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.

Deadline by Chris Crutcher
Greenwillow Books, 2007

What if you found out you only had a year to live?  In Deadline, 18-year-old Ben Wolf discovers, at the start of his senior year, that he has a terminal disease that will likely kill him within a year.  Forgoing treatment with iffy promises, Wolf instead chooses not to tell his friends and family and decides to live a lifetime in his last year, challenging himself in sports, relationships and school.  Dying becomes more complicated, however, as Wolf’s relationships shift and change, making him engage with the world around him like he never has before.

What I liked about Deadline was that it was a fairly smart book that really captured a complex dilemma.  The concept of life and its meaning run very central to the plot and, written in a very honest, down to earth teenage boy perspective.  To top things off, Deadline has some of the best sports scenes that I’ve read in a long time.  Some of the football games were absolutely riveting…and that’s coming from someone who has never actually watched a full football game!

I listened to the audiobook version of Deadline, but I’d recommend the paper copy (nothing against the audio, I just think this type of book would have read better internally).

The Gardner by S.A. Bodeen
Feiwel and Friends, 2010
Mason lives a small town in the Pacific Northwest with his hardworking, but troubled single mother.  The town is centered and run around a scientific research company.  Scarred at an early age from a dog attack, Mason is quiet and avoids being the center of attention, despite his linebacker size and stature.  Most of all, Mason likes helping others and being a hero.  It’s this hero complex that gets him involved in the rescue of a mysterious and beautiful girl from the nursing home where his mother works.  As Mason learns more about the girl, he discovers that the scientific lab running his town is connected to the girl, himself and his mother in strange and sinister ways.

I was a little disappointed in The Gardner and I almost feel guilty about it.  I picked up the ARC at a conference and was so excited because I absolutely loved Bodeen’s previous book, The Compound, as both a thriller and a YA book for boys.  The Gardner is definitely an interesting and original book, but I’m not sure that it has enough oomph to its plot to captivate teen readers.  The mystery plodded along and, while it did have cleverly paced action sequences throughout, the action and the conclusion just fell a bit short of gripping.  The character of Mason was appealing, although a bit predictable, but the girl character and romantic interest never really gets to develop a personality (to be fair, she is semi-comatose through much of the book-but that’s just the problem!).  As a result, the relationship between the two main characters felt forced.

Some things I did like, however, were the environmental message and the Pacific Northwest setting.  Both make The Gardner stand out.  The science fiction elements were well written and just realistic enough to be believable and just gross enough to be fun.  I’m sure there will be teens (and teen boys) who can enjoy this novel, but I don’t think it will have the same kind of appeal as The Compound.

Gone by Michael Grant
Harper Teen, 2008

One day in a small coastal Californian town, everyone over the age of 14 disappears.  One second, they’re there and the next…gone.  It’s an interesting premise and the book completely delivers enough movie-like thrills to keep even a reluctant reader turning the 500+ pages.  As the children and teens left fend for themselves and start to form their own society, some fight for survival while others fight for power.  Add to the mix a rise of superhero-like mutant powers that start springing up amongst the people (and animals!) and you have yourself a very fun, very action packed read.   It may be simple and a bit formulaic, but the plot moves along at television/movie paces, delivering consistent action and dramatic highs.

The start of a series with two other books now out, Gone is a great book for boys (though it has a diverse enough cast to appeal to action/scifi seeking girls as well) and would work pretty well for the middle school set.

Farewell to Arms

Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
1929
First off, let me just say that I have absolutely loved all the Hemingway that I have encountered thus far.  He makes me want to go camping and hunt with my bare hands or fight a bull or something.  This was no exception, even though the ending left me furious and frustrated (and sad, sad, sad, sad, sad!).

