A Tragedy Like No Other

You don't have to actually be a parent to know the most terrifying thing is the loss of your child. Whether it be illness or violence or kidnapping, the idea of a losing a child is terrifying to anyone and everyone. In Lisa McMann's Dead to You, the reader experiences the confusing and emotional return of a child who was kidnaped years earlier.

Nine years ago Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just 7 years old. Now he is a 16 year old about to be reunited with his family he has pretty much forgotten. He is terrified about meeting his family again, especially since the woman who took care of him all those years, Ellie, (and abandoned him, causing him to live in an orphanage and become homeless eventually), was someone he truly loved. As he returns, everyone wants to hear about the horrible woman who abducted him and the awful things she did to him, but he really doesn't have any stories like that. He loved Ellie.

But the transition back into the family isn't the worst for Ethan. He has a crush on his childhood best friend and she is very protective of him. He is overwhelmed at first by all the attention, but eventually, he settles into his new life. But Ethan's return is hardest on his younger brother Blake who was just four and in the front yard when Ethan was abducted. Blake is convinced Ethan is not really Ethan, that another boy has come to their home pretending to be Ethan. Ethan's father contemplates a DNA test, but Ethan's mother will not doubt her son. She knows if she asks him to take a DNA test, she will always be the mother who doubted her son. But why can't he remember anything from his life before the abduction? Is he really Ethan? Can the family survive losing another son?

OK. I am gonna put this out there with as few spoiler-ish hints as possible. The ending is one of those, "What the H-E-double hockey sticks just HAPPENED" kind of moments. The last ten pages are the kind of ending that readers want to believe they hate, but really it accomplishes what the author was going for- you are still thinking about it and talking about it for WEEKS after you finished the book! I know a lot of people want a sequel to find out how things were resolved, but I hope McMann leaves this story alone. The ending is unresolved, but that is what makes it so powerful. Uncertainty fills the book, so why not end it with uncertainty too? I know I usually hate unresolved endings, but with this book, I actually love it. I think it makes the book that much better.

The story itself is pretty complex and disturbing. Imagine getting your son back after nine years and then people start to question whether he is the real deal or not. That has to be devastating. The mother is such a wonderful character. She never doubts Ethan. She fights for her son tooth and nail, and I loved her for that. But Blake's character was the most interesting for me. It had to be so hard for him, always the one who was there when Ethan was abducted. Not that they blame him, but that guilt that still surrounds him all his life about BEING there when his brother was taken. Then his suspicions about Ethan and how vehemently he tries to prove this isn't the real Ethan, but how much everyone ignores him, assuming jealousy is the cause. It felt so realistic and terrifying, but sad and heartbreaking. This book is written in simple language (with minor profanity), but the story is quite deep and provocative. It would be perfect for an older, low-skilled student who wants a mature book but needs a lower reading level. It would be perfect for papers, discussions, and "What if" assignments where you could really question the fabric of family, suspicion, and the unresolved ending. I will definitely be keeping this on my shelves for a variety of students. But a warning... if you can't handle unresolved endings, this book is going to tick you off!

How Far Would You Go to be Pretty?

I am a fan of post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels and often find myself searching for the next enthralling story. While searching through lists of PA books, I happened across the Uglies, a YA novel by Scott Westerfeld. I had seen this series before and was interested, but I had just never picked it up. Now that I knew it was about a dystopia, I was dying to read it!

Uglies starts in a city where a kid's 16th birthday is a big event- it is when a kid undergoes their surgery to become Pretty. Everyone wants to become Pretty so they can live in New Pretty Town, party all day, not worry about responsibilities and revel in their new Pretty selves. Well, maybe not everyone. Tally Youngblood misses her friend Peris who turned 16 and became Pretty months before she did. But now she has met a new friend, Shay, who teaches her to perfect her hoverboard riding, takes her to the Rusty Ruins (where they see our ancient cities as they deteriorate and mock our ravenous consumption of the world), and tells Tally of a place where kids go to escape the surgery- a place called the Smoke that is full of Uglies who fend for themselves and stay far away form the cities.

When Shay runs away, the Specials (Cruel Pretties) tell Tally she must find Shay and lead the Specials to the Smoke or she won't get her surgery. Desperate to become Pretty and join Peris, Tally goes to the Smoke, but she doesn't find what she expected. The Smoke is a place where everyone works for their fair share, people are free from the petty lives of Pretties, and the Specials aren't watching their every move. Tally must make up her mind: should she betray David and the Smoke or remain in the one place where she finally felt alive and free?

I have to say this novel was a little slow for me in the very beginning. All the descriptions of Tally and Pretty Town were interesting, but by no means gripping. The story didn't really pick up until half-way through when tally sets off for the Smoke. By this point, I was certainly hooked! The story does go quite quickly, and the premise is so interesting- a society where everyone is made to look the same in order to prevent racism and prejudice, but is really a ruse for the government to keep society "malleable". When the truth comes out, however, that the surgery changes their personality as much as their appearance, it is a fate worse than staying Ugly. I recommend this series for a kid who enjoyed Hunger Games. The language isn't overly mature or complex, the plot is very interesting, and it should grab a hold of any reader. Give it a chance and prepare to ask yourself which you'd rather be: a mindless Pretty or a Free-willed Ugly!