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Suzanne Gates's Reviews > Starters
Starters (Starters and Enders, #1)
by Lissa Price (Goodreads Author)
by Lissa Price (Goodreads Author)
I just read the chapter sampler and am completely engaged in the story. Actually, the first two or three lines in chapter 1 and I was hooked. The protagonist is a girl caught in a difficult situation and scrambling to save what family she has. She's doing it in a completely hostile world, with a few spectacular twists. What elevates this story is its take on the generation gap (and what a gap it is) and on the importance of staying compassionate in a world that has forgotten that children are our best hope for the future.
The story is a page-turner and I love that, of course, and I love the way I thought about complexities and issues, and continue to think about those issues, even though I've read just two chapters. I'm a teacher, and I can see this book being used in certain courses to discuss, for example, the long-range consequences of biological warfare, the differing perspectives of young people versus the very old, the consequences of forgetting what it's like to be young, how far one will go to attain beauty (or money), our changing views of family and of what one considers home, and the ultimate price we pay for technology.
I was reminded of My Fair Lady, of all things--the story of a dirty cockney girl who is cleaned up, taught, and manipulated by her mentor. The outcome in the musical is a love match, but in Starters the outcome is much darker. In my view, the best reason to read a dystopian novel is to see ourselves reflected in its contents, to be jolted out of "My Fair Lady" complacency, to be reminded that in our darkest hours we must be at our must humane (we certainly are at our most human during those times).
I was with my niece yesterday who of course was talking about the new Twilight movie, and I suffered the inanity of vampires. I imagined the discussions we will have after we both have read Starters, because I know when she reads this book she'll be like me: we'll have to keep talking about it, keep it alive, because this book will change us. It's a powerful story, and aren't these the ones we keep on our shelves?
The story is a page-turner and I love that, of course, and I love the way I thought about complexities and issues, and continue to think about those issues, even though I've read just two chapters. I'm a teacher, and I can see this book being used in certain courses to discuss, for example, the long-range consequences of biological warfare, the differing perspectives of young people versus the very old, the consequences of forgetting what it's like to be young, how far one will go to attain beauty (or money), our changing views of family and of what one considers home, and the ultimate price we pay for technology.
I was reminded of My Fair Lady, of all things--the story of a dirty cockney girl who is cleaned up, taught, and manipulated by her mentor. The outcome in the musical is a love match, but in Starters the outcome is much darker. In my view, the best reason to read a dystopian novel is to see ourselves reflected in its contents, to be jolted out of "My Fair Lady" complacency, to be reminded that in our darkest hours we must be at our must humane (we certainly are at our most human during those times).
I was with my niece yesterday who of course was talking about the new Twilight movie, and I suffered the inanity of vampires. I imagined the discussions we will have after we both have read Starters, because I know when she reads this book she'll be like me: we'll have to keep talking about it, keep it alive, because this book will change us. It's a powerful story, and aren't these the ones we keep on our shelves?
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