Category Archives: Young Adult

Jefferson’s Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

26 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Young Adult

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Although this book has been out for several years, I had not read it.  It caught my eye the other day, and I thought I would try it because the students in one of the classes in my town are doing research into African Americans.  This is one that should be added to that list – if not required.

It is, of course, the story of the children of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings. However, it is more than that. It is an unusual look into the dichotomy of a man who would pronounce that “all men are created equal” in The Declaration of Independence, post a copy of that document in the lobby of his home, and yet deny his own flesh and blood the parental support that they so desperately wanted.

It is a sobering, eye-opening look into the institution that was slavery in the U.S.  The scenes are horrifying in many instances, but they are necessary to present the true picture of life in Virginia during the time of slavery.

The characters are well developed.  The author did extensive research into the Jefferson family and slavery, and she did a masterful job in presenting this piece of historical fiction to us. She does not use any dialectal language in the story.  The characters come alive and seem very real to any reader precisely because they are not different in speech or behavior. They speak, love, suffer, and die the same as any other person.  To do less with them, would be to reduce their humanity.

I did not know that Sally Hemmings was, in fact, a half-sister to Thomas Jefferson’s wife, thus the aunt of his daughter, Martha.  Martha tried to pretend that no connection to her family existed between her family and Sally’s. Yet, it was one of her daughters who taught Sally’s children to read and write.

While I knew that a mixed-race child born to a white woman was considered free, although they may still be considered black, and that a mixed-race child born to a slave was considered a slave, I did not know that a person of 7/8 white blood was considered white, but they could also be considered a slave because of the skin tone of their mother. Very confusing to me.

This book is well worth anyone’s time. I highly recommend it.  I do not know why it has not been made into a movie.

Burn Out by Kristi Helvig

12 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by in Science Fiction, Young Adult

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I have always liked science fiction, but lately I have not been able to get that type of book to review.  Science fiction has often given rise to actual scientific inventions.  Someone reads a book or watches a movie and begins to think, “Why couldn’t that really happen?” The biometric machines that are common-place in our hospitals had their inception in Star Trek. A machine that could travel to the moon and another that could go deep under the sea was born in the mind of Jules Verne. These are only a few examples of how science fiction has influenced reality.

The concepts that Helvig proposes in Burn Out are somewhat terrifying, yet intriguing.  Could it be possible to develop suits that would be totally heat resistant and self-repairing? Is it possible to travel deep into space through a type of worm-hole? This particular story was a pleasure for me to read, not only because it is well-written and thought-provoking, but also because it promises more to come.

It is 300 years in the future, and seventeen year old Tora lives all alone in an underground shelter. The earth is quickly dying because the sun has become a red giant and is burning up everything as it dies.  Her mother and sister were killed when they ventured outside and were burned alive by the sun. Her father, an engineer for the government, was killed by that government, so Tora can trust no one.  She knows that her only hope is to escape from Earth to someplace else in the Universe, but she has no idea where to go and no spaceship – only the deadly weapons that her father had created that only she can fire because he set them to her biometrics.  She doesn’t know if anyone else is even alive on Earth, but she sends out a broadcast every day, just in case. A family friend, Marcus, appears one day; and her world actually becomes worse.

Any high school Sci-Fi reader will love this book. It is also a type of political commentary because the government that is supposed to be trying to save the world is actually out to save themselves. I recommend it for high school readers and up because it is rather violent and there are sexual references.

Burning Nation by Trent Reedy

12 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by in Political fiction, Young Adult

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How far should the Federal government go to impose its will on the citizens of the U.S. on any issue that the most of the people are against? Can they arrest or shoot those who disagree? Are National Guard units responsible to their state first and the Federal government second?

In this sequel to Divided We Fall, Reedy continues the story of a state that is taking a stand against the wishes of the federal government to force all citizens to carry a card that allows them to be tracked in all their movements.  Idaho finally secedes from the United States, and other states begin to follow the same action.  Each declares themselves to be a sovereign nation, and the U.S. sends in military power to stop the secession.

