Summary: Before you walk past Me & Jack by Danette Haworth, let me just put your mind at ease – the dog on the cover doesn’t die. Because, let’s face it, most dog & boy stories (as Gordon Korman points out in No More Dead Dogs) end with the dog dying. The ending in Me & Jack is, thankfully, dog-death free.
Don’t think that means that this is a happy little story of a boy and his dog. Me & Jack is full of heart-wrenching and frustrating conflicts suffered by characters that I, as a reader, quickly grew attached to and felt very sympathetic toward.
Joshua Reed is an Army brat growing up during the Vietnam War. His father is a recruiter, and his job is taking them to yet another new town with a new start. Josh is excited when he quickly makes a new friend, Ray, and his dad lets him get a dog. Jack, with his oddly glowing ears and understanding eyes is exactly what Josh wants in a dog; loyal, playful, and protective of his boy.
Ray & Josh get along great, but Ray’s cousin, Alan, seems determined to hate Josh and Jack, and does everything he can to make Josh’s life hard. To make matters worse, Jack is being blamed for all sorts of mayhem in the town, from tipped garbage cans to dead livestock, and Josh’s dad is finding many people turning against him because of the rising casualties of the troops serving in Vietnam.
Can Josh & Ray remain friends even though Alan is determined to ruin everything? Will Josh be able to prove that Jack is not the menace that many believe he is or will he be forced to give up his new companion?
Themes:
Family
Fairness
Standing up for those you love
Age Appropriateness:
10 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: mild
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson is, hands down, my favorite Sunshine State Book of the year. This book is just fun and perfect for middle grades and teen readers! The humor in it is tinged with adolescent sarcasm, and has Lemony Snickett-esque warnings and asides to the reader sprinkled throughout the story. I will definitely being looking for more books from this author, and I hope that the series will continue to be as enjoyable as this first book.
Summary: Alcatraz Smedry has spent his life shuffling from one foster home to another thanks to his uncanny ability to break things. In his latest home, he has just caught fire to the kitchen when some even more shocking and destructive events suddenly take over his life.
Alcatraz escapes a man attempting to kill him and joins forces with a crazy man who claims to be his grandfather in order to claim his inheritance, which he had both received and had stolen in the same day. Alcatraz discovers that he is one in a long, distinguished line of Smedry family members who are Oculators (a job that involves wearing some very powerful glasses) with Talents, and the family business is….well, it’s a little hard to explain.
Basically, the world as you, dear reader, know it is ruled by a vast librarian cult who controls the populace by controlling the information we have access to. Librarian-controlled lands are, appropriately enough, called the Hushlands. The Smedry family, along with other freedom fighters, is working to prevent the librarians from taking over the remaining Free Kingdoms.
Alcatraz’s inheritance, a bag of very special sand that his father has painstakingly collected over the years, must be retrieved from the librarians before they can create lenses with it – for the lenses created could have untold powers! Can Alcatraz, his grandfather, and a few other brave souls infiltrate the library and recover the sands before they can be used against the Free Kingdoms? Are dinosaurs really British? And what is up with the random repetition of “rutabaga?” And how can being late be considered a life-saving talent? Read Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians to find out!
Themes:
Courage
Family
Self-discovery
Age Appropriateness:
10 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: moderate
Summary: Alcatraz Smedry has spent his life shuffling from one foster home to another thanks to his uncanny ability to break things. In his latest home, he has just caught fire to the kitchen when some even more shocking and destructive events suddenly take over his life.
Alcatraz escapes a man attempting to kill him and joins forces with a crazy man who claims to be his grandfather in order to claim his inheritance, which he had both received and had stolen in the same day. Alcatraz discovers that he is one in a long, distinguished line of Smedry family members who are Oculators (a job that involves wearing some very powerful glasses) with Talents, and the family business is….well, it’s a little hard to explain.
Basically, the world as you, dear reader, know it is ruled by a vast librarian cult who controls the populace by controlling the information we have access to. Librarian-controlled lands are, appropriately enough, called the Hushlands. The Smedry family, along with other freedom fighters, is working to prevent the librarians from taking over the remaining Free Kingdoms.
