by Veronica Roth
YA lit exploded in the last 15 years. When I was in highschool, I was stuck with R.L. Stine books and Goosebumps. More options probably existed but the marketing machine didn't get rolling on them, and so I didn't find them. Love it or h ate it, the marketing machine does serve a purpose. High Schoolers and Middle Schoolers today seem to have an almost limitless selection of options. Surprise surprise a lot of it is very good.
Divergent and Insurgent are a pair of distopian sci-fi novels. In this world, people live in a highly structured caste system based on idealized character traits. Each group is called a faction and there are five of them: Abnegation (selflessness), Erudite (Knowledge), Candor (Honesty), Amity (Friendliness), and Dauntless (Courage). Each faction has a role in society and, in theory, they live in peace.
Beatrice was born into Abnegation but during her aptitude test she discovers that there is something very special about her brain. Where most people have aptitude for one faction, Beatrice confounds the system and shows aptitude for three factions. This flexibility makes her something called divergent and being divergent is dangerous.
Soon Beatrice's personal problems are overshadowed when faction attacks faction and their carefully ordered society falls apart.
Overall, it's a pretty good pair of books. The plot combines elements of Ender's Game and 1984. The relationship angst got to be a little much, but the rapid pace kept the story moving.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
#4 Seraphina
by Rachel Hartman
Seraphina is a musical young woman with a grave secret. She's half-dragon and the dragons are only barely trusted. So she lives her life circumspectly, trying to avoid notice in the royal court, that as a musician, she works in. Seraphina does not have a talent for circumspection. It's not long before she's rolled up in conspiracy and her heritage gives her unique abilities which might just save the day.
It's a YA novel. A pretty good one too. The characters were engaging and the plot interesting. The end was satisfying but left the door open for more. It's definitely worth a read.
Seraphina is a musical young woman with a grave secret. She's half-dragon and the dragons are only barely trusted. So she lives her life circumspectly, trying to avoid notice in the royal court, that as a musician, she works in. Seraphina does not have a talent for circumspection. It's not long before she's rolled up in conspiracy and her heritage gives her unique abilities which might just save the day.
It's a YA novel. A pretty good one too. The characters were engaging and the plot interesting. The end was satisfying but left the door open for more. It's definitely worth a read.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
#3. This is How You Lose Her
by Junot Diaz
Some books read quickly. They suck me in and three hours later I'm reading the last page while realizing I've lost track of a whole evening. I've yet to figure out exactly what quality a book has to have for that to happen. Is it the plot? or the characters? use of language? It's a mystery.
On the surface This Is How You Lose Her is a book that I should hate. The protagonist, Yunior, is a serial cheater. The first thing he tells the reader is, "I'm not a bad guy." The defensiveness of this statement speaks on a whole other level. It's the plaintive cry of a character afraid to look at himself too closely in the mirror and I think everyone has felt that at some point. It's seductive. It's like biting down on a sore tooth. It hurts and I know I shouldn't do it, but I find myself biting down on it over and over again.
Diaz hops around from point to point in Yunior's life in little vignettes. Some are about the various women in his life, but some are about his fatally sick brother or his immigrant mother and father. The shape of his life comes into focus and reveals a tragic figure as much a victim as a predator but yet always ultimately the author of his own troubles.
I can't say that I truly liked This is How You Lose Her, but it was a powerful book, well crafted, and elegantly written. It was worth my lost evening.
Some books read quickly. They suck me in and three hours later I'm reading the last page while realizing I've lost track of a whole evening. I've yet to figure out exactly what quality a book has to have for that to happen. Is it the plot? or the characters? use of language? It's a mystery.
On the surface This Is How You Lose Her is a book that I should hate. The protagonist, Yunior, is a serial cheater. The first thing he tells the reader is, "I'm not a bad guy." The defensiveness of this statement speaks on a whole other level. It's the plaintive cry of a character afraid to look at himself too closely in the mirror and I think everyone has felt that at some point. It's seductive. It's like biting down on a sore tooth. It hurts and I know I shouldn't do it, but I find myself biting down on it over and over again.
