Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

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Steelheart

by Brandon Sanderson

Calamity has hit.  Calamity was an explosion in the sky that gave certain people special powers and turned them into Epics.  Epics rule the country without any trace of benevolence.  In Newcago, residents have it a little easier; they have food, electricity and jobs.  However, Newcago is controlled by Steelheart, a vicious High Epic who is protected by other powerful Epics under his rule.

David has been studying Epics ever since he witnessed his father being slayed by Steelheart.  His father had believed that there were Epics that were good and would stand against those who used their powers to intimidate and terrorize people.  David has witnessed one other thing:  he has seen Steelheart bleed.

David joins forces with a group of vigilantes called the Reckoners.  The Reckoners are dedicated to ridding the Fractured States of Epics.  But so far they have only managed to eliminate Epics that don't have much power.  How will they make a difference if they can't go up against the most powerful Epics?  Every Epic has a weakness.  It is up the David and the other Reckoners to find Steelheart's weakness and bring him to his knees.

Steelheart is a faced-paced thriller that combines human ingenuity with a well thought out fantasy world.  Many teens and adults alike will lose themselves in Sanderson's post apocalyptic Fractured States.  I highly recommend Steelheart to students in upper elementary school through high school.  And speaking for at least one adult, I can barely wait for book two of this series!

Words and Their Meanings by Kate Bassett

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Words and Their Meanings

by Kate Bassett

Anna is fractured.  She has lost her "bruncle", her uncle who has been raised by her parents as her brother.  Her parents have separated, her father's new girlfriend is having a baby, her baby sister has taken to hiding to deal with her pain, and she is slipping away from her best friend Nat.  When her Gramps gets sick, she loses all hope.

To deal with the death of her "bruncle" Joe, Anna has channeled Patti Smith; she has slashed her hair and dyed it black, she wears tattered clothing and she writes a daily Patti Smith quote on her arm for inspiration.   She believes that Joe's death is her fault and she does everything that she can to ward off the pain.

Then Anna meets Mateo.  He is handsome, exotic and all of the other girls are vying for his attention.  But for reasons that Anna doesn't comprehend, he picks her.  Anna used to consider herself a writer, and artist, but that all changes when she loses Joe.  Mateo is himself an artist.  Can Mateo help Anna connect to her art again?  Can he help heal a girl who is so fractured?  What secrets was Joe hiding?  

Words and Their Meanings is a cathartic story about the power of art, the hope of family and the gift of forgiveness.  I would recommend this book for high school libraries and could easily see pairing it with a collaborative project with the art department.

Warning:  I read the last 30 pages of this book through tears!!

The Great Trouble by Deborah Hopkinson

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The Great Trouble 

by Deborah Hopkinson

Eel is almost 13 and orphaned in London in 1854.  A bright boy, he has managed to fend for himself and even taken on a position that allows him room, board and clean water.  It's the clean water that allows Eel to live long enough to tell his story.

Part historical fiction, part memoir, The Great Trouble chronicles the real events of the Broad Street pump in 1854 when cholera breaks out.  Based on primary source documents, the story is told through Eel's perspective and we meet the historical figure, Dr. Snow, who was famous for dispelling the myth that cholera was spread through the air.

Eel and Dr. Snow work tirelessly and quickly to convince the people who use the Broad Street pump that cholera is actually spread through a virus in the water - even if you can't see it.  Hopkinson does a great job of putting the reader in the middle of the epidemic, almost smelling the Thames and hearing the moans of those who have been stricken with the disease.

I think this book will appeal to students who enjoy historical fiction or younger readers - 5th and 6th graders.  An easy read, The Great Trouble would make an excellent companion novel to classes studying the cholera outbreak of 1854 or European history.

Cop Town by Karin Slaughter

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Cop Town

by Karin Slaughter

The year is 1974, I would have been eight.  My childhood was experienced through the lens of my parents' hippie glasses!  I had no idea that such racism, sexism and misogyny existed anywhere in the 70s; but in Slaughter's Cop Town this is par for the course.

Kate is new to the Atlanta police force.  All rookies face a certain 'initiation', but for women it's more of a hazing.  She's green,she's beautiful and of course, she's troubled.  She's lost her husband in the Vietnam war, she's living on her own and trying to convince her family (and herself) that she's strong enough.  And, she has a secret.