Private Wright and his fellow soldiers must go underground to keep from being captured by the feds.  They learn who they can trust and who they can’t.  They also learn that power sometimes causes people to do things that others thought they would never do. “Who’s right” and “who’s wrong” is a big theme in this story.

The very people that Wright and his friends see as saviors begin to deal with other combatants in a very brutal manner – even killing a person who had helped them.  Wright and his friends must ask themselves if this is the sort of freedom they wanted when they took up arms against the U.S.

A retired military person read this and commented that it is a great story with some technical inaccuracies, e.g. a 40 mm grenade launcher is an M203 not an M320 as stated in the story. All in all, it is a tension-building story that does not totally end with the conclusion of the book. Look for another to come.

Libraries that service older teenagers, grades 10 and up will want to add this to their collection. I could not recommend it for younger readers because of drinking, sex and violence.

Eyes Wide Open by Paul Fleischman

18 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Non-Fiction, science, Young Adult

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Rarely do I find nonfiction books that troubles me.  This is such a book.  It certainly has made me think and should make any reader think.  However, I am concerned because it is written for younger readers, and they might not have enough facts at their disposal to recognize the bias that this work presents.

Environmental protection is a high priority for most responsible people.  How we accomplish this, is sometimes the topic of huge debates.  This book, on the surface, proposes to examine all view points and to open the eyes of the reader to the situations and the proposed solutions. In reality it takes a very definite view of environmental issues and negates or, in some cases, fails to explain the opposing views.

The author takes the position that anyone who disagrees with his conclusions is wrong. He certainly has the right to his opinions and the right to publish them, but to voice those opinions to middle school and/or high school readers as the “real” facts and to make them think that, unless they “see” things his way, they are wrong, moves the book into a type of indoctrination.

I had a person who has a degree in Natural Resources read and review this book.  He had some of the same concerns that I had.  He went on to state that while the author quotes many sources, he is in actuality quoting the opinions of others.  He is not analyzing data from environmental studies.  So, the information being presented is a second hand opinion.

Fleischman is an acclaimed writer of fiction for children and young adults. He has also authored some nonfiction books, but they are not about extremely controversial subjects, as this one is.  I would like to have seen a more balanced approach to the subject with some questions being offered for the reader to consider on each subject.

There is an excellent chapter on How to Weigh Information which I actually used in considering the credentials of this author.  He tells the reader to check out the references and the author – which I did. The sources he used, and those he recommends, are extensive.

I suppose I am more than a little put off by his attitude that the consumers are stupid and only more government regulations will save us from our stupidity.  However, I recommend it for the high school library, with the caveat that opposing viewpoints exist and should be recognized. This book is also available in ebook format and in audio.

If you have read this book, I do welcome your comments

If It Bleeds by Linda L. Richards

11 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Mystery and Suspense, Young Adult

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if it bleeds      Linda L. Richards, author of the Charlie D. series, introduces a new sleuth to us in the form of Nicole Charles, a newspaper writer.  Nicole was offered a job with a major newspaper as a gossip columnist.

Although Nicole accepted that job, her real desire is to become an investigative reporter. While attending the opening of a new art gallery, she stumbles upon a body in a dark alley.  The body is that of the artist who was featured in the opening.  The unusual thing was that he was stabbed with an antique icepick.

Nicole begins her investigation to find her efforts somewhat thwarted by her boss, who allows another, more experienced journalist to take the lead on her story.  Nicole is determined to discover the identity of the killer and to prove to her boss that she is not just a writer of gossip columns.

Richards has crafted a good mystery for the reader.  It builds suspense and tension right up to the end. Although the protagonist is an adult, the material contained in the book will not be objectionable to any high school library.  The text is designed to appeal to any reader who may experience some difficulty in reading. I recommend this book as an addition to your mystery collection in high school and in public libraries.

Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter

09 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Young Adult

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Curses and Smoke Any lover of historical fictional or a fan of love stories will want to read this book. Shecter, author of Cleopatra’s Moon, has once again given the reader of historical fictional a fascinating look into the past.

