The Final Countdown

Twerp, by Mark Goldblatt:  Julian made a mistake, and his English teacher decides to have him write about his life and hopefully, the incident that led to his suspension.  The result is an amusing story of boys growing up in  Queens in the 1960s.  Amusing is about as far as I can go with describing Julian’s tale.  Everything just felt a little bland, characters and storyline.  The only time it really picked up and caught my attention was in the final chapters where he finally reveals “the incident.”  Unfortunately, at that point, I just wanted the book to be done.
Overall Assessment:

Bomb:  This was a fantastic look at the development of the atomic bomb.  The science is accessible, Sheinkin does a fantastic job of breaking down the discoveries and process of creating the bomb.  But even more fantastic are the espionage stories involved with the atomic bomb.  The description of the Norwegians scaling the rock wall, climbing in vents read like something out of a movie and made the book hard to put down.  I agree that all the jumping around made things a little tricky to follow, but certainly not impossible.   The pictures of the major players at each chapter was helpful for keeping everyone straight.  The main problem with this is getting it into kids’ hands.  Once they start though, I think many readers will enjoy this.
Overall Assessment:

The Uncoupling, by Meg Wolitzer: A chill slowly works its way through the women in a small idyllic New Jersey community – a chill that makes women stop wanting to have sex with their husbands.  The story focuses on the Langs, Robby and Dory, a seemingly ideal couple with a teenage daughter, Ella.  The chill, actually a spell, works its way throughout the community, in particular those in the high school, where the Langs teach and their daughter attends.  At the same time, (is it coincidence?) the high school is performing the play Lysistrata, a Greek play where the women decide to stop having sex with the men, until the Peloponnesian War ends.  As the spell spreads to other teachers and students, Wolitzer provides detailed glimpses into their lives as the women are affected by the spell, which in turn affects their husbands, boyfriends, etc.

This was an enjoyable read.  It had the feel of a fairy tale throughout, which the audiobook narrator captured perfectly.  Wolitzer is great with the details and descriptions that make the characters come to life.  My main qualm was the pacing, which had a tendency to drag at times.  The story itself was unique and took an interesting, and amusing look at sex and the power it has in our lives.
Overall Assessment:

Flora and Ulysses, by Kate Dicamillo:  What happens when a squirrel gets sucked into a super-powerful vacuum?  He becomes a superhero squirrel, naturally.  This is what happens to Ulysses the squirrel, who is befriended and protected by Flora Belle Buckman, a self-professed cynic with a love of superheroes.  Flora’s crazy mother, is not crazy about having a squirrel in her house and concocts a nasty scheme involving a bag and a shovel.  She becomes what every superhero needs – an arch nemesis.  The novel is full of eccentric characters, wacky situations, and squirrel poetry.
The narrator for the audiobook did a superb job of capturing the voices, excitement, and silliness of this book.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t save the rest of the book.  The charm and heart that you normally feel from Dicamillo just never fully came through.  The characters felt a little flat (although the reader did a great job of giving them life).  The story, which had so much potential, felt a bit ho-hum.  It felt like an eternity to read, even though it is short, but I just wanted it to be over and done with.
Overall Assessment:

Allegiant, by Veronica Roth:  Tris and Four are back in the conclusion to the Divergent trilogy.  Yay?  Hmm.  Evelyn is trying to control the city and is enforcing a factionless state.  Naturally, those who were always factionless become assholes to the people who still feel tied to their faction (because changing your whole life happens overnight is totally cool, right?).  Four is Evelyn’s second in command, while secretly dating Tris (whom Evelyn hates and tries as a traitor).  Tris wants to follow the message uncovered at the end of Insurgent, and go out into the world.  They escape the city to find the truth about the factions and their societies.  What they find, isn’t the wonderful solution they hoped for, however.
I just couldn’t get excited about this.  The whole time I couldn’t stop thinking about how they didn’t know there was a whole world out there?  They are a very intelligent and learned community, but we never even heard wondering about what was beyond the wall.  Isn’t that something a Dauntless at least would say?  So what were they told about the rest of the world?  That really bugged me throughout, and I needed to know.  Pushing aside these qualms, the book was okay.  It was fun and full of action, but it wasn’t very exciting.  The new characters were fairly stereotypical, and the old characters keep making the same stupid mistakes.  By the end, however, you do see definite growth and change in the characters.  The plot and situations felt similar to the other books, just with a different enemy and in a different place.   Maybe it was me, but I just found the conclusion to be pretty lackluster.
Overall Assessment:

Insignia, by SJ Kinkaid:  Thomas, a 14 year old gamer has been recruited by the military for his gaming skills and killer instinct.  He is outfitted with a brain chip to make him faster and smarter and begins rigorous military training that involves programming, PT and lots of war games.  Throw in some really slimy characters, crazy corporation politics, crazy tech, fighting over the solar system, and some good old fashioned backstabbing and you have yourself a sci-fi action adventure.
Sound familiar?  It does indeed remind of Ender’s Game, but Kinkaid does a good job of building her own world and futuristic vision.  She did an excellent job of creating witty and realistic banter, and fleshing out her main characters.  Most of her bad guys, Karl, Dalton, are pretty stereotypical, but they are so hate-able it’s hard to really fault her for that.  Some of Tom’s and his friends’ actions could be frustratingly stupid, but, they are also 14 years old.  The politics could be a bit confusing at times and some of the tech explanations left me scratching my head, but not so much that it took away from the story. Good pick for boys and sci-fi fans.
Overall Assessment:

I used this one recently, but appropriate in this case.

Will I Read the Sequel? Maybe, but doubtful.  I’m sure I would become absorbed, but I wonder if it would be more of the same.

Reboot, by Amy Tintera:  In a future Texas, a deadly virus has spread that causes teens to reanimate after death.  The more time between death and reanimation means the less human-like the individual.  These “reboots” are made into an army by the corporation that now governs Texas.  Reboot 178 (they are marked by the minutes between death and reboot) is the toughest reboot, but all of that changes when she meets lowly 22.  She begins to feel and experience things she hasn’t in a long time, and finally begins questioning and, ultimately rebelling against the enslavement of the reboots.

Reboot is a unique combo of zombie/dystopia/post-apoc all rolled into one, which means definite readership.  The main characters are well defined and the story moves along nicely.  I think the best part of the novel is the growth and changes that 178 makes; her growth and change never felt forced.  There are some cliches (evil, twisted scientists and corporations), and a few plot issues I wondered about, but again, not enough to take away from the story.
Overall Assessment:

Will I Read the Sequel? Probably not.  The ending is satisfying and stands alone well enough, that I would rather leave off there. Plus, I need less sequels in my life.

Only 5 more books needed to reach my goal of 150 books! Totally doable!

Weekly Round Up

The Language Inside, by Holly Thompson:  I had a hard time getting through this, to be quite frank, I found it brutally boring.  I just didn’t care about Emma…she felt pretty bland to me. It also seemed to meander a lot with all the story lines (volunteering, dance, tsunami, breast cancer, etc.).  The author seemed to have too many ideas, but not enough editing.  All this I found quite disappointing, especially because I enjoy novels in verse.

Overall Assessment:

Forgive Me Leonard Peacock, by Matthew Quick:  Now this was an intense novel.  Leonard is planning to kill his enemy/bully and then himself on his 18th birthday.  The novel goes through what he plans as his last day alive.  He goes through his last day bringing gifts to his few friends and describing their importance in his life. He also slowly reveals the story of why Asher Beal, his former best friend, became his tormentor.

    This is a raw and intense story.  The characters are well developed and realistic.  Leonard’s emotions are raw and tangible.  I think the sensitive topic will alienate some readers and I’m not sure if everyone who picks it up will finish it.  Those that pick it up and finish it, are sure to be moved.

