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.