Starters by Lissa Price

Starters by Lissa Price

Thanks to the Spore Wars, Callie and her seven-year-old brother Tyler have lost both their parents and are now “unclaimed minors,” living in abandoned buildings with their friend Michael.  They’re just barely able to stay alive, but the most pressing problem is that Tyler is sick, and Callie needs money for healthy food and a warm home for them.  Out of desperation, she visits a secret company called Prime Destinations, which she heard about from a boy in their building.  The company rents the bodies of teens (Starters) to aged people (Enders) so the older “renters” can experience life as a young and healthy teenager again. This is the only way she sees to save her brother, so Callie reluctantly agrees to be a donor, signing a contract for the minimun of three rentals.  However, something goes wrong in her last rental, and she regains consciousness only to realize that her Ender renter plans to have her murder someone!

This book contains lots of plot twists and turns, which I’m sure will engage most teen readers.  Right up until the end, we’re not sure about the supposedly evil owner of Prime Destinations everyone calls the “old man.”  While I didn’t like this book as much as  I had expected to, it was a quick read that will become popular among our dystopia and science fiction fans.  The second book called Enders is due out in December of 2012.

Here’s a video book trailer you can watch from home:

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

This is one of those dystopian books that while full of interesting characters and non-stop action, also looks at some pretty deep questions. First the story–Two identical space ships are traveling to create a New Earth, after mankind has pretty much destroyed our planet.  Our two main characters, Waverly and Kiernan are the most important teenagers aboard the Empyrean, Waverly because she’s the oldest girl and Kiernan because he is expected to succeed Captain Jones when he steps down.  Each ship is completely self-supporting, including the ability to grow fresh livestock and food.  Although they left Earth at different times, they are expected to eventually reach New Earth together.  Then the most shocking event occurs: the New Horizon appears outside the portal windows, and sends a shuttle to land on the Empyrean, despite Captain Jones’ direct orders not to do so.  Before they know what’s happening, all the young girls have been either “saved” or kidnapped depending on who they believe, and are taken aboard the New Horizon, split up from the friends and families.  Evidently, the women aboard the New Horizon have been unable to conceive children, and are hoping the girls from their sister ship will be their salvation. Let’s just say that life gets chaotic and unpredictable, both the the girls onboard the New Horizon and the boys and remaining families on the Empyrean.

This book is full of enough twists and turns to satisfy even the most reluctant readers.  The action sequences are clearly detailed and easy to visualize. The characterizations are vivid and complex, with the main characters having both flaws and strengths to make them feel realistic.

As I said at the beginning of the review, this book also looks at some deeper issues, such as pollution, birth control, abortion and religion.  It is not heavy-handed, but probes these topics in a way to encourage readers to look at their own beliefs.

I highly recommend this book to all young adult readers.  It is engaging, fast-paced and realistic, perfect for anyone looking for a good title.

Running Man by Stephen King

Running Man by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman

If you like action-oriented dystopian titles, this is the book for you!!!  King starts the plot rolling on the first page, and doesn’t let the readers breathe until they are done with the book.  Set in the near future, this book depicts a society when the rich and poor are even more disparate than they are today.  At twenty-eight, Ben Richards already feels like an old man.  He hasn’t worked steadily for years after protesting that the radiation shields used in the factory where he worked were basically useless; all the men were becoming sterile despite their use.  To his great sadness, his wife feels forced by their circumstances to support them through prostitution.  Add to this the fact that their baby is sick with the flu and may die because the poor have no healthcare.

The government keeps the poor placated with Free-Vee, television full of vicious reality games where the contestants may actually have a chance to win money.  The show “Treadmill to Bucks” only accepts terminally ill patients whose task it is to stay on the treadmill, earning $10 for each minute they are able to stay alive.  Bonus questions are involved that might win the contestant extra cash, or speed up  the treadmill up, depending on the player’s correct/wrong answer.  Needless to say, many contestants were carried off dead on a rubber stretcher.  Desperate to get enough money for a real doctor, Ben applies and is accepted for the biggest game show, “Running Man.”  The object of the contest is to remain free, even though an elite police force is hunting you down, and the public is paid to report sightings of you.

What I especially liked about this book is that even though it was written in 1982, it is still politically even more relevant today, with the gap between the super rich and the rest of us growing daily.  While King doesn’t harp on political ideology, Ben some of the other main characters make it clear that the Free-Vee Network and government in general are oppressing the general population severely, making it nearly impossible for them to survive.

