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If you live in tornado alley, you not only respect these hulking beasts, you also get used to them. When the siren blows, you might not run right to the shelter, but you keep an eye out. While you can't live in fear for half a year during the season, being lulled into a false sense of security can be very, very dangerous. In Jennifer Brown's Torn Away, the lives of so many were changed forever with the presence of more than just a funnel cloud... it was like the finger of God himself.
Jersey Cameron grew up knowing what to do in the event of a tornado; its just that she never really had to do it. Occasionally, the family would go to the basement, but most of the time the sirens were a false alarm. So it got easier and easier to ignore them. She gets home and starts a meal like any other normal day while her mother takes her sister to dance class, but there is nothing normal about this day. This is the day that they never saw coming and will never be able to forget.
When Jersey realizes the tornado warning is real this time, she turns dinner off and heads to the basement. Hiding down there, she quickly realizes the tornado is bigger than anyone thought. By the time it is over, she leaves the basement to see that her entire house is almost gone. Her neighborhood is almost gone. Her neighbors, and everyone around her, are either injured, or even dead. If her neighborhood is this bad, how could her mother and sister have survived? All alone, Jersey realizes just how destructive the tornado really was.
This book starts with the destruction of a tornado, but it continues down the road of a young girl's dysfunctional family. Her mother never spoke to her own parents, and so Jersey is sent to live with her father whom she has never met. When she gets there, it is clear these people just don't give a crap about Jersey or anything she has gone through. While the premise of the book is the tornado, the continuation of the story really gets to the heart of the aftermath of such a tragedy. It was a really amazing and heartbreaking journey for both Jersey and the reader. Here was a normal girl in a normal midwest life who had everything she ever knew or loved sucked up into a funnel cloud. What is left is damaged beyond all repair... or is it.
This is a book about family, about healing, and also about grieving. I think pegging this book as a "storm book" doesn't really get to the heart of Brown's purpose for the story. If it was a storm book, it would have ended when Jersey was shipped to her dad's house. Instead it kept going, proving Brown had more to say. I have always like Brown's stories, because they aren't afraid to get to the dark and ugly side of things, and Torn Away is no different. I think this story, while dark and sad, would be appropriate for a variety of students. The real-life implications are deep, and a reader will have a hard time not connecting to the story. Jersey is a young woman who was dealt the worst hand possible, yet there is still hope for her with each page you flip.
In a new England where witches live silently amongst humans, there are two kinds of witches. Even amongst the small minority, there is prejudice. White and Black, the witches do not mix. Until, they do. In Sally Green's Half Bad, a young boy is the victim of his parentage, for White or for Black.
Nathan's father was the evilest Black witch in the world. His mother was a White witch who committed suicide. Every year, Nathan goes for an assessment to see if he has officially coded to one side or the other, but on his seventeenth birthday, the results will no longer be inconclusive. All witches must receive three gifts from an immediate family member and drink the blood of a family witch in order to come into their gifts. For a White witch, not receiving their gifts merely means they lose their opportunity for their gift. For a Black witch, it is said they will die if they do not receive their gifts. Nathan's grandmother has tried to raise him in a White witch household, but his heritage cannot be denied.
As a Half Code (Black and White), Nathan's final allegiance is still unsettled, but the council isn't about to let him roam about like a powder keg waiting to be lit. Decree after decree is handed down that specifically limit Nathan's comings and goings. Finally, just limiting his journeys from the house aren't enough, and he is captured and caged until his seventeenth birthday, which is years away. His captor doesn't necessarily agree with the decision, but Marcus, Nathan's father, killed her sister, so she isn't shy about her dislike of Black witches either. But nothing changes the fact that Nathan's birthday is fast approaching, and he has nobody to give him his gifts. Is he Black? Or is he White?
