Book Warriors

For shame, Madam Librarian. You of all people, should not have been lured in by slick marketing and a cool cover…but, I must admit that I bought into the hype surrounding The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. The book was getting rave reviews from bloggers, the Amazon book trailer was cool, the blurbs on the back cover were wildly complimentary kudos from authors I like. I was fully prepared to love this book.

I did not.

In its defense, the book has many virtues. The premise–a young woman fights for love and survival in a dystopian future where the human race has been mostly overrun by a plague of zombies–is thrilling. The world in which the heroine Mary lives, a fenced-off compound where technology and societal values are approximately those of the late Middle Ages, is richly imagined and increasingly suffocating as we the audience develop sympathy for the narrators’ tragic losses (family members turned zombie), lack of choices (marriage and babies are critical for survival), and constant worry about the zombies banging against the fences for her flesh. Early in the book, Mary is forced to go to the sisters, a group of women who live in the cathedral, much like the nunneries of medieval times. Mary’s attempts to penetrate the secrets of this all-powerful society are full of suspense and mystique.

Where the author lost me was about midway through the book when Mary and her betrothed Harry, and her best friend Cass and her betrothed Travis (the man Mary actually loved) are forced to make an awful choice. From this point on, Mary becomes obnoxious and unlikable, in part because the book is written in first-person, present tense. I soon got bored with hearing Mary think, and wonder, and suppose on page after page. Had the book been written in 3rd person, the action and dialogue would have spoken for themselves and eliminated the repetitive descriptions of how the narrator was “feeling.” Additionally, the interesting plot thread about the sisters remained undeveloped and left me unsatisfied with the ending.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is the first of a trilogy (the second book, The Dead Tossed Waves comes out Spring 2010) which somewhat explains the inconclusive ending, but I’m finding this trilogy trend in fantasy novels is giving authors the excuse to write sloppy endings. So no, I didn’t love this book; I thought it could have used a lot more editing and revising. But a lot of people did love this book (see starred reviews by School Library Journal, Publishers’ Weekly, and MTV), so you may not want to take my word for it. If you give it a shot, let me know what you think…am I missing the boat on this one?

Have you ever had a dream so powerful you found it hard to wake from? Janie has…in fact Janie does, quite frequently, only the dreams are not her own. Since Janie was 8 years old she has been pulled into the dreams of people who sleep in close proximity to her. She simply falls asleep in the midst of what she is doing and watches the dreams–the secret dreams of the girl at the sleepover, the humilitating dreams of the kid in study hall, the distorted dreams of her alcoholic mother. She sees her best friend’s reoccurring nightmare and the frightening, horror-filled dreams of a strange boy she hardly knows. She fights to gain control and fears this affliction will destroy her life–how can she possibly go to college or have a relationship if she can’t be near people who sleep?

The novel is written in short chapters over time and dated like diary entries, giving the story much drive and suspense. A couple plot elements are a little far-fetched, but the struggles of kids with rough home lives is portrayed sensitively and realistically, as is the touching romance in the story. Overall I enjoyed this quick read, realistic with some sci-fi-ish elements, and I’m super excited for the sequel, Fade which arrives February 10. Lisa McMann is an author with a lot of talent, and I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

Here’s a book trailer I stumbled upon for Wake–it takes a different angle on the book than I would have, but it’s interesting none the less.

The wait is almost over loyal (and it must be said of some of you, rabid) John Green fans. Green’s latest literary contribution drops October 16, but here at MHS Library, we were lucky enough to get an advanced copy (woo-hoo!). Here’s what I can say without giving away too much:

As in Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines the narrator of Paper Towns is a guy who is witty and funny, self-deprecating and obsessed with a girl, in this case, the mysterious Margo. The narrator, Quentin (aka “Q”) lives next door to Margo Roth Spielgelman, and has been in love with her as long as he can remember, though after a shared traumatic experience when they were nine, they have drifted apart. Now Margo is the superstar of coolness at their high school while Quentin dwells in the lower realms of the social ladder.

