tiny pink books

House of Stairs by William Sleator
(first published 1974)

A small group of unrelated 16-year-old foster teens finds themselves trapped in an endless room full of impossible stairs and ledges.  They don’t know how or why they got there or what they are supposed to go.  They find a machine and quickly learn that it will give them food when they perform seemingly random tasks.  As the machine manipulates them to further and further degrees, personalities among the group begin to clash.  Tensions grow and the stakes are raised in this strange psychological mystery.

I can’t say that I loved The House of Stairs (however, I can say that I LOVED this cover…I mean, just look at it!).  Despite the teen age of the characters, this is most definitely a children’s book rather than a teen book.  I liked the intriguing plot elements and setting, however, the emotional drama of the book was really predictable, with the characters acting more like archetypes than people.  I picked it up after hearing that it was a good readalike to The Hunger Games or even Maze Runner and, after reading it, I could not disagree with the comparison more!  The plot is simple, the characters are whiny and act much, much more like children than teens and the story, while mysterious, does not actually include any action.  I think kids and tweens who are really into science fiction might enjoy this one, but I’d be much more likely to direct them to John Christopher’s work instead.

Hatchet by Gary Paulson
Bradbury Press, 1987

I know, I know, Hatchet is way old and is such a standard part of every children’s book collection.  It’s incredible that I never got around to reading it until now.  I like disaster/survival stories and I needed something that was available and on the shelf immediately for a drive home one day!  Hatchet was there and here we go.

Hatchet is an exciting story about an amazingly adaptable boy named Brian who is stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash on a single engine plane.  With no rescue on the way, Brian must figure out how to survive with no food, no special knowledge, and only a small hatchet.  As he slowly learns how to use the environment and the hatchet to create fire, find food, hunt, fish, etc, he also struggles emotionally with his memories of home and his parent’s recent divorce.  It’s an interesting story, if a bit didactic at times.

The best thing about Hatchet for me, of course, is the development of Brian’s survival skills.  It’s exciting and, although he is a frustratingly slow to learn characters sometimes, I was quite impressed with his bravery and determination.  The emotional moments of Hatchet were the really droll parts for me.  Maybe it’s just that we’ve come a long way since 1987, but the whole tortured child over his parents split was, I don’t know, kind of silly considering the other odds he had to fight again (wolves, bears and a deranged moose!).  It’s still a good story though and I’ve noticed that we recently got in a new edition with an updated cover that doesn’t scream 1987 anymore.  I think the story will still be loved by children and tweens (especially boys) seeking adventure stories or stories about survival.

I also have to add that I listened to the audiobook…and it was probably the worst audiobook I’ve ever heard!  Terrible, overly dramatic reading and mindlessly place mood music.  It was hard to get through it, even though I enjoyed the story itself.

Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2009

Anything But Typical is told from the point of view of Jason, a 12-year-old autistic boy.  As he takes us through his regular daily routine at home and school, we see the world from a uniquely written perspective.  Jason, a short story writer who participates in an online writing community, befriends a girl online and then faces the terrifying prospect of meeting her in person.

Though short on plot, Anything But Typical is a really interesting and well written book.  The beauty of the writing is that Jason’s social struggles will true to readers with very different backgrounds and experiences.  Though it belongs in the children’s section (as opposed to the YA shelves), it’s a decent read for younger teens and tweens as well.  For older teens, or anyone expecting a similar title with more plot, I’d suggest The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Harper Collins, 2002

Is it just me or is Neil Gaiman everywhere these days?  He’s gone from comic book and scifi/fantasy author, celebrated by gothgirls and teenage alterna-types everywhere in the 90’s, to multi-award winning children’s, adult, and young adult author, celebrated and praised by just about everyone.  And the funny thing is, he totally deserves it.  Coraline is Neil Gaiman’s masterpiece for children, combining just the right touches of creepy darkness and quirky, light-heartedness that makes a book memorable and beloved by children and adults.

In Coraline, Coraline Jones becomes bored one day when her parents are busy working and no one seems to be around to play with her.  She discovers a secret door in her flat that leads to an alternate world where the toys are alive and, more creepily, another, more doting, set of her parents live.  The other parents, most specifically, the “other mother,” want Coraline to stay in their world forever and when Coraline does eventually go back to her own world, she discovers that her real parents have gone missing.  Back in the other world, Coraline senses the darkness that lurks under the surface and must demonstrate all the intelligence, bravery, and cunning that she can to escape this weird other world and save her real parents.