I highly recommend this title to dysptopia and Stephen King fans, and anyone looking for an action-packed, gripping novel.  WARNING:  Do not read the prologue, as it gives away major plot points that will ruin to story for you!

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Lena will turn eighteen in 95 days, and undergo the procedure that her dystopian world feels will cure the most dangerous disease: amor deliria nervosa, or love as we commonly call it. According to the government this disease creates all types of problems in humans:  anxiety, depression, insomnia, uncertainty and all types of dangerous, strong feelings. The leaders believe the surgery will create societal harmony, and matches up the teenagers with their future spouses shortly after the procedure.  Lena is anxiously looking forward to “being cured,” as her mother went through the surgery three time without any success, and finally killed herself.  Lena and her sister have had to live with this legacy, and she can’t wait to become normal and settle into her adult life.

As she’s preparing to finish high school, she accidentally meets Alex, who it turns out lives outside the cities electrified fence and is “uncured.”  Through her friendship and developing illegal romance with him, Lena begins to question the government she has always believed in and even visits the Wilds with Alex outside the fence.

Oliver, who wrote last year’s amazing book Before I Fall, does an fabulous job bringing readers into Lena’s mind as she falls in love, wrests with how the ideology of the government fits inwith what she’s learning with Alex, and makes decisions about her own future.  I recommend this title to fans of her first book, dystopian fans, science fiction fans, and even romance fans.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Legend by Marie Lu

Legend by Marie Lu

This is another new dystopian novel that’s getting lots of positive buzz from both readers and librarians.  Told in alternating voices, this book describe a frightening future United States that has been ripped apart and at war with itself.  The western part is the Republic and is a totalitarian government ruled with an iron fist by Primo ______.  June Iparis lives here and is part of the elite, born into wealth and now a military prodigy.  Day also lives in the Republic, but is its most wanted criminal for his numerous acts of anti-government terrorism, that interestingly enough have never killed a single person.  While trying to escape from his most recent escade, Day is nearly captured by a young captain named Metias.  They both shoot, wounding each other but that gives Day the chance to make his escape.   When it comes to light that June’s brother Metias has been killed, not just injured, she is put on the team as someone with “fresh eyes” to try to catch Day, who has been eluding the army for years.  What follows is non-stop action, as June fights for revenge against her brother’s murder and Day uses all the resources he can muster just to stay alive.  The plot is full of twists, and will keep readers wanting more.

The parallel perspectives from both Day and June really let the readers see into the minds of both characters and become invested in their futures.  The fact that June’s entries are more like straight-forward reports while Day’s read more like a personal journal really adds to the novelI highly recommend this title, Lu’s debut novel, to dystopia and science fiction fans, and anyone looking for a fast and engaging read.

Here’s a book trailer you can watch from home:

Hunger Game movie trailer

If you are anything like me, you have been dying for this movie to come out.  I’m half-way excited about how great it should be, and half-way scared about how they might manage to mangle the story from the book.  It premiers on March 23; let me know if you’d like to go together as a group!

This in on YouTube so you can see it from home:

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Being “Divergent” may be a death sentence for 16-year-old Beatrice Prior.  In her dystopian Chicago of the future, there are five distinct groups of citizens, all with different characteristics and purposes in her world.  She is a member of Abnegation (the selfless), but the other factions she can choose to become an initiate in are Candor (the honest), Amity (the peaceful), Erudite (the intelligent) and Dauntless (the brave).  As the novel opens, Beatrice is about to take the national aptitude test, which will tell her which group she “belongs in,” but she still gets to choose for herself.  The catch is that if she doesn’t choose her parents’ group Abnegation, she probably won’t ever see them again as the factions don’t mix much.  The worst part is that her test results come back inconclusive, upsetting the tester, who tells her she is “divergent,” but won’t give her any more information about what the term means.  In fact, the proctor falsifies the results to read that Beatrice would fit best in her family’s faction, Abnegation.  Despite this, Beatrice takes the bold step of choosing to become a Dauntless initiate at the Choosing Ceremony the next day, shocking her parents and the rest of the audience.  As she begins her Dauntless training, Tris (as she now calls herself) finds out  exactly how violent, vengeful and ruthless her new faction really is. Will she be one of the ten out of the twenty trainees invited to stay, or will she be cast out, factionless and basically homeless for the rest of her life?

