we've seen and experienced The Testing alongside Cia, yet we are still not certain as to the real purpose of the testing--or what happens to some of the individuals who fail. In addition to this, Charbonneau's Cia seems much more reflective and less calloused than Collins' Catniss, and, in some respects she comes across as a much more relatable character. If you were a fan of The Hunger Games, you won't want to miss this first novel in The Testing Trilogy, which will soon be followed by Independent Study (January 2014) and Graduation Day (June 2014).

12/5/13:

Guitar Notes by Mary Amato

Last night I finished reading Mary Amato's new novel Guitar Notes. It's the story of two high school students who form an unlikely friendship through music. Tripp Broody is anti-social but finds his passion in making extemporaneous music with a guitar. Lyla Marks is one of the most popular girls in school and is "perfect" at everything she does--even in the precise nature in which she plays the cello.

When the two share a practice room at school, they assume different identities. Tripp becomes Mr. Odd (since he takes the room on odd days) and Lyla becomes Ms. Even (since she takes the practice room on even days). When Lyla is disturbed by garbage Tripp leaves behind in the room, an exchange of notes left in the strings of a guitar ensues. Through these notes, the two begin to compose music together using the guitar and Lyla begins to discover her the self she's been hiding behind her cello. Eventually the two meet and they become a duo who share their love of music through composition and they finally play a wedding gig together. However, when Lyla's dad finds out, he tries to rip her away from Tripp and a horrible accident happens that leaves Lyla's life in the hands of fate.

What's really cool about this novel is that readers are given the music and lyrics to all of the songs that Tripp and Lyla compose throughout the novel. Mary Amato has also set up a website at www.thrumsociety.com where readers of the novel can listen to and download the songs the duo write, as well as learn how to play them on their own.

This novel is must read for anyone who enjoys a good story about forbidden love/friendship and music.

9/7/13:

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

Rose Under Fire is a companion novel to Elizabeth Wein's novel Code Name Verity, which was a Michael L. Printz Honor Book in 2013. In this novel, Wein tells the story of Rose Justice, an American aviation transport pilot working for the British during the World War II. When delivering a plane, Rose comes across a doodlebug (a notorious bomb used during the war) and, fearing where it might land and who it might kill, she attempts a taran (a risky way to change the course of a bomb by tapping it gently with the wing of an aircraft). While she's certain she saves a town or village, she ends up sacrificing herself when she is captured by two German pilots and taken to Ravensbruck, a women's concentration camp. 

In this camp, Rose is pitted against some of the most frightening things she has ever experienced. She meets the "Rabbits", a group of girls who were victims of sadistic medical trials done by Nazi doctors, and becomes one of their "family". Rose is forced to do unthinkable work, like clearing away the dead and moving them to a crematorium; she is also forced to help repurpose an old warehouse, converting it into the very gas chamber that threatens to take her own life and the life of the Rabbits.

Despite the novel's grotesque and vivid imagery of scenes in a Nazi concentration camp, the true heart of this novel is the story of Rose and her unlikely friendships with women of different ethnicities--Polish, Russian, and German (one of the prisoners she meets used to help sedate the Rabbits prior to their experimentation, giving her the title of the "Angel of Sleep"). Through this camaraderie comes hope as the girls dream of being rescued by allied soldiers; sacrifice as many of their family give their own lives to ensure that their sisters don't end up in the gas chambers; and freedom as the girls who do survive struggle to weave their futures in spite of such a haunting past.

Interspersed throughout the novel are various poems that Rose composes to describe her experiences, and as ways to help the Rabbits cope with their injuries and losses. One of the poems that serves as both motif and metaphor in the novel is "Kite-Flying" where Rose tries to explain what it is like to try to find freedom from not just Ravensbruck itself, but from the painful memories that weigh the girls down. Overall, this novel is beautifully written and quite poignant. A must read for anyone who enjoys a novel about those who absolve to find courage in the face of adversity or for those who enjoy excellent literature set during World War II.

This title will be available in our library soon.

8/17/13:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

    "It was only a duck pond, out at the back of the farm. It wasn't very big.

    Lettie Hempstock said it was an ocean, but I knew that was silly. She said they'd come here across the ocean from the old country.

    Her mother said that Lettie didn't remember properly, and it was a long time ago, and anyway, the old country had sunk.

    Old Mrs. Hempstock, Lettie's grandmother, said they were both wrong, and that the place that had sunk wasn't the really old country. She said she could                   remember the really old country.

    She said the really old country had blown up." (Gaiman 1)

So begins the enticing story of a middle-aged narrator as he revisits the horrors of his youth. After his father's death, the novel's narrator is drawn back to an old farm where he vaguely remembers major events in his life. Once there, he meets Ginnie Hempstock and a torrent of memories refill his mind. The narrator then begins to tell the story of how the suicide of a man who once stayed at his parent's Sussex hotel brought on magical changes that altered his childhood. In the midst of these memories he recalls how a frightening being came into his world in the disguise of a woman named Ursula Monkton. Ursula hypnotizes his parents and secretly plans to destroy him. His only defense is an unusual friend, Lettie Hempstock, who believes that the pond at the back of her farm is really an ocean holding secrets of another world--one from which Ursula and her own family have moved from to be in our world. As the novel progresses, the narrator's life is turned upside down as Ursula tears his parents apart and Lettie discovers that Ursula has made sure that the only way to destroy her is to kill the narrator as well. There is one other way to destroy Ursula Monkton; but, can Lettie save the narrator and destroy Ursula, even if it means sacrificing herself?

