When She Woke - BOOK CLUB

Get ready for a great book group meeting! We are now reading:

RED: the color of blood, the color of murder, the color of sin...

Have you read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne? This novel is a modern day retelling of sorts.

Hannah Payne wakes up in a cell after being injected with a virus that has turned her skin completely red -- her crime: she aborted her illegitimate pregnancy in a new American society where that is illegal. She will not name the father of her unborn child, a famous married minister, nor the abortionist, and is charged and convicted of murder. What happens to Hannah when she is released from the temporary post-chroming seclusion and is thrust back into a society where she is stigmatized and humiliated by everyone who sees her as a Red? Prevented from returning to her home by parents who will not allow her to live with them, Hannah must navigate a scary road to regain her dignity and make a new life for herself in a world where there is no longer separation between church and state -- and no protection for the Chromes.

 I  suggest that you obtain and read this book if you like dystopian, futuristic novels about family, religious controversies, crime and punishment, relationships, and self-discovery. The author weaves a very interesting tale -- yes it does have themes similar to those found in some of the classic literature, but it brings all of those together in a new and very thought-provoking way. This would be a fantastic book for a book group discussion.

I will be recommending this!



Discussion Questions - please post your answers in comment section

1.  Is this futuristic imagining of the direction of reality television believable?

2. What elements within this futuristic society have lead to the acceptability of the cruel treatment of those who've committed crimes?

3. Was Hannah's decision not to reveal the identity of either her baby's father or the abortionist justified?  What does this say about her character?

4. How do you feel about the baby's father and his decisions regarding not coming forward?

5. Discuss how the concept of religion is portrayed through the major characters: Hannah, her mother, her father, her sister Becca, the Henleys, Aidan and Cole.

6. Does Hannah change within the course of the novel? How?

7. What are your thoughts on Hannah's friend Kayla? In what ways is she different from Hannah?

8. How would you describe the halfway house run by the Henleys? Did it serve its intended purpose?

9. What aspects of Hannah and Kayla's flight struck you most? What experiences stood out for you?

10. Was the ending believable?
(Questions issued by publisher.)

Ms C.
Review originally published Sunday, August 19, 2012

The Selection by Kiera Cass Reviewed by Paige Espinosa

     America has her life planned out already. She knows her musical talent will enable her to work and she's even found the perfect boy to settle down and have a family with. That is, she thinks she has. Aspen seems perfect but he is a caste below America, doomed to even worse poverty than she faces as a Five. When The Selection is announced and girls from every caste have the opportunity to marry the prince and become Ones, Aspen makes America enter. She never would have guessed she actually would have been picked. From there, she must decide if the life she had already chosen for herself is still what she wants or if maybe she could want something else.
     I gave this book three and a half stars because even though it wasn't very original, it was a quick, easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed! I found myself laughing out loud and moved close to tears at the same time at various parts of this book. Like a mix of The Hunger Games and The Bachelor with a similar plot to every other YA teen romance novel on book shelves around the country, I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. Even though the plot twists were so obvious I saw them coming from the first chapter (literally), Cass's writing kept me engaged and I even felt a connection to America while reading. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something to read just to pass time or take a break from school but I doubt this is a book that could be reread and enjoyed every time as much as it was the first.

Uglies - reviewed by Maggie Devero

Uglies (1st in Series) - by Scott Westerfeld

Reviewed by - Maggie Devero

Would you betray your own friend, to choose for both of you, a life of parties, fun, and being physically transformed into a beautiful human being? 

Tally Youngblood had always yearned to become one of the Pretties. She watched them in the shadows during her late-night escapes from Uglytown, captivated by their soft pretty faces and crazy ongoing parties, all happening right across the bridge from her own home. Tally had waited almost sixteen years, and soon enough it would be her turn, same as all Uglies when they came of age, to get the operation that would turn them beautiful and allow them a life in Prettytown. On one of her escapades, she makes a new friend named Shay, and they have their own adventures together. There is only one big difference between Shay, and Tally herself...and that is that Shay has no intention of turning pretty. Tally cannot began to comprehend why Shay is so against the operation, because who wouldn't want to be perfect? But before she knows it, only a week before the scheduled operation, Shay is gone. She disappeared to some broken down, old-fashioned, empty city called Smoke, where rumor had it no one was pretty and it was just like the old society had been. The day Tally is supposed to turn pretty, though, she is called in and told to find her friend and all those others who have escaped the town and operation. So Tally begins a new journey, to find her friend and the others, and eventually become a pretty herself. Little does she know that the things she will learn on the outside, will change her perspective completely.

