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We all know Huckleberry Finn. He is the boy whose adventures, alongside Tom Sawyer, are read in almost every school in America. It is also the Mark Twain story that sparks racial controversy every time it is added to a curriculum. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a story we are all familiar with, but is it always accessible to students?
Huck's father comes and goes, but Huck doesn't mind when he is gone. It means he doesn't hit Huck. When Huck is taken in my a kind neighbor, he appreciates everything she is doing for him, but he struggles to remain proper. In particular, he struggles to remain confined inside four walls. When his dad returns to town, there is an adventure of epic proportions complete with a murder mystery, con men, Jim, the runaway slave, and treasure.
The great thing about these Campfire stories is how they take a large, possibly dry story and abridge it into a fun, short, graphic novel. I don't usually like abridged versions, but more and more, I see the merit in these graphic shorts. They can inspire students to pick up the full story when they are ready for it, and even if they don't, they at least give them exposure to the story. Sometimes, because the story is heavily abridged, it feels a little choppy or disjointed, but that is the price you pay for this kind of adaptation! I like this series, and hope to pick up a few more. But one thing is for sure... this is the kind of fun, quick story a boy like Huck, who can't be in the same place for too long, would appreciate!
When we got Noah and Echo's story, we thought we couldn't love anyone more than the two of them. Then we got Beth's story and realized our love for each character is different, but equally as devoted. And then there was Isaiah's story and I thought to myself, "Katie McGarry! You tricky little devil! How on EARTH do you do this to me with every single book?!" In the third companion novel of the Pushing the Limits series, McGarry brings Isaiah what we always wanted for him: the perfect girl for him. But nothing comes easy for Isaiah.
Isaiah has only loved two people unconditionally in his life: Noah and Beth. Noah has Echo and is torn between his past and loyalty to Isaiah and the future he wants to start with Echo. Beth just destroyed Isaiah. Now Isaiah finds himself alone again and hanging on by a thread. Barely able to make rent with Noah, he faces losing his freedom from the system if Noah moves to the dorms with Echo. In an effort to make a little money and keep Noah with him, he does something he never does: he decides to drag for a little extra cash. When he goes to Eric's illegal races, he expects meet some rough characters, Eric being the most deceptively terrifying. What he doesn't expect is to meet an angel in a Mustang.
Rachel has always been protected. Born as a replacement for her sister who died of leukemia, Rachel has never lived up to the vibrant, outgoing Colleen. Instead, her desire to work on cars, irritation with the colors pink and purple, and anxiety attacks have been the ever present source of sadness for her mother. Add to that an overprotective father and four overprotective older brothers, and you have a girl who barely leaves the house. Except to drive her mustang. Her baby. After a rough night, Rachel's twin, Ethan, covers for her while she goes for a ride. She doesn't expect to end up at a drag race, but even less does she expect to be so taken by a guy full of earrings and tattoos. But when Isaiah strides up to her car to approve of its engine for her to race, she can't pull her eyes away from him. And she isn't afraid to tell him to get his hands off her car.
When the race goes bad and the police show up, Isaiah refuses to leave Rachel behind. In a new kind of race, they manage to get away, but they aren't free and clear. While the police didn't catch them, Eric thinks Rachel had something to do with the anonymous tip that was sent into the police about the race which led to a couple of guys ribbing him. Now he is hunting Rachel to make her pay. But Isaiah has no intentions on letting anyone get anywhere near Rachel. He will do anything he can to protect her, even if it means not calling her when she is the only thing he can think about. But when Eric finds her, Isaiah gives up his exile. Now nothing can keep Isaiah from his angel. Not her brothers, not her father, not even a homicidal criminal like Eric.
