Friday, January 27, 2012
The Maze Runner series by James Dashner
Holy Good Book Batman. This series had me ignoring basic needs like food and sleep. I simply had to know how the issues in this book would be resolved and the 3 months I had to wait for the final book were really intense. Luckily I was able to realize the importance of food and sleep and catch up on them before I spent 2 days straight reading the third and (sadly) final book. Great job Mr. Dashner!
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Okay. This is a book that I LOVED! It was written in an easy to read format (diary entries) but the details were so vivid. The story itself is so real, I found myself being haunted by the "what if that really happened to me" question. This is also a trilogy and I am currently in the middle of reading the last two...more thoughts on those to come! :)
Gathering Blue and The Messenger (Books 2 & 3 that complete The Giver Trilogy) by Lois Lowry
So I finally finished this trilogy. I must say at first I was very confused and honestly thought I had read the wrong books. GATHERING BLUE was an entirely different story than THE GIVER and not once was there ever mention of a single character from THE GIVER. That being said, I did enjoy the book. As I began to read THE MESSENGER it became clear that this was indeed the final story of the series; but man oh man, I am not sure if I like how she ended tying up all her loose ends. I can't decide if I just don't like the ending, or if there is still so much more she could say but didn't, or frankly what. All in all: I would for sure recommend reading all three books, just don't be surprised if when you close the last book you find yourself saying, "Huh?" JUST IN:There is scheduled to be a 4th book (!?!?!) titled SON coming in Sept 2012.
Amazon.com Review
Lois Lowry's magnificent novel of the distant future, The Giver, is set in a highly technical and emotionally repressed society. This eagerly awaited companion volume, by contrast, takes place in a village with only the most rudimentary technology, where anger, greed, envy, and casual cruelty make ordinary people's lives short and brutish. This society, like the one portrayed in The Giver, is controlled by merciless authorities with their own complex agendas and secrets. And at the center of both stories there is a young person who is given the responsibility of preserving the memory of the culture--and who finds the vision to transform it.
Kira, newly orphaned and lame from birth, is taken from the turmoil of the village to live in the grand Council Edifice because of her skill at embroidery. There she is given the task of restoring the historical pictures sewn on the robe worn at the annual Ruin Song Gathering, a solemn day-long performance of the story of their world's past. Down the hall lives Thomas the Carver, a young boy who works on the intricate symbols carved on the Singer's staff, and a tiny girl who is being trained as the next Singer. Over the three artists hovers the menace of authority, seemingly kind but suffocating to their creativity, and the dark secret at the heart of the Ruin Song.
With the help of a cheerful waif called Matt and his little dog, Kira at last finds the way to the plant that will allow her to create the missing color--blue--and, symbolically, to find the courage to shape the future by following her art wherever it may lead. With astonishing originality, Lowry has again created a vivid and unforgettable setting for this thrilling story that raises profound questions about the mystery of art, the importance of memory, and the centrality of love. (Ages 10 and older) --Patty Campbell
From Publishers Weekly
After conjuring the pitfalls of a technologically advanced society in The Giver, Lowry looks toward a different type of future to create this dark, prophetic tale with a strong medieval flavor. Having suffered numerous unnamed disasters (aka, the Ruin), civilization has regressed to a primitive, technology-free state; an opening author's note describes a society in which "disorder, savagery, and self-interest" rule. Kira, a crippled young weaver, has been raised and taught her craft by her mother, after her father was allegedly killed by "beasts." When her mother dies, Kira fears that she will be cast out of the village. Instead, the society's Council of Guardians installs her as caretaker of the Singer's robe, a precious ceremonial garment depicting the history of the world and used at the annual Gathering. She moves to the Council Edifice, a gothic-style structure, one of the few to survive the Ruin. The edifice and other settings, such as the FenAthe village ghettoAand the small plot where Annabella (an elder weaver who mentors Kira after her mother's death) lives are especially well drawn, and the characterizations of Kira and the other artists who cohabit the stone residence are the novel's greatest strength. But the narrative hammers at the theme of the imprisoned artist. And readers may well predict where several important plot threads are headed (e.g., the role of Kira's Guardian, Jamison; her father's disappearance), while larger issues, such as the society's downfall, are left to readers' imaginations. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Reading level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 25, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0618055819
ASIN: B006TQWWMS
Amazon.com Review
Lois Lowry's magnificent novel of the distant future, The Giver, is set in a highly technical and emotionally repressed society. This eagerly awaited companion volume, by contrast, takes place in a village with only the most rudimentary technology, where anger, greed, envy, and casual cruelty make ordinary people's lives short and brutish. This society, like the one portrayed in The Giver, is controlled by merciless authorities with their own complex agendas and secrets. And at the center of both stories there is a young person who is given the responsibility of preserving the memory of the culture--and who finds the vision to transform it.
