Return to Camp Half-Blood - Review of "The Heroes of Olympus" series by Rick Riordan

Title: The Lost Hero (Book 1); The Son of Neptune (Book 2)
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Publication Date: October 12, 2010; October 4, 2011
Reading Level: 13 and up


Synopses (from Goodreads) -
 - The Lost Hero - Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out.

Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god.

 - The Son of Neptune - Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring and bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth

Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem - when the Voice took over he mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for and evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wished she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams.

Frank is a klutz. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery - although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially infront of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely - enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart.

Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment of the Heroes of Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophecy of Seven.


My Review:
Rick Riordan is a genius.

Let me back up - as a kid, I ate up anything I could learn about Greek mythology.  Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Poseidon, Hades - loved every minute of it.  Roman mythology - eh, yeah, I got into it to a lesser extent (mostly because I also loved astronomy and the planets are named after the Roman gods), but Greek was the way to go for me.  I think that's where my love of fantasy originally stems from (that, and Grimm's Fairy Tales. Great stuff, that).

So when I discovered the original "Percy Jackson" series, I was in seventh heaven (also wondering "Why in the world couldn't I have come up with this?"  You know, as I do).  Setting Greek gods in the modern world and how their demigod children cope with life - add in a healthy dose of sarcastic humor - it's so much fun.

But then, "The Heroes of Olympus" comes out and I wonder how this is going to work.  There was already a highly successful series and a satisfying conclusion - what more could Riordan do with this?

Answer - A lot.

First of all - he mixes in the Roman gods.  Now, I always assumed that the Romans just appropriated the Greek gods and gave them new names, but kept the same stories.  But in a fantastic showing of Having Done The Research, Riordan decides to work in the differences between Roman and Greek culture into the gods' personalities.  Plus, there's a whole new demigod camp - Camp Jupiter - on the west coast to compliment Camp Half-Blood on the east coast (signifying that the western and eastern parts of the Roman empire were split up at one point and turned out very different cultures - who says popular literature isn't educational?)

The Lost Hero introduces Jason, Piper and Leo.  Jason has lost his memory and ends up at Camp Half-Blood for Greek demigods and it turns out Jason is a descendant of... Jupiter.  Which is the Roman version of Zeus.  And that Roman aspect makes a HUGE difference.  Also, Percy Jackson is missing (which has this little fangirl going "Ugh - REALLY?")  The sarcasm is toned down a bit from the original series - it's not gone completely, however.  This just makes for a slightly darker story and Riordan is able to tell the story by shifting points-of-view between the three main characters.  It's been a few months since I last read The Lost Hero, so I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but it is an exciting new take on this world and from a fresh perspective of other half-blood kids.

The Son of Neptune reintroduces Percy (HOORAY!) but he's lost his memory as well (BOO!)  Percy's wound up in Camp Jupiter, the somewhat more uptight (in my opinion) Roman camp for demigods, and he has a quest to complete with the assistance of Hazel and Frank (who are about as cute a pair of demigods you could ask for).  They complete their quest - but are left with a big chunk of prophecy to think upon for the rest of the series.  Oh - and Annabeth (the daughter of Athena that featured prominently in the original series and is Percy's girlfriend and is just made of general awesomesauce) is coming back, which may or may not be a good thing.

Like I said, Rick Riordan is a genius.  He's come up with an entire world and mythology and has written one fantastic series from it and is now going back to do something new with it.  Some would say that it's not wise to go back to the well too many times, but this works somehow.

The third book in the series, The Mark of Athena (eee! TITLE!) comes out next fall.

Programming Note: During my senior year high school, I was introduced to a series called The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.  For those not familiar with it, this series is one of those Doorstoppers (thank you, TV Tropes) with a zillion books of similar length in the entire series (okay, okay, more like fourteen, when all is said and done).  I had to stop reading when I got to college because of the sheer amount of work involved (in college, not reading WOT - though I suppose that would hold true as well) and only got to about book seven.  But now that I am finished with school (HOORAY!!) I find myself with extra time to devote to those Super Awesome and Fun But Not Exactly Productive projects I always wanted to complete - which includes re-reading AND finishing The Wheel of Time.  I am really excited about this because I got sucked into it the first time around and I was heartbroken when I had to set it aside for other pursuits.  And if you know one thing about me, it's that I LOVE to get sucked into stories.  Even when they monopolize all my free time (I should say Especially when they monopolize my free time).  The point? I probably won't be able to review very much until I finish (or - most likely - take a break from) The Wheel of Time.  There'll still be a few reviews here and there - but just so you know why I haven't been posting very much. That's why.

Having Crossed the Bar (Not to Mention the Red Desert) - Review of "Crossed" by Ally Condie

Title: Crossed
Author: Ally Condie
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: November 2011
Reading Level: 13 and up

Synopsis: (from Goodreads) –
The hotly awaited second book in the dystopian Matched trilogy

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

My Review:
Remember how my review of "Matched" was an undying love letter to Ally Condie and her masterful work of YA fiction?  Remember how I was super-duper excited for the second installment?  Well - I'm still excited about this series, but I do have a few things to say about it.

When giving my rating on Goodreads for this one, I sincerely wished there was a way to give a ½ star rating between levels. Because “Crossed” was really good, but it has the unenviable job of being the second book in a trilogy. “Matched” was fantastic – like, blow-everything-out-of-the-water brilliant and I loved every minute of it. “Crossed” was excellent in its own right, but I think “Matched” was slightly better.  This is not a dig against "Crossed," by any means - I loved it!  But I loved "Matched" just a teensy bit more.

I was correct in my prediction that “Crossed” would be a bit more action-oriented than “Matched” was. This book takes Cassia and Ky into Southern Utah the Outer Provinces. They’ve both been split up and put into the company of other Aberrations (outcasts from the Society – though now that I think of it, I don’t know that Cassia was ever officially marked an Aberration. But I’m sure that’s going to change. Nit-picky, I know). There is still a little of Xander in the story, but that is blessedly short (if there is one thing I want the world to know about these books is that it is possible to have a really good YA dystopian story and leave out the contrived love-triangle.  The itty-bitty love triangle in this series actually serves a purpose!  Bless Ally Condie for this forever!) and Cassia’s focus is entirely, 100% on finding Ky.

One thing I want to make special mention of is the switch between Cassia’s and Ky’s first-person POVs between chapters. I only make note of it because I only noticed my enjoyment of it because I took on the NaNoWriMo challenge and I’m trying to work this technique into my own novel, so I’m pleased to see it work well in an actual published work (there is hope!) I’ve always, always enjoyed stories written in first-person and it almost seems like they’re easier to write. But there’s always something going on elsewhere in the story that, as an author, you feel like it’s important for the reader to know but your character doesn’t know it quite yet. So, I liked that Condie just flat out said “Dear Reader, you get Ky's POV in one chapter and Cassia's in the next.” Both characters deal with their own uncertainty about the other (Is Ky still alive? Is Cassia out there looking for Ky?), but the reader knows that it’s going to work out (or, at least you hope it will) because you know what the other one is doing. My only complaint (and this comes from me reading the Nook version and I wonder if there were headers in the printed version that avoided this problem) is that when Ky and Cassia meet up, the back-and-forth first-person gets confusing and I’m not always sure who’s speaking. But it’s a minor thing – something that someone reading the hard-copy might not have had an issue with.