I personally didn’t love this book in the same way that other do (especially given its long list of notable awards); however, I did think that it was a very well-written and exciting book that will hold up well to a vast range of audiences.  Children, who will read this more as an adventure, will be delighted with the character of Coraline and the fantastic elements throughout the book.  Teens and adults, on the other hand, will be sucked in by the subtle darkness that adds a real sense of urgency to Coraline’s dilemma.  I’ve seen many a review that compares Coraline to Alice in Wonderland. I can see the parallels in that both books are creepy to the core and surreal in their execution, however, I think that Coraline is a much more accessible book for most readers, young and old.  I adore Alice in Wonderland, of course, but I admit that it can be a challenging read, even for some adults.  Coraline, however, has that special place in that it is readable at many levels, allowing it to be interesting and enjoyable for all ages.  I would recommend this book to just about anyone who is in the mood for it.  I think it would work especially well as a family read.

I listened to the audiobook, read by Neil Gaiman himself.  Unlike many authors in their “read by the author” produced audiobooks, Gaimen does a good job of reading the book.  Music by the Gothic Archies is interspersed between disks, which I found a little irritating and out of place, though the musical interludes are short enough so as to be tolerable.

Empty World by John Christopher (pseudonym for Samuel Youd)
E.P. Dutton, 1978.

Empty World is another post-apocalyptic children’s novel by John Christopher.  Neil Miller is left orphaned as the lone survivor in a car accident that kills his entire family.  As he adjusts to his new life with his grandparents, a terrible plague sweeps the world, killing off just about the entire population.  Neil, who survives the plague, is left in an empty, silent world.  Neil deals with the everyday needs of survival as well as the loneliness of being alone in the world as he presses on, searching for other survivors.

Even before the plague sweeps through the plot, this is a bleak novel.  The orphaning of Neil, before the plague, is brutally sad.  As the plague becomes a major element in the story, the book becomes morbidly fascinating as Christopher describes, in crushing detail, the end of the world as we know it.  Everything–the plague, the decay, Neil’s emotional state, the will to survive–is described with fascinating realism throughout the book, making it a compelling and quick read.

I would recommend this book to tweens and younger teens looking for a quick read that is realistically dark and frightening.  Not for those seeking fantasy or action-based adventure, but I think readers who enjoyed books like Hatchet, or even The Giver, not to mention Christopher’s other novels, will find this book to be an enjoyable, thought-provoking read.

The Pool of Fire by John Christopher (pseudonym for Samuel Youd)

While I can’t say that I was disappointed by this final chapter to the Tripods Trilogy, I have to admit that was just slightly below the first and second books in the series (The White Mountains and The City of Gold and Lead, respectively).  The story takes off from where we were left, at the end of The City of Gold and Lead-In a world where alien Masters control all of mankind through strange, mandatory metal caps, only one small group of free men survive, hidden in a remote camp.  Will, our story’s hero, has escaped the city of the alien Masters and has returned to the last surviving free men to report back everything he has learned, most importantly the deadly plan of the Masters to covert the Earth’s air into a breathable atmosphere for themselves, killing every other living creature on earth.  Now, humans are forced to take action and strike down the Masters before it is too late.

While I assure readers that Christopher delivers another action packed, adventurous book, it is noted that The Pool of Fire is slightly off pace; it begins to feel episodic, with periods of thrill followed by periods of drag, towards the end.  Of course, maybe this isn’t fair to Christopher-he had to wrap up the epic struggle that he created and he does so with a satisfying conclusion.  Even with the pacing issues of the final book, I am still thoroughly satisfied with the trilogy as a whole.  I would recommend the trilogy to children and tweens seeking an adventure or science fiction series.  One thing that I liked a lot about this series is the fact that it has a wide appeal due to its action packed plot that plays nicely with its more thoughtful elements that contemplate concepts of humanity and freedom.

The City of Gold and Lead by John Christopher (pseudonym for Samuel Youd)

The second book of the Tripods Trilogy, The City of Gold and Lead continues the science fiction adventure that began with The White Mountains.  The world has been taken over by aliens who rule in large, three-legged machines.  Humans are controlled by metal caps, which are melded to their skulls at the age of 14.  Will, the main character, is a young man who is part of a small group of free men, who have escaped the capping process and live secretly in the mountains.  In The City of Gold and Lead, Will and another boy are sent to be slaves in the city of the alien “Masters,” as they call themselves, to gather information and report back.  The dangerous journey provides a frightening look at the dark reality that the Masters have created for the humans.

