Oracles of Delphi Keep

Author: Victoria Laurie

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Year: 2009

Most of the readers will be: Middle school girls and boys.

Reader's Advisory: Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series is another great example of modern fiction drawing on classical mythology.

Summary:
Ian Wigby and his ward (sort-of sister), Theodosia Fields, live in a well-kept orphanage located near the White Cliffs of Dover. While treasure hunting in caves near the cliffs they discover mysterious writing, a silver box, and a terrible beast. Their discoveries launch them, and several other key people in their lives, into a quest which takes them to London and Morocco. They are directed by the long-dead Oracle Laodamia. Her scattered and hidden prophecies, in addition to Theo's ever-growing talent at seeing the future, may give them the power to prevent World War II and the rise of dark powers that feed on human suffering.

My favorite passage:

Ian crested the top stair and looked about. The light was dim, but he knew exactly where he wanted to hide his silver box. There was a bench built into the wall at the top of the stairs, with wooden slats for a seat. He could hide it in the bench until it was safe to bring it out and inspect it. As he reached for the loose slat, however, he took just a moment to study the box. He turned it around in his hands, admiring its detail. It was beautifully crafted and rested on four balled silver feet. He shook it gently and he could feel the small vibrations of something rattling inside. Curious, he tried to open the lid, but as hard as he tugged on it, it wouldn't give way.
With a sigh he decided it was best to leave it for now and attempt to pry it open later. He then quickly pulled up the slat and placed the box at the bottom of the bench. A few seconds later he was dashing back down the stone steps and through the door to the hallway, where Theo was waiting impatiently.
"All done," he said to her. "Thanks for keeping watch."
"You're going to get yourself into big trouble one of these days," she admonished.
"Not with you to look after me," he replied with a grin as he gave her hair another tousle.
Her face softened and she pushed his hand away with a smile. "Someone's got to look after you," she said. "Otherwise you'd go without supper so often you'd starve to death."
Ian was instantly reminded of the dinner plate she'd snuck up to him, and he realized she was no longer holding it. "Speaking of eating, what did you do with my dinner?"
"I had to hide it in the loo when I heard Madam Scargill on the stairway." Theo disappeared into the lavatory and Ian was horrified as he watched her come back out with his food.
"You hid it in there?"
"Would you rather Madam Scargill see me standing at the lavatory door with it?" Theo snapped.
"Good point," he agreed. "Now, go on and finish your own supper," he said, taking the plate from her. "And say hello to the earl for me."
Theo gave him a small smile. "I'll tell him it's your birthday and perhaps he'll come upstairs to visit with you."
"That'd be brilliant, thanks!"
The two parted and Ian headed back into his room, where he ate his birthday supper in peace and quiet and watched out the window for the Earl of Kent and his companions. (pg 52-53)

What I really think:
First off I wanted to explain about my opinion on which young people will be interested in this book. Although there is a male protagonist (usually something that attracts male readers), I get kind of a girly vibe from the story. It could be because of the very strong (both in personality and power) female characters like Theo, Lady Arbuthnot, and the posthumous presence of the Oracle Laodamia. I'm not saying boys won't read it, but I strongly suspect it will appeal more to girls.

Stories drawing on classical mythology seem to be pretty popular right now in the middle grades. I like that Laurie did things a little differently by mixing up her Greek influences with Phoenician and even Druid. Things can get a little confusing at times, but overall the mythology behind the story is magical and compelling.

Now, the fact that Theo has predicted World War II is a little eye rolling. I was enjoying my little fantasy world without it getting too real. Perhaps now would be a good time to mention that the author isn't really British. The biography on the back flap says that as a child she lived in England for a year with her family. Overall, I think she did a pretty good job with the setting and characters considering that she isn't a native (and I'm practically an authority since I just spent a year in England myself). But this World War II business - you see it in British literature ALL THE TIME. There is a good reason for that. The war was much more personal for England than it was for America, so I can understand the need to keep working through those emotions.

I think what really got me was the vilifying of German-sounding characters. So, in a book set around World War II there is no getting around the fact that Germans are going to be the bad guys. BUT what about the Austrian couple who work for Caphiera (one of the mythological bad guys, or bad lady as it were)? They speak with thick accents, adopt children in an attempt to hunt down Ian and Theo, and lead to the deaths of both those children. Was that really necessary? Couldn't they have been French or American or even British?

Lets not get too carried away with hating on the Germans and people who sound like them, okay?

This book appears to be the first in a series. A lengthy quest is set out for Ian and his companions, but they only complete part of it by the conclusion of the novel.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Author: Sherman Alexie

Illustrator: Ellen Forney

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Publication Year: 2007

Most of the readers will be: Middle and high school boys.

Reader's Advisory: For another juvenile novel on the topic of Native Americans read Native Americans: A Novelized Memoir by Isaac McCoy.

Summary:
In spite of multiple physical problems caused by being born with water on the brain, Junior has grown into a teenager with a lot of promise. Unfortunately, he lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation and people who stay on the reservation rarely do much with their lives. Junior makes the big decision to attend high school in a neighboring town outside "the rez." Many of the people from his town of Wellpinit feel that he has betrayed them and his new classmates are slow to accept him. Can Junior balance his two worlds and still be true to himself?

My favorite passage:

And do you know what the very best thing was about Wellpinit?
My grandmother.
She was amazing.
She was the most amazing person in the world.
Do you want to know the very best thing about my grandmother?
She was tolerant.
And I know that's a hilarious thing to say about your grandmother.
I mean, when people compliment their grandmothers, especially their Indian grandmothers, they usually say things like, "My grandmother is so wise" and "My grandmother is so kind" and "My grandmother has seen everything."
And, yeah, my grandmother was smart and kind and had traveled to about 100 different Indian reservations, but that had nothing to do with her greatness.
My grandmother's greatest gift was tolerance.
Now, in the old days, Indians used to be forgiving of any kind of eccentricity. In fact, weird people were often celebrated.
Epileptics were often shamans because people just assumed that God gave seizure-visions to the lucky ones.
Gay people were seen as magical, too.
I mean, like in many cultures, men were viewed as warriors and women were viewed as caregivers. But gay people, being both male and female, were seen as both warriors and caregivers.
Gay people could do anything. They were like Swiss Army knives!
My grandmother had no use for all the gay bashing and homophobia in the world, especially among other Indians.
"Jeez," she said. "Who cares if a man wants to marry another man? All I want to know is who's going to pick up all the dirty socks?"
Of course, ever since white people showed up and brought along their Christianity and their fears of eccentricity, Indians have gradually lost all of their tolerance.
Indians can be just as judgmental and hateful as any white person.
But not my grandmother.
She still hung onto that old-time Indian spirit, you know?
She always approached each new person and each new experience the exact same way.
Whenever we went to Spokane, my grandmother would talk to anybody, even the homeless people, even the homeless guys who were talking to invisible people.
My grandmother would start talking to the invisible people, too.
Why would she do that?
"Well," she said, "how can I be sure there aren't invisible people in the world? Scientists didn't believe in the mountain gorilla for hundreds of years. And now look. So if scientists can be wrong, then all of us can be wrong. I mean, what if all of those invisible people ARE scientists? Think about that one." (pg 154-156)