Haunting the police force are a string of cop murders.  Every cop on the force is investigating who the 'Shooter' might be.  Problem is, it just might be the girls on the force who are the better detectives - even though women are not promoted to that role.

Full of grit and self determination, Cop Town is a hard-edged detective novel that shines a light on what it was like to be a woman on the job in a male-dominated Southern city.  The story is fast- paced and has just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end as to 'who done it'.  This is most definitely an adult novel, as in my opinion, the sex is on the gratuitous side.  Kate is very likeable and Slaughter does a great job of letting us into the lives of her characters.  I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good crime drama!

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

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An Abundance of Katherines

by John Green

The Beginning:

Colin is quirky; a prodigy, but not yet a genius and the dumpee to 19 Katherines.  Having just graduated from high school and been dumped by Katherine XIX, he sets off on a road trip with his best (and only) friend, Hassan.

The Middle:

The Hearse (short for Satan's Hearse, Colin's gray, old Oldsmobile) finds it's way to the grave of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Gutshot, Tennessee.  Colin and Hassan end up working for the proprietor of the grave (and gift shop) interviewing the townspeople of Gutshot.  During their stay (at a pink mansion) they eat many Thickburgers, hunt for feral pigs and discover (SPOILER ALERT!) that it is not really Archduke Franz Ferdinand buried under the obelisk!  

The End:

Colin realizes through a mathematical theorem that you really can't predict the lifespan of a relationship, that he really can tell a story and that what really matters is the stories that we leave behind.

Despite the math, I found this story to be light-hearted and charming.  The characters are likable (okay, maybe not TOC, but all the others!), the angst is palpable and the journey was a perfect road trip (without leaving the couch)! An Abundance of Katherines just might be my favorite John Green book! 

Alliance by Mark Frost

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Alliance 

by Mark Frost

In Alliance, Frost continues the adventures of Will and his friends; Ajay, Nick, Elise and Brooke.  As the team discovers more about the Knights of Charlemagne, they also discover more about themselves and their special skills.  

Frost has us exploring the tunnels on the island, the crag and even the equipment room in the boys' locker room.  The suspense will have you hanging on until the last page.

What happened to Lyle?  Who were the Knights of Charlemagne?  Are they here to protect us from those who have come from the Never Was?  Or are they in cahoots with the grotesque creatures?  Who are Will's parents?  And what really happened to them?

Alliance is a quick read that ends abruptly, leaving the reader wanting more!  Number three in the Paladin Prophecy can't come soon enough.  Message to Mark Frost:  Dad's List of Rules to Live By #15; be quick but don't hurry!

The Knock Out Games by G. Neri

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The Knock Out Games

by G. Neri

 

I was glad that I was approved to read this book.  Neri's book, Yummy, the Last Days of a Southside Shorty, got great reviews; but that wasn't the only reason.  The main reason that I wanted to read this book was that at our school we did a unit on the knock out games in our "Learning over Lunch" series with our resource officer.  I had never heard of the knock out games before, but after reading this book and the notes Neri wrote at the end, I'm adding The Knock Out Games to my Fall book order!

 

Erica's parents have split.  Her father has left them without resources, so her mother moves them from Little Rock to St. Louis and gets a job at a lab working the night shift.  Erica barely sees her mother as she tries to assimilate in a mostly black urban high school.  The only class that seems to spark her attention is art. 

 

As a parting gift, Erica's father has given her a video camera.  Her art teacher sees the potential in her and encourages her to express herself through video.  In what turns out to be a portent move, Erica ends up filming and editing a "knock out", and posts it to Face Book.  The video (and Erica) get the attention of the "Knock Out King" and events start to spiral out of control.

 

There is nothing soft or easy about this book.  Neri takes a close look at what many urban teens face on a day to day basis.  This is realistic fiction at it's realest!  Although hard to read, Erica's journey into the knock out world is touching and compelling.  Spoiler alert:  She's going to be okay, but it's going to be a long, long road.

 

Another thing that I thought was well done by Neri was that Erica isn't your typical ingénue; she's large and has flaming red hair.  She wears a hoodie so as not to draw attention to herself.  She has issues, none of which are packaged nicely at the end of the book.  Again, she is real.

 

Neri wrote this book in response to a school visit he made to St. Louis; The Knock Out Games comes ripped from the headlines.  I will most definitely put this book in my collection, and feel it will become an important read in libraries across the country.