Much like The White Mountains, I found this book to be an exciting and engaging read.  The plot is adventurous and fast paced, but the themes of humanity and freedom are still just as evident, making this book stand as something that is filled with thrilling adventure and a thought provoking depth.  The biggest difference in The City of Gold and Lead is that it is much more rooted in the science fiction genre than The White Mountains was.  We learn much more about the alien Masters, their city, and their technologies in this book, although Christopher manages to inject enough plot movement to make sure that it never becomes too slow.

Recommended for children and tween readers who enjoyed The White Mountains.  Those who enjoy adventurous page turners, especially boys, will enjoy these timeless thrillers.  I also think that, although this is a children’s book, the combination of action and depth makes this an enjoyable read for teens and adults who are open to reading younger people’s literature.

The White Mountains by John Christopher (pseudonym for Samuel Youd)

The White Mountains is the first of a classic children’s science fiction trilogy that was first published in the 1960’s.  In The White Mountains, humans live quaint and old fashioned lives in the shadows of the Tripods, large, mechanical beings who rule above humans.  Will, age 13, realizes that he does not want a part in the capping process, a creepy and ceremonial event that is required for all villagers at the age of 14.  He realizes that those who have been capped obey the Tripods without question.  Fueling his distrust of the capping process, Will meets a stranger who tells him that they are men in the world who live without being capped.  The stranger gives Will a map and Will leaves the village with his cousin Henry on a dangerous journey in search of place where they can grow to be free thinking men.

Although quite simple in terms of action, it’s hard to sum up the plot of The White Mountains with much justice because the Christopher’s world is full of subtly dark elements. The Tripods, familiar aliens to any classic science fiction reader (or watcher, for that matter!), have a creepy hint of cruelty that adds to all the excitement of this book.  The subservient nature of the capped humans is intriguing as well.  On top of that, the quest/journey nature of the plot makes it hard to put down. 

There’s a lot of books to compare The White Mountains to:  War of the Worlds (the book, not the radio play) and The Giver are the two that jump out the most for me.  The White Mountains successfully manages to be both a science fiction book and a book that’s appropriate for children and tweens without doing a disservice to either.  It’s exciting and it’s dark, yet it’s also relatively tame in terms of violence and fight factor and its written with a clear and concise use of language to boot!  Recommended for older children and tweens, especially boys, who want an exciting adventure book, a book about human free will (like The Giver), or both!

Boy:  Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

I can’t remember whether or not I had ever read this book as a child, but I am certainly pleased that I picked it up for a little quick lunchtime reading in my grownup life.  Boy is the autobiography of children’s literature legend Roald Dahl.  A simple and classic account of boyhood, Boy recounts Dahl’s early childhood in Wales, his family summer holidays in Norway, and his experiences in English boarding schools. 

I think Boy is a great biography for children.  Dahl keeps things interesting by choosing nothing but the funniest, the most interesting, and the most horrific stories to share with his readers.  Although the memories recounted in Boy are vividly reconstructed with meticulous details, there is an odd sense of emotional detachment that keeps these stories simple and accessible to the young reader. 

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
Puffin, 2004

The first of the extremely popular Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, Stormbreaker begins with the suspicious death of Alex’s uncle and guardian.  Unwittingly, Alex is pulled into the mystery and ends up discovering that his uncle was actually a spy for the British government.  In a twist of unlikely, but enjoyable, fate, Alex takes his uncle’s place, becoming the first 14-year-old international super spy.  He is sent on a crash training course in special operations before he is sent on a dangerous and exciting mission.

While there’s nothing all too new or intelligent within Stormbreaker, I must admit that it was an exciting and fast read.  I’m not even into action/suspense thrillers, but after seeing this book go out of the library again and again in the hands of 9-13 year-old boys, I decided that it was time to take a gander.  The character of Alex is very likable–he is smart, he is talented, he is witty, even in the face of danger, and even though he was unaware, his uncle has been preparing him for this job with a childhood full of karate, foreign languages, and extreme sports.  The situation and mystery surrounding Alex is fairly standard, but it plays out in an exciting way, with each chapter bring more death defying adventure.  I was also impressed with the treatment of violence in this book.  It’s neither too violent to be unfit for young readers nor is it too glossed over to be childish.  The story plays out exactly as one would expect it to and, of course, leaves off at a point where we can expect more Alex Rider adventures to come.  I appreciate this book for giving the young adult male audience some training before they get up to Tom Clancy and James Patterson (although Patterson has a series of YA novels now too!).  What more can I say?  Recommended for readers ages 9-13.