What I really think:
I did find one inconsistency which isn't really relevant to the storyline, but I am sort of surprised neither the author or editor caught it. Early on in the story, Junior opens up his geography book to see the words "This Book Belongs To Agnes Adams" (pg 31). And he says that that is his mother. Adams is his mother's maiden name. But then he calls his grandmother "Grandmother Spirit." Spirit is his last name, so the name his mother took from his father. And Grandmother Spirit is supposed to be his mother's mother. So really, her last name should be Adams, and not Spirit. There could be some sort of explanation, but none was given.
I don't need to tell you that this is a good book, because it already won the National Book Award. But yes, it is wonderful. Not only does Alexie give us a window into reservation life, but he also creates a character that the average teenager can relate to. Not all of us had to deal with the exact same issues as Junior, but we did all have to move between different worlds even if those worlds were only the world of children and the world of adults.

The Ask and the Answer

Author: Patrick Ness

Publisher: Walker Books

Publication Year: 2009

Most of the readers will be: Late middle school and early high school boys and girls.

Reader's advisory: For another trilogy that challenges the way we think about the world try Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials.

Summary: (Caution! Spoilers for The Knife of Never Letting Go)
Todd and Viola have made it to Haven hoping it is the one place on New World where they will be safe only to discover that the citizens of Haven have already surrendered to Mayor (now President) Prentiss. Immediately the two are separated and for a while, Todd doesn't even know if Viola has survived the bullet she took as they entered town.
Todd is locked up in the top of a church tower with the old mayor of Haven (now called New Prentisstown). Every day he has to work with Davy Prentiss doing things that make his skin crawl. He watches as President Prentiss bends the men of New World to his will and turns the women into the enemy.
Viola is cured in a house of healing and ends up with a group called The Answer. The Answer intend to stop President Prentiss by any means necessary. Even force. Even if that force leads to civilian casualties.
Will Todd and Viola be reunited? Together could they have the strength to save New World from two violent dictators?

My favorite passage:

He gets to his feet.
He stands up tall-
And I shout his name again-
"TODD!"
Because it does something-
It does something to him-
It does something for him-
The Mayor's wrong-
He's wrong for ever and ever-
It's not that you should never love something so much it can control you.
It's that you need to love something that much so you can never be controlled.
It's not a weakness-
It's your best strength-
"TODD!" I shout again-
And he looks at me-
And I hear my name in his Noise-
And I know it-
I know it in my heart-
Right now-
Todd Hewitt-
There's nothing we can't do together-
And we're gonna win-
(pg 494)

What I really think:
Often when you have a series of novels the first one seems to be the best, and I think this is because the first book is when you learn all about the world where the story takes place. It is difficult for subsequent books to fill you with the same wonder you feel when you read the first because there aren't any more big surprises.
In The Knife of Never Letting Go, we learn a whole lot about New World. We learn what Todd has been told, and then we start to learn what is really going on. In The Ask and the Answer, Ness skillfully keeps us guessing whether we can believe everything we have read so far and even introduces some brand new twists.
He also introduces Viola as a narrator. She has a strong voice and her experiences provide a nice contrast with Todd's experiences. It is interesting to see how each of them handle being apart.
I will admit that I wasn't as engaged in some of the middle parts of this story as I was when reading The Knife of Never Letting Go, I think because I really like the interaction between Todd and Viola and they just aren't together throughout most of this book. However, the ending makes up for everything.

The Knife That Killed Me

Author: Anthony McGowan

Publisher: Definitions

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Late middle school and early high school boys.

Reader's advisory: For another book on school violence try Shattering Glass by Gail Giles.

Summary:
As the knife inches closer to Paul Varderman he recalls the events that have led up to this moment. In the days prior to the big fight with the kids from Temple Moor Paul is befriended by Roth, the school bully. Roth is clearly using Paul, but in some ways it is better than being abused. But Paul has also been befriended by Shane and his group of "freaks." The freaks aren't so bad, but Paul feels like an outsider to their group. There are forces pulling on Paul from many different directions when he decides to go to the fight.

My favorite passage:

I am pushed to the ground, my knees leaving hollows in the wet earth. And I want to move. Either away or towards. To do something. But I have been burned to this spot, like one of the ashy bodies cooked to stillness in Pompeii. Only my eyes can move.
But that's enough for me to see it coming.
The knife that will kill me.
It is in the hand of a boy.
The boy is blurred, but the knife is clear.
He has just taken it from the inside pocket of his blazer.
There is something strange about the way the world is moving. I can see an outline of his arm - I mean, a series of outlines - tracing the motion from his pocket. A ghost trail of outlines. And so there is no motion, just these images, each one still, each one closer to me.
He is coming to kill me.
Now would be a good time to run.
I cannot run.
I am too afraid to run.
But I don't want to die here in the gypsy field, my blood flowing into the wet earth.
I must stop this.
And there is a way.
It comes to me now.
Part of it but not all of it.
Maths. Mr McHale. A sunny afternoon, and no one listening. He tells us about Zeno's Paradox. The one with fast-running Apollo and the tortoise. If only I could remember it. but I'm not good at school. All I know about is war, battles, armies, learned from my dad, whose chief love is war.
But I have to remember, because the knife is coming. Each moment perfectly still, yet each one closer.
Motion
and
perfect
stillness.
How can that be?
Yes, I think. To reach me the knife must come half the way. That takes, say, two seconds. But first it must go half that distance. Which takes one second. And half that distance, which takes half a second. And half that distance, which takes a quarter of a second. And so it goes on. Each time halving the distance and halving the time: 2+1+1/2+1/4+1/8+1/16. The sequence is infinite. It means he can never reach me. I am safe.
And so I can leave the me there, the me now, waiting for ever for the knife, while I go back to the beginning. (pg 6-8)

What I really think:
I really enjoy all the bits about the knife. I know they aren't really the point of the book. I know the point has more to do with bullying and fighting and all that, but the knife stuff is great. You can feel the tension as the knife slowly gets closer and closer.
As for the fighting stuff, this novel is an excellent deconstruction of a boy. It is easy to stand on the outside and wonder how perfectly nice young people get involved in things like this. McGowan has demonstrated how it's not just one thing that makes a boy carry a knife. It's a whole series of events that wear him down and make him doubt himself. This would be a nice novel to read in a classroom to really get a discussion going on school violence and how students can choose better ways to deal with their problems.

