The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Grim and haunting, January 10, 2010

I rate books on how much of an impact they have on me and whether or not I will think about or want to discuss the contents after I've read the last page and closed the cover. The Road is a post apocalyptic novel that will stay with me a very long time. The bleakness of the journey that this unnamed father and son embark on is quickly evident -- they are going south but have no real plan and no endpoint or destination in mind. They traverse an unrelenting and very bleak landscape of ash and burnt out flora, fauna and civilization -- devoid of any life except for the occasional creature that bears little resemblance to what was once humankind. The man and the boy stick to the endless blacktop, the road -- the only somewhat permanent residual marker in a very changed world. They walk by day, pushing a metal grocery cart full of their meager possessions, avoiding the marauding bands of cannibals and even the lone survivors as trust is not a trait they can afford to have when it is survival of the fittest at stake.

Though the story is very grim, the love and protectiveness that the father has for his son is the only light in this otherwise very depressing narrative. They are all unto each other -- there is no one else and nothing else. Memories that the man has are soon discarded as his reality is faced with plugged determination -- a search for food, water, warmth -- merely to survive another day.

I'm eager to see the movie based on this book and hope it's a faithful adaptation. This is definitely a novel that I will think about time and again as it haunts me with its stark portrayal of whatever comes after "the end of the world as we knew it."
I gave this 5 stars, not because it was a pleasant story, but because of the impact it had on my psyche and my senses as I read it.
I can't really say I LOVED this book, but I did live it.
Recommend.

Attention Book Club!!

Exciting news -- we've been invited to go to hear author Chris Crutcher in February in North Kansas City -- we'll be doing a field trip!

In honor of this occasion, we're going to read Deadline - one of his most recent novels -- for our book club read this month. I have 20 copies ordered and on the way! Thanks to Johanna Kelly for her recommendation of this book. First come, first served and first on the bus!

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—After being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia, 18-year-old Ben Wolf elects to forgo treatment and keep his illness secret from his family and friends in an attempt to have a "normal" senior year at his small Idaho high school. Free from long-term consequences, he connects with his crush, frustrates his biased U.S. Government teacher, and tries out for football. However, Ben's illness slowly exacts its toll on him, and he begins to realize the consequences of keeping his condition hidden. Crutcher brings his signature blend of sports action and human emotion to this powerful novel. Emotionally spare but deeply touching, the relationship between Ben and his brother will resonate with many readers, while others may find the several strong father figures comforting. Secondary characters add humor and balance, though the government teacher's voice occasionally veers too far toward that of a right-wing pundit. Rudy McCoy, a former priest and child molester, evokes both compassion and revulsion through his confession of guilt and struggle to avoid hurting another child; reflecting Ben's secret-keeping behavior, McCoy serves as a foil for the destructive impact secrets can have. Some discussion of sexual molestation and child abuse is present in the text, but is not graphic or overwhelming in its depiction. Crutcher uses dark humor and self-deprecation effectively to avoid maudlin situations, and teens will appreciate the respectful tone of the work.

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Stunning and wonderful..., January 3, 2010

Wow. My first read of 2010 is a winner! This YA novel is a jewel, a treasure of a book that will resonate with females from 5 to 50. Yes, it's ostensibly the story of a teenaged girl with a port wine stain on her face, but it's so much deeper than that. The reader follows Terra on a journey of self-discovery that includes revelations about the nature and meaning of true beauty.

It's somewhat the story of a dysfunctional family with an abusive father, yes -- but also about a mother who's a compulsive eater, distant brothers, an inattentive boyfriend, a self-absorbed best girlfriend, and a self-loathing main character who spends her free time making up her face and creating collages in a local art studio. It's also about meeting that one special someone who "gets you".

Terra meets Jacob after almost running him down outside of a coffeehouse. Thus begins the transformation of a lonely, controlled but ambitious girl into "iron goddess". Using map-making terminology throughout, North of Beautiful is an amazingly complex novel loaded with many interesting details. Terra, Jacob and their mothers embark on a trip to China that exceeds all expectations and transforms each of the travelers into the person he/she was ultimately meant to be. Just as Terra builds her collages, layer upon layer, the experiences each has in that country reveal the hidden beauty that every person carries inside.

I loved this book. Stop reading this review right now and order it. Read it and love it as I did. Pass it on to everyone you know!

The Seven Rays by Jessica Bendinger

Mystical, spiritual -- confusing..., December 15, 2009

I am not quite sure how to review this book as it started out well but then got bogged down by some excess detail that didn't add anything to the story, poems that were enigmatic, and a character - Beth -- who really ended up being irritating rather than engaging.
Her fixation on her smell and her complete lack of attention to personal hygiene throughout the book were disturbing and frankly, a bit gross. I was never sure exactly where this story was going. Lots of references to "pee", snot, body odor, greasy hair, etc.?!