Alcatraz’s inheritance, a bag of very special sand that his father has painstakingly collected over the years, must be retrieved from the librarians before they can create lenses with it – for the lenses created could have untold powers! Can Alcatraz, his grandfather, and a few other brave souls infiltrate the library and recover the sands before they can be used against the Free Kingdoms? Are dinosaurs really British? And what is up with the random repetition of “rutabaga?” And how can being late be considered a life-saving talent? Read Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians to find out!
Themes:
Courage
Family
Self-discovery
Age Appropriateness:
10 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: moderate
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Scat by Carl Hiaasen
Summary: Scat by Carl Hiaasen is a fun and exciting read. Hiaasen is an author who is able to write books for both adults (Sick Puppy) and children (Scat, Hoot, Flush), and does both with great success. (Mr. Grisham, you could learn a little something from our friend Carl!)
In Scat, Hiaasen stays in his beloved Florida and introduces us to a cast of interesting and realistic characters: Nick is a baseball playing school kid whose dad has been injured fighting in the Middle East, Marta is his friend and a straight-arrow, follow the rules kind of girl. They become entangled in a mystery when their biology teacher, Mrs. Starch, disappears after a field trip into the Black Vine Swamp; a field trip that is interrupted by a mysterious fire that turns out to be arson! The prime suspect: their classmate, Smoke, who has a history of lighting fires.
Where is Mrs. Starch? Who is the strange guy that refers to her as “Aunt Bunny?” And what is the Red Diamond Energy Corporation doing in the swamp? Could it have anything to do with the endangered panther that Nick thinks he heard on the day of the field trip?
Hiaasen delivers another great mystery for kids involving corrupt businessmen, eco-warriors, and kids who are just trying to do the right thing. Scat is also full of chuckles and twists that keep the reader guessing, making it a hard to put down read.
Themes:
Protecting endangered species
Standing up for what is right
Friendship
Choices
Family
Age Appropriateness:
11 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: very mild nonsexual
Violence: moderate
In Scat, Hiaasen stays in his beloved Florida and introduces us to a cast of interesting and realistic characters: Nick is a baseball playing school kid whose dad has been injured fighting in the Middle East, Marta is his friend and a straight-arrow, follow the rules kind of girl. They become entangled in a mystery when their biology teacher, Mrs. Starch, disappears after a field trip into the Black Vine Swamp; a field trip that is interrupted by a mysterious fire that turns out to be arson! The prime suspect: their classmate, Smoke, who has a history of lighting fires.
Where is Mrs. Starch? Who is the strange guy that refers to her as “Aunt Bunny?” And what is the Red Diamond Energy Corporation doing in the swamp? Could it have anything to do with the endangered panther that Nick thinks he heard on the day of the field trip?
Hiaasen delivers another great mystery for kids involving corrupt businessmen, eco-warriors, and kids who are just trying to do the right thing. Scat is also full of chuckles and twists that keep the reader guessing, making it a hard to put down read.
Themes:
Protecting endangered species
Standing up for what is right
Friendship
Choices
Family
Age Appropriateness:
11 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: very mild nonsexual
Violence: moderate
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Bystander by James Preller
Summary: Bystander by James Preller is a Sunshine State Book for grades 6-8 this year. I understand why it was chosen for the list – bullying is a hot topic and this book looks at it in a gritty and realistic way. This is a book that would be great for book club discussions about bullying or for bibliotherapy.
Eric is the new kid in town, just starting seventh grade. His first friend in his new town, Griffin, is the popular guy who seems to get away with everything. Everyone wants to be Griffin’s friend, and many will do whatever it takes to reach that goal. But Eric quickly sees Griffin for what he is – a bully and a trouble-maker. Can Eric stand against Griffin without becoming his next target? Or will he just be another bystander, watching Griffin’s cruelty?
Bystander would be a great book to tie in with a unit on the Holocaust and the many people who looked the other way during the atrocities committed, as well as a great book for spurring a discussion about bullying and taking a stand against it. There is some language in the novel, but nothing extreme. The ending was, to me, anticlimactic but plausible. I understand why Preller ended the book as he did, but it still felt a little unfinished to me.