Kira, newly orphaned and lame from birth, is taken from the turmoil of the village to live in the grand Council Edifice because of her skill at embroidery. There she is given the task of restoring the historical pictures sewn on the robe worn at the annual Ruin Song Gathering, a solemn day-long performance of the story of their world's past. Down the hall lives Thomas the Carver, a young boy who works on the intricate symbols carved on the Singer's staff, and a tiny girl who is being trained as the next Singer. Over the three artists hovers the menace of authority, seemingly kind but suffocating to their creativity, and the dark secret at the heart of the Ruin Song.
With the help of a cheerful waif called Matt and his little dog, Kira at last finds the way to the plant that will allow her to create the missing color--blue--and, symbolically, to find the courage to shape the future by following her art wherever it may lead. With astonishing originality, Lowry has again created a vivid and unforgettable setting for this thrilling story that raises profound questions about the mystery of art, the importance of memory, and the centrality of love. (Ages 10 and older) --Patty Campbell
From Publishers Weekly
After conjuring the pitfalls of a technologically advanced society in The Giver, Lowry looks toward a different type of future to create this dark, prophetic tale with a strong medieval flavor. Having suffered numerous unnamed disasters (aka, the Ruin), civilization has regressed to a primitive, technology-free state; an opening author's note describes a society in which "disorder, savagery, and self-interest" rule. Kira, a crippled young weaver, has been raised and taught her craft by her mother, after her father was allegedly killed by "beasts." When her mother dies, Kira fears that she will be cast out of the village. Instead, the society's Council of Guardians installs her as caretaker of the Singer's robe, a precious ceremonial garment depicting the history of the world and used at the annual Gathering. She moves to the Council Edifice, a gothic-style structure, one of the few to survive the Ruin. The edifice and other settings, such as the FenAthe village ghettoAand the small plot where Annabella (an elder weaver who mentors Kira after her mother's death) lives are especially well drawn, and the characterizations of Kira and the other artists who cohabit the stone residence are the novel's greatest strength. But the narrative hammers at the theme of the imprisoned artist. And readers may well predict where several important plot threads are headed (e.g., the role of Kira's Guardian, Jamison; her father's disappearance), while larger issues, such as the society's downfall, are left to readers' imaginations. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Reading level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 25, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0618055819
ASIN: B006TQWWMS
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli
May I begin by saying that Donna jo Napoli is by far one of my FAVORITE authors!! Every book I have read by her so far become my new favorite...and this particular book is no exception.The reviews below, provided by Amazon.com. sum up the book well, but I can just tell you that I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.
From Publishers Weekly
A midwife-cum-sorceress known simply as the Ugly One narrates this riveting tale of how, tricked by the devil's minions, she lost her gifts for healing and was forced to become a witch. Escaping from the stake, where she is about to be burned, she ekes out a solitary existence in an enchanted forest--until she takes in two wandering children named Hansel and Gretel. As she did in The Prince of the Pond , Napoli gives a classic fairy tale an entirely new twist, at the same time incorporating absorbing details about medieval religious beliefs. The witch's "true" history as a devoted mother and pious servant of God renders her a compelling and entirely sympathetic figure, a heroine courageously fighting the evil spirits that have invaded her once-pure life. The Hansel and Gretel motif, carefully woven into the story, emerges as a surprise for the reader, albeit a surprise that has been fully prepared. The author's extraordinary craftsmanship and originality never flag, and even the archetypically fiery ending for the witch acquires a new dimension. A YA novel of genuine magic and suspense, this will captivate adults as well. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
