Article 5

I knew from the first time that I heard about Article 5 that I would love it, and I was definitely not disappointed. To this point it is my favorite 2012 debut novel. I won't be surprised if I still feel that way in December, even though I have already enjoyed other debuts so much this year and am sure to be clicking away on the pages of others. This one is just extra special.

In the dystopian novel three years after a life-changing war in the United States, Ember's relationship with her mom has always been at the core of her existence. The sense of security she feels with her life changes one day when officers from the Federal Bureau of Reformation come knocking on the door announcing that her mother is in violation of Article 5, having a child out of wedlock. To Ember's horror, Chase, one of her closest childhood friends ends up being one of the soldiers. She fights to stay united with her mom and to protect her to no avail. Though Chase briefly stands up for her a little bit, Ember is left feeling disappointed and furious with him.

Before she has time to come to grips with the separation, she is thrust into a new life, carted away to a Rehabilitation Center filled with horrors. Full of mystery, suspense, and plenty of twists, I could not wait to keep reading. I remembered that one advertisement for the book mentioned that Ember was "more Katniss than Bella", so I was expecting a strong, innovative character. While reading I was having a constant inner dialogue with Ember - sometimes cheering for her, other times thinking, no, no, no - what are you thinking!? Needless to say, I was engaged start to finish.

Dystopian novels always seem so disturbing with the what ifs? However, they often seem to be enough out there to feel more relieved that it probably wouldn't really happen; however, with this novel, there were many aspects that made me think about history, such as Nazi Germany and the underground railroad, making it all seem eerily more possible.

I always love hearing more about author's backgrounds, and I found it interesting to learn on her site that the Simmons is a mental health advocate. I absolutely loved the last paragraph of her acknowledgements, "And finally, thank you to the people who, in the face of hardship, fight. Who turn surviving into thriving. Because of you I now live stronger and wiser, with the knowledge that hope is working through us all, even in our darkest moments."

I bought this on my Kindle, but I will need to buy a regular copy for my classroom library. I can hardly wait for the other two books in the trilogy to come out, which made me think back to reading Wither last year. I just now checked to see when Fever would be released and am overjoyed to see that it was actually already released about a week ago! Good thing there are other great books to tide me over while waiting for the next book in Simmons' trilogy.

Small Town Sinners

I was intrigued when I first saw the topic of Melissa Walker's latest book, Small Town Sinners. In the novel, Lacey Anne is gearing up for her town's Hell House, a religious event that their church community looks forward to each year. Occurring around the time of Halloween, the event is seen as an outreach to shock attendees with enactments of various sins with the hopes of having them sign pledges at the end of the event to demonstrate they will avoid the scenarios portrayed.

I imagine that my response to hearing about the details of the real life events were similar to Walker's when she first heard about the concept - shocked. Nonetheless, Walked did an excellent job of showing us this aspect through the eyes of Lacey Anne and her friends who have grown up with the event and see it as being part of the "big picture" to draw people into the church. 

Throughout I was horrified but trying to understand what it was like from the community's point of view. Then there's Ty, someone who lived in the town as a child, moved away, and recently returned. He comes with an outsider's perspective and brings up questions about the tradition, making Lacey think and wonder rather than blindly accepting. Many events surround the year this particular year's Hell House, all leading Lacey to reflect more than before. While she looks to her parents, her friends, and Ty to navigate her thoughts, I appreciated that this coming of age story portrayed balance, rather than a sharp shift to one side. Lacey's emotions and actions seemed to accurately reflect an authentic experience.

I can't wait to see what Walker will write next. I still have to read the second two books in the Violet series, but I enjoyed the first as well as her Lovestruck Summer. Each of the three are unique. Right now the Kindle edition of Small Town Sinners is $2.51. I am not sure how long it will be at that price, but I could hardly believe my luck when I saw the deal!

