Wow, is this a powerful novel. Related through alternating journal entries and a film script written by the protagonist, Steve Harmon, Monster tells the story of 16 year old Steve's trial for felony murder in the shooting death of a drugstore clerk during a botched robbery. Steve has been fingered as the lookout, the one who gave the "all clear" for the robbers to enter the store. Right away, I was swept up in the emotional drama of Steve's story. I felt like I was living and feeling all the terror and uncertainty of this young teen facing the possibility of 25 years to life in prison. I was confronted by Steve's fears that as a young black male, he has already been judged guilty in the eyes of the jury. And what, if anything, is Steve actually guilty of? Steve grapples with the meaning of guilt and innocence, and where his actions actually lie on this continuum. I read this in a matter of hours and simply could not put it down. Highly relevant as our society continues to question the implications of its justice system, and the role played by race within the system.
I'm a sucker for anything written journal-style (yes, I was the girl with all the Dear America diaries), and this book has that conversational journal tone to it, with an additional bonus of comics drawn by the narrator, Junior Spirit. Junior is a high school freshman growing up on an Indian reservation, who leaves the reservation school for an all-white high school in his attempt to forge a better life for himself. He relates his story with a refreshing candor, including instances of poverty, racism, alcoholism, bullying, and senseless violence. Even when dealing with such dark topics, however, Junior retains a sense of humor and, more importantly, hope in the promise of a better future. I loved Junior's "voice" in this novel, and found myself rooting for him every step of the way. It was such an engrossing story that I read it in a single day. Highly recommend as it is a book that's both important and enjoyable to read. This book certainly deserves all the accolades it's earned! Sheinkin has produced a nonfiction page turner that is equal parts thriller, suspense, and action/adventure. The book interweaves into a cohesive whole several stories centered around the making of the atomic bomb: the scientists who developed the bomb technology, the spies desperate to steal it, the European resistance fighters who sabotaged Germany's bomb production, and the U.S. government's ultimate use of this new super weapon. Sheinkin is particularly effective in describing how the creation of the atomic bomb forever changed future war and global politics. We have never known a world without nuclear weapons, and often take them for granted as a fact of life. However, Sheinkin eerily recreates the atmosphere of dawning horror as scientists realized what they had unleashed, and total nuclear war became a possibility. I've never read something that's made me feel the magnitude of this momentous turning point in history so fully before. While I wouldn't recommend thinking about the implications of the atomic bomb all the time because it would probably reduce you to a quivering puddle of jello hiding under your bed, it's good to remember that atomic weaponry wasn't always the norm, and the dark paths that our own hubris can lead us down. Highly recommend! I was intrigued right away by the premise of this book: troubled teen Jam Gallahue is sent to an East Coast therapeutic boarding school to help her overcome the death of her British exchange student boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. There's something so upper-crust and mysterious about boarding schools that always hooks me; add in the British boyfriend (I love all things British) and I determined that this was a book I must read. Once at school, Jam is placed into Special Topics in English, where she and her classmates are given journals that, they discover, have the power to transport them to a place they call Belzhar, where they can live in the past they long for. Overall, this was an interesting story line. I did have some problems, both with the magnitude of Jam's grief in relation to the short duration of her relationship, and with the book's final shocker revealed in the denouement. Definitely still a book worth reading though, both for its style and for its treatment of topics like first love, grief, and moving forward in the face of tragedy. Also, it's eminently quotable. I can't help loving lines like the following: "People are always saying these things about how there's no need to read literature anymore - that it won't help the world. Everyone should apparently learn to speak Mandarin, and learn how to write code for computers. More young people should go into STEM fields: science, technology, engineering, and math. And that all sounds true and reasonable. But you can't say that what you learn in English class doesn't matter. That great writing doesn't make a difference [...] Words matter." p. 255-56 This is a powerful memoir about stereotypes, family, and what it takes to live beyond the expectations others have of you. Gaby Rodriguez's mother and all her older siblings became parents as teenagers, and everyone expected that Gaby would follow in her family's footsteps. After all, she came from a small city in Washington where poverty is rife and where one in five high school students drop out, with pregnancy a leading cause. However Gaby, an excellent student, dreamed of going to college and breaking the familiar pattern of teen pregnancy and endemic poverty. When required to complete a senior project for high school, Gaby came up with the idea of faking a pregnancy to find out how teen mothers are treated and how these stereotypes towards teen mothers influence their future. While hiding the truth from everyone but her mother, boyfriend, and a few key conspirators, Gaby came to understand how the demoralizing effects of others' attitudes can trap a teen and her family in this hopeless cycle. Most importantly, Gaby also learned how kindness and encouragement can help teen moms overcome the odds and forge successful lives for themselves and their children, and help prevent future teen pregnancy. A national sensation that also spawned a TV movie, The Pregnancy Project is essential reading for anyone struggling to overcome what may seem like insurmountable odds. Josh Sundquist - paralympian, motivational speaker, author, and cancer survivor - is not too smooth with the ladies. At the age of twenty-five, realizing that he has never had a real girlfriend, Josh sets out to track down his former crushes and ask them the burning question, "What went wrong?" What ensues is a hilarious memoir about the awkwardness of dating and, ultimately, how our own insecurities are what really hold us back. I can't recommend this book enough! I kept having to stifle my laughter while reading it so people didn't wonder who the madwoman with the book was. Guys will totally relate to Josh's nervous blunders as he attempts to find love, and with each "relationship" Josh details, ladies will fall more in love with his awkward, earnest charm. (P.S. The Fault in Our Stars fans, Josh is your real-life Augustus Waters! A bone cancer survivor who lost a leg to the disease, Josh handles his disability with humor, bravery, and determination. Even better than the fictional Augustus!) To learn more about Josh, visit his website joshsundquist.com. After escaping from a murderously brilliant serial killer, Rory, her father, and sister must disappear into witness protection before the killer returns to finish what he started. Just when Rory starts to feel safe, strange things begin happening in her new town. Rory must unravel the mystery of her new home while also dealing with her fear that the killer may once again be stalking her. Tense, suspenseful, and frightening, Shadowlands is a thriller that will leave readers guessing until the very last page, and desperate to get their hands on the sequel. Unbroken chronicles the unbelievable true story of Louis Zamperini: world class Olympic athlete, U.S. airman during WWII, and survivor of a WWII Japanese prison camp. Zamperini grew up a wild child in Torrance, California until distance running imbued him with the drive and discipline to succeed. The true test of his life, however, began when, as a U.S. Air Force officer during WWII, his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Zamperini survived harrowing days adrift in the ocean on an inflatable raft, only to be captured by the Japanese and sent into the notoriously brutal Japanese POW camp system, where it would take every ounce of his will just to survive. Reading like the most gripping of novels, Unbroken really is, as New York Magazine described, "[a] one-in-a-billion story." The movie version, directed by Angelina Jolie, debuts Christmas Day, and the book is an absolute must read, especially if you plan on seeing the movie! Set in the turbulent days of WWII in England and France, Code Name Verity is the story of two strong female protagonists, best friends Maddie and Queenie. Maddie becomes a pilot with the British Air Transport Auxiliary while Queenie, a born actress, is eventually tapped for espionage. When Maddie attempts to fly Queenie into Nazi-occupied France, things go horribly wrong. The plane crashes and one of the girls, code-named "Verity," is captured by the Gestapo, who are determined to torture the truth out of her. Filled with breathtaking plot twists and sparkling with historical detail, Code Name Verity will surely delight fans of historical fiction, adventure, and emotional drama. |
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March 2015
Categories"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." |