A Farewell to Arms is a love and war story with some of the most interesting characters I’ve ever met on the page.  Lieutenant Henry, the main character, is serving in World War I in the Italian army, despite the fact that he is an American.  Complicated, yet oh so macho much?  Check.  He falls in love with Catherine Barkley, a British nurse who is stationed in Italy.  Catherine starts off crazy and soon becomes, well, interesting.  I’ve read some comments that describe Catherine as a sexist portrayal of a woman, but I found to be much more intriguing and complicated than that.  She and Lieutenant Henry embark on an intense, war hospital-based courtship that is all fairytale and no reality.  There’s love, there’s sexy banter, there’s some tough guy war stuffs (it is Hemingway, after all), a bit of adventure and them, of course, some tragedy.  It’s all very good and I think this is one of those classics for everyone.

Also, I should add that I listened to this in audio format.  How did this come to be?  I desperately needed a new audiobook for my commute home and my holds for the latest teen werewolf love story hadn’t come through yet, so I found myself browsing until I picked this one up.  I usually avoid the classics or anything really that could be defined as “literature” when it comes to audio format, but I figured that Hemingway is so short and blunt and downright uncomplicated that I could follow in audio format…and I was right!

King of the Screwups by K.L. Going
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.

After getting in trouble yet again, high school senior Liam is kicked out of his home with his retired model mother and CEO father to live in a trailer park with his gay glam rocker uncle, Pete.  Trying to win the acceptance of his constantly disapproving father, Liam attempts to stop screwing up and change into the kind of person his father will value.  Of course, this doesn’t go smoothly, resulting in, you guessed it…more screwups!

This was a fun, light read with a sweetly positive message.  Though the premise and the characters are exaggerated and therefore less than realistic, they are enjoyable and, in their hearts, easy to relate to.  I was in a bit of a reading slump when I picked this up and this was the perfect book to pull me out of it-fluffy at first glance, but with an important, warm fuzzy self esteem message.

Maze Runner by James Dashner
Delacorte Books, 2009

The first in a soon to be trilogy, Maze Runner is a YA science fiction book about a colony of boys living in a strange, isolated environment surrounded by a giant maze.  While their general memories are in tact, mysteriously enough, the specifics of their memories (who they are, how they came to be there, etc.) are gone.  When 16-year-old Thomas arrives to the colony, slowly, things begin to fall apart.  The writing is basic, but it gets the job done with an efficiency that works.  With enough fast-paced action and psychological mystery to keep most readers turning the pages, Maze Runner is a fun and intriguing read.  Although the ending leaves a little to be desires, I’m pretty sure I’ll still be excited to read the sequel when it comes out.  While there’s an inevitable comparison to The Hunger Games, Maze Runner is different, with much less character development and internal drama.  It’s a fun, fast paced book that sets up a trilogy.  Recommended to reluctant readers!

Lockdown:  Escape From Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2009

When fourteen-year-old Alex is framed for a murder, he is sent to the Furnace, a new, state of the art prison for juvenile offenders.  The Furnace is a brutal place, built deep in the bowels of the earth, offering tortures far worse than death.  Facing violent gangs, hard labor, mutated evil monsters, and more, Alex must try to do what has never been done before–escape.

A roller coaster from the very beginning, Lockdown is definitely a page turner.  While the writing feels a bit simple and the plot and characters are a little predictable (though it’s easy to identify with them), the book remains fun and exciting from cover to cover.  It’s violent, dark, and brutal, yet never really pushes the gore or language too far for younger readers.  Complete with cliff hanger ending, this is thriller that will leave readers hanging for the next installment.

