The Giver by Lois Lowry

I have to admit something kind of embarrassing here....until this year I'd never read The Giver.  This book came out when I was 13, and by then I'd skipped what little YA there was and was onto adult novels like Jurassic Park.  Since the movie is coming out, and because I needed to fill this gaping hole in my reading repertoire I decided that I would check The Giver out from the library and give it a go.

For those of you that don't know, The Giver takes place in what appears to be a utopic society.  There is no war, no famine, no pain, and everyone is the same.  At 12 everyone receives their position/job for the society.  The main character of the novel, Jonas, is chosen as the next 'Reciever of Memory'.  This is a special position which allows the person in it to live outside the rules of the regular society.  This person is allowed to ask questions, and even allowed to lie (something that is forbidden to anyone else).  The current 'Receiver of Memory' chooses instead to call himself 'The Giver' as he is slowly going to give Jonas all of his memories from before the time when everyone was the same.

Some of these memories are beautiful, some are terrible, but they awaken something in Jonas and he starts to question the society they are in, to rebel against 'sameness' and to want to be alive and to feel.  Jonas must then make a decision for his whole community.  Does he want to stay, and hold all the memories of before, or does he want to try to break free, and possibly break the entire community out of their same-ness stupor.

I am actually kind of surprised that this book won the Newbery Award.  It is so vastly different than Lowry's previous winner, Number the Stars.  I did really enjoy the book and I can see why it is used in classrooms and book groups because I can imagine that it would stir quite an interesting discussion.  The ending is somewhat open ended, and while I'd love to believe that the happier interpretation of events is the truth, I am including to believe the more pessimistic take on what happens with Jonas.

P.S. don't forget to check out the trailer for the up-coming movie: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/heres-the-first-official-trailer-for-the-giver

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Set during WWII, Lina is a regular 15 year old Lithuanian girl, until the night Soviet soldiers come to her house and take her mother, brother, and her away.  Lina is put onto a train with other Lithuanians then shipped off to live in harsh conditions at a Soviet work camp.  She has been separated from her father, with only a hint of where he is.  A talented artist, Lina attempts to send drawings to her father in hopes that he will know that she and her family are still alive, and that when this nightmare is all over he will be able to find them.

This novel is amazingly moving, and based on real events that very few people know about.  The action starts very quickly, as the novel opens with Lina and her family being taken.  You only get glimpses of her life before through Lina's flashbacks.  The author took trips to Lithuania and met with survivors of the Soviet genocide.  I tried looking up information on the setting so I could get a better handle on the book, but even at that I could not find much definitive information about the Soviet genocide.  According to the author's afterward, those who survived the work camps had to make it through at least 10 years there.  Once they were free they were under constant surveillance, and unable to talk about or relate their experiences to anyone for fear that they would be shipped back.

I am very glad that I read this book, I want to learn more about what happened to these people.  The author said that Stalin may have killed 20 million people during this time period, but we rarely hear about it.  The only thing I didn't like about this book is that I wanted more of an epilogue from the characters.  We get a short note from Lina that someone finds later on, but I want to read at least a little bit about her life after the end of the novel because it feels a little rushed and unfinished.

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall

I am currently taking a Children's Literature course and in this course we have to read/review 100 items from different categories.  Luckily, we can read "up and down" as we see fit, so I can continue to read from my YA department.  But, I also have been reading a large amount of middle grade and younger books.

Our text book mentioned The Penderwicks as an old-fashioned feeling contemporary fiction book, and it is a book that my boss said has gotten great reviews, so I figured I would give it a shot and see what the fuss was about.  Am I glad that I decided to read this book, ignoring its amazingly dated cover.

The story takes place over a summer vacation where four girls and their widowed father rent a cottage on the estate of Arundale from a miserly old woman.  Mrs. Tifton (who owns Arundale) doesn't care for the sisters, and only wants her garden to win the summer garden competition, and for her son (Jeffrey) to grow up just like his grandfather.  The sisters:  Rosalind (12), Skye (11), Jane (10), and Batty (4) get into all sorts of mischievousness, and end up becoming best friends with Jeffrey.  This story is a vignette of how the Penderwick sisters' change the Tiftons' and their own lives over their summer vacation.

This book had a warm and wonderful old fashioned feel.  It made me think of being outdoors as a kid, and spending time at summer camp.  The writing reminds me of my old favorites Anne of Green Gables or The Secret Garden.  There is just something so delicious and romantic about this story and the writing.  I liked all of the characters, and had a hard time deciding which sister I related to the most (either Rosalind or Skye I'd say).  This book warmed my heart and I can't wait to read more of the Penderwicks' adventures.

Nadia Knows Best by Jill Mansell

Nadia has been dating her childhood best friend (Laurie) for years, and even though things are a little rough (with Laurie's new modeling career taking off), Nadia doesn't let temptation in the form a night stranded in a snow storm with a stranger make her cheat on the love of her life...Too bad Nadia didn't know that Laurie was already planning on dumping her.