She has thoroughly researched the events of the eruption of Vesuvius, the lives of the people living in and around Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the Roman society as a whole.  She has included a wonderful set of notes at the end of the story so the reader may be able to see the sources of her story and of her characters.

The two main characters, Tag and Lucia are from two very different social strata.  Their lives are intertwined because Tag’s father is the physician for Lucia’s father and for the gladiators at his school. Lucia, is supposed to marry a much older man, but she wants to understand the causes of the natural mysteries she has begun to notice, and she definitely does not want to marry an old man.  Lucia has been taught to read, but she remains the property of her father and will later be the property of her husband; therefore, her wishes are of no importance. The love between Tag and Lucia develops as Vesuvius sends out more and more warnings about the coming eruption.  But, the people of Pompeii have never experienced an eruption, and they ignore the coming doom of the town.

The reader will come away with a realistic view of life and love during the first century.  Pompeii itself is a treasure of the past, but Shecter has put together other pertinent information that will expand the knowledge of the reader about Roman and its people’s. The book is suitable for grades six through twelve although adults will also enjoy it. I can easily recommend its purchase.

Project Cain by Geoffery Girard

25 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by in Science Fiction, Young Adult

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Get ready to be afraid – very afraid!

Jeff has just had his world come crashing down around him.  His father explains that all he ever knew about himself was a lie.  His mother did not die; she didn’t even really exist. His father wasn’t his real father; he wasn’t even really fourteen years old.  He was part of a secret government project, DSTI, to create killing machines using DNA from serial killers, and he is a clone of Jeffery Dahmer. Then, his father leaves him and, for whatever reason, sets free all the clones still living at the Massey Institute, which he succeeds in doing; thus setting a group of killer clones loose in the U.S.

A rogue agent from DSTI, named Castillo saves Jeff from being taken by either DSTI or the killer clones. The killer clones begin a killing spree across the U.S, and Castillo and Jeff have to track down the killers using the notes Jeff’s “father” left. Jeff also has some type of psychic connection to the killers, but he begins to realize that the connection works two ways. There may be more to this story to follow.

Nature or Nurture has always been the big question about criminals.  Girard has given us a thought-provoking work couched in the plot of a horror sci-fi book.  He also tells us about real secret government projects that have involved using humans as guinea pigs – some of which the reader may know about, and others, which- after a good internet search- the reader will come to realize are only too true. Could the events really happen? The answer is, unfortunately, a resounding YES.  The story is written for high school students, but although it is dark and somewhat violent, it could be read by a good middle school reader.

Victoria by Silvana Goldemberg

25 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by in Young Adult

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An amazing story of the resiliency of a young girl being abused and living in poverty in Argentina! Victoria’s mother has died and she, along with her twin brothers, must live with her Aunt Marta. Marta, Juan (Marta’s live-in-boy friend), and her daughter, Betina, live with Doña Norma, Victoria’s great-aunt. Doña Norma owns the house where they live, but she is an invalid.  Victoria yearns to be a teacher, but Aunt Marta forces her to quit school and help with the work around the home and with her ironing business.

Juan has made advances in the past, but when he gets very aggressive in his advances to her, Victoria realizes she can not continue living in the home and be safe.  When she runs away, she soon realizes that life on the streets can be as dangerous as what she ran away from.

Fortunately for her, a street boy named Marko befriends her and helps her learn how to survive without having to resort to prostitution or to selling drugs – the usual result for young Argentinian street girls .  While Marko looks out for Victoria and manages to keep other men from messing with her, he cannot get himself out of the grip of drug dealers. Victoria realizes he is in danger but is powerless to help him.

However, along with the bad people she encounters, several good people do come into her life to help save her. Victoria is smart enough to see where life on the streets will take her, and wise enough to take advantage of the good that people offer her.