I gave Uglies three out of five stars. I know the series was (and still is) a hot series to read, and is well liked among the YA readers, but I don't think I caught the same hype as everyone else did about the book. The plot took some foreseeable turns, and I think I had just had too high of expectations for this book. It was still pretty good, an enjoyable read that I hope to get around to finishing the rest of the series.  The scifi idea of the book, that people turn pretty at a certain age and then are accepted into the "perfect society" is interesting, and the futuristic elements such as hoverboards and the software to make yourself look pretty fit in with the storyline well. I have just personally heard so much rave about this book, that I expected it to b e little bit better than it was. Then again, scifi/futuristic genres have just never been my thing, so that might just be it! If you do read this book and like it, I would suggest you finish the series, the other books are: Pretties, Specials, and Extras!

Bunker 10-- Reviewed by Alexandra Lopez

Author: J.A. Henderson
Review: Alexandra Lopez

At eight o'clock in the evening, 24 December 2007, Pinewood Military Installation exploded. The blast ripped apart acres of forest and devastated the remote highland valley where the base was located. No official cause was given for the incident. Inside Pinewood were 185 male and female personnel a mixture of scientists and soldiers. There were also seven teenagers. This is the story of their last day . . .

I enjoyed it, but felt it was a cliche, to predictable. I didn't get to know the main charcter, Jimmy Hecks on a personal level/ the book was very plot driven. I'm not one for full blown science, but I would appreciate a bit of actual science to occur, some of the science mentioned seemed made up. However I didn't look it up, so either it was pointless or I just don't care in general. Overall enjoyed the story, but did not really think it was one of my best reads.

Review of Crewel by Jennifer Albin

3.0 out of 5 stars - Dystopian world of time weavers

This is the story of a girl who is basically kidnapped and taken to a fortress where she is to be trained as a "Spinster" -- one who weaves strands of time and life together to create and maintain the new civilization in a future version of Earth. These women are controlled by men who dictate where they work, how they live, and keep them imprisoned away from their previous lives, friends, and families

I read this book because I was scheduled to attend a YA workshop that featured the author as the guest speaker. I wanted to listen to what she had to say about her book (typical teen fare with the requisite love triangle that is soooooo old and actually ruined the story) before I wrote the review. Although the ending is a total cliffhanger, I don't feel very compelled to see what happens next nor do I care what happens to the characters. None of whom I identified with or liked. There are some interesting themes and topics covered that make the book one for more mature teens.

The author said that she was inspired to write the book because she fell into an obsession over the painting by Remedios Varo : Embroidering the Earth's Mantle. The picture is quite interesting and I can see how she imagined the world of Arras and the concept of weavers or "Spinsters" from that work of art.

The book reminded me of Lois Lowry's series that include THE GIVER and GATHERING BLUE. The author said she had not read either. It is the first in a trilogy.

DC

City of Ember--reviewed by Nallely S.

By Jeanne DuPrau

* * * * * Stars

"It is always night in the city of Ember. But there is no moon, no stars."

In this story, follow Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow as the struggle with dealing with their new lives and trying to save their city from darkness. Lina Mayfleet was just a twelve-year old when she was assigned the task of becoming a messenger. Doon Harrow was just a twelve-year old when he was assigned to being a Pipeworker. Their home, The City of Ember was a last minute project created to protect the human race. Its creators left a message....a message on how to save the city if anything were to happen to its "life" source. The message ended up in Lina's hands. Lina confused and stressed because of her daily life and worried for her grandmothers health, goes to Doon. Together with Doon, Lina must uncover the message, because if they don't The City of Ember will be engulfed in complete darkness.

I gave this book * * * * * Stars because it was simple yet complicated. Actually there is nothing complicated about this book. It's straight to the point and fast. You can't just skip pages because every page has something important that will lead to the future of these people. ^ ^ I thought it was a good read. Although my review is short, this book really is straight to the point, and it shows you that although loss is in the picture, you have to keep moving on. Because your not just living for yourself, we see this through Lina's story. I liked Lina because she was realistic and wasn't falling for the Mayor's lies. Doon also saw through his lies. This lets us know that they aren't followers, they like to be different, and that's totally fine. ^ ^ I disliked that these twelve-year olds were doing something as impossible as this, like seriously what twelve-year olds think like Doon and Lina. The baby was doing too much, Lina is barely a child herself!

