Thursday, June 27, 2013

Epitaph Road by David Patneaude

Another YA Golden Sower for this year and an interesting take on the Dystopian world.  When I was a growing up in the 70s, there were no soccer leagues for girls.  My mom had to fight to get the boys soccer league to allow my sister and me to play on an all boys team.  Because of this, I know what it is like to be the "odd man out."  That is how Kellan feels only its not just in a single activity, it is within the entire world.  It is 2097 and because of a virus that hit 30 years ago 1/2 of the population has been wiped out...it just happens to be almost all of the male population.  Kellan lives in a world where women rule.  Would wars, poverty, violence and crime really disappear if only women were in charge?  I don't know about that, but I do know that I enjoyed this action packed book.  I liked how each chapter started with an epitaph (a statement about someone written in their memory, usually on a tombstone) of someone who died because of the virus.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Jessica'a Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

What a great book!  Jessica lives with her vegan parents on a "no kill" farm and has always known she was adopted.  When a gorgeous foreign exchange student shows up and tells her she is actually a vampire princess and his fiance through an age old pact, she is understandably skeptical.  This is one of those books where my feelings kept changing about the characters.  I liked how Jessica didn't immediately go all ga-ga over the supposed vampire prince.  I wasn't sure how to feel about Lucius, except his letters home to his uncle continually made me chuckle.  As the story progressed I started to like him more as you realize his upbringing didn't leave a lot of time for him to be a kid, even a vampire kid and how he was working more and more on just fitting in to this new teenage world.  I don't want to give anything away about how this story ends, you will just have to trust me and read it!

The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby

This is an intermediate Golden Sower for this year.  A couple of years ago this was at a book fair that I was running at the elementary school I taught at and a student raved about it.  It looked interesting but I just never got around to reading it and too bad for me, because it is a great book.  Guiseppe, Frederick and Hannah all live in a large city at a time when life was very hard for children.  Their lives become intertwined through a series of coincidences. This was one of those books I wished I could have read faster just so I could see how everything turned out!  I loved it!  If you like this, Matthew J. Kirby has written another book called IceFall that has gotten rave reviews by students, but I haven't had a chance to read.  I would trust them and go read it!

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick

This is one of the Young Adult Golden Sowers for this year.  It is the sequel to "Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie."  Don't let this put you off the book, however, I didn't read the first one either and I had no trouble reading or understanding what was going on in this book. Jeffrey and Tad are best friends, they are also "the kids that had cancer."  They both have to deal with regular teen stuff as well as dealing with the after effects of the cancer treatment as well as the worry of it coming back.  This is a great story that I found very easy to read.

Monday, June 3, 2013

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Not just another vampire book.  Oh, I really liked this one!  I believe the next one in the "Blood of Eden" series is coming out this summer and I will definitely be getting it for the library as soon as I can.  A disease has killed off most of human kind, vampires have always been around but hiding on the fringe of society, but now they are in charge.  Using humans as "blood cows."  At least those humans who are registered.  Allison Sekemoto, our wonderfully strong main character, is NOT one of those registered, because she refuses to be at the beck and call of monsters.  After a night of scavenging for food, Allison is attacked by "rabids" and she has to make a choice, die a forever death, or die and become one of the monsters she loathes.  And that is just the beginning of the novel.  Allison is so strong throughout this novel, trying to retain her humanity even when her need to hunt is almost unbearable.  There is a little bit of romance, but not a lot.  This is a very good read.

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

Wow, what a book.  Lucy was nine when she was diagnosed with cancer.  As she tells the story, you realize how unaware she was at the severity of her disease.  Like we all like special attention when a minor illness keeps us home from school, Lucy recounts how even through her surgeries and chemo. and radiation she enjoyed that "specialness."  Other parts of the book are heart wrenching.  Lucy had about 1/3 of her jaw removed because of her cancer and her classmates taunts and teasing caused her so much pain.  This is an incredibly moving story about how so much of our self worth can be caught up in trying to be "beautiful" to others.  Lucy grew up to be a successful author and poet, but died in 2002 from an accidental overdose.

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

This was my first Golden Sower Nominee of the season and I liked it.  Dystopian and magic in one book.  Quill is a society where the motto is "Quill prevails when the strong survive."  Every year "the Purge takes place and 13 year olds are sorted into 3 categories: the Wanteds, (who will go on to University) the Necessaries (who do the menial tasks to keep the society running, and the Unwanteds (who are sent to die in the Great Lake of boiling oil).  Our main character does not die and discovers a wonderful world where his creative talents lead to magic.  I did like that the character's magical talents were tied to their creative pursuits.  It did bother me a little bit that those sent to the university to study math and science were not thought of as creative, but I didn't let that spoil my enjoyment of this story.