I know we have all lived through the Harry Potter era where witches are adorable like the Weasley clan. Sure you have a Malfoy or a LeStrange or a Voldemort in the mix, but for the most part, they are normal folks with some awesome abilities. These witches? A whole different world. I half expected a Potter-esque witch story going in, but I came out like I was ripped through the spin cycle. This is one seriously dark book! I mean, this kid is tortured. He is held in a cage and affixed with a collar full of poison. This is some pretty heavy, dark business here.
And Nathan? I am choosing to think he wouldn't be as dark as he turns out. I feel he was made Black by the very same people who feared his Half Code. By imprisoning him and torturing him, they have created a dark individual. In fact, the brutality, the violence, the dark in this story reminded me of a somewhat tamed version of The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski. It is the single darkest book I have ever read (makes The Road look like Goodnight Moon), and Nathan just made me think of that little boy the entire time I read it. That doesn't mean this is THAT dark, but it certainly isn't any Harry Potter. Instead, this is a truly unique story that will catch the attention of your students. Especially those who have a dark side!
The implications towards prejudice and racism in this story are very thinly veiled. The decrees about Half Codes and Black witches reek of Jim Crow. You can see the allegory here, and it is incredibly interesting when juxtaposed with historical racism. I think any student will be able to make those connections without any guidance, which will give them an added layer to the story. I was really bowled over by this story, even though it was so disturbing, and I will certainly be finishing the series.
June and Day were born on opposite ends of the social spectrum, but they were drawn to each other. They have made sacrifices to save their country, and now that it is officially on the brink of complete destruction, they must sacrifice even more in Champion, Marie Lu's conclusion to the Legend series.
They haven't seen each other. June has been elected the Princeps Elect. She is loyal to Anden, who carries the weight of his father's abuse of power, but is himself a smart and capable leader. But she thinks of Day. Often. Day is a military official. He has accomplished his one goal: Eden is safe. But now Day is the one suffering. With a fast approaching expiration date, Day knows the upcoming peace treaty between the Colonies and the Republic is more important than ever. Each time Day pushes himself too far, he goes to the brink of finally succumbing to what is killing him. But the one person he wants to spend his final moments with doesn't even know he is dying: June.
Meanwhile, a plague worse than ever before breaks out in the Colonies. While they had a precarious peace with the Republic before, the new illness is violent and deadly, and it has led to a new development. Peace will never be achieved when the Republic sits back and watches the Colonies die. Invasion of the Republic is imminent, but Anden still believes he can find a way to stop everything. If he develops a cure, he can halt the invasion and return to the peace treaty. There is one very big problem. Day's brother Eden is the cure, and Day won't allow anyone to hurt Eden ever again.
The most interesting part of this series has always been Day and June. In an easier, more cookie-cutter novel, we would see them battling back to back, taking on the world in any way possible. But that is a paint-by-numbers kind of a story, and Lu wants to give you more. Instead, the path Day and June have traveled is bumpy and fraught with secrets and lies. Yet their connection is undeniable. Both have a deep connection to each other, but their duty to their families and their countries are put before their own desires. It was poetic and heartbreaking all at once, and it made this story as un-cookie-cutter as you could get.
When you have been reading a series since its inception, you have an investment. You want to see an ending the characters deserve and have earned, but you also want the author to surprise you. How can they give you both? Well, Marie Lu found a way. This isn't the conclusion I ever expected, but it was respectful to the losses both Day and June had suffered, and it was a story that did them both, and their relationship, justice. As it began to unfold, I am not going to lie, I was angry. How could you do this to Day and June after everything they have been through?! But it was almost as if Lu was whispering through the pages, "Shhhh. Calm down and have patience." And I did. And it was fabulous. This is a series young adults and adults alike would love, because Lu has a plan. And it's one heck of a plan!
When the monsters are trying to save the world from other monsters, you know the world has gone to hell in a handbag. In the stunning conclusion to Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden series, The Forever Song, the very monsters who were responsible for the end of the world are trying to save the world.