The only thing that gives me pause about this is that it felt like it ended too quickly. Maybe I’m used to gigantic blow ups and insane cliffhangers at the end of the second part of my trilogies, but there wasn’t much of that. There were a few things that (I won’t mention because of SPOILERS) take Cassia and Ky and the rest off into points unknown and set up the third book, but it felt like there should have been more. I’m sure there are going to be plenty of CRAP JUST GOT REAL moments in book 3 because there were so many in “Matched,” but just not as many in “Crossed.”

Bottom Line: “Crossed” is a good enough follow-up to “Matched” and I’m eagerly awaiting the end of the series.

A Little Birdy Told Me...

Not a review, but I do have something good in the works so watch this space!  I do have two announcements for those in and around Salt Lake County (one applies to the interwebs, so maybe that caveat isn't as hard-and-fast).  Both apply to the library and as I work for the Salt Lake County Library, I feel like I ought to support the home team :)

Two things -

1 - This is for today only - If you've read a bunch of really good books and you don't know what to read next, if you post a comment listing a few of those titles on the Salt Lake County Library's Facebook page, one of their librarians will give you some personalized suggestions of something you might enjoy based on what you give them.  This is just like their personalized reading lists that they do via email, but much quicker.

2 - In one of the comments of said personalized recommendation campaign, one of the librarians let slip that Ally Condie will be speaking at the Holladay Library on March 23, 2012!  Remember Ally?  Author of Matched and Crossed? (which I will be reviewing soon)  Super-awesome books and (I hear) a really super-awesome person?  I'm sure more details will arise as the date comes closer, but I for one am stoked!  The calendar is cleared of any and all conflicts (and before you even say it - I can hit The Hunger Games midnight showing and go see Ally Condie in the evening.  It's a dystopian awesomeness all-day affair!)

The Trailer! It's Here!

The Hunger Games movie trailer is out!

I have chills just watching this.

Boffins, Beasties and Bum-rags - Review of the "Leviathan" trilogy

Another whole-series review? Well, dear readers, you deserve it.  And what a doozy of a series it is!

Titles: 1- Leviathan, 2- Behemoth, 3 - Goliath
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Illustrator: Keith Thompson
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Leviathan Synopsis (from Goodreads) -

Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

My Review:
I know I slagged off Westerfeld for his other-series-that-shall-not-be-named (and rightly so).  I was initially hesitant to read another one of his books because of how much I despised that other thing.  But my students at the time recommended this series to me and my sister said it was good and it was steampunk rather than dystopian, so I thought maybe a change of genre would be good.

And now, seven months after I began Leviathan, I can honestly say that this is one of the best series that I have read in a freakishly long time.  I don't think I have devoured a book - much less three of them - with such ferocity and enjoyment as I did these three.  Not since Harry Potter, where I gladly sacrificed sleep to read "just one more chapter," have I been so excited about a book.  And I get excited about a lot of books.  Seriously - I audibly SQUEE'd when I saw that Goliath was available at the library.  Since I started working there, I don't think I've been so careful to avoid accidentally reading a spoiler when I'm checking in a book.

This series takes place in an alternate World War I, which is an interesting setting for an author to go.  Most steampunk is in the late 1800s.  And honestly, if you want to do a war story, it seems like the easiest place is World War II.  But I applaud this move for several reasons - 1) It's a fresh topic to explore. 2) When I was growing up, I heard plenty about World War II and what that was all about.  But I seldom heard about World War I.  And, in my childlike mind, there must have been a One for there to be a Two.  Even the crappiest of sequels had to have an original to follow.  So I think it's great for there to be something for kids about World War I.  Even if it's not historically accurate (c'mon - they're traveling on an airship grown from a whale, for heaven's sake!) it might pique some kid's interest and want to learn more about that first conflict.

I've got to talk about the Darwinists and the Clankers, which are the two factions at war in this alt-WWI.  The Darwinists are the Allied powers - Britain, France, Russia - and they have the ability to build machines out of animals.  The Leviathan airship is pretty much a giant whale with bits of other animals genetically built in to the structure.  One of their weapons is a flechette bat, which is a genetically modified bat that will eat pieces of iron and the crew lets them out and they... well, they drop what they've eaten and it's like a little flying machine gun (don't think about it too much).  The Clankers are the Central Powers - Germany and the Austro-Hungarian empire - and their machines are metal machines, but bigger.

Oh geez - here's the picture from the endsheets of Leviathan. It's easier to understand:

Click to embiggen

Is it weird that I love how Russia is drawn as a giant rotting bear?

Another thing that made me love this series is the character of Deryn Sharp.  Dear Sweet Gallifrey - this kid has so much life and sarcasm and she is totally her own person.  I love how she is totally not worried about anyone discovering her secret (as long as she's careful and follows her own plan) she can be a midshipman on a naval airbeast and show up all the boys on the crew.  The best, I think, is when Dr. Barlow ("the lady boffin," as Deryn often calls her) comes aboard and Deryn isn't cowed by her authority, even though the Leviathan is charged with taking her to Istanbul as a scientific ambassador.  Even when Prince Alek gets thrown into the mix, Deryn holds her own and their friendship is believable.  I also love how Deryn doesn't make a big deal about "girls can do anything boys do" and that allows the story to flow and take shape without any sideshow preachiness to slow it down.  I mean, I was always one of those girls that wanted to beat the boys in sports and games and things like that, but that doesn't mean I want it shoved in my face every time I try to enjoy a good story.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the absolutely gorgeous illustrations in this book.  When I finally got my copy of Goliath from the library, I was a bit miffed to see that the tech services folks had taped down the book jacket so you couldn't see the endsheet illustrations (I'll probably purchase this set for myself for Christmas - it is definitely worth owning.)  Keith Thompson does such an amazing job of creating scenes and characters and they add to the story.  As good as the narrative is, it's hard to picture a lot of this stuff when you're just reading the word that describe living airships and enormous metal clanking war machines.  The pictures are just a wonderful way to give the reader a good sense of place and how these things would look.  My favorite is the one in Leviathan where Deryn is flying on this big jellyfish-looking air balloon and the wind has blown her into the path of the Leviathan airship and the ship is just coming out of the clouds and it looks like a whale flying in the air.  If I could have that picture framed on my wall, then I would - it is that neat.

On a personal note - It's funny after having come back from a trip that took me to Vienna and Serbia, which are the two main places that got World War I going in the first place (and hearing so much about Nikola Tesla  in Serbia - and he turns out to be a complete loon in Goliath).  Now, I just have to add Britain to that list and I will be a satisfied little world traveler.

Speaking of Tesla - just because I can and because it's Back to the Future day - here's a video of Tesla coils playing the theme song from BttF -



Ah - nerds. Don'cha just love 'em?

As I look at this review thus far, I notice that I didn't give too much mention of Behemoth.  I will say that the second book was good - it just has the difficult task of being the second book in a trilogy.  By this point, the story has already started and it's not going to finish here.  The whole "Mr. Sharp is really a girl" plot continues on, as does Alek's continued hiding from the Clankers.  Their relationship grows to where it needs to be at the beginning of Goliath and the reader is constantly wondering when the heck is Alek going to figure out that "Dylan" Sharp is actually female (because you know that's going to happen at some point.  It always does).  But it's still interesting and enjoyable and Deryn and Alek are just a joy to follow, no matter what's going on in the rest of the story.

(Oh, and there's no crappily fabricated love-triangle that seems to be all the rage in YA fiction these days.  There is one moment in Behemoth where it comes close, but it mercifully skulks back into the shadows and lets the rest of the story move along in peace).