There really are no truly good guys or bad guys in this book – just good and bad decisions made by average people. Eric could be anyone, facing down one of a thousand Griffins by another name. Both boys have problems that spur their choices, and are great character studies in the different ways that people deal with the stresses of an unstable life.
Themes:
Bullying
Friendship
Standing up for what is right
Age Appropriateness:
12 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: moderate (less than five instances)
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: moderate
Eric is the new kid in town, just starting seventh grade. His first friend in his new town, Griffin, is the popular guy who seems to get away with everything. Everyone wants to be Griffin’s friend, and many will do whatever it takes to reach that goal. But Eric quickly sees Griffin for what he is – a bully and a trouble-maker. Can Eric stand against Griffin without becoming his next target? Or will he just be another bystander, watching Griffin’s cruelty?
Bystander would be a great book to tie in with a unit on the Holocaust and the many people who looked the other way during the atrocities committed, as well as a great book for spurring a discussion about bullying and taking a stand against it. There is some language in the novel, but nothing extreme. The ending was, to me, anticlimactic but plausible. I understand why Preller ended the book as he did, but it still felt a little unfinished to me.
There really are no truly good guys or bad guys in this book – just good and bad decisions made by average people. Eric could be anyone, facing down one of a thousand Griffins by another name. Both boys have problems that spur their choices, and are great character studies in the different ways that people deal with the stresses of an unstable life.
Themes:
Bullying
Friendship
Standing up for what is right
Age Appropriateness:
12 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: moderate (less than five instances)
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: moderate
Monday, August 8, 2011
Ruined by Paula Morris
Summary: Ruined by Paula Morris is a suspenseful historical mystery/ghost story set in modern-day New Orleans. The main character, Rebecca, is shocked when her father sends her to New Orleans to stay with a family friend while he works in China. Since her mother died, Rebecca and her father have been nearly inseparable. But suddenly he is sending her to stay with Aunt Claudia and her daughter, Aurelia, where she will attend a private prep school in New Orleans’ Garden District.
Rebecca knows she doesn’t fit in. Unlike the top social tier within the school, she doesn’t have an old family name and fortune to impress her classmates. And unlike the other students, she wasn’t impressed by old family names and fortunes. Only Anton Grey, a member of the New Orleans elite, shows any interest in Rebecca, but she is unsure if he has other reasons for his attentions to her.
Rebecca is fortunate enough to make one real friend. Lisette lives in the Lafayette Cemetery, where she knows everything and everyone. Rebecca is able to talk to Listette, sharing her loneliness and her memories of home. Unfortunately, friendship with Lisette is not so simple – she is a ghost and her spirit is trapped at the cemetery where her body was hidden.
In Ruined, Rebecca is faced with many secrets and mysteries that have more to do with her than she realizes. Why can she see Lisette? What is Lisette’s true goal?
Themes:
Family
Secrets
Racism
Age Appropriateness:
11 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: very mild
Violence: very mild
Rebecca knows she doesn’t fit in. Unlike the top social tier within the school, she doesn’t have an old family name and fortune to impress her classmates. And unlike the other students, she wasn’t impressed by old family names and fortunes. Only Anton Grey, a member of the New Orleans elite, shows any interest in Rebecca, but she is unsure if he has other reasons for his attentions to her.
Rebecca is fortunate enough to make one real friend. Lisette lives in the Lafayette Cemetery, where she knows everything and everyone. Rebecca is able to talk to Listette, sharing her loneliness and her memories of home. Unfortunately, friendship with Lisette is not so simple – she is a ghost and her spirit is trapped at the cemetery where her body was hidden.
In Ruined, Rebecca is faced with many secrets and mysteries that have more to do with her than she realizes. Why can she see Lisette? What is Lisette’s true goal?
Themes:
Family
Secrets
Racism
Age Appropriateness:
11 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: very mild
Violence: very mild
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
Summary: Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves is an awesome sci-fi/fantasy adventure. The authors mix science and magic together in a setting that includes an infinite number of worlds. I’ve been a Gaiman fan for a couple of decades now, and Interworld is a worthy addition to the Neil Gaiman shelf of my library.