Diaz hops around from point to point in Yunior's life in little vignettes. Some are about the various women in his life, but some are about his fatally sick brother or his immigrant mother and father. The shape of his life comes into focus and reveals a tragic figure as much a victim as a predator but yet always ultimately the author of his own troubles.
I can't say that I truly liked This is How You Lose Her, but it was a powerful book, well crafted, and elegantly written. It was worth my lost evening.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
The Looking Glass Wars -- #2 ArchEnemy
by Frank Beddor
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland captured the imagination of the public almost from the start. Even Queen Victoria was a fan and demanded Lewis Carroll (or Charles Dodgeson) dedicate his next published work to her which turned out to be an essay on mathematics. The novel's runaway success prompted Carroll to immediately craft a sequel and several adaptations. As time wore on, instead of fading out, Alice and her adventures seemed to gain traction and spawned dozens of spin-offs and adaptations including Beddor's "The Looking Glass Wars" trilogy.
I tripped across "The Looking Glass Wars" the way I find most YA lit: our school librarian handed it to me to look over. It's one of the perks of being a teacher that I have ready access to a lot of new lit. It took me a couple tries to get into the first book: Looking Glass Wars. It was too different and I wasn't in an accepting frame of mind. In this series, the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland were inspired by a girl that Dodgeson meets named Alyss Heart. This girl is the princess heir of Wondertropolis in an alternate dimension which houses the seed for imagination in all worlds: the crystal heart. She ends up in our world by fleeing a coup led by her aunt, Redd Heart. Once I did get into the world though, I devoured both Looking Glass Wars and the next book, Seeing Redd, in under three days (while also finalizing grades for the 2012/13 school year!)
ArchEnemy, the final book in the trilogy took me significantly longer. I started it August 13th and just finished it a couple days ago. I simply couldn't get immersed in it the way I did the first two. I think the fact that all the characters were supremely unhappy for the first half of the novel had something to do with it and I think that the final novel felt rushed. While it was still a good book, it would have been better extended to two books and needed more levity inserted to break-up all the character angst. The overall finish satisfied me both for not being too obvious and for satisfying a mystery well seeded through-out the novel.
I've recommended the series to a couple students and so far they seem to enjoy it.
"Looking Glass Wars" Trilogy is:
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland captured the imagination of the public almost from the start. Even Queen Victoria was a fan and demanded Lewis Carroll (or Charles Dodgeson) dedicate his next published work to her which turned out to be an essay on mathematics. The novel's runaway success prompted Carroll to immediately craft a sequel and several adaptations. As time wore on, instead of fading out, Alice and her adventures seemed to gain traction and spawned dozens of spin-offs and adaptations including Beddor's "The Looking Glass Wars" trilogy.
I tripped across "The Looking Glass Wars" the way I find most YA lit: our school librarian handed it to me to look over. It's one of the perks of being a teacher that I have ready access to a lot of new lit. It took me a couple tries to get into the first book: Looking Glass Wars. It was too different and I wasn't in an accepting frame of mind. In this series, the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland were inspired by a girl that Dodgeson meets named Alyss Heart. This girl is the princess heir of Wondertropolis in an alternate dimension which houses the seed for imagination in all worlds: the crystal heart. She ends up in our world by fleeing a coup led by her aunt, Redd Heart. Once I did get into the world though, I devoured both Looking Glass Wars and the next book, Seeing Redd, in under three days (while also finalizing grades for the 2012/13 school year!)
ArchEnemy, the final book in the trilogy took me significantly longer. I started it August 13th and just finished it a couple days ago. I simply couldn't get immersed in it the way I did the first two. I think the fact that all the characters were supremely unhappy for the first half of the novel had something to do with it and I think that the final novel felt rushed. While it was still a good book, it would have been better extended to two books and needed more levity inserted to break-up all the character angst. The overall finish satisfied me both for not being too obvious and for satisfying a mystery well seeded through-out the novel.
I've recommended the series to a couple students and so far they seem to enjoy it.
"Looking Glass Wars" Trilogy is:
- The Looking Glass Wars
- Seeing Redd
- ArchEnemy
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