Walled Cities

 I am recommending The Walled City by Ryan Graudin

This book pulled me in, and kept me interested throughout.  I enjoyed the premise, and was astounded to learn it was based on the real walled city in Hong Kong.

 In this novel 3 young kids are living in the walled city, which isn't identified as being part of Hong Kong since this isn't historical fiction.  They are all dealing with a crime boss; one is in a brothel, her sister is trying to save her, and a young boy is trying to get the crime boss arrested.  The chapters alternate via their respective points of view.

The three main characters were all interesting, though at one point I thought I was reading from one character's point of view and realized a second later it was the sister.  It seems this might be a nice tie in with Empire of Sin.  I am hoping to read that soon, and will post later if they work well together.  Perhaps students can read the YA title by Graudin, and those interested in the concept of holed off areas, can delve into Krist's non-fiction account of New Orleans. (in addition perhaps to non-fiction accounts of Hong Kong's Walled City).

Metaphorical

I do recommend reading Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer.  I enjoyed the premise of a boarding school with a special topics in English class....and the students and teacher that might participate in one like this.

Reviews on Amazon show that some people dislike the ending, but it truly didn't bug me in the least.

It deals metaphorically with grief, trauma, loss....life...in a perfectly realized story.

I enjoyed the character's, though at time's I felt DJ's was a bit contrived...and at times I thought she would end up being invited somehow to the special topics class.

I thought each of the other scenarios depicted, each of the trauma's suffered by the characters in the special topics class were fairly well done.  I can imagine a kid like Griffin reacting the way he did...denial, numb, stunted etc.

Sierra's was perfectly depicted, and her actions in the end made sense, whereas it wouldn't have made sense for Jam to do the same...the process in Jam's decision making did make sense (while writing her last journal entry), given the actual circumstances of her reason's for being at the school.

Marc and Casey were also developed well, in the limited sense of not expanding their stories...we can picture those families; divorce, and families in denial about alcoholism until a terrible event occurs etc...

Trauma can be relative, and thus when we learn Jam's truth we need to keep that in mind. As I said, the ending doesn't bug me; it actually is fitting in the human/teen world, where sometimes we wonder why a kid with seemingly everything is depressed...words matter is one of the novel's premises, and words truly mattered to Jam.....what was said (or not said) by Reeve  (and Dana ) etc...breakdown's happen that don't make sense to those outside of the person's story. 

This is my second Wolizer book (the other being The Fingertips Duncan Dorfman) and I will now stray into her non-YA titles, since I have truly enjoyed the writing in the books I have read.

Little Brother's cousin

The Silence of the Six, by E. C Myers will surely intrigue many young and old adults alike.

Social media, government, hacking, spying and well characterized teenagers make this a very enjoyable read. It was quite suspenseful as the main character, Max tries to solve the mystery of his friend's sudden death.

Fans of Cory Doctorow will love the book; it is a slightly easier read than Little Brother, but highly entertaining and yes, thought provoking.

Double your Fun

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld was a wonderful novel.  It is the story of a novelist's debut novel, and her experiences in the publishing world in NYC; in addition, her debut novel is included. So, unlike some reviewers who state this novel is told from alternating perspectives, it is actually two novels in one.

I was engaged in both novels; both had engaging characters, interesting plot lines, and were well developed.

I think all YA lovers, and budding authors should read this novel.

3rd in series is great

I just finished Don't Talk to Strangers by Amanda Kyle Williams.
This is the third in her series, and I just loved it.  I love the main character, Keye Street; her back story, her current story, the dialog, thoughts etc all ring true.

All of the characters are well developed, and the recurring ones continue to grow.  The plot was handled well, the red herrings were nicely played out, and the feeling of the small town this one was set in was believable.

If you are looking for a new detective/mystery series, check this one out.

reviews from Toronto books

I have read a couple more of the Toronto books, and one I highly recommend, the other not so much.

Feed by Mira Grant, is the first in a trilogy.  I thoroughly enjoyed this and would recommend it over World War Z by far.  The characterization, plot and explanation of how the zombies came to be are far superior in Feed.  Modern day politics play a role as well, in a very compelling manner. 

I will be buying the rest of the trilogy, and will more than likely start her other trilogy, which just has the first book out, Parasite.

The other book I recently finished is Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet by Joanne Proulx.  It was hyped on Amazon, and the premise and start were very intriguing, but it dragged and dragged in the middle, and I really found it rather pointless.

Richard Clarke's Fiction

    I received a copy of Richard A Clarke's Sting of the Drone from the publisher, with a request to write a review (I had previously reviewed another of their titles, which I loved).