The Sisters Club

Author: Megan McDonald

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Mid-elementary age girls.

Reader's Advisory: For another book on sisters try C. S. Adler's Split Sisters.

Summary:
Stevie Reel loves her sisters Alex and Joey but she struggles to find something good about being in the middle. Finally she decides that she is the "glue" that holds the family together. But after Stevie and Joey humiliate Alex in front of her crush, who has come to dinner, Alex wants to quit the Sisters Club. Is there anything Stevie can do to make it up to Alex?

My favorite passage:

King Lear
Starring Alex
Time: Old-Timey England
Setting: The Kingdom
(A.K.A. The Reel Living Room)
Characters:
King Lear (The Father)
Three Daughters:
Goneril (The Oldest...That's Me!)
Regan
Cordelia (The Youngest)

Before the curtain rises: King Lear is preening himself, waiting to be flattered. He sits, looking at a map.

King Lear: (Why do I have to remind Dad three times? Stage directions say 'Point to map'!) 'Tis time I remove myself from public life. I wish to give each of thee, my three daughters, a parcel of my kingdom. This will depend upon how much each of you loves me.

Goneril: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (Good line!) Thou art more-

Stevie: Alex, quit showing off!

Me: What? That's a real line from Shakespeare. (I should know!)

Stevie: Well, it sounds like Romeo and Juliet, not King Lear.

Joey: Sick! It's from an ooey-gooey love poem!

Dad: Are we going to do this scene or not?

Regan: OK, I love thee more than all four of the seasons, not just one day in summer.

Goneril: I love thee more than meat loves salt.

Regan: Well, I love thee more than meat loves special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame-seed bun. My love is Supersize!

Me: Hey no fair. Dad, she's making it sound like an old hamburger commercial, not Shakespeare. (Since when is Stevie the Shakespeare expert?)

Stevie: Don't look at me. You're the one who loves Dad like meat. I'm just following your lead. You always say to ad-lib.

Goneril: (Getting down on one knee in front of King Lear.) I love you more than the ocean has water, more than the sky has stars.

Regan: (Breaking into song.)
My love is warmer than the warmest sunshine,
Softer than a sigh.
My love is deeper than the deepest ocean,
Wider than the sky.
My love is brighter than the brightest star
That shines every night above...

Me: Um, last time I checked, King Lear was not a musical. (Or a comedy!)

Joey: Then when do I get a line? You guys are the greedy sisters, fighting over all Dad's, I mean, King Lear's, stuff. Doesn't the good daughter get to say any words?

Me: Just be happy you didn't have to be an eggplant.

Dad: OK, Cordelia. Your turn. Read your line.

Cordelia: I can hardly breathe for all this odious hot air that fills thy room.

Joey: What's odious mean?

Stevie and Me: (Holding noses.) Stinky!

King Lear: My youngest, you have been strangely silent. Have you no tender musings on your love for me?

Cordelia: My love for you, dear father, is as a daughter's should be. No more, no less.

King Lear: Thou art a boil, a plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood. Away with you! Cast thee from my sight forever!

Joey: (Being dragged from room.) Hey! What did I do? You mean I get sent away? I thought I was the only one who really loved King Lear.

Stevie: You're still banished!

Joey: No fair. you guys told me I was the good one.

Goneril and Regan: (Snickering.) More for us! More for us!

Cordelia: What stugly upsisters you have proven to be. Off with their heads!

Me: You're supposed to say, "A pox on you."

Cordelia: Chicken pox on you!

Me and Stevie: (In fits of giggles while dragging Joey, a.k.a. Cordelia, from room.)

Lights go down as Cordelia is banished, stage left. Quick curtain.

Joey: Wait! We're not done. Nobody got stabbed or poisoned or anything.

Me: That's 'cause we lost the plastic dagger.

Joey: Couldn't we just use a spoon or something?

Goneril: How daft! King Lear was lying in his bedchamber, unaware, never guessing he was about to be spooned to death!

Regan: Then, when Goneril saw her own image reflected upside down in the spon, she keeled over and died.

Goneril: Thou thinks thee so clever, but thou art not the least bit funny.

King Lear: (Collapsing on couch.) Give an old man some peace! (pg 23-27)

What I really think:
What a great book about sisters! McDonald has illustrated beautifully some of the best and worst things about sisters and made me want to put marshmallows between my toes.

The Dragonfly Pool

Author: Eva Ibbotson

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Late elementary and middle school girls.

Reader's advisory: For a more advanced book that takes a look at another aspect of World War II try Code Talker: a novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac.

Summary:
Fearing that London will soon be bombed by the Germans, Tally's father sends her to a boarding school in rural Devon. Tally doesn't want to live away from her father and aunts and he doesn't make enough to pay tuition, but Tally has been offered a scholarship.
Tally learns all about boarding school from her rich cousins who have been going for years. She thinks she understands about the uniforms and dorm parties, only to find, upon arriving at Delderton, that there are no uniforms and every student has their own room. This school is quite unique.
Tally grows to like Delderton very much and her friends think so highly of her that they allow her to talk them into preparing a folk dance for a festival they have been invited to in Bergania. Bergania has been standing up to Germany and Tally believes Delderton should show their support of the small nation. But things get complicated while they are there. The king of Bergania is killed and the Deldertonions sneak his son, Karil, out of the country.
Tally has done her part to save Karil's life, but can she save his spirit? He has been forced to live with his grandfather in London and act like a prince should. But he wants to be with his friends in Delderton. He wants to choose his own future.

My favorite passage:

Daley folded up the letter and looked round at the meeting.
'It's quite an honour to be asked. As I say, I shall of course turn it down but-'
'Why?'
The clear voice carried to all parts of the hall. Julia grasped her friend's arm, trying to quieten her but without success. The peppermint disappeared down Tally's throat.
'Why?' she said again. 'Why would you refuse?'
She had forgotten that she was not going to speak again. One word had leaped out at her from the letter that Daley read.
'Bergania' - it was more than two weeks since she had seen the travelogue, yet she found she could remember the film in detail. She could see the snowy mountain range with the central jagged peak, and the fir trees running up the slope towards them. She could see the river and the spire of the church where St Aurelia was buried, and the palace. She could see the proud king on his horse and, as clearly as if she was there, the young prince in his troublesome helmet trying to blow the plumes out of his eyes.
'Why can't we send anybody?' said Tally yet again. 'The King of Bergania is very brave; he said no to Hitler.'
'Because,' said the headmaster patiently, 'we have never done folk dancing here at Delderton and it is less than a month till the festival. And there are other reasons.'
'Just because we've never done it doesn't mean we can't do it. There's probably a book about it; there's a book about everything. It must be very difficult to stand up to Hitler. It wasn't just that he said no about letting the troops go through his country, but he also won't let Hitler dig up minerals in his mountains to use for armaments. And I know people like Tod think there should be kings, but if there are and they're brave and resolute then surely we should show them that we're on their side.'
'I don't see how it would help the Berganians if we went and did folk dancing all over them,' said one of the senior girls, 'especially when we haven't any idea how to do it.'
'It's to do with just being there,' said Tally. 'They invited us so they must want us to come, and refusing would be a snub.'
She looked round the room for support but no one seemed ready to back her up. Even her own friends were silent.
'Folk dancing's silly,' said a boy with huge spectacles. 'People wind ribbons round a pole and get tangled up.'
'Or they wear idiotic clothes - trousers with bells on them and bobbles on their hats,' said Ronald Peabody.
'Only sissies do folk dancing,' came Verity's disdainful voice.
'Really?' The deep voice came from the back of the hall. Matteo had appeared to be asleep. 'You surprise me.' He uncoiled himself and moved forward to the centre of the room, and the children made way for him. 'You surprise me very much.'
Everybody fell silent, watching him as he turned and faced the meeting.
'You might of course call the Falanian Indians sissy. Certainly they do a folk dance before they dismember their enemies and nail them to trees. There are even bells - or rather gongs - involved, though not, if I recall, ribbons. It takes an Indian child five years to learn the steps, and they are not allowed to take part in it till they can crunch up the skull of a jaguar with their bare hands.
'And there are the leopard hunters of Nepal. They do a folk dance to prepare themselves for the chase, which includes leaping over pits of burning cinders with a firebrand in their mouth. The steps go something like this.'
And without any warning Matteo leaped high into the air, seemed almost to hang there and came down with a blood-curdling howl almost on top of David Prosser, who stepped back with an agitated squeak.
'I could give you more examples,' said Matteo, 'but I just wanted to make the point that whatever folk dancing is, it's not sissy.' (pg. 91-94)

What I really think:
I thought this book was delightful once I got into it. There is some history, some adventure, a spunky heroine.
The only thing I didn't like was the cover. It put me off and was one of the reasons it took me a little while to feel interested in the book. It is overly girly (especially the curly lettering) and gives the book a younger feel to it. There are several strong male characters in the book and it isn't for children who are new readers. Looking on the back flap I saw that at least two of the author's other books have very similar covers. Unfortunate.

Blood Red Snow White

Author: Marcus Sedgwick

Publisher: Orion Children's Books

Publication Year: 2007

Most of the readers will be: High school girls and boys.

Reader's advisory: For another book on Russia and British spies try Phoning a Dead Man by Gillian Cross.

Summary:
Arthur Ransome has fled to Russia to get away from his unhappy wife. He is a journalist reporting to the British people on Russia's war with Germany (Britain is at war with Germany, too) and later on the Russian revolution. Arthur wants to spend his time working on his books of Russian fairy tales and maybe visiting his girlfriend, Evgenia. But things are complicated.
Evgenia is Trotsky's secretary. And the British government wants to put the Tsar back in power. The Bolsheviks and the English would both love to use Arthur for their own ends. Can Arthur manouver his way through this difficult situation and create a fairy tale ending for himself and Evgenia?

My favorite passage:

Now, only a few trees ahead of him in the forest, stood two men deep in conversation. One was a Russian, the other a Jew, and they were firm friends, though they spent much of their time arguing.
They would argue about all sorts of things, but each would listen politely to what the other had to say. First, the Jew, whose name was Lev, would argue that the people of Russia should be its true masters, and while he did, the Russian, whose name was Vladimir, would stroke his small and excellent beard. Then they would swap, and Vladimir would argue that while what Lev had to say was true, they should not forget that people needed guidance from enlightened minds. And Lev would stroke his own small and excellent beard.
Then they'd each light a pipe, and have a good long smoke, while they thought what to argue about next. (pg 46)

What I really think:
I didn't look at this book very closely when I picked it up and expected it to be some kind of fairly tale adaptation. I was very surprised to discover that it was a historical fiction novel about the Russion revolution. But, I actually really enjoyed it. Sedwick masterfully weaves a fairy tale feel into the novel and has shed light on the real life of a man who went to Russia to write and was finally convinced to be a spy.

Sweethearts

Author: Sara Zarr

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Middle school and high school girls.

Reader's Advisory: For another book on a girl struggling with weight issues try Erin Dionne's Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies.

Summary:
Jennifer Harris had a difficult childhood. She was mocked for being overweight, her mother was rarely home since she was working and going to nursing school, and she had only one friend. But Cameron Quick was such a good friend that the bad stuff almost didn't matter. Cameron made her life bearable. Then one day Cameron disappeared and the kids at school told Jennifer that he was dead. Her mother didn't deny it, so that is what she has believed all these years.
A lot has changed since then. Jennifer Harris is now Jenna Vaughn. Her mother is remarried and working as a nurse. They live in a nice house and Jenna goes to a new school. She has friends and a boyfriend. And she's not overweight anymore.
What will happen to Jenna when a very much alive Cameron Quick steps back into her life?

My favorite passage:

Right before the summer between second and third grade I was in the back of my mom's brown Geo Prism, which was parked in front of the ugly building where we rented a one-bedroom apartment. Mom had gone inside to trade her Village Inn uniform for her nursing school scrubs before taking me to the babysitter. I remember that I had a library book about possums and I liked the way they walked on mossy logs and peered out from holes in trees and how their paws looked like little human hands. I tried saying it without a lisp. Possum, I whispered, putting my tongue behind my teeth the way I'd learned in speech therapy. Mossy possum paws. I'd be ready next time Jordana pointed to Sam Simpson and said, "Who's that, Fattifer? I can't remember his name." She made me nervouse, and it came out Tham Thimthon no matter how much I'd practice at home.
I didn't want to think about Jordana, so I opened my lunch box where I knew there was a plastic bag half full of crackers that I'd taken from a first-grader's lunch when she wasn't looking. Stealing food was a bad habit, more of a compusion really, and not only did I want a snack but also I needed to destroy the evidence, a process I enjoyed: holding the crackers in my mouth and feeling the hard, salty crunchiness dissolve into a slightly sweet mush. When I reached in my lunch box to get them, I found a small white cardboard box that I knew for a fact had not been there at lunch.
I slipped the lid off the box and lifted up a small square of cotton to see a ring with a silvery band and sparkly blue stone. Underneath the ring was a piece of paper that had been folded, folded, folded, and folded again to fit the box. I opened it. It was a drawing of a house with a fence around it, and a tree. Pencil-line rays from a round sun beamed down on two stick figures holding hands. Beneath the picture in a messy second-grade scrawl, it read:
To Jennifer,
I love you.
From Cameron Quick.
My mom got back in the car then, tossing her books onto the passenger seat and slamming the door. I watched her eyes in the rearview mirror as she asked, "Whatcha got there, kiddo?"
I closed my hand around the ring. "Nothing." (pg 6-7)

What I really think:
It took me a few chapters to get into this book, but then I was really hooked. I think that most of us have vivid memories of people and events from our childhood that in some way have shaped our lives. And as a teenager, when you are trying to decide what kind of adult you are going to be, you can wonder what to do with the feelings you have about your childhood self.
I like the way Zarr deals with Jenna's eating problems. The descriptions of how much she likes food are so convincing I started thinking more about how food tastes and feels myself. I began to really understand the comfort Jenna gets from eating. But when Jenna isn't eating for comfort she does try to stay thin in a reasonably healthy way: eating small portions of good food and exercising. I'm glad she has found a way to be happier with herself without going to the other extreme and not eating.

The Traitor Game

Author: B. R. Collins

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Late middle school and early high school boys.

Reader's advisory: For another book that contains an ancient kingdom try Bloodline by Katy Moran.

Summary:
Francis has always been nice to Michael. They meet on Saturdays to draw maps and make up stories about their imaginary country: Evgard. Michael is sure that Francis is his friend, until he finds a note in his locker that says, "I know where Aracaster is." Aracaster is part of Evgard and only he and Francis know about it. Michael is forced to conclude that Francis has told someone about Evgard. Maybe Francis isn't really his friend. Maybe he has been laughing at Michael behind his back all along. After Michael was beaten up by bullies at his last school he promised himself he would never be a victim again. No one will laugh at him, not even Francis.
Meanwhile, Argent has been captured by the Duke of Aracaster. Most of the Mereish prisoners are kept in the dungeon, but Argent lives in the castle as a slave to the Duke. Then, the Duke's son, Columen, befriends him, and even swindles him away from his father. When Mereish fighters attack the castle, whith whom will Argent side?

My favorite passage:

Judas floors don't exist in the real world. At least, if they did, Michael had never heard of them, and he definitely hadn't seen anyone fall through one. But for a second he thought he knew how it would feel: the black, sick terror of falling, knowing that the best you could hope for at the bottom was cold stone, and the worst . . . well, if you were lucky you didn't have time to think about the worst. In his imagination he'd made people dance pavanes and galliards on the great Judas floor at Calston, but it was only now that he really understood the horror of it. One moment you were there, in the middle of your galliard, hopping around as gracefully as you could, and then -
He remembered, irrelevantly, that there was a net underneath the floor at Calston to break your fall, so for a second you'd almost think it was some twisted practical joke. Until you saw the vipers nesting in the ropes near your face . . . (pg 16)

What I really think:
I like to read before I go to bed and this was one of those books that isn't so good for that. It actually makes you more awake and kind of stressed out. There are so many issues here: bullying, friendship, homosexuality...
Bullying is a really difficult issue and I'm not sure Collins has cleared it up. Francis tells Michael at one point that he wants to see him stand up for himself. When Michael truly does stand up for himself (spoiler) he gets pushed through a window. He feels better about himself, but he still gets injured.
The friendship issues are important ones. Teenagers can break friendships just as quickly as they make them, and I like Collins's message that you can't undo the damage you have done, but maybe you can still reconcile with a friend you have hurt.
I like that the fact that one of the characters is gay is a side issue. It isn't the reason that bad stuff happens initially, but it is the reason stuff gets worse. This book isn't about being gay, but it does illustrate the need for some sensitivity.
The intermittent chapters that take place in Aracaster are a nice touch. At first I was annoyed that I was being dragged away from the "real" story. But ultimately I enjoyed those chapters just as much as the chapters about Michael and Francis.

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Author: Patrick Ness

Publisher: Walker Books

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Late middle school and early high school boys and girls.

Reader's advisory: Try Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles for short stories that take place on a recently colonized Mars.

Summary:
Todd Hewitt has grown up in Prentisstown, the only surviving colony on New World. During a war with the local aliens, called Spackle, the aliens infected the animals with a germ that made them all start talking, and infected the humans with a germ that made all their thoughts heard. The Noise germ drove people crazy. It killed half the men and all the women.
In Prentisstown, a boy becomes a man at thirteen. Todd is the last boy in Prentisstown and he is one month away from his thirteenth birthday. His parents both died from the Noise germ and he lives with friends of theirs, Ben and Cillian.
When he and his dog Manchee go into the swamp one morning to gather apples Todd comes across something he has never experienced before. Quiet. There is a quiet spot in the swamp and it isn't natural. Todd tries to keep the quiet out of his Noise as he walks back through town, but somehow it escapes.
Now Todd is running. Because he and that quiet both mean something to Prentisstown, and the men don't want either of them to get away.

My favorite passage:

The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say.
About anything.
"Need a poo, Todd."
"Shut up, Manchee."
"Poo. Poo, Todd."
"I said shut it."
We're walking across the wild fields south-east of town, those ones that slope down to the river and head on towards the swamp. Ben's sent me to pick him some swamp apples and he's made me take Manchee with me, even tho we all know Cillian only bought him to stay on Mayor Prentiss's good side and so suddenly here's this brand new dog as a present for my birthday last year when I never said I wanted any dog, that what I said I wanted was for Cillian to finally fix the fissionbike so I wouldn't have to walk every forsaken place in this stupid town, but oh, no, happy birthday, Todd, here's a brand new puppy, Todd, and even tho you don't want him, even tho you never asked for him, guess who has to feed him and train him and wash him and take him for walks and listen to him jabber now that he's got old enough for the talking germ to set his mouth moving? Guess who?
"Poo," Manchee barks quietly to himself. "Poo, poo, poo."
"Just have yer stupid poo and quit yapping about it." (pg 3-4)

What I really think:
I'm kind of obsessed with this book. I'm kind of upset that the next Chaos Walking book isn't coming out until May. I don't want to say too much about it and I couldn't really share a passage except from the very beginning because it's full of questions and finding out the answers is part of the fun. I wish I could say you have all the answers by the end. But you don't. I suppose that's why book two is called The Ask and the Answer.
What can I tell you? This novel experiments with how different people, and different groups of people, handle situations they never imagined they would be in. How Right and Wrong get all mixed up and you can still do what's Right when everyone else is doing Wrong, but it is easy to see how so many people get involved in doing Wrong.
At one point, a character says that Noise is just information and too much information is a bad thing. I would never call this novel an allegory for our "information age," but it is not unlikely that Ness is making a passing comment on our current overabundance of information. Just remember that the cure for too much information is a good librarian to help you sort through it. ;)

The Amethyst Child

Author: Sarah Singleton

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Late middle school and early high school girls.