Bottom Line - I could gush more about these books, but then you wouldn't have time to go read them yourself (I haven't even mentioned how adorable Alek is through the whole series.  And that picture of him on the cover of Goliath? Da-yum). This trilogy more than makes up for Westerfeld's previous botched attempt at YA fiction.  Even without that hanging over his head, he deserves much praise for Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath.  This just a fantastic story and anyone who enjoys steampunk or alternate history or even historical fiction will enjoy these books.

LDS Fiction: You're Doing It Right

Title: Not My Type: A Single Girl's Guide to Doing It All Wrong
Author: Melanie Jacobson
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Date: September 2011


Synopsis (from Goodreads) -
Twenty-three-year-old Pepper Spicer is not living the dream. She ended her engagement at the last minute because her fiancé — a musician and soon-to-be reality TV star — wanted her to sacrifice her own career ambitions for his.

Now she's stuck at home sharing a room with her little sister, trying to pay off massive debt for a wedding that didn't happen, and spending Friday nights Facebook-stalking everyone who has a better life. Her therapist father urges her to choose her career dreams and count her blessings by writing weekly thank you notes, but gratitude is a tall order when she botches an important job interview and has to settle for writing an undercover dating web-zine column — the
last thing in the world she wants to do. Still, as Pepper (byline: Indie Girl) chronicles her bizarre and hilarious blind dates, she gives her father's challenge a try and slowly finds herself leaving self-pity behind. Life takes a major upswing as Pepper's column hits the big time and she tastes the exhilarating thrill of success. But there's one tiny problem: the intensely hot man she's falling for is having issues with her job (again). Will Pepper trade her personal ambition for another chance at love?

My Review:
I have had a very rocky relationship with LDS fiction over the years.  I blame Jack Weyland and all his soapy-sappy-Sunday-School-watered-down versions of "realistic" (ha!) LDS fiction where it takes someone dying of some rare disease to give the lovable-yet-misguided protagonist their "Come to Jesus" moment and suddenly everything in life is wonderful.  I thought I had another one of "Those Books" on my hands when "Not My Type" floated across the automated check-in system at work.  Didn't help that the main character's name is "Pepper Spicer" (I wish I could say that this name is just something cutesy the author made up, but I would not be surprised if there is some poor unfortunate BYU co-ed with a name like that. I don't know what kind of ill wind is blowing down in Utah County that people name their children such weird things).  I was pretty well ready to blow this one off as another sappy Jack Weyland-knock off about a poor girl whose best idea of rebellion is to read the Salt Lake Tribune and hang out in Sugar House with all the people who fancy themselves hippies, yet could only get their liberal club cards punched as far as the east side of Salt Lake City (poor things. You almost have to feel sorry for them).

However, I was not prepared for the character development Melanie Jacobson had in store for her heroine.  Or her loving-yet-honest (and very refreshing) take on Utah culture - especially the dating scene.

Pepper lives with her parents and works full-time in an effort to pay off a wedding that never happened.  Her ex-fiance, Landon, broke off not just one wedding, but two, because his music career came first.  So, Pepper is living with her parents (sharing a room with her seven-year-old sister) and working a crappy full-time job at a sandwich shop in order to pay-off the debt from the second wedding that never happened.  Needless to say, Pepper is not happy about where her life is and the book begins with her making everyone else miserable because she is miserable.  Her dad, in an effort to administer tough love, gives her two choices - (1) find a new job and a new attitude (for the latter, Dad assigns Pepper to write a thank you note once a week to someone who's done something nice for her) or (2) find an apartment, pay rent and take longer to pay-off the wedding debt.  Luckily for the story, Pepper chooses Option 1.

The weekly thank you notes are key to this being an enjoyable story because Pepper's attitude does change and she does find joy in the weird circumstances she winds up in.  She does find a better job writing for an upstart online magazine for the twenty-somethings.  Her column: "Single in the City," where she goes on dates with guys she meets online and writes about the dates and how disastrous they are (all under a pen name, of course - because who would go out with a girl who's going to write about the date and post it to the internet?)  However, Pepper's newfound change-of heart conflicts with her desire to make fools of these boys... plus she ends up meeting a really nice guy (through a rather hilarious chain of events.  Well... I thought it was funny. I won't spoil it for you, dear reader. Seriously - did not see that one coming).  She also adjusts her career expectations for the better and it's wonderful to see her shift from the whiny, heartbroken sandwich shop manager to a self-assured, happy reporter.

As with most LDS fiction, there are certain elements of Utah culture that are fun to see (considering Utah isn't a place that's featured in a lot of mainstream fiction writing).  I especially loved how Jacobson included the abject idiocy and, quite frankly, pants-wetting the local media engages in when someone from Utah gets on one of those stupid American Idol shows (it's kind of embarrassing, to be truthful).  There are a few scenes that are Church-related, but nothing too doctrinally-heavy gets explored, which is nice for people who aren't familiar with the particulars.  And anything else that's unique to our culture that other people might not fully understand is either explained enough for the purposes of the story or the reader can figure it out well-enough that it doesn't ruin the narrative.  Honestly, I think anyone - LDS or no - would enjoy reading this book.

Bottom Line: All in all, a nice fluffy romantic comedy where the characters just happen to be LDS.  Some lovely character development and lots of witty dialogue makes for an enjoyable read.  It's refreshing to see something even halfway decent come out of the local publishing companies and I'm glad I picked this one up.

"Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light" - Review of "Matched" by Ally Condie

Title: Matched
Author: Ally Condie
Date: November 30, 2010
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Synopsis (from Goodreads) -
Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

My Review:
Before I begin my review, I have something to say: I want all of you book-summary-writing people to pay close attention.  No, even closer than that.  That's right - right into the computer screen...

ahem...

WRITE JACKET SUMMARIES THAT HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE ACTUAL PLOT!!

Seriously! The jacket summary makes Matched sound like it's the dystopian version of Twilight or just another version of Uglies.  If I were Ally Condie, I would take exception to those comparisons, because Matched has so many things that neither Twilight nor Uglies do not (starting off with interesting characters and a coherent plot).  Actually, if you want a decent summary of Matched that gives a good overview of the story, I would suggest the one on the Wikipedia page:

"For Cassia, nothing is left to chance--not what she will eat, the job she will have, or the man she will marry. In Matched, the Society Officials have determined optimal outcomes for all aspects of daily life, thereby removing the "burden" of choice. When Cassia's best friend is identified as her ideal marriage Match it confirms her belief that Society knows best, until she plugs in her Match microchip and a different boy’s face flashes on the screen. This improbable mistake sets Cassia on a dangerous path to the unthinkable--rebelling against the predetermined life Society has in store for her."

Jeez - some dork from Wikipedia can do your job much better than you can!! (or if you are that Wikipedia dork, why did you not do that better job in the first place??)  Marketing FAIL!

*deep breath* Okay, on to the review.

Just so you know, I listened to the audiobook of this because the wait line for the book at the library was horrendously long.  I don't have the actual book and searching for details in the audiobook is cumbersome (and my Google Fu is failing me), so some details will be fuzzy.  Sorry if that bothers you.