It comes as a shock then, when Margo shows up at Quentin’s window in the middle of the night a few weeks before the end of senior year, insisting that he be her getaway driver for a night of revenge. Despite being petrified of losing his admission to Duke University, Quentin goes along for the ride and becomes more ensnared by his obsession with Margo…especially when she doesn’t turn up for school the next day…or the next. The fact is Margo has disappeared and left behind clues to her whereabouts. Quentin sets off on journey of discovery to figure out where Margo went …and who this enigma of a girl really is.

The novel is full of those trademark moments of perfect truth found in Green’s earlier novels, and his gift for putting words to universal feelings never fails to amaze me. Some will argue that this book is too similar to the previous two novels, and to them I would say, yes there are similar themes and philosophical questions happening in all three novels, but these themes and questions are important ones, getting at the heart of what all young people must figure out as they reach adulthood. That, I suspect, is why so many teens love John Green’s writing–he gets it.

I’m never good at predicting the Printz Award winners, but for my money, this one ought to get a nod in January.

For some funny video promos by John Green check out the links below.
Amazon Video Promo

Barnes and Noble Video Promo

Ten Cents a Dance, the second novel from Christine Fletcher, is a riveting tale about a 15-year old girl living near the slaughter yards in 1940s Chicago. When her Polish-American father died, her Irish-American mother went to work for a meat-packing house, doing dangerous, thankless work for very little pay to support her daughters. When she is nearly crippled with rheumatoid arthritis, it is up to Ruby to quit school and support her family. Ruby quickly sees that this work will make her old in just a few years and will never earn them enough to get out of debt and poverty and when local bad boy Pauly tells her she could be making $50 bucks a week taxi dancing, Ruby jumps at the chance. But taxi dancing, or dancing with men for ten cents a dance plus tips at a dance hall, is not considered respectable work, and Ruby must hide what she does from her family while providing them with the money they need to improve their lives.

Ruby grows up quickly in this world of men, racism, jazz clubs, and chop suey joints, learning that the only way to make the big money is to reel in the “big fish” who will pay for dinners, clothes, and other luxuries. Ruby has talent and could be the best of the bunch, but is she willing to pay the price to get there?

Interestingly, the author wrote the book after learning that one of her ancestors had worked as a taxi dancer in secret, which led her to research the “ten cents a dance” girls. Rich in period detail, this fascinating and fast-paced novel had me hooked from page one. It has drama, suspense, history, and romance all rolled up into one and this book would certainly get my vote for a Printz award. This is an author to keep your eye on.

Enter a world very like our own around the turn of the century (1900, not 2000). It is a world where automobiles are still newfangled toys for the rich, where ladies still wear long dresses, and where wealthy young girls attend finishing schools to prepare them for coming out into society. Laura and Rose are cousins living in this world of privilege each with one parent who is of high society and one parent who is a famous and rich dreamhunter. The dreamhunters are people who can enter an otherworld where dreams reside and bring the dreams back for sale to hospitals, the government, and public dream opera houses. Some dreams are used to heal, some to soothe, some to delight and the best dreamhunters (and Laura’s father and Rose’s mother are the best) can earn fortunes.

But all is not as it seems. Laura’s father is acting stranger and stranger, and Laura and Rose are about to make their Try to find out if they will become dreamhunters themselves. The girls’ charmed life is quickly spinning out of control and they soon have a dire mystery to solve.

The pacing on this novel is a little slow at times, but the premise is so interesting and the world so compelling that I plowed through and was rewarded with cliffhanger of an ending. The good news is that Book Two is already out and was named a Printz Honor book this year so I won’t have to wait to find out what happens next and the story is only going to get better. If you love fantasy, especially ones by Garth Nix and Libba Bray, you’ll definitely enjoy this imaginative and spellbinding tale by Elizabeth Knox.