Reader's Advisory: In Leaving Fishers by Margaret Peterson Haddix a young woman seeks to belong by joining a cult.

Summary:
Amber is a loner until she meets Dowdie. Dowdie as an energetic member of the Community who has a very different view of the world. Amber thinks the Community is a beautiful and simple place and she begins to spend more and more time there.
Not long after meeting Dowdie, Amber makes another new friend, Johnny. Johnny is much more skeptical of some of the Community's beliefs and of their leader, James, than Amber is. Always eager to please, Amber wonders what she should believe. Are she, Dowdie, and Johnny Amethyst children; the ones who will guide the world through uncertain times? Or is James a very talented con artist?

My favorite passage:

'Have you heard of Amethyst children?'
'No.'
'James - James Renault - he's the elder at the Community.'
'The leader? He's in charge?'
'Not leader exactly - but kind of. Years ago, a spirit spoke through him and predicted that all over the world special children would be born - children with gifts and abilities not seen before, who would lead humankind into the future. They would be the next evolutionary step.' Her freckled face was perfectly serious, her voice grave.
'These are the Amethyst children?' I said.
Dowdie nodded.
'They have certain features in common. They find it hard to fit in. They can't conform and struggle in ordinary schools, often because they are very intelligent and the lessons are too - obvious. So they get into trouble. They have an unusual perspective on things - take a contrary view. Some are healers, other are seers.'
'And you think you are one of them?' I tried to keep my voice level, wanting to express neither scepticism nor credulity.
'I don't think I am - I know so,' she said, staring at me, daring me to contradict or laugh. I did neither.
'How do you know?'
She laughed then - at stupid Amber. 'How do I know? How do we know anything? I know it because it's the truth.'
'So what does it mean? What are your special gifts?'
She put down the CD and stared at her hands. 'It's not something I can explain, just like that,' she said.
For a moment, I couldn't make out who she was - what she was doing. She was two things at once - older than her age, an adult in disguise. Or else a kid playing pretend, trying to lure me into her imaginary game. The two images diverged and drew together again.
She took another quick breath, as though she had made a decision.
'I think you're an Amethyst child too,' she said. (pg 10-12)

What I really think:
Sigh.

The story itself is interesting. It's like something ripped from the headlines. A cult leader with (spoiler) a secret stash of guns. And the interspersed chapters of Amber's conversations with the police keep the tension level up. You know something bad is going to happen. But what? And when? And how?

The problem is that I don't like Amber very much. I hardly even feel like I know her. The big things in the book that happen, mostly happen to her. Friends come and find her. They suggest things to do. Amber tells the reader that she likes to say what people want to hear. She sure does. She doesn't seem to have oppinions or motivations of her own. Maybe this is the point, but if it is I don't care. I still wish there were a little more to Amber.

The other thing I don't like about this book is the decoration around the page numbers. The number is centered at the bottom of each page. There is one circular doo-bob to the left of the number and two circular doo-bobs to the right of the number. The lack of symmetry bothers me.

The Red Necklace

Author: Sally Gardner

Publisher: Orion Children's Books

Publication Year: 2007

Most of the readers will be: Middle school girls and boys.

Reader's Advisory: Rather than living through the French Revolution, Norby the robot travels back in time to experience it in the Asimovs' Norby and the Queen's Necklace.

Summary:
Yann Margoza puts on magic shows with his friends Tetu and Topolain. He can throw his voice and read people's thoughts and the future. Tetu has some special talants, too. He can move things with his mind. Together, they make an automoton come to life on stage as Topolain performs. Soon, however, they realize they have gotten some unwanted attention.
Count Kalliovski wants them to perform at a party being held at the new chateau of the Marquis de Villeduval. Once they get to the chateau and actually meet the Count, Tetu and Topolain realize they are in grave danger. Count Kalliovski is a man they once knew by a different name and he is willing to kill them to keep his past a secret. Topolain does not make it out of the chateau alive. Tetu and Yann are helped to freedom by the Marquis's unfortunate daughter Sido.
Yann must flee to England to escape the Count. He is unhappy and feels very out of place at first. But he makes some good friends and takes some comfort in the fact that his new family are Sido's aunt and uncle.
As the revolution heats up and aristocrats are being jailed and murdered, Yann returns to France to rescue Sido from both the revolutionaries and the clutches of Count Kalliovski. With a little luck and magic he might just be able to get her out of the country.

My favorite passage:

'My dear young sir, I cannot thank you enough for your bravery in the face of such terrifying and, may I add, murderous villains. May I ask the name of my saviour?'
'Yan Margoza.'
'I have to report,' Mr Trippen carried on, standing up, 'I have to report that I felt my dying moment upon life's tentative stage had come. Its drama in its myriad forms rushed before my misty eyes, my courage slipping from me like a shadow when I thought of my darling Mrs Trippen and the young Trippens all left fatherless.'
'Do you always use so many words?' asked Yann, smiling.
'They are like bonbons for the tongue, my young friend,' He took out his hanky and mopped his brow. 'Lucky, weren't we, about the young girl being there. I can't imagine what she saw in those two rogues. But I can assure you that the fairer sex is one of life's mysteries, a folly of Mother Nature's creation, for never has there been anything more delightfully irrational and tantalising upon the face of the earth than woman. If it were not for Delilah, Samson and the temples would still have stood; if it were not for Cleopatra, Caesar...'
''Allo!' came a voice, 'Why did you run away so quickly?'
Mr Trippen spun round, his face pale. 'Alas, my young man, she has followed us. Those two ruffians will be here in a moment. I tell thee, young sir, we are undone!'
'Didn't you realise?' said Yann. He began to laugh. 'That was me pretending to be a woman.'
'No! That is incredible,' said Mr Trippen. 'Why, my dear sir, I had no idea I was talking to a fellow thespian.' He looked earnestly at Yann. 'I see now a touch of the Hamlet about you. A noble yet tragic face. Where did you learn to speak such excellent French?'
'In France,' Said Yann.(pg 120-121)

What I really think:
Most of the historical fiction novels I have read have been very realistic. The author invents the particular characters, but we can imagine that the events that take place very well could have happened.
Gardner takes great liberties with history. Yann and Tetu do things normal people can't do. Count Kalliovski has blackmail material on pretty much the entire aristocracy. There is a lot going on here besides the Revolution. And yet, Gardner gets across what that time was like in France. Love notes fall from the sky after the Bastille falls. Aristoracts fear for their lives.
These two things together, the fantastic and the real, make this an engaging novel. Really, if I am enthusiastic about a historical fiction novel, it must be good.

Stone Heart

Author: Charlie Fletcher

Publisher (In Great Britain): Hodder Children's Books

Publication Year (In Great Britain): 2006

Most of the readers will be: Late elementary school and middle school boys and girls.