This book reminded me a lot of the Hunger Games trilogy, which many readers are comparing it to.  Since the Dauntless faction members are brave and the defenders of the world, their training is extremely violent, and readers need to be prepared for graphic gore.  In spite of the amount of violence and killing, none of it feels gratuitous or unnecessary.  This is the first in a trilogy, and I’m sure readers will be waiting breathlessly for the follow-up book.  Fans of  Science Fiction, and dystopias in general and Hunger Games  will especially love this new series.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

When Amy and her parents signed up to be cryogenically frozen to travel aboard the spaceship Godspeed for 300 years to help settle a new earth-like planet, they had no idea what was in story for them. The opening scene of the book sets the stage for what will follow, with the family being frozen one-by-one, which readers learn is a painful and frightening experience. Amy’s father gives her the option of changing her mind at the last minute, and staying with extended family on Earth, but the seventeen year old can’t imagine never seeing her parents again. Readers then eavesdrop as Amy has nightmarish dreams during for forced sleep, but then she is violently awoken 50 years too early when someone unplugs her pod. Has someone tried to murder her??? She meets Elder, the ship’s leader-in training, upon awakening and his kindness makes her feel safe, but the current leader (Eldest) is another matter altogether. He acts like he would as soon jettison Amy out in space as make a home for her on the ship.

Even though Elder is supposed to be training his protege’ Eldest to care for the passengers and ship, Elder knows the old man is withholding critical information, keeping the ship’s running and very structured society a mystery to the teenager. When the teenagers realize someone is trying to unplug and kill all the frozen colonists, they begin a quest to try to figure out the truth about the murders and the ship’s other closely held secrets.

The book is told in alternating chapters between Amy and Elder’s perspectives. This makes it all the more gripping as we see life through two completely different views. I read this amazing story in one weekend because I could just not put it down. It has elements which will attract readers with lots of different tastes because it includes a dystopian setting aboard the ship Godspeed, a murder mystery involving the frozen colonists from Earth, a Science Fiction plot and even a little bit of romance.

I highly recommend this book to all teen readers and am eagerly awaiting the next installment of the story.

Here’s a video book trailer you can see from home:

Matched by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia Reyes’ futuristic society has always taken care of everything– from things as simple as meals prepared specifically for each person’s nutritional needs, to calculating each eighteen year old’s perfect match for their lifelong marriages.  When Cassie is matched with her best friend Xander, she’s pleasantly surprised, even though it rarely happens that a person is matched with someone they already know.  Later at home, when she puts the microcard with his biographical data on it into her port (computer) to admire him, a quick flash of another boy’s picture shows up on the screen for just a second.  She recognizes the picture from school, an orphan named Ky who was adopted at 10 by his aunt and uncle.  How can she have two matches?  An officer from the government explains that it’s just a computer glitch, but Cassia’s mind has already started wondering.  Add to this the illegal poem her grandfather slipped to her on his deathbed, and the young woman is in for a world of confusion.  Cassia begins to want all kinds of forbidden things: more poetry and music than the government-approved 100 titles of each, a growing romance with Ky, more time by herself thinking.

Writer Condie skillfully tells this dystopian tale without giving the readers time to gasp for air.  The fast-paced plot is intricately tied together with specific details: a Dylan Thomas poem, secrets whispered while hiking up a forbidden hill, and descriptions of the three pills each citizen must keep on their person at all times.  This engaging story is one of the best I’ve read this school year!  I love that it blends a unique dystopia with a forbidden romance.  I highly recommend it to dystopia, science fiction and romance fans.

Here’s a book trailer you can watch from home:

Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill

Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill

This  action-packed science fiction story will be a sure winner for fans of Star Wars and other fast-paced “cowboys in outer space” stories that many of us find so compelling.  Durango is a Regulator, a hired gun (mercenary) who will work for anyone with the coin to pay for him and his crew.  Embedded in his brain is the Artificial Intelligence of his former commander Mimi, who is sarcastic and snarky, adding a humorous touch to the story.  In addition, Mimi gives him advice that only an all-seeing computer intelligence could have, giving Durango and his rag-tag band of fighters at least as even change against the larger foes they will battle soon enough.  Set on Mars that has its own government problems, the book tells the story of Durango and his crew defending a group of miners who are being killed off by the cannibalistic Dreau and their evil and mysterious queen.

