Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

BookTalk

Do you remember the stories of your childhood? Tales of magic and creatures who lived among us? When do we stop believing in them? When do we lose the faith? What happened if little red riding hood and the wolf showed up in your backyard? Better yet, what if Queen Mary did appear after three “Bloody Mary’s” spoken into a mirror at midnight?

I’ll tell you what would happen…Everyone would call you crazy

Then we’d hype you up on antipsychotic medications and send you to a shrink. At least that’s what happens to 16 year old Jacob. Jacob grew up on his Grandfather’s tales of the freakish. You see, his Grandfather claimed to have grown up on an isolated Island in Wales, “Miss Peregrine’s home for Peculiar Children”. Jacob was fed stories and photographs of the levitating girl, the invisible man, and the girl who ate with the back of her head. Yep, a full set of teeth under her glorious curls.

But when Jacob’s Grandfather dies Jacob sees the killer, and the killer is decidedly not a normal human. Across the seas, Jacob will search to find the root of his childhood stories, and to find the history of his Grandfather. And there is no way to prepare Jacob for the reality that all of his childhood tales are true…

Review

This book had me at hello. I mean, look at that cover…how can you not want to simply tear into this book. And that freaky victorian-art deco-gothic-horror vibe continues throughout the story with photos. Yep, it’s a multi-media type read. Riggs scoured photography collections featuring the old and freaky so all the photos within Miss Peregrine’s pages are real! Super cool.

But wait…it doesn’t stop there. Riggs’s writing style conjures up instant images with his word choice. The first time Jacob enters Miss Peregrine’s decrepit home well written. There are walls fuzzy with mold, walls splattered with food burst from jars, rooms with trees growing due to exposure. For me this was by far one of the creepiest parts of the novel.

That being said, maybe it’s just me…but I wasn’t all that scared. If I had to judge a book by it’s cover (haha) I was expecting a ‘scary story’ and I’m not sure if I’m disappointed or not that this didn’t turn out to be the point. Surprisingly, this novel was run-through with themes including WWII, father relationships, and the contemplation of the choice between a single safe, perfect day of the extraordinary (Ground-Hog-Day style) or a life time of ordinary. Jacob is beginning to realize that a 70 year old family hurt has passed down from the holocaust to bombings, to an abandoned son, to a stress disorder. It’s amazing to see how big a role the sins of the father play in this novel. So family issues…check…scary scenes…miss.

As for the famous creepy kids of Jacob’s youth? Peculiar is truly the best word for them. After the reader becomes aquatinted with the group they seem surprisingly ordinary and yet extraordinary at the same time. While I’m not saying that if a levitating girl and an invisible boy popped up in the middle of my day I wouldn’t be freaked out…Riggs presents it all with a normalcy that is usually found in magical realism novels or tall tale movies like Big Fish.

I’m not gonna lie, I was really hoping for creepy…maybe a little sleeping with the light on…if that’s what you’re looking for this isn’t the title for you. However, what you will find is a delightfully written tale with surprising twists and turns of language that make the reader feel like you’re there. But Warning: this seems as though it’s not a stand-alone book. You follow the final frantic chase to one big cliff. I was a little disappointed in this I think that simplifying the story could have resulted in a strong stand-alone. Not sure that this is a cliff I’m gonna jump to the next book…we shall see what the teaser summaries result in.