I have read reviews that Matched is basically an extended version of The Giver (which is one of my favorite books, period).  My response: Yes and No.  There are similarities to the Community in The Giver (the Society chooses your job, your mate, watches every little move you make and dictates when you will die).  However, Matched goes further than The Giver does - it explores the Society a lot more than The Giver does, even looking into different sections of the Society and its citizens much more closely.  This works in favor of Matched, because the main character is working things out on her own - she doesn't have a wise mentor like in The Giver. This is not a bad thing nor does it take away from the effectiveness of The Giver as its own story.  They are two very different stories set in similar circumstances (and written for very different audiences).  In fact, I would call Matched "The Giver meets The Hunger Games."  And you will hear no complaints from me on this.  This is what Uglies was supposed to have been and failed at.

Matched starts out with Cassia Reyes on the night of her Matching Ceremony.  She and scores of other kids throughout the country who have turned 16 in the past month have gathered in their respective City Halls where they will learn who the Society has Matched them with, based on genetic compatibility and the likelihood of such matches producing quality offspring.  This is genetic and societal engineering gone mental, but the book never says it outright.  Mostly because this is from Cassia's point of view and she doesn't have a word for this sort of thing. - the calories in the food are monitored as they are distributed, which means that the Society can and does give its citizens smaller portions if it chooses to do so (as it does to Cassia - SPOILER!)  But when Cassia gets her microcard with information about the lucky boy she's Matched with ...[insert jacket summary here].

So, the impetus for this story is that Cassia isn't sure who she's supposed to be Matched with.  But separate and apart from the only-for-teen-angst love triangle, the story also deals with the deal of Cassia's grandfather.  Now, I compare Grandfather in Matched to Uncle Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender (the animated TV show, not the movie).  Grandfather has been raised in the Society, but he also has the benefit of being among the first generations who lived under Society rule.  One imagines that he remembers a little of life before the Society (some details in the book led me to that conclusion) and he becomes a bit of a rebel.

The beautiful thing, however, is that Grandfather was very quiet about his rebellion.  Even his own family has no idea of the rules he has broken.  On his 80th birthday (which is the day that the Society decrees that all citizens must die - before they become too old and useless, you know), Grandfather gives Cassia a compact as her one allowed artifact and he shows her how to open a hidden compartment where he has hidden finds two outlawed poems - "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas and "Crossing the Bar" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.  She reads the poems and the words of those poems make her realize that she can think for herself (it doesn't happen overnight, but the process of her character development is AMAZING!  "Pants," Cassia is not).

Oh, by the way, there are only 100 poems allowed in the Society.  Also, there are 100 showings (which I think are supposed to be movies), 100 history lessons, 100 songs, 100 books, 100 paintings, etc.  Everything that didn't make the lists of 100 gets destroyed.  I don't know if Condie has made up the exact lists in their entirety, but the few examples from the story suggest that the 100 whatevers were chosen to placate and pacify the masses  and lead them to accept Society rule - not kick them up into a rage or anger them against the Society.  But the two poems Cassia finds in her compact do exactly that - she begins to rebel within her own mind and question everything she's known in her life.

For the most part, the love triangle takes a backseat to the main plotline (DEAR SWEET GALLIFREY, THANK YOU!)  The first third of the book is made up of Cassia learning from the poems Grandfather gave her.  For a long time, I forgot why the book was called Matched because Cassia spends so much time deciding if she will go gentle into that good night or if she'll rage against the dying of the light.  But then the boy she was faked-Matched with, Ky Markham, sees Cassia reading the illegal poetry.  Ky has his own set of unique problems (and a whole list of reasons why he shouldn't be Cassia's Match - which I'll let you, dear reader, discover when you read the book).  Cassia and Ky don't so much fall in love as they team up to teach each other about new words, learn how to create things and more or less become a couple of little rebels.  Seeing Cassia learn how to create words of her own is a fascinating scene and it makes me think about how lucky I am that I can do that all on my own.  And I think about in the past and the present who don't have that ability.  They are told what to do and what to think - whatever benefits the Society they live in.

Really, that's the whole horror of the Society - nobody has a choice.  Well, we all know that's the point of a dystopia.  But Matched one step further - it highlights the fact that nobody gets to create anything.  Everything from birth to death is mapped out for a person to follow.  It is the ultimate Cradle-to-Grave society.  Everyone has a place and if you step out of that place, there will be Consequences-with-a-capital-C.  Nobody will be remembered (unless they perfect that cloning thing - which I think is going to turn out to be a sham) and nobody has an impact on the world.  It's a collection of people living not for themselves but for the  Greater Good (tm - Hitler, Mao, Grindelwald) - working for the government machine and nothing else.

Bottom Line: If you want an engaging, thought-provoking, interesting dystopian story that's not as violent as The Hunger Games, then Matched is a great choice.  The next book in the series, Crossed, is due out this November.  My prediction is, where Matched was more cerebral and we spent most of the time with Cassia learning about her new paradigm, Crossed will be more action-oriented and physical.  I can't say too much without spoiling it more than I already have.

"Gregory! Tell Us About Your Childhood!" Review of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid"

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Author: Jeff Kinney
Publisher: Abrams Books
Publication Date: 2007
Reading Level: Can you remember middle school?  Are you enduring middle school? You can (and should) read this book.

Synopsis: (from Goodreads) –
Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.

My Review:
I think I've annoyed everybody on Twitter and Facebook and Tumblr about this today, but what better place to sing my praises of a children's book that is (A) Genuinely funny and (B) Actually popular with the younger set - than at my book review blog?  My only regret is that it took me this long to pick this book up.  It was easily one of the most-requested books at the library when I did my practicum this summer - but I guess I just assumed it was one of those disgusting fart-joke type books for these poor kids who only have "Spongebob Squarepants" to watch on TV anymore (oh, I how pine for the days of "Doug" and "Hey Arnold!")  The only reason (and it pains me to say this) I picked it up was that I'm taking a Children's Library Services class this semester and this was on the required reading list.  Along with a bunch of Newbery Award books - some of which are, quite frankly, boring as watching paint dry.  But I'll talk about those another time.

If I could have one wish, it's that my years of middle school could be permanently expunged from my memory.  Not the lessons I learned and growth I endured, just the memory of it.  While "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" doesn't do that, it makes it easier to think on any of those memories.

Awkward school dances? This book addresses it.  Popular kids that were just plain mean and hateful?  Covered in a frankly hilarious way (Rowley was made to _ _ _ the diseased cheese left on the basketball court).  Rude and obnoxious older siblings? Dealt with (but not in a mean-spirited way).  Spoiled baby siblings who get EVERYTHING they way?  Greg's got one of those too (and I defy anyone not to laugh whenever little Manny graces the doodled pages).

Despite the summary at the top of the page, there really isn't a concise plotline through Greg's diary JOURNAL.  It's more or less a mishmash of things that happen to Greg, though some things that are introduced early on come into play as the story progresses.  I would have to say it's "Napoleon Dynamite" in book form - deadpan humor with just the right amount of real-life relevancy that appeals to adult and kids.

While I'm not One Of Those People who pickets outside the library because "Captain Underpants" is on the shelf, I'm also not a fan of the cheap and easy over-the-top bathroom humor that's aimed at kids these days (oh, what do I mean "these days"? - that crap was happening when I was a kid).  While "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" does utilize a little bit of bathroom humor, it's limited to things that are actually plausible and that kids just on the cusp of puberty would probably be dealing with (sitting next to the weird, stinky kid on the first day of school and then being informed that's your permanent assigned seat for the year or being self-conscious that you haven't hit your growth spurt while other kids in your grade have to shave five times a day, just to name a few).