To say the story is action-packed is really an understatement.  The plot goes from one gruesome battle to the next hair-raising confrontation, barely giving readers a moment to catch their breath.  But this is a good thing as most readers will testify.  You barely ave time to get past one problem before the next conflict demands your attention.

I enjoyed this title and recommend to fans of adventure or action stories, SciFi fans, and anyone looking for a quick escape from their usual reading or day-to-day lives.

Ship Breaker

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

If you’re in the mood for a fast-paced adventure story with just a hint of dystopia, this is definitely your book!  Nailer is a Ship Breaker; he works helping to dismantle old oil tankers with his Light Crew, collecting scavenge to make the crew’s daily quota.  The world he lives in is bleak–he lives a sparse day-to-day existence, usually barely has enough to eat, lives in s shack on the beach with his crazy, drug-addicted father, and hopes to make it through each day without saying the wrong thing to his dad and getting beat up as a result.  When he and his crew leader and good friend Pima stumble onto a beached luxury clipper ship, they think they’ve hit it rich (the Lucky Strike) with all the salvage they see about the shipwrecked boat.  That is until they realize the teenage girl on the yacht is still alive…  Nailer has a choice: he can finish her off and follow through with their plan to strike it rich, or he can try to save the girl and face unknown consequences.  He knows the choice he and Pima make could effect the rest of their lives.

Paulo Bacigalupi is an award-winning Science Fiction writer and this is his first YA title.  I was very impressed with the writing: it was fast-moving with enough detail about Nailer’s bleak future world to draw me into his life.  Bacigalupi’s fascinating proposed future takes place in a destroyed Gulf Coast region, ruined by hurricanes and storms much worse than Hurricane Katrina.  His community of virtually enslaved scavengers live off selling copper and other salvage they find on the abandoned oil tankers.  At the same time, there exist “Swanks,” who own and run the multinational trade companies which contract the scavenger crews and seem to care less about the poverty to which they are condemning them and most of the population.  The writer also makes a few points about ecology, global weather change , child labor in third world countries and worldwide economics without coming off as too preachy.

I highly recommend this book to SciFi and dystopia fans–I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Here’s a video you can see from home.  It’s a short interview with the writer talking about his book and it pretty interesting:

Birthmarked

Birthmarked by Caragh M.  O’Brien

In a future time with the Earth is baked dry by climate change and a blasting hot sun, sixteen-year-old Gaia Stone lives with her parents outside the walled and luxurious Enclave.  They live a fairly meager existence, but Gaia’s mother is teaching her to follow in her footsteps as a midwife.  The hardest part of the job is giving the first three newborns each month to the Enclave, but this has been the quota ever since Gaia can remember.  When the book opens, she delivers her first baby alone, takes it to the nurse at the wall of the Enclave, and returns home to find that both her parents have been arrested and imprisoned inside the Enclave.  When no one can give her much information about the status of her mother and father, Gaia become determined to sneak into the walled city and rescue them.

This is a typical dystopian novel in many ways, but has some interested twists that will engage readers.  Instead of being governed by the miliatary or some sort of totalitarian government, the Enclave is ruled by a monarchy.  The subject of genetic engineering is explored, encouraging readers to think about where they might stand on such issues.  Although sometimes predictable, I found this book compelling, and especially liked the heroine’s strong spirit and determination.  I would recommend this book  to fans of The Giver, Hunger Games,  and other dystopian novels.

Dystopia Read-A-Like List

At Berkeley High School, we are HUGE dystopia fans.  This often starts out with Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as a class assignment, then we get readers coming in who want something similar to that one.  Here’s a list of all dystopian novels we have in our collection.  I’m saving apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic novels (like Hunger Games and House of the Scorpion for another list!)

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

The Big Empty by J. B. Stephens

The Giver, Gathering Blue and The Messenger by Lois Lowry

We by Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin

Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras and Bogus to Bubbly: An insider’s guide to the world of Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow

Feed by M. T. Anderson

Piano Player by Kurt Vonnegut

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of  Men (0n order) by Patrick Ness

Erewhon by Samuel Butler

Woman on the Edge of  Time by Marge Piercy

Walden Two by B. F. Skinner

Incarceron

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Incarceron is a huge prison, underground perhaps, built years ago by scientists as a Utopian place to send all criminals and malcontents, a safe place away from the rest of civilization.  Unfortunately, Incarceron has never been a decent place for its inhabitants -  generations of prisoners have struggled daily just to survive to horrific conditions. Seventeen-year-old Finn lives in the prison, and even though it’s common knowledge that no one ever enters or leaves Incarceron, he has this eerie feeling he was born on the outside.  In contrast, Claudia is the beautiful but arrogant daughter of the prison warden who lives in the outside world.  She is being forced to marry Prince Caspar who is not very bright, but she will eventually end up as Queen of the Realm.  Too bad for her that she can’t stand the sight of him!  As different as their situations are, Finn and Claudia’s lives intersect in strange ways when they both discover a crystal key that lets them communicate with each other.

