Month: August 2010

I have been busy reading this week and have found some great reads. There is nothing like reading to let you travel to new lands and get inside the head of a character.

The first book that I read is a fairly new release. I was able to buy a set of books for teachers at Scholastic that included three of the books that had just come out in May or early June. This book is Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. The premise of the book is a little bit far-fetched but it is another of the doomsday plots where in the future the people have made a mess of things and found something they thought would be the solution. The narration in the book goes back and forth between the story of Finn, a boy who is trapped in the world of Incarceron, and Claudia, the warden’s daughter. The people in Incarceron, a prison, have been told that there is nothing outside and that the whole world that exists is inside of the walls of the prison. Finn does not remember his time before waking up inside of the prison but he has a nagging feeling that he came from outside. He has some dreams that seem to be memories and he is convinced that he came from somewhere else. Claudia is betrothed to the crown prince and once she is married she will be queen, but that is not what she wants. Fisher weaves a story that keeps the reader intrigued and wondering about this mysterious world of Incarceron. I would recommend this book mainly to fans of science fiction.

The second book I read was Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. This is a story about a girl who was attacked by wolves when she was younger. She becomes obsessed with the wolf pack that lives in the woods behind her house and particularly one wolf who always seems to be watching the house. She is convinced that there is something different about these wolves. The narration again goes back and forth between Grace, the girl, and Sam, the wolf. It is a love story and fantasy all wrapped up in one. There is a mystery in the book as they have to search for a boy who was attacked by wolves and died but then his body disappeared from the morgue. I am a sucker for a good love story and this one fit the bill. Fans of Twilight will enjoy this story. I am looking forward to finding the sequel and reading more about these characters.

The last book I want to write about here is Cut by Patricia McCormick. This book is written in first person and is about a girl who is in a mental hospital because she has been cutting herself. The author brings the reader inside the mind of the narrator and the reader is able to feel the experience of day to day life in the hospital. It is a short book and I was unable to put it down once I started. I found myself crying at certain points of the story because McCormick brought out the pain of the character in such a real way. Overall, though, this book is an uplifting story about a girl who is in pain but is on the track to getting better. I would recommend this book to most girls if only to help them to see the things that could be happening inside the minds of those around them.

The first series that I want to talk about here is 39 clues. I love the idea for this series. I love that it will stay fresh throughout because each book is written by a different author. Each book is in itself a mystery which resolves itself by the end to reveal a clue. The clue hunt is a dangerous game and Amy and Dan find that they know many of the answers because of things that their grandmother did with them. I love that this series is very easy to read. Anybody, even a struggling reader, would be able to get through these books. Each book is short and quick to read and I find myself really curious to see how the whole thing will work out. The only thing that I don’t like about the series is that there are some things that happen that are quite unbelievable…the reader needs to use quite a bit of imagination to think that these two kids would survive some of the adventures that pop up for them. I just finished reading the 8th book in the series and am looking forward to finding the 9th book.

I also just finished the 4th book in the Percy Jackson series. The premise of these books is that the Greek gods actually exist and still rule over the happenings on Earth. Percy Jackson is a demi-god because Poseidon is his father. He ends up having to go on quests to keep different bad things from happening. I like the fact that there is a prophecy that the reader finds out about in the books because it foreshadows a big decision that Percy will have to make soon. In this book the battle is shaping up to be a major battle to keep the Titans from returning and overcoming the Gods. I was very intrigued by the hint of a love story taking shape and the two girls that Percy is probably going to have to choose between. I can’t wait to get the 5th book and read the conclusion of a great series of books.

The Warrior Heir by Cinda WIlliams Chima is another book along the same lines of the Harry Potter, Pendragon, Percy Jackson line. In this book the protagonist, Jack, has no clue that he actually has a warrior stone and will need to train to play the game that the wizards run. The book describes the struggle that he goes through as he finds out that he is more than what he thought he was and learns about the Weir people. There is a very intriguing story to explain the secret workings of the wizards, sorcerers, enchanters, and warriors. Jack has to take on the new story of who he is and keep it a secret from his mother and his friends who are Anawier…people without special powers. It all comes to an exciting conclusion as Jack has to participate in a fight to the death against another warrior. I am looking forward to finding and reading the other books in this series. If you like Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, you will like The Warrior Heir.

This summer I have been catching up on many of the books that I had piled up in the house. I will start with the Pendragon series by D.J. MacHale. I have been reading this series for a few years now and finally got around to reading books 8, 9, and 10 of the series. This series is a great adventure series and really brings up some great themes of friendship and the nature of humans. Bobby Pendragon is a very likeable character that the reader can really connect to. It is fun to imagine all of the different territories that he travels to as well as thinking about the ultimate battle for Halla. Every book in the series really was a pageturner for me. I found myself staying up until the wee small hours of the morning to finish the last book because I was so curious about how it was all going to end. Pendragon is a series that I would recommend for Harry Potter fans because I felt almost the same sense of adventure from this series.

I also just finished reading the book Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. Now I know why this book was talked about in so many places. I was expecting a very heartbreaking story of a suicidal girl. I did get the story of this girl but in such a suspenseful and interesting way that the focus was not on the tragedy but on the mystery of what happened. I was thankful to the author for that because it made the book one that I really couldn’t put down. I was right there with the narrator who could not stop listening to the tapes once he started…I wanted to know how all of the people had affected Hannah. I will be using this book in my classroom this year as a read aloud so that the 7th grade students can reflect on how their actions really make a difference to others. I would highly recommend this book to any teen reader!