Oh, and I have to talk about the cartoons - you can't just look at the cartoon drawings without reading the scrawly narration, nor can you do without the cartoons and just read the writing.  They both go together and add to the humor.  It's both visual and literary, which makes it a great combination.


The next person that says the only way you can get kids to read a book is if there is an abundance of over-the-top bathroom humor, I will insist they read this book.  Everyone who endured middle school should read these books (the sixth book - Cabin Fever - is due out in November) because they will just make you feel better about life.

Call-Back Review: "The Bar Code Tattoo" by Suzanne Weyn

Had a long and tough week, so I didn't get a review written up.  So here's a review from my YA Lit class last spring.

Title: The Bar Code Tattoo
Author: Suzanne Weyn
Publisher: Scholastic
Date of Publication: September 1, 2004
Reading Level: Elementary and junior high school

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
Individuality vs. Conformity
Identity vs. Access
Freedom vs. Control
The bar code tattoo. Everybody's getting it. It will make your life easier, they say. It will hook you in. It will become your identity.

But what if you say no? What if you don't want to become a code? For Kayla, this one choice changes everything. She becomes an outcast in her high school. Dangerous things happen to her family. There's no option but to run...for her life.

My Review:
I'm seeing this trend with novels - the premise sounds so good and really promising.  Until you actually read it and it's a piece of crap.  Maybe I'm getting to this point in my life where all these crazy neighborhood kids are on my literary lawn and throwing their trashy love-triangles through my character-driven windows.

As a dystopian novel, this book had so much potential. Everyone is forced to get a bar code tattooed on their wrist that contains all their financial, health and personal information. That has to be a pretty interesting story, right?

Unfortunately, this story falls woefully flat. The plot is little more than Character A moves to Plot Point 2 and must fall in love with Character B who is really working for Villain Gamma. Character C is forced to move across country with her family and has little bearing on the actual plot, but Character A needs a best friend in this formula. Weyn probably needed three times as many pages to tell the story she was aiming to tell in a short story format (the author’s note at the end says that she originally began this as a short story). None of the important scenes get the development they need in order to bring the reader into the story. It’s almost like everything is just background noise. Plus, the ending is very contrived - having the bar code somehow frustrates evolution so much that people without the bar codes start developing psychic powers. Even for a science-fiction story, that is too far-fetched.

This book obviously has an agenda to push and while many authors’ beliefs seep into their stories in subtle ways, Weyn’s beliefs don’t “seep” as much as they flood the plotline, overshadow any semblance of a story and the whole thing comes across as preachy and arrogant (doesn’t help that there’s the obligatory love-triangle thrown in there just as an afterthought).

This could have been a very well-crafted story of how people get so caught up in the new trends and technology of society and even follow big corporations and big government policies blindly to their downfall, but it just doesn’t work here. There’s not enough background on the characters to make the reader care about them. If I were a teen reading this book, I would be insulted that I was expected to take this premise seriously (evidently there’s a sequel. I don’t know why).

Bottom Line: I'll let Snape speak for me here.



Where's my copy of "The Hunger Games?" Sheesh...

"Let's Be Friends" and What that SHOULD Mean

Title: The Actor and the Housewife
Author: Shannon Hale
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: June 9, 2009

Synopsis (from Goodreads) -

What if you were to meet the number-one person on your laminated list—you know, that list you joke about with your significant other about which five celebrities you’d be allowed to run off with if ever given the chance? And of course since it’ll never happen it doesn’t matter…

Mormon housewife Becky Jack is seven months pregnant with her fourth child when she meets celebrity hearththrob Felix Callahan. Twelve hours, one elevator ride, and one alcohol-free dinner later, something has happened…though nothing has happened. It isn’t sexual. It isn’t even quite love. But a month later Felix shows up in Salt Lake City to visit and before they know what’s hit them, Felix and Becky are best friends. Really. Becky’s husband is pretty cool about it. H er children roll their eyes. Her neighbors gossip endlessly. But Felix and Becky have something special…something unusual, something completely impossible to sustain. Or is it? A magical story, The Actor and the Housewife explores what could happen when your not-so-secret celebrity crush walks right into real life and changes everything.

My Review:

It's Saturday night, I'm home with my parents and siblings. We're all cooking pork ribs in preparation for Sunday's potluck after church. Dad's specialty for these church parties is barbecue pork - browned to perfection, drenched in KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce and baked overnight in his campfire-precision Dutch ovens. Put those on a plate with a hearty side of roast potatoes and a green salad - and you have the gloriousness of a post-Sunday meetings feast (as long as nobody forgets the chocolate cake).

The phone rings and Dad checks the caller ID. He smiles at me and says "It's for you."

Let me backup. I'd been dating this guy - I'm gonna call him Spongebob for reasons that will become clear later - for about a month. In my dating-starved social life, that was an eternity. And I will be the first to admit that I really liked the guy. As in, I liked the guy. As in, I was ready for a serious relationship. Sure, it had only been three actual dates, but we'd talked on the phone, we'd texted and we'd chatted online. We'd met when a young couple from our church set us up on a blind date and (I thought) we had hit it off. He'd asked me out on two more dates and I was ecstatic about the whole thing. Spongebob was a wonderful guy - he had a great job, he treated me well and he seemed to like me a lot. So, I was thrilled when he'd called me.

In order to have some privacy, I took the cordless phone and walked to the bottom of the stairs away from the kitchen and the family (who were certainly whispering excitedly amongst themselves). I said hello and Spongebob said hello back. We talked for a minute - and then he dropped in this little nugget:

"Well, you know I like you" (heart skips a beat) "and I think you're a nice girl" (okay… where is this going?) "but I think we'd be better off as friends."

Poo.

I'm really not sure what happened at this point… I think I tried to be polite, even though it might be just as likely that I swore at the bugger. I hung up the phone and sat on the stairs for another minute, trying to remember where I left my legs because I certainly couldn't feel them attached to my body. I must have found them again because the next thing I remember was coming face-to-face with my family, who were all eagerly anticipating my next news - surely I would be going out with him again. I started to cry and my mom took me in her arms and hugged me tight.

The story doesn't end there. The next day at church, I had to face the people who had set me and Spongebob up. I didn't want to be rude or anything, but I certainly didn't want to recount the phone call. When the couple asked me how things we going with Spongebob, I said "fine," but then my dear, sweet 7-year-old cousin piped up and said "I thought he broke up with you!"

Turns out that was the best thing that could have happened there because the couple said something to the effect of "Oh, he does this to every girl we set him up with!"

Number one - I wasn't the only one these two had set Spongebob up with? Number two - What do you mean every girl? Turns out that Spongebob breaks it off with every girl he's had three dates with. Evidently, he takes seriously the old adage in the movie "Hitch" - "Three dates … will tell [you] everything [you] need to know about the relationship." And evidently, if he doesn't feel "it" in three dates, then it's adios - friend.

I tell this humiliating tale to get a glimpse at how I came to the book The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale. The premise of this story is that Becky, an average housewife from Utah, meets Felix, a sophisticated, flashy, famous actor from Hollywood, and they become best friends in every sense of the word. At first, it's a little weird because Felix is one of those "heartthrob" actors that women are supposed to go ape-nuts for (which, who the crap even knows what a "heartthrob" really is) and people think that Becky - who is a happily married mother of four - is about to run off with Felix. But that never happens. Becky and Felix are able to have a mature and fun (and funny - oh my gosh, these two are HILARIOUS!) friendship while still being committed and faithful to their spouses.