Anyway -- Beth is a normal high school girl -- "a blonde geek with a 4.1 GPA" who wants to go to college when her plans are derailed by the arrival of a gold envelope and a note with the enigmatic message: You are more than you think you are. She, henceforth referred to as Aleph Beth, and cohort crush Richie (gorgeous of course) are led on a merry chase to New York where the mysteries of who she is and her mission are revealed through tarot cards, meeting other characters, and solved. Sort of.

Meanwhile, the other 6 complements of the "Seven Rays" are introduced in successive chapters but none of the stories are really told and it seems a gathering of a really motley crew with different "powers." Not sure even what these Seven Rays are supposed to ultimately DO.

There's a lot of vague sexual description -- quite strange actually since Beth and Richie don't actually engage -- but the nuances of what is happening are very clear. I'm given to understand that these 7 Rays have a mission and Aleph Beth is supposed to have 7 children by 7 different men. I am wondering if there will be a sequel because this novel really didn't provide a definitive ending!

I will have to give this book to some teens and see what their reaction is -- I'm a bit ambivalent!

Numbers by Rachel Ward

The numbers never lie..., November 27, 2009 This was a so-so YA novel about a girl who has the peculiar ability of knowing the date of a person's death by simply looking into his or her eyes. The premise was original and it started out well, but then the "on the run" narrative got bogged down and the conclusion was disappointing. Jem is orphaned when her mother overdoses on heroin. Four years later, she's 15 and living with a foster mum named Karen, avoiding relationships and living on the fringe because of her peculiar psychic gift for seeing the date of death numbers reflected in the eyes of the people she sees. She doesn't want this curse or gift and is drifting through her life knowing that she is going nowhere even as she attends school to pacify Karen and keep the social workers off her back. One of her fellow students, a tall boy known as Spider, keeps pestering her and following her around until they form a distant and grudging sort of friendship. After both get suspended from school, they decide to spend a day enjoying the city and end up hassling those in a queue for the London Eye -- a giant Ferris wheel. Jem notices something quite odd -- many of those waiting there have the SAME death date in their eyes! In a panic, she senses that something is about to happen and she and Spider are fleeing the area when a bomb explodes and many people are killed. During the ensuing chapters, Jem and Spider are on the run from police and others intent on figuring out if they were involved or if they were witnesses. Jem is haunted and plagued by the death dates -- for you see, she has seen Spider's. Can she change the date or influence these numbers in any way? The story is part adventure, part love story, part paranormal -- but most of the time, it is simply unbelievable. The book started of strong, bogged down in the middle, and then whimpered toward an unsatisfying predictable ending. Ms C.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Engaging and unique YA adventure!, November 8, 2009

Apparently I've been remiss in my exploration of all reading genres and missed out on this one: steampunk. Westerfeld explains in his afterward of Leviathan that it is a blending of future and past. Indeed, this novel is set in 1914 at the beginning of what comes to be known as World War I -- but in this unique tale, it is the battle of the Clankers vs the Darwinists. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans (Clankers) use weapons that are iron machines equipped with canons and guns. The British (Darwinists) have engineered weapons that are living fabricated creatures made out of multiple different species of animals, reptiles, worms, and mammals.

The story begins as young Aleksander Ferdinand, son of the Archduke and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, is secreted out of his castle home by faithful family retainers in the middle of the night after the poisoning of his parents in Sarajevo. This band of nobles and Alek escape ahead of the warmongering Germans in their engine of war known as a Cyklop Stormwalker. In a parallel story, a girl named Deryn Sharp disguises herself as a boy in order to be accepted into the British Air Service as an airman. On her first day of training, she is stranded aloft in a Huxley airbeast but is rescued by the great whale airship, the largest in the British fleet, the Leviathan.

Prince Alek and his crew encounter some difficulty and engage in a battle or two before arriving at the designated safe house in the frozen Swiss Alps where they plan to wait out the war until Alek can safely be restored to his rightful place as heir to the Empire. Meanwhile, the Leviathan stops in London to pick up a very important passenger, Dr. Nora Barlow and her mysterious cargo, and are supposed to head to a rendezvous in the Ottoman Empire. The plot converges in the Swiss Alps when the Leviathan is injured and downed on the glacier by German pursuers. Alek and Deryn meet and urge their respective alliances to join forces to escape certain death and to elude those intent on killing them. What follows is high adventure on a newly redesigned Leviathan! Secrets still exist, however, and the final chapter ends in a way that makes the reader want to know more of the story.

There will be a second novel that will follow the Leviathan and its motley crew to the Ottoman Empire and the city of Constantinople.

I'm looking forward to the sequel. Enjoy the adventure, the fantastic science, and this tinkering with history. The illustrations, the map of the European Powers, and the cover invite closer inspection and add greatly to the story. Recommend!

Fallen by Lauren Kate

2/5 stars -- just another "fallen" angel book...

This vapid tale goes on for a long, boring time before we realize it's just another fallen angel book. The explanation for how and why Daniel is "fallen" is never detailed nor is anything about the relationships between the good and evil forces in this overly long first novel in a planned series (#2 Torment due out in September of 2010).

