S.A. Bodeen's Blog, page 4
November 19, 2011
And another book to recommend....
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. Here's the premise:
Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of
surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. If the
cannibals don’t get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She’s been
taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider
named Perry. He’s wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive.A
hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as
sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs
Aria’s help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly
every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely
alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the
never sky.
The story is told in varying viewpoints between Aria and Perry, which works really well. We get to see where they are both coming from, and believe me, they both come from two very different places. The world of this book is original, it might be Earth and it might not, which makes it different from recent dystopias which make it clear we're reading about an Earth in decay. I liked that it was different, and it was no problem to visualize the setting. The tale of Aria and Perry, and the evolution of their relationship, is compelling. They are not the only fascinating characters in this book, and I really liked how we did get to care for more than just the main two. I totally enjoyed this read and suspect teens will eat it up.
November 18, 2011
Another Dystopia to Watch For...
Partials by Dan Wells
The concept: The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.
Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.
Wowzer, this was an insane read. The sci-fi element was there, but the story was about humans in their new society, arisen from the decay of the old. Of course, the new society is flawed, still haunted by the memory of the old. Though the book does end on a cliffhanger, setting us up, presumably, for a sequel, I was totally satisfied with the wild ride this one took me on. And I'll be waiting to read the next one.
November 14, 2011
Writing To Win
November 7, 2011
Been busy readin'
The first is After the Snow by S.D. Crockett
Polar conditions engulfed the earth before Willo was born, so the world of snow and ice is the only one he's ever known. When he returns home one day to find his family gone, he has to devise a plan to get them back.
I liked this one a lot. At times, I felt like I was reading The Road for teens.Parts of it are pretty brutal, but that's what made it such a great read for me. I mean, it's hard to sugarcoat a reality such as the one Willo is stuck in...
Another one that deals with the decay of society, though in a different way, is The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
Sixteen-year-old Kaelyn lives on an island community, and when a deadly virus hits, they are cut off from civilization. This differs from a lot of dystopias I've read recently, in that it deals more with the initiation of the chaos, rather than just "Bam, we're all zombies and our world is a mess." ( No, there are no zombies, I'm just trying to make a point.) The lead-up to the breakdown of society really spelled it out, and then the story carried through with the impact of the virus on the island. I've lived on a remote island and experienced complete breakdown of communication with outside world, so I could picture this book happening. I'm not a fan of journal/letter type narrative, but that's just me, and it didn't keep me from enjoying the story.
The third one is just plain fun and I loved it. Cinder by Marissa Meyer:
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother, blamed for her step-sister's illness.... Yes, this is a new-fangled retelling of Cinderella. I don't feel the need to tell any more. It's the first in a series and I really can't wait for the next installment.
June 26, 2011
A great summer read
Yesterday I read Dominance by Will Lavender, staying up late to finish because there was no way I could just leave the last twenty pages until morning. Told in intertwining time periods, 1994 and present day, this story is riveting. Here'ssome of the back cover:
Who is Paul Fallows? Jasper College is buzzing with the news that famed literature professor Richard Aldiss will be teaching a night class called Unraveling a Literary Mystery-from his prison cell. Twelve years before, Aldiss was convicted of the murder of two female grad students;they were killed with axe blows and their bodies decorated with the novels of reclusive author Paul Fallows...
For some reason, I've always been drawn to books that are about..well...books. And their mysterious, might not even exist, authors. Shadow of the Wind is the ultimate of these, in my opinion, but Dominance kept me up well past my bedtime. And yeah, it even had me leaping from my bathroom to the bed after I shut off the lights because I was freaked out. You might want to read this one in the daytime...
June 12, 2011
ARC tour of "Stick"
June 7, 2011
Stick
Today I read this, an ARC of Andrew Smith's forthcoming novel "Stick." Unless I get to go to a conference, I don't get many ARC's, and it's been awhile since I've begged for a book from my publisher. But given that Andrew's The Marbury Lens was one of my absolute favorites of 2010, I called in any favors I had to get ahold of this. ( Honestly, I get so annoyed when people go on and on about books that won't be out for months, almost like it's a cool club we can't be in, so I'm more than happy to send this ARC on a tour. Lemme know if you want in.)
The character of Stick, for lack of a better word, is TRUE. True and authentic and real and I felt like he could walk in my door at any moment. He is an 8th grade boy who broke my heart. So many parts of this story were just OMG moments. I read a lot. A lot. And I think some authors are only willing to take you so far, then let you off the hook. Maybe people even think that about me. But Andrew Smith doesn't do that. He takes you to the flippin' edge of the cliff and makes you jump off.
I loved this book.
Too old to write YA?
Today I read this, an ARC of Andrew Smith's forthcoming novel "Stick." Unless I get to go to a conference, I don't get many ARC's, and it's been awhile since I've begged for a book from my publisher. But given that Andrew's The Marbury Lens was one of my absolute favorites of 2010, I called in any favors I had to get ahold of this. ( Honestly, I get so annoyed when people go on and on about books that won't be out for months, almost like it's a cool club we can't be in, so I'm more than happy to send this ARC on a tour. Lemme know if you want in.)
I read it in one sitting, interrupted at one point by cupcake baking and dinner making, so I guess it was two sittings. Generally, I tend to avoid contemporary YA because I get tired of the whole "issue" thing. Sometimes I feel like a writer reads about a hot new issue, does some research, and writes a book, Granted, sometimes this works remarkably well, Other times the story is so less than authentic. And really, by the time you get to be my age, you've seen it and done it all, especially when you have teenagers in the house. And when some of the issues in books are ones my teens or their friends are going through, well, I really don't need to read a hopped up fictionalized version of something I had to live through in the real world.
Which leads me to an enlightening moment I had today while reading Stick.
There's been a lot of talk over whether a certain age of people is better at writing YA. Yeah, I'm old to a lot of people, especially that group of young authors who are 18-25 and seeing much success in this genre. I get the idea they think those of us over 40 should hang it up. So yeah, it's been a long time since I've seen my teen years, and really, lately, I'd been wondering if the young people are right, But today it hit me: not only was I once a teen, I am raising teens. I'm living the teen years twice, and seeing them from two angles. My age isn't a crutch when writing YA, it's a tool. And Andrew Smith, who I'm pretty sure was in high school the same years I was, and has teens, is in the same boat. And man, is he using all his frickin' tools.
The character of Stick, for lack of a better word, is TRUE. True and authentic and real and I felt like he could walk in my door at any moment. He is an 8th grade boy who broke my heart. So many parts of this story were just OMG moments. I read a lot. A lot. And I think some authors are only willing to take you so far, then let you off the hook. Maybe people even think that about me. But Andrew Smith doesn't do that. He takes you to the flippin' edge of the cliff and makes you jump off.
I loved this book.
May 27, 2011
Oregon Battle of the Books
The Compound is on the 2011-12 master list for Oregon's Battle of the Books. Since I live in Oregon, I find this especially cool. Check out the titles:
