Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Unwind

After the Heartland Wars divided the nation, the two sides (pro-life and pro-choice) came together to form a resolution. Abortion would be strictly banned, but parents could choose to “unwind” their children once they reached the age of reason, thirteen. Pro-lifers agreed to these measures, since the teens would not really die from the unwinding process. 99.44% of their body parts would be grafted into thousands of other people, and in this way they would continue to live on, only in a divided state.

16-year-old Connor has always been a troublemaker, but he never expected his parents to sign the orders to unwind him. Rather than be sent to a harvest camp and sold for parts, Connor runs away. Soon, fate leads him to meet state ward, Risa, a piano virtuoso who wasn’t quite good enough to warrant any more government funds, and 13-year-old Lev, a tithe, who has spent his entire life preparing for the day he might make the ultimate sacrifice to god.

Short chapters, a fast pace and an emotionally-charged theme make this a sure-fire hit for fans of Scott Westerfield’s Uglies or Shusterman’s Everlost. Though the story focuses on Connor, Risa and Lev, Shusterman includes chapters from a range of viewpoint characters, including a juvey cop, a boy who received part of an unwind’s brain and a former admiral who now works to save unwinds. Though the premise is hard to accept on first glance, this story of survival, teen rebellion and (in)humanity hooks readers fast and keeps them turning the pages till the bitter end. Along the way, Shusterman forces readers to consider profound issues such as the definition of life, the connection between our conscience and our body and the dangers of choosing the collective over the individual good.

DweebMeter: 3.75/5

Links

Neal Shusterman’s Website

Another Review of Unwind

 

Chloe Doe by Suzanne Phillips

Chloe Doe

At seventeen, Chloe Doe is a prostitute. She’s picked up one day and sent to the Madeline Parker Institute for Girls. Chloe meets Dr. Dearborn, a psychiatrist determined to get her off the streets. Deep down, she hates selling her body, but in order to change she must confront painful memories about her abusive stepfather and her sister’s murder.

Phillips lends a caustic and unforgiving voice to this first novel, which often reads like free verse poetry. The plot unravels through a series of therapy sessions and flashbacks. At the outset, the characters and plot feel cliché, but, in the end, Chloe’s story will touch readers.

The novel is not as good as Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, a story about finding one’s voice after being raped, but it is an honest portrait of a young woman’s attempt to triumph after suffering sexual abuse. The book contains some disturbing sexual situations, but these are important to accurately tell Chloe’s story.

DweebMeter: 3/5

Links

TeensReadToo Review of Chloe Doe

 

Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

Gym Candy

Pressured to excel in football since the age of four, freshman running back Mick Johnson will do anything to make the starting lineup for Shilshole High School. He works harder than anyone else in practice. He knows the game better than his competition. But, when all of this hardwork ends in a botched play that loses his team a spot in the playoffs, Mick starts the summer determined to do something different. He hits the gym hard every day. And when his trainer offers to sell him pills gauranteed to enhance his performance, Mick pushes aside his initial fears and buys them. At first, Mick isn’t sure how he feels about taking steroids, but by the time training camp rolls around, one thing seems certain: the pills work. Mick makes the starting line-up his sophomore year, and goes off the steroids before the season starts, against the advice of his trainer. In his first two games, Mick breaks a string of school records. Then, he follows this with three mediocre games, and all the while a freshman running back, Dave Kane, starts to show Mick up in practices. Afraid of losing everything he gained over the summer, Mick starts taking steroids again, only this time he takes a stronger dose that heightens the chance of dangerous roid rages and depression.

Deuker has crafted a realistic protagonist who struggles with insecurities about his body, his personal worth and his identity outside of football. The story combines heart-racing football scenes, conflicts with family and friends as well as Mick’s inner conflict. The fast pace will hold reluctant readers, and established readers will be shocked by the series of twists at the end.

DweebMeter: 3.5/5

Links

Carl Deuker’s Website

 

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Little Brother

An intense tale of terrorism, torture and techie rebellion.

17-year-old w1n5t0n (aka Marcus) lives in a post-911 world dominated by high tech security and almost no privacy. His high school runs gait-recognition software, which records students and identifies them based on the way they walk. His school laptop monitors every keystroke. To get around this, w1n5t0n uses TOR, an onion router that makes it impossible to tell what sites he’s visiting, and a disguised copy of Firefox. Even library books are monitored through radio frequency identification tags (RFID tags).

The story starts as w1n5t0n and his friends Vanessa, Darryl and Jolu cut class to play Harajuku Fun Madness, an ARG, i.e. a game that combines real world searching and online puzzles. Using wifinders, they reach their target destination, only to get caught in the middle of a bomb attack on the Bay Bridge. Moments later, caught up in a frenzied crowd fleeing for safety, Darryl gets stabbed. The friends push their way out of the crowd, but are soon attacked and forced into the back of a truck.

Eventually, w1n5t0n finds out they have been taken into questioning by the Department of Homeland Security. The rest of the tale unravels like a super scary, high tech version of George Orwell’s 1984. The same thing that got Marcus into trouble in the first place (i.e. his ability to hack and circumvent the system) gives him a way to fight back against the DHS in the end. He creates a secret network using an Xbox Universal and an operating system called ParanoidXbox. Through this network, called Xnet, he rallies his fellow citizens to fight for their privacy under the banner ‘Trust No One Over 25.”

I read this for book club this month. The bookclubbers gave it mixed reviews. Some people thought all the techie stuff bogged down the story, while others found the characters flat. I agree that the characters all sounded the same in the beginning, but I think Doctorow fleshes them out by the end. As for the techie chatter, I have to admit it made me a little hot and bothered. Can you say “invisible to the network’s snoopware” one more time?

Seriously, I completely loved this book. It’s got suspense, action, big brother and an amazing hero/hacker who uses his skills to fight the Man. What more do you need in a novel?

DweebMeter: 4/5

Links

Cory Doctorow’s Website

 

The Curse of the Romanovs by Staton Rabin

Curse of the Romanovs

Alexei Romanov, heir to the Russian throne in 1916, suffers from painful bouts of hemophilia, which can only be healed by a family friend, Father Grigory Rasputin. Rasputin teaches Alexei how to escape from his pain on the river of ancestral blood and visit other times and places. However, outside the royal family, Rasputin has earned a violent reputation. Alexei refuses to believe the accusations against him, until he learns the true price his mother has had to pay the Father for his good health. Alexei goes to his cousin for help in this matter, and in the attempted assassination that follows, he learns that Rasputin is no ordinary man. Even after he is shot, beaten and thrown into the river, he is still able to reach up and pull Alexei down with him. Alexei escapes death by traveling on the river of blood to the year 2010 where he meets his cousin, Varda Rosenberg, a budding scientist working on a cure for hemophilia. In the strange series of events that follows, the two new friends time travel back to Russia to try and stop the Bolsheviks from slaughtering Alexei’s family.

In this fictionalized retelling of the Russian revolution, Rabin combines science fiction, horror, historical fiction and contemporary teen fiction into a satisfying, if somewhat disconcerting read. The plot twists (like Rasputin showing up again at every turn) are improbable, bordering on impossible. The premise works, but leaves too much unexplained. Like what is so special about Rasputin anyway? I kept expecting him to grow fangs and start sucking people’s blood, but no such luck. Alexei’s ending will give reader’s some much needed emotional satisfaction, while the epilogue will likely confound and annoy. The historical note at the end adds a new perspective on the story and serves as evidence of Rabin’s tenacious research. Overall, certainly a unique read, and I have to respect an author with the guts to try something different.

DweebMeter: 3.5/5

Links

Staton Rabin’s MySpace

 

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

Feathers

The story opens as sixth grader Frannie struggles to understand the meaning of Emily Dickinson’s words, “Hope is the thing with feathers.” Her thoughts take on new meaning when a white boy called Jesus walks into Frannie’s all African American class. Her religious best friend, Samantha, comes to believe that the boy might just be the real Jesus, but Frannie, who has never gotten into church, isn’t so sure. Samantha’s hopes burst when Jesus Boy gets into a fight with school bully, Trevor, finally proving that he is not the real Jesus. But even as Samantha loses hope, Frannie begins to see hope all around her as she learns more about Jesus Boy, Trevor and others at her school. Other explorations of hope involve Frannie’s deaf brother and her newly pregnant mother who has suffered from past miscarriages.

Woodson crafts a strong, reflective protagonist and does an excellent job of tracing her personal evolution. This positive, thoughtful novel brings a mix of the surreal and the realistic. Religion plays an important part in the story, though Woodson avoids becoming preachy. This novel will likely appeal to an older audience than sixth grader Frannie. A brief but strongly felt story from a Newbery Honor author.

DweebMeter: 3/5

Links

www.jacquelinewoodson.com

Woodson on Wikipedia

Woodson Bio on TeenReads.com

 

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

Dragon Slippers

When Creel’s aunt decides to sacrifice her to a local dragon in the hopes of gaining a fortune, Creel is annoyed, but not as scared as you might expect. That’s because Creel, like most people, believes that dragons are only legend. However, she quickly learns that dragons are very real indeed. The local dragon, Theoradus, drags her into his cave. Through clever bargaining, she escapes unharmed and with a strange pair of blue slippers from the dragon’s hoard. She sets off on her own to the King’s Seat to find work sewing fancy embroidery. On the way, a band of men follow her, and she is rescued by yet another dragon, this time the kingly Shardas. Shardas and Creel become fast friends. When Creel finally sets off for the King’s Seat to make her fortune, she regrets leaving behind Shardas and his beautiful horde of stained glass windows. Creel soon finds work in a dress shop in the King’s Seat. Through clumsiness, luck and her strange blue slippers, she becomes embroiled in a royal land dispute. She learns that her slippers have awful powers, and that, in the wrong hands, they could spell doom for Shardas and the entire kingdom.

In a style reminiscent of Robin McKinley, George has crafted a fast-paced tale of high adventure and embroidery led by a strong heroine and an intriguing cast of secondary characters. I’ve found it hard to get through McKinley’s books in the past, but that was not the case with this story. George supplies more fully-developed characters, and she draws readers into the center of the action. A great read that stays away from formulaic fantasy and lends a fresh feel.

DweebMeter: 3.5/5

Links

http://www.dragonslippers.net/

 

Games: A Tale of Two Bullies by Carol Gorman

Games

!!!SPOILERS!!!

Eighth graders Boot Quinn and Mick Sullivan live to torment each other. The bullying shows no signs of letting up, until a new principal forces the boys to play board games for a few hours each day. At first, the fighting escalates. Everybody hears about their punishment in the game room, and the boys become celebrities at school. Both boys relish the attention of popular girl Tabitha, until they find out that she has been taking bets on their fights. In all the craziness, Boot and Mick make poor choices that threaten the things they hold most dear. In the aftermath of these decisions and in the midst of turmoil at home, Mick and Boot forge an unsteady truce.

Chapters alternate between Mick’s and Boot’s perspectives. Both voices sound authentic and distinct. The story unravels to a conclusion that will satisfy readers, but that avoids an unrealistic buddy movie ending. This is a great read for young adults struggling to balance school, friends, and family and maintain some trace of sanity while doing it.

DweebMeter: 3.5/5

Links

Carol Gorman’s Website

 

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Saga 4)

Breaking Dawn

In Twilight, I was swept into this mysterious, yet very modern vampire tale by Bella’s honest voice and Meyer’s well-crafted entry into the world of fantasy. New Moon dragged, and brought to the surface the aspects of the series I don’t like, i.e. the lack of action, Bella’s agonizing inability to see what the reader knows from the beginning and the unequal dynamic between Bella and the two monsters in her life, Edward and Jacob. I stayed on through Eclipse, hoping that Bella might finally come into her own power. Alas, it was not to be. Then came, Breaking Dawn…

!!!SPOILERS!!!

!!!SPOILERS!!!

Yes, I did the whole midnight release party thing. Actually, I hosted the Twilight Jeopardy at the midnight release party at Barnes & Noble, red contacts and all. It took me a week to read it, and here’s how I felt in a nutshell. The first 700 pages were great! More things happen in the first half of this book than happened in the first three books combined. Finally, probably out of necessity, Bella stops hedging, planning and worrying about what’s going to happen, and she actually makes stuff happen! On that point, my friend Rena, an avid fan (compared to my lukewarm fandom), was troubled by the suddenness of this book. She also found the events in the book (aka Renesmee) a little hard to buy into. I liked the whole vampire baby twist. Not only was it very Rosemary’s Baby, but it took some guts on Meyer’s part to take the plot in such a dangerous, unexpected direction. I also loved the section from Jacob’s perspective, partly because I am one of the generally shunned Team Jacob crew, partly because Jacob is a person of action (and thus much more interesting to read than Bella).

The problem. This was definitely my favorite book in the series, but… Just when Meyer got me all geared up to finally experience the awesome clash between good and evil, Bella and the Volturi, what do I get? More hedging, some inner turmoil and a battle that dissolves before it even gets started. The ending is too pat, the resolution to the conflict too easy. A disappointing ending to a series that packed so much potential.

That being said, I will be at the midnight release party for Midnight Sun (Twilight from Edward’s perspective), and any other books she writes in the saga (maybe a companion novel focusing on Jacob after Breaking Dawn, dare I hope . What can I say? Reading brings out the masochist in me.

DweebMeter: 3/5

Links

StephenieMeyer.com

 

Daemon Hall by Andrew Nance

Daemon Hall

A girl sits alone in her studio apartment reading a horror novel. She is a cynical girl, bored by predictable creature features. And yet, as she turns the pages, an invisible hand tugs at her gut. “What’s this?” she thinks, unsure what to make of it. She reads on, covering half the book in an hour (or was it two?). She’s losing track of time. She stands up to go pee, and something unexpected happens. She turns back and checks the front door to make sure it’s locked. When she comes out of the bathroom, she feels oddly light. Uncertain almost. Without stopping to think about what she’s doing, she goes into the bedroom and checks the closet. Then she returns to the bathroom, where she’s just been, and pushes aside the black shower curtain. Empty, of course. She sits back down to read. She falls asleep, book in hand, only a few pages to go. The next morning, the tiny hand tugging at her gut is gone. But she knows what it was now. “The heebie jeebies,” she thinks, smiling. It’s been a long time since she has felt anything as exciting as the heebie jeebies. She opens to the last few pages and continues to read.

In a nutshell, this is how I felt about Daemon Hall. Part collection of horror stories, part The Westing Game, Nance has crafted a surprisingly good read. In the book, five teens win a chance to spend a night at a haunted mansion with famous horror writer Ian Tremblin. Much of the text is made up of horror stories told by the contestants and the author. As expected, this story within a story (within a story?) takes a turn when the five contestants begin to disappear. Like the larger storyline, the short stories revisit classic horror plots, but with surprising effectiveness. Although the author’s attempts to create fully rounded characters are only moderately successful, I thoroughly enjoyed this heebie-jeebie inducing tale.

DweebMeter: 4/5

Links

Interview with Andrew Nance by author Cynthia Leitich Smith