Overall Assessment:

Fallout, by Todd Strasser: What if the Russians did drop the bomb in the 60s?  What if the crazy neighbor who actually built the bomb shelter was right?  In Fallout, this is exactly what happens.  The novel is told in parallel narratives – one telling of what happens from the moment the sirens sound.  The rush to the shelter, the neighbors clamoring to be let in, and the two week wait for radiation levels to drop.  The other tells the events leading to the creation and building of the shelter and take us up to the moment that the sirens sound.

I love alternate takes on history and Strasser doesn’t disappoint.  He captures the cramped, uncomfortable, tightness of living in the shelter and contrasts it with growing up in the 60s.  He offers kids a taste of how it was to grow up in this time, and captures the worst fears of the time as well.  The book was well written and executed, not all the characters were well developed, but you got a strong feel for the main characters.

Overall Assessment:

Boxers & Saints, by Gene Luen Yang:  Each of these graphic novels stand alone well and individually each makes for a compelling story, but together they make for a powerful compelling look at an interesting and sad time in China.   Boxers tells the story of the Boxer Rebellion, the Chinese who want to take back their country from the foreigners who are trying to take over their country while looking down upon it’s inhabitants.  Saints tells the story of an unwanted girl who finds refuge in Christianity.  They are both smart, funny and thought provoking.  Yang’s portrayal is fascinating because he is able to clearly tell both sides of the story, neither side is a footnote.  Readers get to see the good, bad and ugly of each side, which, I find is one of the best ways to examine history.  The graphics, color and illustrations are spot on, and enhance the story and setting.  The characters and story are well developed and the story moves briskly along.  Great pick for any reader – even those who don’t care for the graphic novel format.  Plus, I LOVE the two books side by side!

Overall Assessment:

The Teleportation Accident, by Ned Beauman:  This was my book club’s November pick, and it certainly provided a lot of discussion.  The book follows Egon Loeser from Berlin to Paris to LA as he follows his dream chick, with the hopes of getting laid (seriously).  Throw in a possible teleportation machine, the rise of WW II, espionage and a lot of self absorbed characters and you have the book.

The writing was pretty dense, especially at the beginning.  The first couple chapters (at least 40 pages each) were difficult to get into and fully follow (BC agreed on this count), but if you can make it though, the second part becomes pretty interesting and easier to read and understand.  The writer was  philosophy major, which explains the denseness of some of the writing and his inclusion of philosophy bits here and there.  There were a lot of characters, but they were all pretty well developed, but none were particularly likable.  The book was interesting and had a lot of cool plot points, but ultimately it was a bit much for me and could have used a little more editing.  However, it makes for an excellent book club choice because it was definitely fun to discuss the characters, their evolution (or lack thereof), what happened (or didn’t happen), our interpretations (because there are many) and trying to figure out what actually happened.

Overall Assessment:  Hmm, this was hard, but I think I found a way to sum it up that makes sense to me:

Other readers of the book?  Does this work?

The Little Book of Sloth, by Lucy Cooke:  I confess, this is a kids non-fiction book that I am counting towards my total (I don’t normally include books this short or with so many pictures!), but it is so awesome it defies the rules.  Cooke introduces us to the sloths residing in a sloth sanctuary, and I want to pack my bags and go move in with them.  They all have names, personalities, toys, etc. and I don’t think these sloths take a bad picture!  It’s cute overload!  Cooke provides a lot of information on sloths in a fun, conversational tone that doesn’t make it feel like a non-fiction book.  She integrates a lot of humor and warmth into the book and you can tell how much Cooke loves these animals.  Lower grade teachers, should take note, this is a fabulous book that kids would love to see.  Think the boys wont care too much?  Wait till she talks about potty training sloths and how they need a poo pole.  Wonderful introduction to these adorable animals.

Overall Assessment:  That wasn’t enough?