Although this story took me awhile to get involved in, it was totally interesting and fun once I got into it.  The two parts of the world Fisher creates are extremely different, and both fascinating.  In addition to the dark and depressing atmosphere of Incarceron, the world Outside is stuck in nineteen century, ruled by the Protocol devised to protect its citizens from science gone mad.

I recommend this book to fantasy and science fiction fans, in addition to any reader who enjoys fast-paced adventures.  By the way, the sequel to this title is due out next December.

Here’s a book trailer you can see from home:

(created by Inshort1952 on YouTube)

The Dead Tossed Waves

The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

First off, this is not the sequel to the amazing The Forest of Hands and Teeth.  It is a “companion” novel, which means it’s related, but not a continuation.  This book centers on Gabry, Mary’s daughter, who has been raised in relative safety in a small town of Vista on the edge of the sea.  Due to her mother’s constant warnings about the the unconsecrated (undead zombies who the townspeople call Mudos) and dangers beyond the protection of the tall, wooden Barrier, Gabrielle is a timid girl who finds it almost impossible to take the kinds of teenage risks her friends can’t resist by sneaking out to the dilapidated ruins of the amusement park just beyond the safety of the thick-walled Barrier.  But Catcher, who Gabry has not-so-secret feelings for, encourages her to do this with him, and in a moment of rashness, she swings her leg over the wooden wall and climbs over into the ruins.  This one decision will forever change her life.  Some of her friends end up bitten by the Mudos and become undead themselves, and the survivors are imprisoned awaiting a decision from the town council about their fates.  Catcher has been bitten, but insists that Gabry run back to the town, pretending like she was there the whole time.

For the young woman, life doesn’t get any simpler after she escapes punishment.  She finds she must go back to the Forest, and learn about her own mother’s secrets, things Mary had never shared with her.  For fans of Ryan’s first book, this will be a must read.

Check out the book trailer below from your home computer for more clues about the story:

Candor

Candor by Pam Bachorz

I like the concept for this book.  In a “perfect” town in Florida, everyone listens to subliminal messages that makes them “model”  people.  This is especially important for the children and teens, as this community tends to attract families with troubled kids who are guaranteed that their offspring will transform into perfect Candor children within a few weeks.  The messages are concepts like:

Academics are the key to success

Never waste our natural resources

Healthy breakfasts make for smart minds

Although the messages might seem harmless, they completely control everyone in the town; in fact, they become physically addicted to them although most people don’t know that.  But Oscar Banks is different.  While he might seem like the ideal Candor high school student, he can “hear” and tune out the messages, and has an illegal business where he sneaks the richest kids out of town before they become Candor zombies.  What’s especially ironic is that Oscar’s father is the one who designed the city, runs the place, and creates and sends out all the messages.  When Oscar falls for the newest girl in school, he wants to save Nia from becoming like everyone else, but can’t face the fact of helping her escape and having to live without her.  What’s a boy to do?

I like this book, but was expecting to love it  based on all the reviews and librarian comments I had read.  The story is engaging, just not as exciting as I had anticipated.  I DID love the ending; it was unexpected and the author didn’t take the easy way out.

Hunger Games III

Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins

NEWSFLASH from the Scholastic blog, On Our Minds.

Hunger Games Book 3 Cover Revealed!

Hang onto your cheesy bread, because we’ve got major news today. Directly from Hunger Games Headquarters here at Scholastic (HGHQ for short), I hereby present to you the cover of the third book in the bestselling Hunger Games trilogy…

Obviously, I had to know more. So I asked the one and only David Levithan (VP Editorial Director, Scholastic) if he could share some top-secret things with me. The answer?