Reader's Advisory: For another book in which statues come to life try The Stonewalkers by Vivien Alcock.

Summary:
When George breaks a carving on the front of the Natural History Museum he finds himself in a terrifying version of London he never knew existed. Immediately he is pursued by a pterodactyl, which was stone only a moment ago, and is saved in the nick of time by the statue of the Gunner on the Royal Artillery War Memorial. The Gunner gives George a crash course in this version of London.
"Spits" are sculptures of men and they are usually nice. "Taints" are sculptures of things, like gargoyles, and they aren't nice. They wish they had the spirit of a man like spits do. George has done something to make the taints angry and they are after him.
George's predicament is further complicated when Edie shows up. Edie sees George walking with the Gunner and is excited to find someone else who can see the statues move. But the Gunner isn't happy to see Edie. She is, what he calls, a "glint." Glints can "make the stones cry" because they can see the bad things that happened to them in their past.
Nevertheless, Edie sticks with George (something the Gunner isn't always able to do) as he tries to do whatever he can to right the wrong and get back to London as he knows it, meeting a series of helpful spits and frightening taints on the way.

My favorite passage:

The monk leaned back and looked round the room. He looked at the four imp-cherubs that sat high in each corner, but George saw no answering movement in them. The monk stretched a kink out of his shoulders.
'And why should I help you?'
'Because you're one of the good guys.'
'Am I? I wasn't aware of that. Indeed I wasn't aware of being a "guy" at all. A "guy" is something you burn on Bonfire Night, and I can assure you an incendiary finale is the very last thing I foresee for myself. My whole life's work has been committed to avoiding a fiery end, you might say.'
The Black Friar clearly savoured the taste of his own words rolling round his mouth, thought George with a strong twinge of irritation. It seemed like people - things, really - had been talking at him all day, and none of them had really given him a straight answer, just pushed him from one horrible experience to another. His voice was unexpectedly curt.
'You know what I mean.'
Edie caught the tone and looked up at him in surprise. The friar cocked his head to balance the irritatingly raised eyebrow.
'Not at all, goodness gracious. I only know what you say. Who told you I was "a good guy"?'
'You're a monk,' Edie cut in.
'And monks help do they?'
'Yes. Monks are on the side of good.'
'Well let me tell you what I am.' He spread his arms wide in the expansive gesture of a man with nothing to hide. The sleeves of his robe fell back, revealing stong muscular arms that didn't look as fat as George had expected.
'I am what I seem, no more no less. I am both a fat monk and a merry innkeeper; the halest of fellows wellmet and the watcher who stands at the road's fork. I am also a man who likes talking with men who like to talk. I provide mirth and happiness, warmth and cheer and absolution for sins past, present, and even - for a fee - future. In short, I can soothe your needs and ease your passage through this vale of tears. I am a helpmeet to the needy and a bringer of quietus. If you see what I drive at..." (pg 258-259)

What I really think:
Being a visitor to England, I found Fletcher's London very exciting. I am looking forward to looking for some the statues that come to life in the book on my trips to London. (The endpapers contain a map with the statues we meet in the story highlighted.) I wonder if true Londoners forget how magical their city is beneath the surface. If they do, I hope this book helps them remember.
This book, like many others, begins with a rather wimpy protagonist who is transformed into a hero by the end. I like this type of story because I think we are changed by our experiences and are stronger when we choose to face the challanges that come our way. But why is it that our hero is better equipped to face a dragon than a bully? Do the lessons that George learns translate into everyday life? I only bring this up becuase George is bullied before he falls into the parallell London but (SPOILER) at the end of the story he chooses not to go back. So we never get to see if his adventures with spits and taints help him become a stronger person back in the real world. This is the first book in a trilogy, so perhaps I'll get my answer yet.

The Society of S

Author: Susan Hubbard

Publisher (In Great Britain): Walker Books Ltd

Publication Year (In Great Britain): 2008

Most of the readers will be: Middle school and early high school girls.

Reader's Advisory: If you like vampires, you should probably read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It's so hot right now. Or, you could read my favorite vampire book, Sisters of the Night, edited by Barbara Hambly and Martin Harry Greenberg (this is a collection of short stories).

Summary:
Ariella has grown up with her father in a large Victorian house in Sarasota Springs, New York. She is home schooled and very sheltered. The housekeeper, Mrs. McGarritt, convinces Ari's father to let her spend time with her children. Ari becomes close with Mrs. McG's daughter, Kathleen, and her son, Michael.
Once Ari sees how other people live she realizes how strange her own life is. She has many new questions for her father during their afternoon classes. Most of them are questions he doesn't want to answer.
After Kathleen is murdered, Ari's father begins to tell her the truth about who they both are and what has happened to Ari's mother. In a deep depression, Ari hitchhikes south in search of her mother and the missing pieces she needs to complete the puzzle.

My favorite passage:

I forced myself to read a collection of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe, and it was tough going. I'd suffered through The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, which seemed to me painfully overwritten. But the poetry was even worse. In an hour my father would be upstairs, expecting me to have insights into meter and rhyme, and all I could think about was that Michael (and Kathleen) were out shopping, and that I wouldn't see them at all that day.
Mrs. McG had made me an omelet for lunch, so watery and tasteless that I couldn't make myself eat more than a few bites of it. I wondered why her cooking tasted so much better at her house.
When I met my father in the library at one, I said, "You know, I don't think much of Poe's poetry."
He was sitting at the desk, and one of his eyebrows lifted. "And how much of it have you read, Ariella?"
"Enough to know that I don't like it." I talked quickly, to hide the truth: I'd read the first and last stanzas and skimmed the rest. I tried to explain. "The words are just ... words on the page."
"Which one were you reading?" How like him, to know I'd read only one.
I opened the book and handed it to him. "'Annabel Lee,'" he said, his voice caressing the name. "Oh, Ari. I don't think you've read it at all."
And he read the poem aloud to me, barely glancing at the book, never pausing between the lines or stanzas, and the words were like music, the saddest song in the world. When he read the final lines ("And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side / Of my darling–my darling–my life and my bride / In her sepulchre there by the sea– / In her tomb by the sounding sea."), I was crying. And when he looked up from the book, I saw tears in his eyes.
He recovered quickly. "I'm sorry," he said. "Poe was a bad choice."
But I couldn't stop crying. Embarrassed, I left him and went upstairs, lines of the poem still sounding in my head: "For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams / Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE; / And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes / Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE."
I fell onto my bed and cried as I'd never cried before–for my mother and father and me, and all that we'd been and might have been, and all that had been lost. (pg 54-55)

What I really think:
After reading a book which so heavily features Whitman (not my favorite poet) you can imagine what a pleasant surprise it was to find that this book features Poe (quite possibly my favorite poet).
I like Ari's voice. She sounds like a very intelligent child. Not too intelligent to be believable. It's just right. The way she sometimes talks directly to the reader reminds me of Jane Eyre.
So, Poe references and a strong voice, what's not to love? Um, I wasn't crazy about the vampire business. It's not that I don't like vampires, it's just that I like to see an individual author's "world that contains vampires" be really unique. Tell me something I don't already know. Make me feel something about vampires I don't already feel. Yeah, Hubbard's rules for vampires are a little different from the traditional, but I wasn't totally sold. It felt kind of like a regualr coming of age story with vampirism thrown in to get teens to read it. (Because vampires are so hot right now.)
I remained interested throughout the book, but was well and truly disappointed by the Epilogue. It reminds me of the ending of Stacy (this movie is the reason I'm no longer allowed to pick movies when hanging out with friends). Ari hopes for a future in which humans and vampires openly share the world with one another. Gag.