Oh boy. Boy, oh boy. I cannot tell you how MUCH I loved this book. I really did not think it was possible to love a couple more than I loved Echo and Noah, but you know what? Isaiah and Rachel's story is now my absolute favorite. There is something so deep and so tormented about that boy that you just needed for him to find his perfect complement. And that complement was Rachel. She wasn't perfect- far from it- but she was perfect for Isaiah. Not only because of her love for cars, but because she was as damaged as he was. While her life might have appeared to be charmed, it was actually a complete mess. Together, Rachel and Isaiah made a whole. Apart, they were in pieces. That is the stuff of a beautiful (and complicated) romance, and I loved Every. Single. Page. Of. It.
When I describe these stories, I just don't do them justice, though. They appear to be your standard, run-of-the-mill romances, but they are anything but average. McGarry has this uncanny ability to make you love her characters as if they were really in your life. It sounds silly, but I felt like I knew Isaiah and Rachel by the time I finished with this book! She also has the ability to introduce supporting characters new to each book who are just as fantastic as the regulars. When you meet Abby, the snarky, tough as nails, drug dealing con artist, you are going to fall in love with her. You think I am wrong, right? How could you ever love a girl like that? Well, read this book and tell me you don't. I bet you will be begging for a book about Abby the same way I am!!
So here is my plea to Ms. McGarry. PLEASE don't stop writing these stories. They make me so happy and consume my life from the first page to the last. My husband tried to talk to me in the middle of Crash Into Me for about 20 minutes before he realized I hadn't heard a word he said. Luckily the boy understands what happens when I love a book this much! I am so excited for West's story, but the next one should be Abby's story! And by the time you are done with those two, I am sure I will find another supporting character to love just as much as I loved Isaiah and Ryan and Abby and West. I need more! Don't stop! Keep 'em coming! These are some of the best books I have read! I can't get enough!!
We take fresh water for granted, but there are parts of the world where freshwater is a commodity. When that becomes the case for New York City, especially after the Wash Out, fresh water is the only thing people care about, next to a cure for the Blight. In Jordana Frankel's first novel in The Ward series, we see just how far people are willing to go to save the lives of those they love.
Ren can't tell anyone she works for the Blues, even if it is only to scout for water. Everyone would think she was a traitor who turned in the sick for a ransom rather than a selfless hero searching for a source of freshwater to sustain the population. Granted she wouldn't be working for the Blues had she not gotten arrested and forced to work for them, but still, she believes she is doing a good thing to find fresh water for the sick, dying, quarantined population. When she is told by a Blue to search a specific quadrant in the middle of a race whose purse she needs desperately, she can't tell him her sister is home suffering the final stages of the Blight. Instead of finding just fresh water, however, she finds something more important than she ever could have imagined.
She finds water that is essentially the Fountain of Youth, heavily guarded and protected, but powerful enough to cure everyone of the Blight. Or at least for a little while. When her sister Aven drinks the water, it beats back the Blight in her body briefly, but then it makes her worse. Now Aven must get to the bottom of what was int hat water to make Aven better, how to get more of it, and how to cure her sister. What she doesn't expect is a crazy governor, a group of guards who protect the spring to the death, and even people who she thought she could trust who have darker intentions. All Ren wants to do is save people, but it seems like everyone is standing in her way.
A good PA or dystopia has to create a world I understand and believe in. Unfortunately, The Ward had great potential, but it really didn't delve very deep into the world that was so integral to the entire story. For instance, what is the full story of the washout that dropped New York City into the water? How is it possible to have lots of technology like racers and some "party noise filter" that gives you a beam of silence in a party to talk in but still be poor enough to not be able to treat the illness or at least buy pain relievers, or even have electricity? The racing is another thing I never truly understood. They are subs, but then they are on the roof? At first I worried I had possibly read the book too fast, and that this caused me to miss this important backstory, but in looking at some other reviews online, I realized I wasn't the only one pretty confused with the backstory. This was a shame for me because the story was actually pretty interesting and read quickly for its size. But still, the backstory was a huge thing to leave out of the story and it took away from my enjoyment of the story. I hope Frankel puts more into the back story of the rest of the series, but I am concerned the story is going to struggle without having already established this background.
Ren is a great character with a headstrong need to help people, even in a world where so many are dying. I like her relationship with Aven even though they aren't blood sisters, and how Aven is the only concern for Ren's entire life. It made Ren an investible character for me, even when I struggled with other parts of the story. I was a little torn and confused about some of the supporting characters like Ter, Derek, and Callum, but I guess there could be more to give them a boost in the next book. Overall, this wasn't a bad book, but I shouldn't have finished 460+ pages with so many questions about basic plot points and characters. I don't think I would give this story to many students unless they were strong readers and could handle the plot holes. It might be interesting for someone who has already read a lot of PA or dystopias and is looking for another. I will certainly read the next book in the series, but I strongly hope Frankel plugs the holes when she writes it!
Maggie Stiefvater is the author who gave us the Shiver trilogy. You often wonder how an author will follow up a bestselling story, and hopefully it will live up to the reason you liked them in the first place. Since I had a tumultuous relationship with Shiver, I was anxious to read something else she had written. I needed to know if my love and dislike for the series was just that series, or something about the way Stiefvater writes. So, with a little skepticism rolling around, I picked up The Scorpio Races, unsure of how I was going to like it.
Puck grew up on Thisby, an island where no one really lives, people just survive. Thisby is special, though. Once a year, the mythical, murderous creatures called water horses climb out of the sea. While everyone should and is scared of the water horses, which live off blood and fresh meat, the entire island becomes alive with excitement when they bound from the sea because of the Scorpio Races. Each year, the island men capture and train water horses for two weeks before riding them in the most exciting and dangerous race anyone has ever seen. The tourism for this event is the only thing keeping Thisby alive at this point. When Puck's brother threatens to move to the mainland and Puck and her other brother will be left on Thisby with no house and no way to support themselves, Puck does the only thing she can to keep her older brother on the island just a little longer- she announces she is going to enter in the races.
Sean Kendrick is a gentle soul who loves and fears the water horses. He has won the race four years in a row, but since his beloved water horse, Corr, is owned by his boss, most of the winnings aren't his to keep. He is the only man who can control the water horses, but his only reason for staying at the horse farm and competing in the races is to stay closer to Corr. When Puck enters her regular pony, not a water horse, into the race, Sean is sure she is going to get herself and her pony killed. He reluctantly agrees to help train her, mostly because he can't stop thinking about her. As the race grows nearer, it becomes clear that both Puck and Sean need to win this race- Puck in order to live and have a roof over her head, and Sean in order to be able to buy Corr from the owner of the stables. Both want the other to win, but neither can imagine losing. The Scorpio Races this year on Thisby are not only groundbreaking because it is the first time a girl or a regular pony has ridden, but because of how much everyone has riding on the outcome.
So my skepticism aside, I have to say this was a really beautiful book. Stiefvater has a poetic, magical way of describing the world she has created that keeps you turning the pages. However, I remember feeling the same way when I finished Shiver. The problem only came about with her second and third books where there wasn't enough story to keep the trilogy going and the beautiful language wasn't enough to hold it all together. I hope she will leave this book as a stand-alone story, because it really is quite nice and quite beautiful. Any additional books would only ruin the effect of this story.
Because the language isn't terribly direct or always very clear, I would suggest this book for an older, stronger reader, or a student who has read and like Stiefvater's books already. It would clearly bog down a less skilled reader and might frustrate them into putting the book down. It is a beautiful story for any adult who enjoys mythology, especially repurposed mythology. These aren't your typical water horses, sometimes called kelpie, but they are beautiful versions of the old myths. I have to say I loved this story, and it made for a beautiful magical read, but let's just hope Stiefvater leaves this to its own devices and moves on to another project. I would hate to feel about the Scorpio Races like I eventually felt about Shiver.