Joey Harker is just a guy – he’s nothing special. He has no real talents or skills. He even gets lost in his own house sometimes! But one day, Joey gets more lost than usual – he walks into another dimension and finds himself in the middle of a war. Armies of science and armies of magic are both fighting to take over as many different dimensions as possible; trying to rule over the thousands of possible Earths that exist. In order to stop them, Joey finds himself part of a third army dedicated to keeping the balance – an army that is made up entirely of different versions of himself from the different Earths.
Unlike many of the other Harkers, Joey gets a choice – go home to his own Earth, where he can live out his life in safety or stay and fight until the end. What will he do? And how many rules will he break in the process?
I would love to see more stories about Joey and the other Harkers – this could make an excellent series, especially since only one enemy is really faced in this book.
Themes:
Balance
Loyalty
Persistence
Survival
Teamwork
Age Appropriateness:
10 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: mild
Joey Harker is just a guy – he’s nothing special. He has no real talents or skills. He even gets lost in his own house sometimes! But one day, Joey gets more lost than usual – he walks into another dimension and finds himself in the middle of a war. Armies of science and armies of magic are both fighting to take over as many different dimensions as possible; trying to rule over the thousands of possible Earths that exist. In order to stop them, Joey finds himself part of a third army dedicated to keeping the balance – an army that is made up entirely of different versions of himself from the different Earths.
Unlike many of the other Harkers, Joey gets a choice – go home to his own Earth, where he can live out his life in safety or stay and fight until the end. What will he do? And how many rules will he break in the process?
I would love to see more stories about Joey and the other Harkers – this could make an excellent series, especially since only one enemy is really faced in this book.
Themes:
Balance
Loyalty
Persistence
Survival
Teamwork
Age Appropriateness:
10 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: mild
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Forbidden Sea by Sheila A. Nielson
Summary: Forbidden Sea by Sheila A. Nelson is a wonderful fairy tale with just the right mix of mystery, hardship, and tough choices. Even though it is set on the middle ages, the characters are easy to relate to, from their personalities to their dreams and despairs.
Adrianne Keynnman’s family once enjoyed a comfortable life on Windwaithe Island, where her father was the Master of Horses for Lord Durran, who rules over the island. But an accident took him away and the family lost everything – a loss that Adrianne takes the blame for. Now Adrianne, along with her mother, her sister, Cecily, and her Auntie Minnah, live in a small shack where the women do mending for the islanders to make a meager living. Adrianne does what she can to help her family, but nothing she does ever seems to please her aunt, who greatly favors Cecily, and the girls' mother shows little courage, allowing Auntie Minnah to run the home.
When Adrianne saves Cecily from the Windwaithe mermaid, a creature Adrianne had thought to be a legend, life begins to take unexpected turns. The mermaid marks Adrianne and her days and nights are filled with the haunting sounds of the mermaid calling to her.
When the other islanders discover that the mermaid has marked Adrianne, it becomes dangerous for anyone who chooses to protect her. Should Adrianne just give herself up to the mermaid to save her island? Or is there more going on than anyone truly knows?
One of my favorite aspects of this story was the romance between Adrianne and Denn, the boy who has been her friend since childhood. Adrianne loves him dearly but doesn’t feel that she is good enough to catch his eye compared to the prettier and wealthier girls of the island. Her interactions with Denn and his younger siblings (who adore her) make for some great moments that anyone who has ever experienced a crush on someone they feel they can’t have will understand.
Themes:
Family
Persistence
Loyalty
Love
Self-esteem
Age Appropriateness:
11 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: very mild
Adrianne Keynnman’s family once enjoyed a comfortable life on Windwaithe Island, where her father was the Master of Horses for Lord Durran, who rules over the island. But an accident took him away and the family lost everything – a loss that Adrianne takes the blame for. Now Adrianne, along with her mother, her sister, Cecily, and her Auntie Minnah, live in a small shack where the women do mending for the islanders to make a meager living. Adrianne does what she can to help her family, but nothing she does ever seems to please her aunt, who greatly favors Cecily, and the girls' mother shows little courage, allowing Auntie Minnah to run the home.