Personally, I think that it's possible for men and women to have platonic friendships - and not any of this bogus "Oh, we dated once, but I got bored of you so I'm going to cast you off and call it being a friend" BS. Yes, I know this is a work of fiction (how many people in this lifetime meet their celebrity crushes and become friends with them in real life? Some people might, but not very many), but this is a truly refreshing story in the vein of a romantic comedy.

I actually listened to the audiobook and I have to give major props to Christina Moore for her reading. Sometimes when a female does voices for male characters, it just sounds like a woman doing a man's deep voice (and not very well). But I love Moore's Felix voice and I love her voice for Mike (Becky's husband) and the other male characters. It actually sounds like a man's voice - if that doesn't sound too terribly weird. Also, her French accented Celeste (Felix's wife) isn't too shabby either (dear heaven, I love Celeste!)

Anyway - The Actor and the Housewife is more than a fluffy comedic read. There are a lot of lovely little moments between Becky and Mike in that you never for a second believe that Becky would leave Mike for Felix. You even get angry when Becky's friends and family (and the media, at one point) suggest otherwise. Because, you know, men and women are completely and utterly incapable of self-control and never, ever, EVER know when they're about to cross a line and simply cannot wait to jump into bed with one another because - seriously - what else is there to do with a member of the opposite sex? They certainly wouldn't have entertaining and enjoyable conversation and share life's ups and downs with this wonderful friend. No, no, no - life is all about getting into someone else's pants.

This book actually justifies that sarcastic rant and how stupid people's assumptions about male-female friendships are (both in and out of the story). More than that - it's about sharing life's joys and heartbreaks with that one true bosom buddy that you can turn to (and boy howdy, are there plenty of joys and heartbreaks in Becky's and Felix's lives. I almost didn't want to get out of the car at a few points because I was just so emotionally invested in the story).

I love this book because it represents so many things that I want in my life - I would totally love a friend like Felix. Not necessarily a drop-dead gorgeous Hollywood actor, but someone to bounce humorous ideas and thoughts off of - someone who understands all of my life's peaks and valleys and who would trust me with their own ups and downs. The best metaphor actually comes from the story - Becky says that Mike has her heart and soul and she is totally in love with him and he's totally in love with her. But Felix is her liver. She still needs her liver and it's required for life, but he's not her heart (Felix responds to this by having liver-shaped gold pendants made for both of them. It is blankety-blanking adorable).

I realize that this story is very much steeped in a fantasy - and Becky even admits in-story that there are way too many coincidences in this situation and there's no way this could have happened just on a whim. But the lightness and joy of the story makes you suspend disbelief long enough to love and appreciate what Shannon Hale was aiming for with this book. So, if you want a book that will make you laugh and make you cry and make you find joy in your family and friend relationships, I would wholeheartedly recommend The Actor and the Housewife!

(And I will sit here and bemoan the fact that "Twilight" is a popular novel about relationships, but Shannon Hale remain relatively unknown. It is my sworn mission to make Shannon Hale even more popular than Stephenie Meyer because heaven knows that Shannon Hale's books deserve it a thousand times more than that "Twilight" idiocy does.)

Dragon Whiskers, Dragon Teeth and a Dragon Nose - Review of "Dragon Slippers" by Jessica Day George

Title: Dragon Slippers
Author: Jessica Day George
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: March 27, 2007
Reading Level: Age 7 and up
Series: First of a series, followed by Dragon Flight and Dragon Spear

Synopsis: (from Goodreads) –
Many stories tell of damsels in distress, who are rescued from the clutches of fire-breathing dragons by knights in shining armor, and swept off to live happily ever after.

Unfortunately, this is not one of those stories.

True, when Creel's aunt suggests sacrificing her to the local dragon, it is with the hope that the knight will marry Creel and that everyone (aunt and family included) will benefit handsomely. Yet it's Creel who talks her way out of the dragon's clutches. And it's Creel who walks for days on end to seek her fortune in the king's city with only a bit of embroidery thread and a strange pair of slippers in her possession.

But even Creel could not have guessed the outcome of this tale. For in a country on the verge of war, Creel unknowingly possesses not just any pair of shoes, but a tool that could be used to save her kingdom…or destroy it.

My Review:
This first came to my attention after a 7-year-old girl came to the library looking for books about dragons. Well, I’m not much of a dragon aficionado, my experience being limited to the movie Pete’s Dragon and the Eragon series (punch me in the face, those books are horrible) and that one of the Four Gods in Fushigi Yugi is a dragon (that show is actually pretty good – but I have a branch of anime-nerd in my geek pedigree. I refuse to be called an otaku, however). I know there’s an Anne-somebody-or-something that writes novels about dragons, but I didn’t think those appropriate for a young child of seven. So, one of the actual, proper librarians that isn’t an intern came to my rescue and suggested that I direct the girl to Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George. Not being one to recommend things without reading them (though I do trust this librarian’s advice), I decided to give this a shot.

And my goodness, was this a fun little story! (Yes, it merits an exclamation point!)

One of the things I love about this is how snarky the dragons are. There’s an exchange early in the book between Creel and Shardas about how the legends of the dragons as these mean, terrible and destructive creatures that keep defenseless maidens captive is a load of bunk and that dragons are more or less content to be left alone to hoard random objects in peace (one dragon collects shoes, another collects live dogs and even takes care of them. Take that, ASPCA!)

Special mention also must go to the character of Princess Amalia. Spoiled rotten and you just want to smack her upside the head – I was grateful that her guardian, the sensible and disciplined Duchess of Mordel, was also in many of the same scenes as Amalia just to balance out Amalia’s abrasiveness. That made Amalia bearable as Creel’s antagonist and also makes what she does later in the book not that surprising at all. Some terrible things do happen in this book as a result of Amalia’s greed (don’t want to spoil it for you – just give a heads-up), but nothing an astute 7-year-old couldn’t handle.

Creel’s relationship with the dragons is especially endearing. Even though her aim is to open up her own dress shop, most of the time I just want her to run off and stay with the dragons. But she gets along well with many of the human characters as well, so it makes a good enough balance and a satisfying read. I did enjoy her interaction with Prince Luka and his mute bodyguard Tobin.

This is categorized as juvenile fiction, but I enjoyed it better than I have most JF fantasy lately (Fablehaven, I’m leering in your direction!) I even enjoyed it more than some YA or adult fantasy I’ve read. This would be great for a third grader – or even advanced second grade reader – to enjoy by themselves or with a parent (parents, if you want to hog it to yourself before you let the third grader in on the action, I would totally understand). But it’s refreshing to see JF fiction trust kids enough to deal with some of the serious things that happen in this book.

Bottom Line: Fun, fluffy read that is nevertheless satisfying and enjoyable.


Bonus Features: Shardas describes his lair as “bigger on the inside than on the outside.” That tickled my geek-senses, let me tell you.

A Girl's Best Friend - Review of "The Princess and the Hound"

Title: The Princess and the Hound
Author:  Mette Ivie Harrison
Publisher: Eos
Publication Date:  May 1, 2007
Reading Level: 12 and up

Synopsis: (from Goodreads) –
He is a prince, heir to a kingdom threatened on all sides, possessor of the animal magic, which is forbidden by death in the land he'll rule.

She is a princess from a rival kingdom, the daughter her father never wanted, isolated from true human friendship but inseparable from her hound.

Though they think they have little in common, each possesses a secret that must be hidden at all costs. Proud, stubborn, bound to marry for the good of their kingdoms, this prince and princess will steal your heart, but will they fall in love?