Chopsticks

When I heard about the unique format of Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral from Franki's post over at a Year of Reading, I could not resist. I am always attracted to exploring new ways of telling stories. When the book arrived last night I was surprised by the size. I was expecting a regular chapter book sized text; however, it was more the size of a professional educator book. I would have known if I would have looked at the dimensions on Amazon (9.4 x 8 x .09), but I rarely pay attention to that. Surprise aside, I was thrilled because I quickly realized that it was much more appropriate for this story than the size I was imagining would have been.

The novel is told through photographs, news articles, art, ephemera, chats, and more. The start of the book reminded me of the feeling of picking up The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which was another book that I was drawn to precisely for its unique way of telling the story through pictures and words.

I started to orient myself to the story, and based on the back cover, knowing that at the end I would wonder, "what is real, what is imagined, and what has been madness all along..." I was not sure which aspects to focus on, knowing that Franki had mentioned in her post that she would have to go back and look closely again. For example, one page contained a couple of pages of writing from Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar with writing all over it. I was not sure if it was really necessary to read the pages, or if the focus was more on a connection to the mood or if it was about the writing on the page.

I can see how I will need to go back and re-read now that I figured out some of the twists toward the end that change everything. There will definitely be so much that I will discover with a re-read. I didn't even capture certain aspects such as chapter markers consistently the first time through. I noticed the first one with chapter three, which was obvious, but then I could not find the first couple of chapters. Later I found chapter 7, which prompted me to go back and find the others. I found most but then could not wait to see what else was going to happen, so I decided that hold off on that search.

One aspect that I will need to do upon re-read is go to the You Tube sites listed in the book. I know that is part of the story and will add another layer of understanding. When I closed the book I had mixed feelings - one of great appreciation and awe at the format and frustration - wondering if I will ever truly figure it out, wanting to be able to discuss it with others. However, I reminded myself that it was part of the fun - the joy of knowing there will be more to discover on future readings. I will be looking for others who want to read and discuss the book though!

This book is also available as an App, something that I think would be interesting to see as well. As I understand it, it has everything the paper novel has with some added in multi-media experiences. Oh, the possibilities with creativity!

Wanderlove

I had high hopes for Kristen Hubbard's Wanderlove, and they were fulfilled. Bria was excited for a trip to Europe with her two best friends the summer after high school. When they disappointed her by saying that the trip would not be the best timing, she decided to go on a trip anyway but opted for Central America. However, her dreams of an ideal vacation were quickly dashed when she realized that the rest of her tour group was all middle-aged, rather than the fun teen-aged faces on the brochures!

Nonetheless, a twist of events set Bria on a journey to take risks and shift plans, traveling instead with brother and sister Rowan and Starling. While Starling seemed to be at peace with who she is, Rowan and Bria were both considering events from their pasts, present and who they want to become.

There was so much to love - the characters, the setting, the internal conflicts. I liked how throughout the book we discovered more of the pieces to Rowan's and Bria's pasts in order to better understand their present actions, as well as guessing what they would decide next. Another fun layer to the overall composition of the book was the addition of some of Bria's drawings. It was always a special treat to click and discover the way that Bria was capturing the experience.

I have heard a lot about Hubbard's other novel Like Mandarin, and now I want to read it even more.

*Netgalley e-copy provided. Wanderlove will be released in March.

The Queen of Kentucky

Alecia Whitaker's book The Queen of Kentucky has one of those fun covers that made me want to read the book as soon as I saw the cover. Ricki Jo attended a k-8 Catholic school in her small community, and as she gears up for 9th grade, she is excited about a chance to finally go to school with more kids within her community. She wants everything to be perfect and decides that in order to start it off right, she needs to be Ericka instead of Ricki Jo.

Along the way I was laughing as Ericka/Ricki Jo tried to navigate who she was and who she wanted to become, while thinking about if that's what she really wanted after all. I loved that her dad thought it was a good idea to offer that she wear his high school FFA jacket on her first day to the high school. (Somewhere I have my corduroy FFA jacket stashed away - the one that I earned by selling the most Sloppy Joe feed tickets. But that is another story...) At least her mom came to her rescue, knowing that was not necessarily the first impression she wanted to make.