Just as the narrator reaches a point where he can remember everything, he has all of the memories torn away from him again and he is left forgetting his youth. Beautifully written, full of rich imagery, along with the immersion of the reader in a fantasy world that only Gaiman can create, this novel delves into what it means to grow old and to have pieces of our childhood buried within ourselves--whether it's the loss in the fear of monsters or the pleasurable memories of a good friend. Gaiman leaves readers wondering if maybe, as we grow older, the memories of our youth really are lost in The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

As you read this novel, look for passages to mark as your favorites--there are a lot of good ones. Here's one of mine:

    "'Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they         always have. Like they did when they were your age. The truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.'" (Gaiman 112)

Feel free to share your favorite passages from this novel with me. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is on the library's Kindles and will soon be available as a hard copy on the library shelves.

5/3/13:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

In preparation for the release of Baz Luhrmann's film The Great Gatsby, last week I decided to dust off my old copy of the novel to brush up on Gatsby's story prior to seeing the film. Now, I typically don't reread a novel for the simple fact that there are so many great things out there to read that I always want to explore something new, but this novel is one of those novels that begs itself to be read and reread because it is, in my opinion, really one of the greatest stories ever told.

The novel is narrated from the perspective of Nick Carraway, a bystander to the life of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is a man who mysteriously built himself up from a penniless boy to a man of wealth and status all to regain the love of Daisy Buchanan, a woman he fell in love with prior to leaving for World War I. When Gatsby returns from the war, he finds himself destitute and discovers that Daisy has married Tom Buchanan, a rich man who can give her anything she desires--except all of his love. Gatsby uses his own ingenuity and tenacity to achieve his own wealth that easily rivals that of Tom's. Throughout the course of the novel, Gatsby befriends Nick, also Daisy's cousin, in an attempt to bring Daisy back to him by showing her all of the great and wonderful things he now has--his house, his parties, his money, his clothes. All of the things he lacked before and he uses them to prove to Daisy that he now has all she needs, including love for her. What ensues is Daisy's need to decide who she will go with--Gatsby, the man she loves and who has waited five years for the chance to be with her again, or Tom--the man who loves her but also gives his love to another woman.

At the core of this novel is an exploration of the American Dream--the notion of building oneself up from nothing to greatness. The question is that while Gatsby's dream seems complete because of his wealth, can it every truly be realized without Daisy. Overall, though, The Great Gatsby is great love story and explores why it is that we cling to the illusions of the past instead of moving forward with the futures that lie ahead of us. When all of these elements come together, especially with Fitzgerald's beautifully written prose, it's no wonder why nearly 100 years after it's publication that many still consider The Great Gatsby to be the greatest of all American novels.

3/9/13:

Ben Fountain's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

In this modern war-centered novel, readers are introduced to Billy Lynn, a nineteen-year-old Texan who has experienced little, but seen more in his short life than most people will ever see. On the front lines of the Al-Ansakar Canal in Iraq, Billy fought as a member of Bravo Squad, a military troop who single-handedly fought to defeat Sadam Hussein. In a battle that lasted an intense three minutes and forty-three seconds, Billy became a hero by trying to save his dying friend, Shroom, all while holding off enemy fire.

Now, in the setting of the novel, Billy and the rest of Bravo Squad are back in the states on their "Victory Tour" where they spend their last day, Thanksgiving Day, at Cowboy Stadium before heading back to Iraq to serve another tour of duty. As special guests at the game, Billy and his squad members are introduced to some of the wealthiest and prettiest people in America--all who adore and applaud their service to our country. However, when it comes to translating that appreciation to money, these people tighten their wallets and turn away from the soldiers, treating them as if they are nobodies. The best example of this is Cowboy owner, Norm Oglesby, who worships the men, but refuses to pay the adequately when trying to turn their heroic story into a Hollywood film. Instead, he sees their story as a means to start a movie production company he has long had on the back burner. In this one last day of freedom before returning to war, Billy finds fame but has it pulled from under his feet; he finds love and loses it; he contemplates the freedom of going AWOL but musters up his last shards of courage.

A National Book Award Honor Book, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is a glimpse into the mind and psyche of a young soldier returning from war. It questions the way we, as Americans, treat our troops who have laid down their lives to protect our freedoms. But most importantly, it explores how brave the young men who go to war for us truly are. While a bit on the slow side at times, readers will find this novel to be packed with just as much humor as there is drama. In the end, Billy Lynn will be a character who will stick with you--one you can appreciate, admire, and love.

12/12/12:

David Levithan's Every Day

David Levithan's hero in Every Day is named "A." A has no friends. No parents. No family. No possessions. No home. In fact, every day A awakes in a different body and lives life as a different person. A has walked on egg shells each day of his life in an attempt to make sure he doesn't destroy the lives of the individuals in the bodies he inhabits--until he meets Rhiannon. After one day with her, A has fallen in love. The only problem is that he can't tell her how he feels because, on the day he meets her, he's Rhiannon's boyfriend. Once A leaves Rhiannon's boyfriend's body, he feels he has a purpose in life--to convince Rhiannon to love him. Throughout the course of the novel, A spends each day of his life as a different person and each day he tries to prove to Rhiannon that he's inside the new body she meets. Rhiannon, on the other hand, needs to cope with accepting A for who he is--whether he is a boy, a girl, fat, or ugly. The question that remains, then, is whether or not A can help Rhiannon see that their relationship, as awkward as it might be, is worth fighting for.

I really enjoyed this novel and I think you will too. Levithan has created an interesting piece of fiction that explores the concept of identity--are we who we are on the inside or on the outside? In addition to this, he also delves into the idea of love and the importance of loving someone for who he/she is and not what that person looks like. I would have to say that this book goes on my list of best books I've ever read. In fact, I'll probably read it again.

If you do happen to read this, check out the collection of short stories called Six Earlier Days by David Levithan. This is a digital book and is only available on the library's Kindles.