The Future of Us Reviewed by Molly Varney

By: Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler ****


In 1996, most kids had barely used the internet. Emma just got a new computer from her dad,a guilt gift she thought.Ever since her parents had divorced, Emma had hardly seen her dad and his new wife and daughter. Her best friend and neighbor, Josh, had just brought over a new CD-ROM for her new computer since his mom didn't want it. Things had been awkward between the two ever since Emma had rejected Josh. When Emma logs onto her computer for the first time, she is immediatley logged onto a website for facebook.She logs onto it, only to find that it takes ger 15 years onto the future. At first Josh doesn't believe it. Then he finds out that he's going to marry Sydney Mills, one of the most popular girls at school. As soon as he hears this, he wants it to be true. Emma however, is not too pleased with her future. As the two of them try to shape their perfect futures they find that even the tiniest things can completely change their future. They can view their jobs, relationships, friends, and lives in the future, but is it good or bad? Emma starts to become obsessed with her future while Josh is happy with his own. The two are given a chance to see their futures, but what will they do when they know what's going to happen?



I thought this was a pretty good book. It was a really interesting theme, and I thought it was cool. It was really funny to read this and watch their reactions to Facebook, because we get on it all the time, and they have no idea what it is. I think my favorite character in this was Josh because he didn't get too worked up about seeing his future. Emma was always trying to change hers when she didn't like it while, most of the time, Josh just let things happen and didn't try to mess with it.I loved the ending and thought it was really sweet. This was definitely an interesting story, but I liked it a lot.

Away--reviewed by Nallely Saavedra

Away by Teri Hall

***** stars

#2

"She risked everything, If only it's not too late."-Away

Rachel has finally left the place she's known all her life. She thought she was prepared for the world she's always ever read about...but she was so wrong. For the sake of getting her father back, Rachel will take the risks...no matter the outcome. Patience is running low for Rachel, finally at the village where she knows they can give her answers, she waits for Malgams recovery, Pathik's father. When Malgam recovers, Pathik's grandfather, Indigo, finally reveals everything they know and knew of Daniel, Rachel's father. Daniel has been taken away by the Roberts. A violent group of people that split from the camp Indigo and the rest live in. They are willing to risk everything to rescue Daniel.

If only that were the problem. Rachel and Pathik can't seem to give in to their feelings with everything going on.

Will this story come to an end? or will if blossom into a beautiful mesmerizing story?

Read Away, #2 in the series...to find out! XP

I rated Away *****stars because I loved the Line. I was completely captivated from the beginning and Away really answers all my questions from The Line. The story of Vivian and Daniel is simply tragic yet so beautiful. It gives hope to those who have lost it. X) The strength and determination that Rachel has simply made me smile. I like the characters, but mostly their strong personalities really grab your attention. Away is just another collection to my favorites. Hopefully it's not the end! Because I have more questions! XD haha. Read it and Love it! X)

-Nallely.

Divergent--reviewed by Nallely S.

Divergent: Veronica Roth

* * * * * Stars

"ONE CHOICE CAN TRANSFORM YOU."- Divergent

Living without making your own decisions.....will drive you crazy.
Beatrice Prior has been in Abnegation(the selfless), a faction, all her life. Until she makes a choice that ruins her family forever. Leaving Abnegation for the Dauntless(the brave) Beatrice renames herself Tris. Being the only Abnegation to transfer into Dauntless, Tris' life is living hell. Her only friends Christina, Will, Al, and Four. Tris must pass the initiation or become a Factionless. Tris must fight her friends and her enemies if she wants to be with the Dauntless. Tris knows she can't tell anyone her secret...because it may be her death.


Alone, in a world where even your friends might become your enemies...Tris must fight for her place in Dauntless...she must fight for her family...for her growing affection to a certain infuriating boy. Will Tris make it into Dauntless? Will she find others like her? Will Tris find answers to her mother's demands? Read Divergent. X) I promise you'll love it~!



I gave Divergent 5 stars because....it's amazing~! The cover itself is enough to fall in love with~! The way Roth portrayed the need to be free..the need to fight for what you want...was beautiful and sad. It's similar yet different to other futuristic books I've read. The way Tris and her love life folded out was written perfect. Although I sometimes wanted to kill Tris....she is an example of someone fighting for what she wants yet fighting for what is right and wrong at the same time. This book is very well written and I hope I still like the characters in the sequel to come. X)