• Panem is not shaken up when District 9 is nominated for a best picture Oscar.
• At no point does President Snow utter the line, “This is Snowmageddon, baby.”
• Despite internet rumors to the contrary, it is not revealed that Cinna has been secretly designing outfits for a Capitol operative known as “Lady GaGa.”
• All rumors of a crossover appearance by Geronimo Stilton are false.
• In a tough editorial call, we decided not to have Katniss win the Hunger Games…only to be interrupted by Kanye West.

So – there you go. I guess this means you, me, and everyone else will have to wait until August 24th to find out what really happens. Sigh … August suddenly seems so far away.

Amanda Hebert

Dystopia Reigns Supreme

Unwind by Neal Shusterman                                                               Rash by Pete Hautman

Here I am, reading one of my favorite genres again, this time titles recommended by one of our amazing library volunteers, soon to be a librarian herself.

Unwind is the gripping story that follows Conner and two other “Unwinds” as they struggle to escape their fate as becoming human organ donors, used for every part of their bodies from their brains to the tips of their toes.  After the world war fought by pro-life and pro-choice armies, the Bill of Life was signed, allowing unwanted teens to be unwound without actually ending their lives–they would become unwilling organ donors. Conor’s being unwound because he’s just too much trouble for his parents.  Risa’s problem is that she’s a ward of the state, living in a StaHo, and they have to make room for more babies.  In contrast, Lev has known since he was a child that as his parents’ tenth baby, he was destined to be tithed as an unwind, something that has always been viewed as a great honor in his religion.  The books follows their story from their original escape to the Happy Jack Harvest Camp and beyond.

This gripping story kept me up at night reading with a flashlight in bed as my husband slept peacefully next to me.  It is an amazing book I can’t recommend highly enough.

Rash, on the other hand, was a much for straightforward story, with fewer ethical complications.  What I especially appreciated about this story was that it is a combination sports novel and dystopian commentary on our society, all at the same time!  The year is 2076, and the United SAFER States of America has outlawed anything remotely hazardous, including most sports, verbal abuse, and even schoolyard fights.  The problem for our main character Bo is that he has a terrible temper, probably inherited from his father who’s currently in prison for a road rage incident in ’73.  Interesting, the prisons are run by conglomerates like McDonalds and Coca Cola, and the inmates are basically free labor in their enormous fast food factories.

When Bo gets the opportunity to enhance his meager living conditions by playing on the sadistic warden’s illegal football team, his natural athleticism forces him to  jump at the chance. Although football has been outlawed in the USSA fro years, Warden Hammer played in college and still loves the brutal sport.   Unfortunately,  Hammer wants his team to win against the nearest prison’s  team at any cost, and the situation gets complicated rather quickly. Add to this the killer Polar bears that live outside the frigid work camps and artificial intelligence program named Bork that has taken on a life of its own, and this novel moves along at a rapid clip.

In many ways this story reminds me of Holes by Louis Sacher, and fans of that book won’t be disappointed by Bo’s journey.

Hunger Games Book Trailer

While Mrs. Goldstein-Erickson and I were at the recent library conference, I went to a session about making online book trailers (sorta like movie trailers…) and was totally impressed with the concept.  I’m going to try making some soon, but here’s a pretty good one I found on YouTube about Hunger Games.

If you have read Hunger Games yet, YOU MUST!  We have seven copies, so just stop by to reserve one.  BTW, we also have three copies of the second book in the trilogy, Catching Fire.

Let me know if you’re interested in making one of these of your own.  I have very specific directions using Windows Movie Maker, which is included with Windows on your computer.  If you’re a Mac person, it should work about the same way!

Little Brother

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

This is truly one of the best books I’ve read this year!  It’s set in the near future when some terrorist group (no one knows which one) has bombed the Bay Bridge between Oakland and San Francisco.  The Department of Homeland Security has gone completely nuts, and Marcus and his three best friends are thrown into prison on Treasure Island and interrogated for four days, until three of them are released.  What they discover is that San Francisco has turned into a police state, with ordinary people treated like potential terrorists in a ” guilty until proven innocent” mentality.

But Marcus is no ordinary seventeen year old; he is a total computer geek, and decides to fight back, at first just to rescue is best friend Darryl form the prison the others were released from.  He fights for personal liberty and freedom, but the fast-pace of the story’s action doesn’t allow the author to get all preachy on you, even though these are some pretty serious issues.  For fans of books like The Giver, The Handmaid’s Tale, 1984 and Brave New World, this book is a must read.