My Review:
I picked this book up at a local independent bookstore and I hadn’t heard of it until I saw it there.  It looked interesting – also the synopsis proclaimed it as a retelling of “Beauty and the Beast,” which is one of my favorite fairy tales.

It was a little jarring to find that this book is not told from the Princess’ point of view, despite having her name in the title and a princess on the cover.  Now, it doesn’t always happen, but I figure that the character featured in the title would make an appearance in the first five chapters or so.  Not this time – this book is told from Prince George’s point of view.  The main plot of this story is that George was born with the forbidden animal magic, which just means that he can talk to animals in their own language (think Eliza from “The Wild Thornberrys”).  Having this power is akin to being a leper in this land, so the prince has been forced to keep this ability of his a secret his entire life.  His mother had the animal magic and she was “sent away” when George was a young boy (much the way your favorite pet dog was “sent away” while you were at school one day).

George eventually meets Princess Beatrice and becomes engaged to her as a matter of political advantage.  Beatrice does not go anywhere without her hound, Marit, and the girl has an odd relationship with Marit which reveals itself throughout the story (and had the synopsis not spoiled the plot, I would have been more surprised by that development).

I enjoyed this book a lot – until the story ended about fifteen chapters early.  I thought the main plot had resolved itself, but then was treated to another chunk of story about the political ins and outs of running this fairy tale country where animal magic people are discriminated against.  The developments themselves don’t bother me.  What bothered me is that this story. Takes. So. Long. To. End. I hoped that most of that was appendices or some other thing like that – nope, there was another ninety pages to slog through before the story reached its final conclusion.  And I was annoyed.  Not as much as when I read Uglies (because at least this conclusion made some sense), but enough.  There are two more books after this one and I may pick them up, but I’m not in any hurry to do so.

A Story of Courage, Integrity and Conviction: "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Title: The Boy Who Dared: A Novel Based on the True Story of a Hitler Youth 
Author: Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: February 1, 2008
Reading Level: 13 and up

Synopsis: (from Goodreads) –

Just as the Nazis are rising to power, Helmuth Hübener, a German schoolboy, is caught up in all the swashbuckling bravado of his time. The handsome stormtrooper uniforms, the shiny jackboots and armbands, the rousing patriotism all serve to draw him into this bright new world full of promise and hope. In the beginning his patriotism is unwavering. But every day the rights of people all over Germany are diminishing. Jews are threatened and their businesses are being destroyed. The truth has been censored, and danger lurks everywhere. Anybody can turn on you. The world has turned upside down: Patriotism means denouncing others, love means hate, and speaking out means treason. How much longer can Helmuth keep silent? Told in flashback, Newbery Honor Book author Susan Campbell Bartoletti magnificently explores the life of a heroic German youth who dared to stand up against the Nazi regime.

My Review:

Where has this genre been all my life?

Okay, okay – I need to clarify here.  I read plenty of books about World War II and the Holocaust.  I read The Diary of Anne Frank and Number the Stars in school.  I even went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum on a school trip to Washington DC in 8^th grade (which was hands-down the most memorable stop on that trip.  I don’t remember all the quotes from the war memorials or everything from the Smithsonian – but I remember every single minute I was in the Holocaust Museum.  It will haunt you, disgust you and inspire you to be the very best of humanity. Sound weird, but it’s true).  Most of the things I’ve read or heard about the Holocaust come from the Jewish victims with a little flavor of people who helped Jews hide.  But I have rarely read books about Germans in the 1940s who did not agree with the Nazi plan and even risked their lives to oppose Hitler.

Now, however, I’ve read The Book Thief and The Boy Who Dared – and my heart breaks for those people.

The Book Thief introduced me to the concept that there were Germans who opposed the Nazis (I sort of knew that was the case, but I really hadn’t thought about it very much). Reading The Boy Who Dared drove this point home with me.  Not all Germans were marching in the squares and Heiling Hitler at every turn and corner.  So many of them just wanted to provide for their families and be good people at a time when doing one meant not doing the other.

For most of my life – indeed, for many in my generation, World War II seems like such a distant time in history.  You learn about it the same way you learn about the pilgrims, the American Revolution, the Civil War and the Great Depression.  They are just dates and names in the history book that don’t mean much.  I thought so too – until I realized that my parents were born not even fifteen years after the war was over.  And then I thought that fifteen years really isn’t that long of a time period.  It felt that way when I was a kid, but I’m older now.  And it gives me chills.

I’ve often wondered how the Holocaust was allowed to happen.  Even after all my study and learning how the yellow Stars of David and mandatory curfews and segregated schools slowly became the concentrations camps, it still baffles me how this could happen.  I'll be honest, it scares me to death. You have a country hurting because of an economy that is completely and totally in the sewers because of losing a war, the entire nation was humiliated and they got desperate enough to let Hitler and his guys come in and hijack a country for their own power and personal gain and call it patriotism.

I just realized this review hasn’t talked much about The Boy Who Dared, but I think that’s because I just finished this book and it’s got me thinking about this.  For me, that is a sign of a magnificent piece of writing – that you don’t necessarily notice the writing style or the characters, but the content of the story.  Helmuth Hubener is a fantastic character.  I hesitate to call him a “character” because he was an actual person and these things really happened, but Bartoletti’s characterization of him is so wonderful and I enjoyed reading his thought processes and how he came to do what he did.  This is a seventeen-year-old kid who is illegally tuning into the BBC radio broadcasts and distributing fliers with news of the war from his radio.  But he didn’t just wake up one morning and think “Gosh, I’d really like to get arrested by the Gestapo, so I’m going to print up anti-Nazi pamphlets and really cheese them off.”  Everything he did was driven by the fact that he was taught to respect others and see people as sons and daughters of God and that patriotism does not mean demonizing an entire group of people just because they’re a convenient scapegoat.

The fact that this was written for the YA set – that you would trust teens enough to understand something like this (well, I would anyway) – speaks volumes to the importance of the topic and the reverence that people like Helmuth Hubener deserve.  Anyone even remotely interested in human history owes it to themselves to read this book.

"What Angel Wakes Me from My Flowery Bed?" - Review of "The Faerie Path"

Title: The Faerie Path
Author: Frewin Jones
Publisher: Eos
Publication Date: February 1, 2007
Reading Level: 15 and up

Synopsis: (from Goodreads) –
Swept away into a court of magic and beauty, she discovers she is Tania, the lost princess of Faerie: the youngest daughter of Oberon and Titania. Since Tania's mysterious disappearance on the eve of her wedding five hundred years before, Faerie has been sunk in darkness and gloom. The courtly Lord Gabriel Drake, who Tania was once to marry, has found her and brought her back.

With Tania's return, Faerie comes alive again as a land of winged children, glittering balls, and fantastic delights. But Tania can't forget Anita's world, or the boy she loved there.

Torn between two loves and between two worlds, Tania slowly comes to discover why she disappeared so long ago. She possesses a singular magical ability and she must use it to stop a sinister plan that threatens the entire world of Faerie.

My Review:
I picked this book up after a patron came to the library looking for the second book in the series. I haven’t had much luck with faerie stories in the past, but this one looked good so I thought I’d give it a try. My main complaint about faerie stories is that the faerie characters are often written as these smug, arrogant, perfect people that I really can’t bring myself to like (note that I did not use a certain phrase that starts with “M” and rhymes with “ary Sue” because that term has been thrown around so much that it really doesn’t mean anything anymore). The best I can compare it to is that I was never that fond of Tolkien’s Elves – they just always seemed so uppity and (quite frankly) boring. Give me a battle sequence involving the handsome, rugged, mortal, fallible Men any day of the week. Or even the hobbits – with their cute little hobbit feet and constant questioning of their place in Middle Earth and their meaning to the Bigger Picture. Much more interesting.