While there are descriptions of violence and sexual advances, there are no overt scenes.  I think this book is an excellent way to show young women that they can be true survivors when bad things happen to them. I recommend this for middle school and high school libraries. The cost is $12.95 for the paperback version, but I would hope that wouldn’t be a deterrent to purchasing it.

the strange and beautiful sorrows of ava lavender

06 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by in Fantasy, Young Adult

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I did not make a mistake typing the title!  This is exactly how the title appears on the book.  Strange, isn’t it? But, it fits the story because this book is weird from the get-go.

This is a story of love, life and death.  It begins with Ava’s great-grandparents who emigrate from France to the U.S.  The family has strange things that happen to them both in France and in the U.S. The father is a big hard-working man with a very over-active imagination.  One day he goes to work and never is seen again. The mother is very quiet, and she finally disappears into a small pile of blue ashes. Emilienne is thought by many to be a witch. Pierette, the youngest, falls in love with an ornithologist and turns herself into a canary to make him happy.  When she dies, Emilienne carries her body around in a lozenge box.  René, the only boy, has girls swooning over him, but he prefers boys and gets himself killed because of it.  Margaux becomes pregnant, and Emilienne discovers that her fiancé is the father of her sister’s baby, but both Margaux and the baby die, and Emilienne throws her former fiancé out a window. (He lives and runs away.)

After the death of all of her loved ones, Emilienne marries Connor Lavender, a man she doesn’t love, because she wants to be a good wife to him BUt mostly it is because she wants to leave her past behind. Still, she feels she can’t give her heart to anyone because she will only lose that person.  Connor Lavendar and Emilienne move to Seattle where they live into a house with a very unusual past. No one in Seattle wants to live there so the couple has no problem obtaining it.  Emilienne gives birth to one child, Vivianne. Connor is very devoted to Emilienne, but he dies on night of a heart attack. Emilienne takes her baby to the bakery shop Connor had started and continues to his work.

Then the story really gets strange. A young man from town takes advantage of Vivienne and impregnates her with twins.  Vivienne’s son is strange – today we would call him autistic, – and the girl, Ava, is born with wings.  No one seems to know why she has wings.  She can’t fly with them, but the doctors say they can’t remove them.  Vivianne isolates the children at home to keep the people in Seattle from making fun of them, but as all teenagers are wont to do, Ava sneaks out with a neighbor girl she had become friends with and joins up with some teens at the reservoir.

The teens accept Ava with her wings, and life goes on. A young man even falls in love with her, but another man in their community becomes obsessed with her.  This man attacks Ava, rapes her, and cuts off her wings one night as she is coming home from the reservoir. The entire book is about these strange people, but nothing is explained about what caused Ava’s wings – or anything else for that matter. There seems to be very little plot.  There are characters that seem very real and draw the reader into their personalities. These characters are multidimensional and their lives are intertwined, but there is no real resolution to any situation.

The book reminds me, for some reason of As I Lay Dying.  (I couldn’t figure out the purpose for that book either.)  Even the end of this book is difficult to explain.  Ava’s wings regrow, and she soars off into the night. But is she really alive? or is she soaring off to death? I honestly can’t find any reason to recommend it for purchase by school libraries.  Perhaps another reviewer might feel differently, but that is my opinion.

Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen

01 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Young Adult

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Scan0028       Lady Thief is the second book of the Scarlet series. These books are a retelling of the Robin Hood stories with a big twist. The reader of the first will know that Scarlet is also known as Will Scarlet, but Scarlet is in reality Maid Miriam. She came to be known by Robin Hood’s band as Will Scarlet in the first book. In this tale Lord Gisbourne, the man she was forced to marry, but a man she doesn’t love, is competing with Robin Hood for the title of the Sheriff of Nottingham. Scarlet really loves Robin Hood, of course, but she can’t do anything about that love because she is already married and does not want to add the sin of adultery to her soul.

When the royal court, Queen-mother, Eleanor of Aquitane, and Prince John come to Nottingham to name the new sheriff, Scarlet learns more about her family and about her connection to the royal family. She learns of the high price she must pay continue to keep Robin Hood safe.

This is a fast-paced, suspenseful story that will leave the reader hoping the next one comes out quickly. I recommend its purchase, especially if you have already have the first.