Paper Towns

Author: John Green

Publisher: Dutton Books

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: High school boys and girls.

Reader's Advisory: If you like looking for missing girls, help Adam find his sister in Graham Marks's novel Missing in Tokyo.

Summary:
Quentin thinks his dreams are coming true when his neighbor and long-time crush, Margo Roth Spiegelman not only notices him but invites him on a night of adventure. Together they drive around Orlando "bringing the rain" down on people who have wronged Margo (and even one person who has wronged Quentin). Q can't help but wonder what the next day will bring. And what it brings isn't Margo. She has disappeared.
Soon Q starts finding clues that are just for him. For the second time she has chosen him. He is the only one who can find her (maybe with the help of some friends and the Omnictionary), and he isn't going to let her down.

My favorite passage:

I kept going through the A's and then the B's - making my way through the Beatles and the Blind Boys of Alabama and Blondie - and I started to rifle through them more quickly, so quickly that I didn't even see the back cover of Billy Bragg's Mermaid Avenue until I was looking at the Buzzcocks. I stopped, went back, and pulled out the Billy Bragg record. The front was a photograph of urban row houses. But on the back, Woody Guthrie was staring at me, a cigarette hanging out of his lips, holding a guitar that said THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS.
"Hey," I said. Ben looked over.
"Holy shitstickers" he said. "Nice find." Radar spun around the chair and said, "Impressive. Wonder what's inside."
Unfortunately, only a record was inside. The record looked exactly like a record. I put it on Margo's record player and eventually figured out how to turn it on and put down the needle. It was some guy singing Woody Guthrie songs. He sang better than Woody Guthrie.
"What is it, just a crazy coincidence?"
Ben was holding the album cover. "Look," he said. He was pointing at the song list. In thin black pen, the song title "Walt Whitman's Niece" had been circled.
"Interesting," I said. Margo's mom had said that Margo's clues never led anywhere, but I knew now that Margo had created a chain of clues - and she had seemingly made them for me. I immediately thought of her in the SunTrust Building, telling me I was better when I showed confidence. (pg 113)

What I really think:
Once Margo went missing I found myself thinking "Please don't let this be another Looking for Alaska." Don't get me wrong, I love Looking for Alaska, but Green did that already, and since he seems to be pretty much amazing, he ought to have more stories in him.
There are some similarities: Boy obsesses over unatainable girl who is made even more unatainable by the fact that she disappears. He strives to understand her and ultimately understands more about life and himself.
By the end I decided it was different enough from Alaska to make me happy.
The mystery aspect is fun, but there are enough serious moments to remind you how important it is to Q that he solve the mystery. I actually like the meditations on "Song of Myself." As a teenager I often looked for answers in poetry and literature, and sometimes you can find answers there.
Green may be the only person who could make me enjoy Whitman, but I still don't like "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer." Do you hear me, Green? I like knowing the science behind stars!

The Roar

Author: Emma Clayton

Publisher: Chicken House

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Middle school and early high school girls and boys.

Reader's Advisory: Readers who are ready for a more advanced book might enjoy reading about Aldous Huxley's view of the future in Brave New World.

Summary:
Mika and Ellie are twins living in the London of the future. The animal plague that took place a generation ago has forced all of humanity to live behind The Wall. Families are crammed into dark, damp flats. Only the rich live in the shining upper layer.
Ellie has been kidnapped. She has been missing for two years and her family has been told that she is dead. But Mika knows she isn't. He has been looking for a way to get to Ellie, and the Youth Development Foundation may have given him the opportunity he needs.
The YDF is making all the children drink Fit Mix so that they'll grow big and strong. They have built arcades with a fun Pod Fighter game. And, they are having a Pod Fighter competition. Although Mika does not trust the Youth Development Foundation, he believes that winning the competition will somehow reunite him with Ellie. The problem is that the prizes are so irresistable, all the children are desperate to win.
He is playing a very dangerous game.

My favorite passage:

Mika took the lead and pushed forward with Audrey holding on to his coat. They hit solid knots in the crowd and had to work their way round them, and by the time they reached the edge of the platform, the overcrowding was so dangerous, Mika had to hang on to Audrey to stop her being pushed on to the track. A Silver Bullet hissed to a halt on the platform like a glass-eyed snake and the crowd surged forward, crushing them against the train. The doors opened and everyone pushed at once. Mika felt someone grab him from behind and yank him back and suddenly his grip on Audrey was gone and he was drowning in a sea of fists and elbows.
The others managed to force their way on to the train.
'Where's Mika?' Audrey shouted, looking back for him. 'Oh no! Look! He can't get on!'
Tom leaned out of the train and grabbed Mika's hand. He was hit hard in the face by someone's bag and the doors were trying to close on his arms. Mika heard a ripping sound as the sleeve on his coat tore, but still Tom didn't let go of his hand and with brute force he dragged Mika on board the train.
'Thanks,' Mika said, so grateful that the word sounded pathetically inadequate. 'That must have hurt.'
'Doesn't matter,' Tom replied. 'You almost got left behind.'
'I wish I'd stayed in bed,' Kobi said, inspecting a new rip in his black coat.
'That was scary,' Audrey said. 'I thought we'd lost you, and they almost pushed me off the platform.'
Mika put his arm behind her to stop a group of boys pushing into her, then he closed his eyes and sighed with relief.
'I hope the competition is easier than getting there,' Tom said, looking worried. 'That was awful.' (pg 156-157)

What I really think:
In my opinion, what makes a great anit-utopian novel is a believable demonstration of how a few people could control everyone else. In 1984, people are controlled by force; in Brave New World, they are controled by over-indulgance. And in The Roar, the masses are controled through the television. The people in charge create a lie and make everyone believe it by putting it on the news. I am satisfied that The Roar passes this test.
Clayton's book is fast paced and difficult to put down. She includes detailed descriptions of each stage of the Pod Fighter competition and leaves you wondering until the very end what the big secret is.