Allie and her sire, Kanin, and her brother, Jackal, are going to kill a Master Vampire. Sarren has created a plague that will completely destroy the world, even more so than Rabidism did. In his sick mind, Sarren thinks he is doing the world a favor by ridding it of all humans and vampires alike. While the illness must be stopped, the trail of carnage Sarren is leaving in his wake just to torment Allie, Jackal, and Kanin is all the more reason to destroy him. He doesn't just kill people for food, he likes to play with his food.
When they get to Jackal's old city, they are in for a surprise none of them could have predicted. Allie is still grieving the loss of Zeke, and she will only start to heal when she sees Sarren beheaded. When they enter old Chicago, Allie was more surprised than anyone to see what Sarren left her: Zeke, fully vamped and with a mind as warped as Sarren's. Meanwhile, Sarren is headed to the sanctuary, Eden, to fulfill his deepest desires in the most twisted way possible. They know what they have to do, but doing it before Sarren leaves more bloody corpses in his wake is unlikely.
Allie has always been an amazing character, and her grief over the loss of Zeke was palpable. It made her hunt for Sarren so much deeper and darker, that this story certainly had a different feel to it. When she found him and Sarren had made him into a monster, I have to say it was predictable, but I was still stunned by it. I knew it was coming (and I am usually easily duped by plot twists), but somehow that just didn't matter. I think that has a lot to do with Kagawa writes. Allie was so upset and devastated that you couldn't help but understand how she was feeling. And it really solidified how deeply psychotic Sarren was, making the hunt for him all that more important.
This was such a different kind of vampire story, that I think the preteen Twilight fans would have a tough time liking it at first, because they would be expecting Edward and Bella and instead get a little more Sid and Nancy. This is darker and creepier, but the characters and the story are so well-crafted, I hope they would eventually get over their preconceived notions and get sucked into this story. It is certainly more gruesome and bloody, so choose your audience accordingly. Kagawa is quite the master of her craft, so I can't wait to read the new series, Talon!
An invitation to join an elite private school is one you can't pass up. It brings six teenagers from very different walks of life together in one place. Morning Glories by Nick Spencer is a story with more than one secret to reveal... but you won't get all the answers you want!
With a population that rivals "The Breakfast Club," six teens with checkered pasts are brought to the mysterious and prestigious Morning Glory Academy. While its clear they won't all immediately become life long friends, they are expected to work together. The school is unconventional, but when one of the girls tries to call home and her father has no idea who she is, they start to get suspicious. The school passes it off as a strategy to keep kids from getting homesick, but it was too real. He didn't even know she existed!
More and more, the kids think there is something deeply wrong with Morning Glory. The school's tactics for sussing out their special "talents" is disturbing at best. At worst, it is downright deadly. When you put six kids together who are known to be the best and the brightest, you can't also expect them to be the most obedient. But Morning Glory is ready for some disobedience. In ways the kids never expected.
This was another one of those stories where you can enjoy the whole thing, be ready for the next in the series, but you have absolutely no idea what is going on. I know there is something fishy about the school and its administration, and let's just say the teachers make the Trunchbull look like a little kitten, but I never actually got any real answers. Instead, I found myself flying through in order to find any speck of an answer because, by the time I finished Volume 1, I have absolutely NO clue what is going on.
The mystery is fun, though, and the wildly different personalities of the 6 kids makes it exciting. From the preppy rich kid to the chick with two dads, they are quite a diverse group, and their varied ways of dealing with the circumstances are interesting. I wasn't overly fond of the art in this graphic series, though, and I felt the illustrations were a little flat or generic. I would have liked to see something more unique. All in all, it is an interesting story, and I am intrigued to see where it goes!
I have been intrigued by this collection of the literary canon in one, graphic collection, but it is pretty expensive, so it took me a while to break down and buy them. Now that I have, I am really glad I did. Oddly, I was a little disappointed when they first came. Each story has its own style and adaption according to the creator/illustrator/author who adapted that story, either abridged, or in part. Some were incredibly minimalistic, and I wasn't sure I liked that, so it took me a while of pouring through them to see that this was pure genius.