18 months later and Nadia has pulled her life back together. She's now working for the man she spent the snow storm with, and is even starting to consider dating again...then Laurie shows back up and declares his undying love for Nadia and explains his regret at dumping her.  Now Nadia is torn between her new boss (Jay), and her old love.
This story is also filled with characters in Nadia's family:  her selfish artistic artist Clare, her adorable 13 year old half-sister Tilly, her father, and her captivating grandmother (all of whom she lives with), and her crazy whirling dervish of a mother.  Each character gets his or her own story, and some of the stories are stronger than others.  Nadia is a likable character, and the humor and heart in this book propel the narrative.  I pretty much wanted to strangle Clare throughout the entire book, and Tilly's story broke my heart (in a good way).  I look forward to reading more of Mansell's work.

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Emma's mother reached for her toast, and fell down dead.  Now, her body is being kept alive with machines so that Emma's half-brother (her mother was pregnant when she died) has a chance to finish growing inside of her and life.

Before, Emma was super focused on grades and had a happy family with her mother and step-father.  Now, Emma is grieving and angry.  Her mother is dead, she and her step-father are estranged, and the only person Emma still has is her best friend Olivia.  Then Emma meets Caleb, the car stealing bad-boy of her high school.  Caleb understands Emma in a way no one else can, because he lost a family member too. Can Caleb and Emma help each other learn how to go on living with those they love have died?

I really love Elizabeth Scott's writing.  This story sounds like it could be very melodramatic, but Scott writes Emma so that she is amazingly sympathetic for as self-absorbed (by grief) that she is.  Emma's mother (who is dead the entire book) is very well described and without ever being present is actually a fleshed out character.  Emma's lamentations about ignoring her mother in favor of studying and pursuing her future are very touching.  There are times when Emma seems to be a bit exaggerated, and Caleb's home life is very convenient to the story, but those are some minor issues.  All in all, I think that Scott has written another touching book with a main character dealing with grief and redefining her life.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman

Lilac and Tarver are passengers on a luxurious space ship called the Icarus.  Lilac, the daughter of the richest man in the  universe, and Tarver, a boy from a humble background who became famous for heroic deeds he performed as a soldier, meet one night in a salon within the ship.  They are instantly attracted to one another, but Lilac must reject Tarver for fear of what may happen to him at the hands of her father.

Then, without warning, the ship drops out of hyperspace and it hits the fan.  Lilac and Tarver end up in the same escape pod that crash lands on a seemly uninhabited planet.  They are the only survivors of the crash of the Icarus, and they must learn to survive on the planet while they make their way to the site where the ship itself crashed in hopes of being rescued.

Disclosure, I have never sat through an entire viewing of the movie Titanic, and I've never seen the original movie of The Blue Lagoon, but this book reads like the YA novel love child of these two movies that has Twilight as its godparent.  The book is told in alternating perspectives from Lilac and Tarver after they have obviously been rescued.  They spend the first half of their time on the planet trying to be rescued, then the other half of their time there being all schmoopy and puppy-dog in love with each other.  This book is really unrealistic in the fact that Lilac takes only days to acclimate to roughing it (Survivor level roughing it) on the planet, and within a couple weeks is willing to give up her old life and stay in this remote place just so she can be with Tarver.

I almost gave up on this book a few times, but the mystery surrounding the planet made me keep reading it.  I'd kind of like to see what happens next, but I might be more likely to ask a friend who reads the next book to fill me instead of reading the whole book myself.

Unhinged by A. G. Howard

Alyssa Gardner has defeated the Red Queen, saved her beloved Jeb, and is now the reigning queen of Wonderland.  All she has to do now is finish high school and convince her parents to let her move to London with Jeb.  Unfortunately for Alyssa, that is not going to be so simple.  Alyssa's art has changed.  She no longer creates mosaics with dead bugs, and instead colors her artwork with her own blood.  These mosaics show maniacal images from Wonderland that Alyssa would rather not try to decipher.  Too bad she has to use these mosaics, and rely on Morpheus (her childhood Wonderland friend who is amazingly unreliable and manipulative) to help protect her kingdom.  Alyssa is increasingly torn between the human world with Jeb and her parents, and her love for and commitment to Wonderland.

One of my favorite things about Splintered was all the descriptions of Wonderland.  The world sounded so beautifully hideous.  This book is set mostly in the human world, so there are not as many of these awesome Wonderlandeqsue images.  Also, the characters are a little less likable for me in this novel.  Jeb came across at times as wooden and kinda assy.  Morpheus is always assy, but he still manages to be decent enough to just keep my sympathy...most of the time.  Alyssa's conflicted desires to be in the human world and in Wonderland were understandable, but she did not handle the situation she was in very well at all and allowed some of her family and friends to suffer.

While Splintered is a book that could stand on it its own; Unhinged is obviously a book that needs a follow up.  The main action didn't start until rather late in the book, and there was resolution, only an obvious start to a next chapter.  I am glad I read this, and I am very much looking forward to reading the next book about Wonderland, but this one fell a little flat for me.