   I had read his non-fiction book, Against All Enemies, and enjoyed it.  I was curious how his style would transition to fiction.
   I truly enjoyed the premise of Sting of the Drone, essentially a debate on whether or not America should use drones to kill. It was interesting picturing the pilots far away sending the drones to do their work, but the philosophical debate didn't go beyond, "it is wrong to kill without a trial or even much evidence" versus "our pilots won't die if we send in unmanned drones"  He brings in a couple of senators opposed to drones, but for the most part plays up the need to use them.  His characters are somewhat typical for thrillers, but I do have to hand it to him, the plot moved along quickly and was very exciting.  A potential terrorist threat might take place at Christmas, and those piloting the drones need to prevent that from happening.
   Despite his rather weak portrayal of the philosophical issues, the question of drone use did make me ponder while I was reading, and kept me reading to the end.  The parts I could have lived without were the sex chats two of the characters had; I always find sex thrown into thrillers somewhat tired and cliched, but in his case even more so, because I unfortunately pictured him saying them versus the character he had written.
   The issues raised that I found most interesting dealt with who is at fault when innocent children are placed in harm's way by the terrorists, who know a drone will be sent to kill.  Us, for sending the drones into kill without an arrest or trial, or the terrorists for putting the children there?  The character that felt the drone pilots had no role and shouldn't feel guilty, worries me still...as it seems all too easy for us to rationalize policies and the resulting tragedies with a blithe, "we didn't put the kids there"
   This might be a fun book for a book club to read, to start a discussion on our drone policy...and then perhaps the group could move onto the Constitution, and continue that discussion.
  

Dystopian series for reluctant readers.

I have many, many struggling students/reluctant readers attempt to read these series: Hunger Games, Divergent, Hex Hall, and the Lunar Chronicles, all putting them down when they realized the books were slightly more complex than they had anticipated.

While in Toronto I picked up, The Rule of Three by Eric Walters.  It starts with a typical high school day from the view of the main character, Adam.  The day turns out to be not so typical when all computers and related technology suddenly fail.  Technology never returns....

The world is suddenly quite different, and the book realistically portrays what could happen.  In some ways it is a survival guide with almost step by step instructions on what to do and what not to do.  It isn't morally complex like the other series, nor does anyone require a great deal of background knowledge, which makes this series (book two doesn't yet have a publication date) the perfect series for students whose skills aren't quite up to the other well known series.

Despite that, I too enjoyed the book, the characters and the plot kept me reading, and I am looking forward to reading the next book.

Toronto: Maybe a glimpse into my future Indie life!

Went on a bookstore vacation!  Visited Toronto after reading they had quite a few independent bookstores.

Ben McNally Books is where I bought The Rule of Three by Eric Walters (review to be posted in next few days) and The House at the end of Hope Street by Menna Van Praag

At Ten Editions Bookstore (used bookstore) I bought The Path to Freedom His Holiness The Dalai Lama 

At another used bookstore, Seekers I picked up a couple of books by Stephen Donaldson, The Real Story and Lord Foul's Bane.

At Bakka Phoenix Books I bought Feed by Mira Grant.

At BMV Books I bought Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet by Joanne Proulx and Smoking Typewriters by John McMillian.

I also picked up another book there, that was so boring that I left it at the hotel.  I won't name this book as there is no point in doing that, but decided the book might be enjoyed by another guest (reviews on Amazon were such that folks either loved it or hated it).

And finally at Book City I bought Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch (and I plan on ordering the entire series)

It was great fun chatting with a few of the owners, in a casual manner. Sad that some stores I had planned on seeing had closed after 30+ years in Toronto.

Reviews will soon start up. I am closing my Facebook account as it just sucks up time to read and write :-)

A haunting narrative

I absolutely loved The Tyrant's Daughter.  This haunting narrative sticks with you; it should be required reading in all MS and HS history classes. She is the daughter of an assassinated leader, from a non stated country.  Her family fled there and are now in the US. She is trying to fit in, to figure out if her father was good or the dictator/tyrant the news says he is.  Loads to discuss, ponder, question, sympathize with and worry about. 
Very well written from a young girl's perspective. The other characters were well drawn out as well.  All too believable.  Kudos to J.C Carleson.

Realistic YA novel that deals with bullying.

I enjoyed Picture Me by Lori Weber very much. Initially I was worried that distinguishing the characters might be difficult, as the voices were somewhat similar, but whether due to their circumstances, or the subtle differences between the characters' voices, I got over that.

I liked the foreshadowing, and think it will be a  perfect book for MS students. The book is told in alternating chapters from the views of Tessa, Krista and Chelsea.  Chelsea is the bully in the book and Krista is the primary victim.  I felt it was realistic and though I could easily predict how things would turn out, I think most 6th and 7th graders would enjoy predicting and seeing if they were correct.  I think as well the book portrays bullying in a realistic manner.

I enjoyed the cliffhanger ending as well, as it is particularly realistic.

I recommend this for MS students, particularly for girls, but I think boys would enjoy it as well.

Look for it March 1st.