Volume one starts with Gilgamesh and ends with Dangerous Liaisons. This is the antiquities portion of this series. Some, like Gilgamesh, are written in cartoon-style graphics. Others, like The Odyssey are truly illustrated. Each story is presented differently. For instance, The Odyssey is the piece of the epic poem about Polyphemus. The Sappho entry is a poem within one illustration. Medea is more of your graphic novel kind of illustrations. Some, like Lysistrata or The Flea, contain the kind of illustrations necessary for a story with sexual content, which I have seen some people complain about. I am not sure why reading about the naughty bits is OK, but the minute they are illustrated people get all up in arms, but I didn't think it was anything egregious or gratuitous. It was just the story as it was told! Some entries were all beautiful artwork and no words, like Plato's Symposium.
There were excerpts from the Hebrew Bible, Confucius, the Aeneid, The New Testament, Beowulf, etc. Beowulf is pretty amazing, and it does an amazing job at creepy without a single word used! I absolutely LOVED the illustrated poems by Rumi, and they were all so different, unique and beautiful. Some I just wasn't thrilled by, like The Divine Comedy or The Canterbury Tales, but overall, I loved the collection.
Obviously I wasn't familiar with everything in the book (I am pathetically neglectful of my knowledge in ancient Asian text), but I was impressed with the breadth of the literature represented in this collection. You have everything from the usuals to the Popol Vuh. Some even made me want to seek out the originals I wasn't familiar with, like The Visions of St Teresa of Avila. Absolutely beautiful. There is Dante, Milton, Shakespeare, and everyone else who should represent this end of the chronological canon.
The best part of this series is the little blurb before each excerpt. There is a brief explanation of the original text that might contain historical references, its discovery, the relevance of the excerpt, and the author's biographical information. Some contain the adaptor's reasons for their choices, which I also found fascinating. The coolest function for having this in a library or classroom would be to reach kids and encourage them to read literature they would never otherwise choose on their own. Maybe if they were intrigued by the graphic Lysistrata, they will do a little digging and find the story a tale they never thought would exist in the antiquities!
When two worlds are at war for as long as Landfall and Wreath have been fighting, the wounds are almost impossible to heal. They fester and rot until everyone involved has suffered in some inconceivable way. In Brian K Vaughan's third volume of Saga, the two star-crossed lovers find themselves hurtling through the stars to find a safe place for to raise their child.
Alana and Marko weren't sure where in the world it was safe to take Hazel, but they thought the man who was responsible for her even existing might be the place to start. D. Oswart Heist was an author who wrote the very book that made them think they could act on the chemistry between them. When they arrive, they are half surprised and half not, to find Heist drunk, disheveled, and blathering like an idiot. His planet of Quietus is even less warm and inviting, but they have no choice but to explore every option to keep Hazel safe.
On Quietus they learn a lot about themselves. With Marko's mother still grieving the loss of his father and Izabel, their ghostly appendage, taking care of Hazel, they get to know Heist, the tortured literary genius with more darkness inside him than hope these days. Meanwhile, The Will is still hunting them, and the story of their marriage and their baby is still feared to be the catalyst for a revolution in a world where no one wants this war to continue. Hazel is a symbol of everything Wreath and Landfall have failed to do for the people of the universe, and too many people want that symbol gone.
There is just something about this story that sucks me in with each volume. I recommended this series to a student recently, one who isn't an avid reader, and he was so into the story, he stayed up all night to read the first volume and couldn't wait to tell me about it. That is what I call one seriously awesome story! While Alana and Marko and the others are an interesting story arc, the other stories, like the Will and the two journalists, are just as interesting. I think each new story arc is so awesome, it could be its own complete series! But how they all tie in together and twist and turn is addictive. So give this series a shot if you haven't already. You won't be sorry! (unless you are dying for volume 4 like me!)