Luce is sent to some sort of odd reform school after the unexplained death of her boyfriend in a fire. His death and the death of other "mortals" in the story are not given any weight and no reasons for them are given to the reader. None of the characters in the story have any depth to them and the book seems to be an endless, almost ridiculous, whine by Luce about which of the boys in the school she should like and trust -- she is pursued by the charming Cam and is shunned and stood up by the handsome, mysterious Daniel. Why those two fallen angels are interested in her is also never explained. I found the whole story basically boring and any hoped for interesting details or back story is missing! We are left without finding out why Luce has undergone the reincarnations, why Daniel and Cam want her, and exactly what these two fallen angels and their minions are doing on earth.

The romance seems shallow although the author goes to great lengths to describe the kiss and longing that Luce has for Daniel but again, the many questions the reader might have are never answered and any interest developed in the plot is quickly quashed with only vague hints of what is going on. The story ends with a strange epilogue and the reader is left hanging.

Skip it.

Ms C.

The Hate List by Jennifer Brown

How do you go on after your boyfriend goes on a shooting rampage?, November 2, 2009

This was an excellent YA novel about the aftermath of a school shooting. The protagonist, Valerie, was the girlfriend of the shooter and has to live with the consequences of being known as his ally and as the co-author of the "hate list" that instigated the bloodshed. Was she involved? Did she know he was going to do this?

Valerie returns to high school the fall after the shootings. She is shunned and feared, but tries to continue on. She's been in therapy and she's working through the feelings she has about her boyfriend Nick -- the guy she loved vs the boy who shot her classmates. How did she not know that he was planning this?

This is a well done novel about the aftermath of school violence. How people adapt, change, come to terms with the senseless act. The reactions of enemies, friends, family -- it's all here. There are no pat answers and Valerie isn't magically cured. The violent act changes everyone.

Recommend!

Ms C.

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Do not waste your time..., November 1, 2009

I heard the buzz earlier this year -- the new hot sub topic in the paranormal genre: fallen angels. I was interested -- I'm a high school librarian and I'm always wanting to have the latest books for students. The cover of this one looked intriguing and I ordered it. The most positive thing I can say is that it's a quick read -- other than that -- well, I'm not recommending this one.

I think the author was trying to create an Edward Cullen of Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) fame with this book - and I even assume it's the first of a possible series given the nature of YA literature to follow that route. Patch is no Edward Cullen and the main character in this story, Nora, is no Bella.

From the beginning (the characters meet in Biology class for heaven's sake -- note similarity), the premise and the story defy all logic and there is nothing remotely believable about the characters or the plot. Nora and best friend Vee are drawn into a ridiculous story about a fallen angel and various other angels and Nephilim (half angel half mortal). At least once on every page I had to suppress a gasp of disbelief and just shook my head at the antics of the characters in the book. Most of what happens in these pages makes the reader suspend disbelief to such a level as to be laughable. From Vee calling in a bomb threat to the climax in the school library -- the things that occur seem far-fetched and unrealistic even given the fantasy nature of the story. There is no point to this whole book!

I'm not recommending this one, nor will I read a sequel. Fallen angels may be the new hot topic but hopefully other authors will make it less of of an attempt at Twilight copycat and more original.

Ms C

Legacy by Cayla Kluver

Fairy tale "lite" is disappointing..., October 10, 2009

This novel, not really what I term as fantasy, was overly long and -- as other reviewers have pointed out -- had one of those unsatisfying cliffhanger type endings that nobody likes. Sure it's the first in a trilogy, but after slogging through over 450 pages of detail and description that should have been tightened up, one hopes that there will be some sort of conclusion to this story line.

The premise of the story -- two kingdoms at war for years. Why? Their societies and way of life is different. So? Despite the setup, the whole book seemed to be totally focused on Alera and whom she would marry. And something about a prophecy and legend. Funny, there wasn't a lot of detail about all that -- just mostly angst and longing vs duty and responsibility.

I didn't find any of the characters interesting or likable. Alera, the Princess and heir of the kingdom of Hytanica, seemed quite immature and definitely not regal in any sense of the word. She was probably supposed to be appealing as headstrong and independent but I found her whiny and irritating. The cliche of egotistical handsome suitor, the character Steldor, was completely predictable. Narian honestly seemed like an impudent, disrespectful jerk to me instead of an appealing mysterious stranger who Alera falls for and longs to marry instead of Steldor, the man her father has chosen. The King seems like a wimp and frankly, I wasn't that interested in any of the rest of them either.

I have read that this is categorized as fantasy, but only in the sense that this is a fictitious kingdom in an unknown land at some unknown point in time - likely medieval. There's no magic or fantastical creatures, etc., typical of the genre.
Teen girls might enjoy this but will likely be bored by the excessive minutiae concerning food, fashion, the layout of the castle and grounds, and many other unimportant bits of prose that lengthen the book rather than strengthen the tale. This novel is what I would call fairy tale "lite" and I won't be rushing to read Allegiance -- the second book in the series.

The author is just 16 so perhaps her writing will improve as she matures. This book would also benefit from some serious editing!
Ms C.