I’d recommend this book to reluctant readers (boys, mostly!) who want to move onto something a little bit darker than the Alex Rider books.  Although I can see those readers crossing over and enjoying this too, I think readers who enjoyed books like The Compound will be satisfied with Lockdown.  Definitely not for readers seeking melodrama, sophistication or lyrical language though.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Simon Pulse, 2009

In Leviathan, a steampunk alternate history of World War I, Scott Westerfeld has created a wonderfully imaginative world with characters as likable as they come.  Telling the stories of Deryn Sharp, a spunky and tough girl posing as a boy soldier in the British army and Aleksander Ferdinand, son of the Archduke and on the run from his own country of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  In Westerfeld’s world, the British, known as The Dawinists, have followed Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theories with a twist of genetic engineering to create animals for battle and transport.  The Germans, known as the Clankers, use engine powered iron machines (think steampunk meets mecha) to do their bidding.  The result is a spectacular adventure–fun, imaginative, and meticulously detailed (yet never dry).

If you can tell already, I loved this book.  I’m a fan of Westerfeld’s previous work with the Uglies series and Leviathan has surpassed my expectations.  I should also mention that the illustrations, by Keith Thompson, are excellent and really contributed to the feel of the story.  I guess the thing that I was most impressed with in Leviathan, was Westerfeld’s ability to create a world with so many details, both historical and fantastic, yet still have lifelike characters and an exciting plot with much drama.  Go Scott!

I’d recommend this book to, uhh, everyone.  But seriously, this book is timely in that it is decidedly steampunk, which is currently exploding on the hipster front (has anyone picked up Make magazine lately?).  I can see this book working for a lot of different audiences (the fantasy readers, the scifi readers, the nostalgic adventure readers).  I think this is be a great book for adults, teens, and tweens who want adventure, a little imagination, and a lot of fun.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2009

Cameron Smith is your underachiever teen.  He floats through life passively, putting in the bare minimum at school, in his family, work, and even in his friendships.  When he is diagnosed with mad cow disease, it’s like he’s going to die without ever having lived.  The disease eats away at his brain, causing visions and general madness…or is it madness?  Through a series of cryptic clues and possibly insane visions, Cameron is sent on a quest to find a mysterious Dr. X to save not only himself, but the entire world.  Bringing a new friend, Gonzo, along for the ride, Cameron is forced to really engage on an adventure that is part madness, part love story, and part spring break road trip.  But will he find a cure for his disease?  Can he save the universe?  Is this really happening or is it all just the breakdown of his mad cow infused brain?

I don’t really know what to make of Going Bovine.  It is appropriate that the main character has a deteriorating brain…because the story is messy and mad in its own way.  There are gems within it, for sure, but I can’t say, with any confidence, that they have been pulled together into a great work.  The humor, for example, is spot on.  Libba Bray is one funny lady and the world is a better place for it!  The friendship between Gonzo and Cameron and their road trip antics is hilarious in that buddies who rag on each other a la John Green’s characters kind of way.

Despite some downright delightful moments in Going Bovine, however, it was hard to get through.  The good part is, this is a teenage, stoner version of magical realism.  The unexplained happens and the entire story is unique and interesting for what it is.  Maybe it was just covering too much or maybe the mad cow journey lasted just a bit too long, but the whole story felt like it was falling apart by the end.  In a way, it was appropriate because Cameron’s brain is also falling apart by the end…but it just wasn’t that fun to read anymore.  I wanted to like this book, I really did.  I love that Bray has departed from the historical fiction setting of the Gemma Doyle books and there are some wonderful moments in Going Bovine, but I just grew tired of this book in its 496 pages.  Maybe, after writing under the more rigid constrains of the historical and fantasy worlds of Ms Doyle, Bray just had to break free and go hog wild, but Going Bovine was just a little too messy to be coherent at times.  It didn’t help that the epic journey had a bit of a letdown conclusion as well.

I would recommend this to John Green fans who want more of that buddy picture humor and don’t mind a meandering plot.  Likewise, fans of magical realism and epic road trips might be inclined to enjoy.  I would not recommend this to reluctant readers or readers who need a neatly packed plot with a clean resolution.  I’m also not sure if fans of Bray’s previous work will cross over, though those who were savvy enough to pick up on the subtle, but delicious humor, of the Gemma Doyle books may find something within Going Bovine as well.