When Adrianne saves Cecily from the Windwaithe mermaid, a creature Adrianne had thought to be a legend, life begins to take unexpected turns. The mermaid marks Adrianne and her days and nights are filled with the haunting sounds of the mermaid calling to her.
When the other islanders discover that the mermaid has marked Adrianne, it becomes dangerous for anyone who chooses to protect her. Should Adrianne just give herself up to the mermaid to save her island? Or is there more going on than anyone truly knows?
One of my favorite aspects of this story was the romance between Adrianne and Denn, the boy who has been her friend since childhood. Adrianne loves him dearly but doesn’t feel that she is good enough to catch his eye compared to the prettier and wealthier girls of the island. Her interactions with Denn and his younger siblings (who adore her) make for some great moments that anyone who has ever experienced a crush on someone they feel they can’t have will understand.
Themes:
Family
Persistence
Loyalty
Love
Self-esteem
Age Appropriateness:
11 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: very mild
Friday, July 29, 2011
Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn
Suzanne Weyn is an author whose works I have enjoyed a great deal, but I seldom see her getting any real attention/promotion. When I saw Distant Waves at a Scholastic Warehouse Sale, I had to pick it up and give it a read-through. It was so much more and better than I expected.
Although the cover says it is “A novel of the Titanic,” it is really much more than that. In fact, the Titanic doesn’t make an actual appearance until a little over half-way through the book. It is just one setting within the story, albeit an important one. Putting mention of the Titanic on the cover seems to me like a lure to get readers to pick up a book that can stand on many other merits.
Summary: Jane is the second of five sisters who live with their mother, a psychic. Early in the book, the family meets the brilliant scientist Nicola Tesla when caught in an earthquake he has caused with one of his experiments. From then on, Jane follows Tesla’s career through newspaper articles, keeping them in a scrapbook.
The family settled in a “spiritualist community” where their mother becomes a well-respected medium. Although Jane isn’t sure she believes in her mother’s gift, her doubt is nothing compared to the eye-rolling of Mimi, the eldest of the five daughters. Even when her twin sisters start to show signs of "the gift," Jane's doubts make her, at a certain level, an observer within her own family.
When Mimi learns a secret about her heritage, she runs away, leaving Jane feeling responsible for “losing” her older sister. She is eventually distracted, however, by the chance for the whole family to travel to London to be part of a large spiritualist gathering that is trying to discover if a great war is truly about to break out. At this gathering, Jane meets another of her heroes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as his friend Harry Houdini.
All five sisters find themselves aboard the Titanic for its maiden voyage, in spite of dire warnings that it may not be safe. How will they survive when the predicted sinking occurs? And how will Tesla’s presence on the ship change history?
One of the things I loved about this book was the inclusion of Nicola Tesla as a character. He is such a fascinating figure, and Weyn did an excellent job of capturing many facets of his personality. After reading this, I found myself wanting to read more about his life, achievements, and disappointments. The author did a wonderful job of taking elements of history and incorporating it into a story of her own creation – mixing characters that were truly part of the event into the plot in a believable way.
Themes:
Secrets
Family
Racism
Scientific Discovery
Age Appropriateness:
12 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: very mild
Violence: very mild
Although the cover says it is “A novel of the Titanic,” it is really much more than that. In fact, the Titanic doesn’t make an actual appearance until a little over half-way through the book. It is just one setting within the story, albeit an important one. Putting mention of the Titanic on the cover seems to me like a lure to get readers to pick up a book that can stand on many other merits.
Summary: Jane is the second of five sisters who live with their mother, a psychic. Early in the book, the family meets the brilliant scientist Nicola Tesla when caught in an earthquake he has caused with one of his experiments. From then on, Jane follows Tesla’s career through newspaper articles, keeping them in a scrapbook.
The family settled in a “spiritualist community” where their mother becomes a well-respected medium. Although Jane isn’t sure she believes in her mother’s gift, her doubt is nothing compared to the eye-rolling of Mimi, the eldest of the five daughters. Even when her twin sisters start to show signs of "the gift," Jane's doubts make her, at a certain level, an observer within her own family.