Among the unknown Ricki Jo has an anchor in her best friend and neighbor. She discovers what it means to be the "new" girl and tries to decide what her priorities are. While the book mainly lets us know about Ericka's process, there are also glimpses into her friends and acquaintances. Without giving away too much, (but don't keep reading if you don't want any type of a spoiler), I thought the ending had a nice touch, not necessarily your typical girl who wants to be popular eventually abandons the popular girls because of realizations along the way. There was more of a balance, and I liked that shift.

*Debut Author Challenge 2012 - 4/12

Love and Leftovers

I sometimes add books to my Amazon wish list or to my Kindle and then when I actually read them I have forgotten what drew me to them in the first place. That was the case with Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay, but at the first page I remembered with delight why I had chosen it - not only is it in verse, but it is by a semi-local author for me. I always love making connections to locations in the book, so this one had the double benefit of being split between Boise, Idaho (where I commute for my doctorate) and Durham, New Hampshire (somewhere I have never been but that conjures up images of writing gurus, such as Linda Rief and University of New Hampshire faculty).

With that immediate hook, I plunged into the novel, and I did not want to put it down - although I did the first night, knowing that I needed to get to bed at a semi-reasonable hour.

Lisa Schroeder is probably my favorite author who writes novels in verse, and the voice in Love and Leftovers, reminded me of her books. Marcie, the main character is fun and witty. She also tells her story in a gut-wrenching manner, being able to understand her torn emotions and the confusion she feels with everything going on around her (and within herself).

When her mom finds out that her dad is gay and has a boyfriend, Marcie's mom flees with her to New Hampshire. Marcie expects it to be short term, but as the summer comes to a close and it is time to start school, Marcie realizes that it is not so temporary. Far away from her best friend, boyfriend, and the other "leftovers" at Boise High, Marcie starts to make the transition to Oyster River High School.

This shift in her parents' relationship was a curveball for her and she finds herself questioning the other relationships in her life and tries to make sense of her own feelings. Oh, and not only does she miss her friends and her dad, but her mom is depressed.

So many emotions to sift though, and I loved every minute of it trying to figure out the decisions she was going to make, as well as how others in her life would react to the events going on. The verse also had a lot of lines that I absolutely loved.

As an added bonus, I noticed that Sarah Tregay has a tab on her site dedicated to a compilation of novels in verse titles. She has them broken down by age group with suggested ratings. What a great resource! I will definitely have to revisit it for ideas.

*3/12 2012 Debut Author Challenge

The Whole Story of Half a Girl

Those who read my blog frequently know that identity is a topic that always catches my attention in books; however, they are often novels for young adults or adults. Veera Hiranandani's The Whole Story of Half a Girl is a middle grade debut of Sonia navigating experiences of people questioning who she is for the first time. She previously went to a private school with close-knit classes and a general sense of acceptance. When her dad loses his job at the end of her 5th grade year, she finds out that the following year she will be going to public school for the first time.

She quickly notices that students seem to be divided by race and starts to wonder where she fits in as a half Indian, half Jewish American. People ask her questions that she is not sure how to answer. Those inner struggles combined with shifts in her family dynamics weigh heavily on her.

The book was somewhat slow throughout, but I still enjoyed it for a number of reasons. First, is the obvious topic of interest dealing with identity. In the recent years with overall shifts in economy, I have read quite a few books that deal with parents losing jobs, but this book seemed to address the topic at a deeper level, adding more dimensions for discussion. While Sonia was out of her comfort zone and struggling with identity, it was evident that she was a strong person. It was not always easy to predict how she would react to and deal with everyday middle school dramas. If middle grade readers are able to stick with the book, it will give them a lot to consider; however, some readers may be turned off by the slower pace.

*Net Galley electronic copy provided; 2012 Debut Author Challenge 2/12