Back to faeries - As faerie stories go, this one isn’t too bad. It helps that the main character, Tania (initially Anita), has spent the first sixteen years of her life as a human. She is then pulled into the realm of Faerie where she learns that she is the seventh daughter of King Oberon and Queen Titania (mad props for the use of everyone’s favorite Shakespearean mischief makers – though, they really aren’t that mischievous in this book. Sorry to disappoint you). Because she is the seventh daughter, Tania has the ability to travel back forth between the Mortal World and the Faerie Realm. And there’s some stuff about a prophecy and a reclusive older sister and the queen’s been presumed dead for five hundred years (which, coincidentally is the same amount of time Princess Tania has been missing in the mortal world).

If you’re looking for a light little fantasy story, this could be an option for you. There are six books in this series (and it has been finished). It wasn’t terribly gripping, but it was decent enough (the “thee” and “thou” and “mayhap” royal language the faeries used made my eyes gloss over a little bit and I missed important plot points, but that’s just me). And if you’re a fan of faerie stories, this would be a good one to add to your list.


"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear."

  - opening of Puck's epilogue, "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

*The title of this post came from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."  You didn't think I'd pass up the chance to quote from this play in a review, did you?*

Jack and the Beanstalk Take on Steampunk America

Title: Calamity Jack
Authors: Shannon and Dean Hale Illustrator: Nathan Hale
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: January 5, 2010
Reading Level: 12 and up

Synopsis: (from Goodreads) –
Jack thinks of himself as a criminal mastermind with an unfortunate amount of bad luck. A schemer, a trickster ...maybe even a thief? But, of course, he's not out for himself he's trying to take the burden off his hardworking mum's shoulders. She'd understand, right? He hopes she might even be proud. Then, one day, Jack chooses a target a little more ...'giant' than the usual, and as one little bean turns into a great big building-destroying beanstalk, his troubles really begin. But with help from Rapunzel and other eccentric friends, Jack just might out-swindle the evil giants and put his beloved city back in the hands of the people who live there ...whilst catapulting them and the reader into another fantastical adventure

My Review:
First time reviewing a graphic novel – hooray!

Shannon Hale is one of my favorite authors. I loved The Books of Bayern and Princess Academy, so I know she can write for the YA set. Her adult fare isn’t too shabby either – check out Austenland and The Actor and the Housewife for those prime examples. But I hadn’t yet read her graphic novels – which she co-wrote with her husband, Dean Hale. I found Calamity Jack at one of the libraries where I work, so I had to check it out.

Calamity Jack is actually a sequel to Rapunzel’s Revenge, sadly the library didn’t have a copy of the latter when I was there. Luckily, I could follow Calamity Jack fairly well without the backstory. From my short time working at the library, I have learned that the first book in a series is usually checked out and all you have to work with is the second, third and so on, so it’s nice that I could read this story and not worry that I’d missed too much by starting with the second book (but I will go back and get Rapunzel’s Revenge when it becomes available again).

This story is a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, with Jack and his mother living in a steampunk-ish city full of fairy tale creatures. It’s like Shrek meets Leviathan (which is also a very good book and highly recommended). All his life, Jack has been the “mastermind” of all kinds of pranks, shenanigans and low-brow thievery as he helps his widowed mother keep the family bakery afloat. But things go wrong when he grows a beanstalk and raids Blunderboar’s (the local corporate giant’s) mansion. When I say “corporate giant,” I mean it’s an actual giant that runs a corporation – like one of Rubeus Hagrid’s relatives. Jack later meets up with Rapunzel (who I gather he met in the previous installment of the series) and the pair team up to save the day!

This is a brilliant story, really. I mean, you have fairy tale creatures living in a place akin to late 19th century America (it’s never stated outright, but Jack and his mother are drawn as Native Americans) – complete with a jabberwocky named (interestingly enough) Mr. Jabbers. There’s plenty of humor (wait until you meet Prudence, Jack’s partner-in-crime pixie friend) and the artwork is fantastic – nods to Nathan Hale for his wonderful work.

Like I said, I picked this up because I’m a fan of Shannon Hale’s novels which by and large appeal to a young female audience, but this Hale-times-three team work pretty well together (though I don’t think Nathan is related to Shannon and Dean) and this story could appeal to both boys and girls. I haven’t heard if another project is in the works, but I would not be opposed to another graphic novel by these three. It wouldn’t even have to be in this universe – but I wouldn’t complain if it was.

Call-Back Review: "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison

Note: This has been a really busy week between my new job and my internship that I didn't get a new review written (or posted on time either...)  So, I have some older reviews from my YA Lit class that I can post here, so here's something you may have read already - or you maybe you haven't. Either way - I'll get more new ones ready for next week. Enjoy.

Title: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
Author: Louise Rennison
Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers
Date of Publication:  April 2001

Awards:

Nestlé Children's Book Prize (NOMINATED) 1999

Bluegrass Award (NOMINATED) 2002

Book Sense Book of the Year (NOMINATED) 2002

Evergreen Young Adult Book Award (NOMINATED) 2003

Garden State Teen Book Award (NOMINATED) 2003

Virginia Reader's Choice Awards (WON) 2003

Synopsis: (from Books in Print) -

Angus:
My mixed-breed cat, half domestic tabby, half Scottish wildcat. The size of a small Labrador, only mad.

Thongs:
Stupid underwear. What's the point of them, anyway? They just go up your bum, as far as I can tell.

Full-Frontal Snogging:
Kissing with all the trimmings, lip to lip, open mouth, tongues ... everything.

Her dad's got the mentality of a Teletubby (only not so developed). Her cat, Angus, is trying to eat the poodle next door. And her best friend thinks she looks like an alien -- just because she accidentally shaved off her eyebrows. Ergghhhlack. Still, add a little boy-stalking, teacher-baiting, and full-frontal snogging with a Sex God, and Georgia's year just might turn out to be the most fabbitty fab fab ever!

My Review:
I read this book per recommendations from my students.  I was a little wary because of the title (and other titles in the series), but I gave it a shot and I’m glad that I did (to be truthful, the title’s probably just for shock value).  This is a perfectly hilarious book poking fun at a typical teenage girl’s hopes and fears and all the drama that she gets pulled into (as teenage girls are wont to do).  The book is written as Georgia’s diary and she’s as honest as any girl would be if she knew nobody would ever read what she wrote.  There are so many funny parts, but I think my favorite is when she’s spying on a classmate and how horrified she is when she finds out what a thong really is.  Plus, I adore the wonderful “Britishisms” that pepper the narrative (there is a glossary at the back of the book – which is funny in its own right – for readers who don’t quite know what Georgia is referring to in some instances).

The only complaint I could really have is that it’s a little far-fetched to believe that a girl would have her diary on hand to detail every little stray thought every five minutes as though Georgia were on Twitter (some of the entries do that) – but it ultimately adds to the humor.  Since it’s written as Georgia’s diary, there isn’t much of a “plotline” other than following her through a school year, but that didn’t bother me.  It was nice to have a light, fluffy read after some of the heavier stuff I’ve been reading and I’d like to tackle the rest of the series.