When Mimi learns a secret about her heritage, she runs away, leaving Jane feeling responsible for “losing” her older sister. She is eventually distracted, however, by the chance for the whole family to travel to London to be part of a large spiritualist gathering that is trying to discover if a great war is truly about to break out. At this gathering, Jane meets another of her heroes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as his friend Harry Houdini.
All five sisters find themselves aboard the Titanic for its maiden voyage, in spite of dire warnings that it may not be safe. How will they survive when the predicted sinking occurs? And how will Tesla’s presence on the ship change history?
One of the things I loved about this book was the inclusion of Nicola Tesla as a character. He is such a fascinating figure, and Weyn did an excellent job of capturing many facets of his personality. After reading this, I found myself wanting to read more about his life, achievements, and disappointments. The author did a wonderful job of taking elements of history and incorporating it into a story of her own creation – mixing characters that were truly part of the event into the plot in a believable way.
Themes:
Secrets
Family
Racism
Scientific Discovery
Age Appropriateness:
12 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: very mild
Violence: very mild
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The Presence by Eve Bunting
Summary: The Presence by Eve Bunting is an intriguing ghost story with twists and turns that keep it from being too predictable. The characters are believable and it is easy to empathize with Catherine, the main character.
Catherine is spending the Christmas holidays with her grandmother while her parents take a vacation in Europe. Everyone who loves her is hoping that getting away will help Catherine deal with the accident that killed her best friend; the accident she feels responsible for.
At her grandmother’s church, Catherine meets Noah. He’s handsome, young, and tells her that he can help her contact the spirit of her dead friend and obtain forgiveness. Catherine is hopeful – if she could only know that Kirsty forgave her, she could move on and stop having the nightmares.
But something about Noah doesn’t seem right. No one else seems to notice him, even when he is standing right next to them. An old lady warns Catherine to avoid the church. And girls who look like Catherine have been disappearing over the years. Could it all be connected? And what can Catherine do? Should she meet him in spite of her misgivings?
The story is told from two perspectives – Catherine’s and Noah’s. The two together give the whole story, and the switches are well done. Whereas Catherine wants forgiveness, Noah wants love and companionship. Despite being the antagonist, he is not a strictly evil character, and this made him much more interesting than the usual ghostly bad guy.
My favorite character in this book is Catherine’s grandmother. She’s a spry old lady who loves her romance novels and enjoys playing matchmaker for her granddaughter. She’s the kind of grandmother that would be wonderful to have in real life – supportive and just nosy enough to show that she cares.
If you enjoy a good ghost story, pick up The Presence. Its blend of romance and mystery makes it an enjoyable read.
Themes:
Secrets
Grieving
Forgiveness
Age Appropriateness:
12 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: very mild
Violence: very mild
Catherine is spending the Christmas holidays with her grandmother while her parents take a vacation in Europe. Everyone who loves her is hoping that getting away will help Catherine deal with the accident that killed her best friend; the accident she feels responsible for.
At her grandmother’s church, Catherine meets Noah. He’s handsome, young, and tells her that he can help her contact the spirit of her dead friend and obtain forgiveness. Catherine is hopeful – if she could only know that Kirsty forgave her, she could move on and stop having the nightmares.
But something about Noah doesn’t seem right. No one else seems to notice him, even when he is standing right next to them. An old lady warns Catherine to avoid the church. And girls who look like Catherine have been disappearing over the years. Could it all be connected? And what can Catherine do? Should she meet him in spite of her misgivings?
The story is told from two perspectives – Catherine’s and Noah’s. The two together give the whole story, and the switches are well done. Whereas Catherine wants forgiveness, Noah wants love and companionship. Despite being the antagonist, he is not a strictly evil character, and this made him much more interesting than the usual ghostly bad guy.
My favorite character in this book is Catherine’s grandmother. She’s a spry old lady who loves her romance novels and enjoys playing matchmaker for her granddaughter. She’s the kind of grandmother that would be wonderful to have in real life – supportive and just nosy enough to show that she cares.