The author of The Prince in the Pond (1992) leaps from that comic take on ``The Frog Prince'' to a dark, deeply thoughtful novel whose gifted, driven, and wholly sympathetic protagonist is Hansel and Gretel's witch. The hunchback known as ``Ugly One'' is a midwife who becomes a healer when she learns to draw, with a blessed object, a magic circle that cannot be invaded by the devil's minions; from safely within it, she can command them to leave their victims. But the demons eventually trick her with a ring she hopes to give her beloved daughter, now of an age to marry. Now the sorceress who has commanded devils becomes a witch subject to their demands; still, with great care, she avoids the potent temptation to devour a child, which would complete her damnation. Hansel and Gretel's arrival, in the novel's last pages, is a cruel test; with extraordinary artistry, Napoli shapes a conclusion in which the witch finds redemption by collaborating with a clever Gretel, who senses the meaning of her fiery death. Writing in a beautifully honed first-person present and summoning splendid imagery well grounded in folklore, psychology, and the natural world, Napoli delves into the mind and heart of a fascinating figure embodying Faust and Marguerite in one--a nurturer and lover of true beauty whose inner being is never truly corrupted by the dangerous knowledge she dares to exert on others' behalf. Richly poetic yet accessible and immediate; pungent and wise; mesmerizing. Splendid jacket by the Dillons. (Fiction. 11+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Specs:
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Puffin (June 1, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140374396
ISBN-13: 978-0140374391
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Mara's Stories by Gary D. Schmidt
From School Library Journal
Gr 5-8-This collection framed as tales told within the concentration camps by a young woman named Mara is not completely successful as a cohesive whole. The book includes holocaust tales as well as traditional rabbinical stories set at that time. The selections range from accounts of escapes from being put into the camps to finding hope within the camps to betrayals and choices. Some are truly transcendent while others are simply filler. The use of Mara as a storyteller seems artificial and takes away from the power of the stories. Most of them could be used in a classroom situation, although they may be more useful in a religious setting than in a secular one. Schmidt includes extensive source notes for each story, giving the origins and explaining how he has changed some of them for this book. Hazel Rochman and Darlene Z. McCampbell's Bearing Witness: Stories of the Holocaust (Orchard, 1995) remains the best collection for children, but libraries with a strong Jewish patronage and a need for additional Holocaust literature may want to add Mara's Stories.
Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Gr. 4-8. In the barracks of a concentration camp, a girl named Mara tells stories at night to the women and children to help push back the darkness. The deceptively simple tellings draw on the Hasidic tradition and range from legends of magical realism and trickster tales of escape to simple prayers. Some are folktales that actually grew up in the camps, with settings that include the roundups, the selections, even the gas chambers. The writing occasionally verges on the sentimental ("And he will always weep, my children. He will always weep"), but Mara's voice keeps things quiet, and for readers who want more background, Schmidt provides many pages of fascinating notes about the history and tradition he is drawing on. A few of the stories are unforgettable, rooted in the Yiddish idiom and in folklore and faith. With dark humor, the story "A Globe," barely two pages long, about the refugees who can't find a country to take them in, will make a powerful read-aloud for the Holocaust curriculum. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Specs:
Reading level: Young Adult
Library Binding: 154 pages
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439557241
ISBN-13: 978-1439557242
Gr 5-8-This collection framed as tales told within the concentration camps by a young woman named Mara is not completely successful as a cohesive whole. The book includes holocaust tales as well as traditional rabbinical stories set at that time. The selections range from accounts of escapes from being put into the camps to finding hope within the camps to betrayals and choices. Some are truly transcendent while others are simply filler. The use of Mara as a storyteller seems artificial and takes away from the power of the stories. Most of them could be used in a classroom situation, although they may be more useful in a religious setting than in a secular one. Schmidt includes extensive source notes for each story, giving the origins and explaining how he has changed some of them for this book. Hazel Rochman and Darlene Z. McCampbell's Bearing Witness: Stories of the Holocaust (Orchard, 1995) remains the best collection for children, but libraries with a strong Jewish patronage and a need for additional Holocaust literature may want to add Mara's Stories.
Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Gr. 4-8. In the barracks of a concentration camp, a girl named Mara tells stories at night to the women and children to help push back the darkness. The deceptively simple tellings draw on the Hasidic tradition and range from legends of magical realism and trickster tales of escape to simple prayers. Some are folktales that actually grew up in the camps, with settings that include the roundups, the selections, even the gas chambers. The writing occasionally verges on the sentimental ("And he will always weep, my children. He will always weep"), but Mara's voice keeps things quiet, and for readers who want more background, Schmidt provides many pages of fascinating notes about the history and tradition he is drawing on. A few of the stories are unforgettable, rooted in the Yiddish idiom and in folklore and faith. With dark humor, the story "A Globe," barely two pages long, about the refugees who can't find a country to take them in, will make a powerful read-aloud for the Holocaust curriculum. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Specs:
Reading level: Young Adult
Library Binding: 154 pages
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439557241
ISBN-13: 978-1439557242
An American Plague by Jim Murphy
From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10-If surviving the first 20 years of a new nationhood weren't challenge enough, the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, centering in Philadelphia, was a crisis of monumental proportions. Murphy chronicles this frightening time with solid research and a flair for weaving facts into fascinating stories, beginning with the fever's emergence on August 3, when a young French sailor died in Richard Denny's boardinghouse on North Water Street. As church bells rang more and more often, it became horrifyingly clear that the de facto capital was being ravaged by an unknown killer. Largely unsung heroes emerged, most notably the Free African Society, whose members were mistakenly assumed to be immune and volunteered en masse to perform nursing and custodial care for the dying. Black-and-white reproductions of period art, coupled with chapter headings that face full-page copies of newspaper articles of the time, help bring this dreadful episode to life. An afterword explains the yellow fever phenomenon, its causes, and contemporary outbreaks, and source notes are extensive and interesting. Pair this work with Laurie Halse Anderson's wonderful novel Fever 1793 (S & S, 2000) and you'll have students hooked on history.
Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 6-12. History, science, politics, and public health come together in this dramatic account of the disastrous yellow fever epidemic that hit the nation's capital more than 200 years ago. Drawing on firsthand accounts, medical and non-medical, Murphy re-creates the fear and panic in the infected city, the social conditions that caused the disease to spread, and the arguments about causes and cures. With archival prints, photos, contemporary newspaper facsimiles that include lists of the dead, and full, chatty source notes, he tells of those who fled and those who stayed--among them, the heroic group of free blacks who nursed the ill and were later vilified for their work. Some readers may skip the daily details of life in eighteenth-century Philadelphia; in fact, the most interesting chapters discuss what is now known of the tiny fever-carrying mosquito and the problems created by over-zealous use of pesticides. The current struggle to contain the SARS epidemic brings the "unshakeable unease" chillingly close. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Specs:
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books (June 23, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0395776082
ISBN-13: 978-0395776087
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7–When her parents, the king and queen of Wonderland, are killed by her Aunt Redd, Alyss Heart escapes by jumping into the Pool of Tears. Her jump takes her to Victorian Oxford, where she emerges from a puddle, lives as a street urchin, and is eventually adopted by Reverend and Mrs. Liddell. Unable to make anyone believe her fantastic story, she finally confides in Charles Dodgson, who says he will write a book about her. When she discovers that Alice's Adventures Underground is full of make-believe, and not her story or her real name, she sadly resigns herself to life as a Victorian girl of privilege. Meanwhile, back in Wonderland, the Alyssians form a resistance movement and attempt to overthrow the despotic Redd. For years, Hatter Madigan searches the world for Alyss so she can return to Wonderland as Queen. In the end, the Alyssians prevail, but only after much graphic bloodshed and many brutal battles involving card soldiers who transform into warriors, chessmen, blades that whirl and slash, vicious Jabberwocks, and even carnivorous roses. The tale is clever and flows like an animated film where action is more important than character development. However, it bears little resemblance to Lewis Carroll's original story. Beddor has usurped the characters and setting and changed them for his own purposes, keeping only the story's frame and not much of that. Still, the fantasy will appeal to those readers who like battles and weapons and good vs. evil on and on and on.–Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Alyss Heart, heir to the Wonderland throne, is forced to flee when her vicious aunt Redd murders her parents, the King and Queen of Hearts. She escapes through the Pool of Tears to Victorian London, but she finds she has no way home. Adopted by the Liddells, who christen her Alice Liddell and disapprove of her wild stories about Wonderland, Alyss begs Charles Dodgson to tell her real story. Even though he writes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, she knows no one believes her. Years go by, with Alice repressing her memories. Then royal bodyguard Hatter Madigan, determined to start a war for Wonderland's throne, crashes her wedding. Beddor offers some intriguing reimaginings of Dodgson's concepts (such as looking-glass travel) and characters (the cat is an assassin with nine lives), but his transformation of Wonderland's lunacy into a workable world sometimes leads to stilted exposition on history, geography, and government. Even so, his attention has, happily, put Wonderland back on the map again. Krista Hutley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Specs:
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Dial; First Edition edition (September 26, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0803731531
ISBN-13: 978-0803731530
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