If you enjoy a good ghost story, pick up The Presence. Its blend of romance and mystery makes it an enjoyable read.
Themes:
Secrets
Grieving
Forgiveness
Age Appropriateness:
12 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: very mild
Violence: very mild
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Summary: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson was much more thought-provoking than I expected. A little more than a day after I finished reading it I am still pondering the implications and the questions brought up by this teen sci-fi read.
Jenna wakes up from what her parents tell her is a lengthy coma with little memory of who she is. All her parents will tell her was that she was in a horrible accident and that she is still recovering. But there are things that just don’t seem right – like why are they living in California now instead of Boston? Why does her father rarely come visit them? Why does her grandmother, Lily, seem unhappy with her “miraculous recovery?”
As Jenna’s memory starts to come back and connect the holes in her past, she finds herself with even more questions - questions that no one wants to answer. Who is Jenna Fox? What is she? Is she even human?
The Adoration of Jenna Fox can be enjoyed as a great read (which it is), but for those who enjoy a little deeper thought, it also brings up issues and questions that are important today, and could be even more so in the future.
One of the characters, Allys, is a victim of one of the many untreatable diseases that run rampant throughout the world of this novel. These diseases are blamed on the unchecked use of antibiotics – a problem that is already a reality. Allys has multiple prosthetic limbs due to the drastic measures that had to be taken in order to save her life. Could these antibiotic resistant diseases become the problem they are in the book? (Or is a better question “When will they become the problem they are in the book?”)
Organ transplants in the world of Jenna Fox are more accessible and less dangerous than in our world, but a limit is put on how much a single individual can have transplanted. Each organ or body part is deemed worth a certain number of points, and each person can only have so many points within a lifetime. Will this happen in our world?
The Adoration of Jenna Fox reminds me somewhat of another book that raises many of the same issues, Unwind by Neal Shusterman. (If you haven’t read it, you really must! It is amazing!) Like Unwind, The Adoration of Jenna Fox raises the question: What makes us human? What part of a human contains the soul, that essence that makes us who we are? It’s an unanswerable question, but one that is always worth pondering.
Themes:
Secrets
Friendship
What makes us human?
What is acceptable use of technology?
Age Appropriateness:
10 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: very mild
Violence: none
Jenna wakes up from what her parents tell her is a lengthy coma with little memory of who she is. All her parents will tell her was that she was in a horrible accident and that she is still recovering. But there are things that just don’t seem right – like why are they living in California now instead of Boston? Why does her father rarely come visit them? Why does her grandmother, Lily, seem unhappy with her “miraculous recovery?”
As Jenna’s memory starts to come back and connect the holes in her past, she finds herself with even more questions - questions that no one wants to answer. Who is Jenna Fox? What is she? Is she even human?
The Adoration of Jenna Fox can be enjoyed as a great read (which it is), but for those who enjoy a little deeper thought, it also brings up issues and questions that are important today, and could be even more so in the future.
One of the characters, Allys, is a victim of one of the many untreatable diseases that run rampant throughout the world of this novel. These diseases are blamed on the unchecked use of antibiotics – a problem that is already a reality. Allys has multiple prosthetic limbs due to the drastic measures that had to be taken in order to save her life. Could these antibiotic resistant diseases become the problem they are in the book? (Or is a better question “When will they become the problem they are in the book?”)
Organ transplants in the world of Jenna Fox are more accessible and less dangerous than in our world, but a limit is put on how much a single individual can have transplanted. Each organ or body part is deemed worth a certain number of points, and each person can only have so many points within a lifetime. Will this happen in our world?
The Adoration of Jenna Fox reminds me somewhat of another book that raises many of the same issues, Unwind by Neal Shusterman. (If you haven’t read it, you really must! It is amazing!) Like Unwind, The Adoration of Jenna Fox raises the question: What makes us human? What part of a human contains the soul, that essence that makes us who we are? It’s an unanswerable question, but one that is always worth pondering.
Themes:
Secrets
Friendship
What makes us human?
What is acceptable use of technology?
Age Appropriateness:
10 and up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: very mild
Violence: none
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