Rating: 6/10

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Going Bovine by Libba Bray

BookTalk

“As a kid, I imagined lots of different scenarios for my life. I would be an astronaut. Maybe a cartoonist. A famous explorer or rock star. Never once did I see myself standing under the window of a house belonging to some druggie named Carbine, waiting for his yard gnome to steal his stash so I could get a cab back to a cheap motel where my friend, a neurotic, death-obsessed dwarf, was waiting for me so we could get on the road to an undefined place and a mysterious Dr. X, who would cure me of mad cow disease and stop a band of dark energy from destroying the universe.” pg. 203

Cameron is a bit of a loner…well, maybe a loser. At 16 he’s floating through life, C+ student, a stoner, and the closest friend he may have is a dwarf he doesn’t know that he likes. Things are about to change. After some muscle twitches and a few visions of toasters bursting into flames Cameron is diagnosed with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, A.K.A. Mad Cow disease. While in the hospital a punk-rock-princess Angel sends Cameron on a Quixotic journey. With the help of Cameron’s dwarf friend Gonzo, they’re searching for Dr. X. Find the good Dr. and they’ll cure Cameron, find a gift for Gonzo…and save the world…sort of…

Review

Wow, I just finished this book and all I can say is that it was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever read. Simultaneously I feel as though…I may not be smart enough to ‘get’ this book…That I should have read Don Quixote…That I really did ‘get’ this book and it was wonderful!…That I should have stopped reading this book 30 pages in…This book made my head hurt…I should probably read this book again…Maybe I should smoke pot then read this book…Maybe I should read it again after reading Don Quixote…I need to YouTube the “Small World” ride…

There, you’re just as confused as me right now…This book was horrible and this book was awesome…

Going Bovine is a controversial book. Yet, it won the Printz. As you can tell I’m a little all over the place when it comes to my reaction to reading it. But if I’m choosing a team…I vote Team-I-Liked-This-Book. It’s a dark tale that mirror’s Quixote’s journey. I’d probably have lots of very literary things to say about the two books’ connections had I ever read Don Quixote…as you can tell from my wildly confusing opening…I haven’t…I’m a bad Librarian.

So that leaves me with the emotional reaction to the book. Know that the book is funny; it’s a dark comedy. Cameron is dying. His wild journey with friends is interspersed with clips from his time in the hospital. The hospital scenes serve as a reality touch-stone, badly needed in this acid-trip of a story. These hits of reality remind the reader that Cameron really is dying. Believe me, once you get sucked into Cameron’s crazy road trip you’ll see the need for the doses of death. You see, Cameron is a person who never really lived in his life and yet is given this chance to have an amazing adventure before his death. As a reader you’ll see Cameron grow and develop in ways your heart will ache to wish he had experience in real life…not just in this dream.

The plot is a crazy blend of philosophy and physics. Displaying messages about everything from how to live your life to the existence of parallel universes. I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t know that I was smart enough for this book…I think I needed footnotes. Understanding all of the plot points aside, the message of this tale is really to live your life in the moment, take advantage of all it has to offer. I suppose, it’s not really about what your journey is…but that you take it. Not knowing how a Superconducting Super Collider works will not hinder your understanding of the take-away message.

Honestly, I’m still not positive I shouldn’t have read this on some type of illegal substance. Cameron himself spends quite a bit of time high…so it all might have been clearer to me. I’m not revealing any spoilers about the ending. But if you read it and you make it through, you may agree with me that the worth of this tale wasn’t about what actually happened in the story…but instead about the feeling you had when it was over. That you should be happy in whatever life you lead, and that you should live that life to the fullest.

Rating: 9/10

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Feed by M. T. Anderson

BookTalk

When was the last time you left your house without your phone?

I’ll turn around halfway to work if I don’t have mine. I feel so disconnected if I don’t have it.

This chilling novel imagines a society dominated by the “Feed” a next-generation Internet/television/smartphone hybrid that is hardwired directly into the brain. Teen narrator Titus never questions his world, in which parents select their babies’ attributes in the conceptionarium, corporations dominate the information stream, and kids learn to employ the Feed more efficiently in School. But everything changes when he and his pals travel to the moon for spring break. There, Titus meets home-schooled Violet, who thinks for herself, searches out the truth, and asserts that “Everything we’ve grown up with, the stories on the Feed, the games, all of that it’s all streamlining our personalities so we’re easier to sell to.” Violet is not afraid to question things and is determined to fight the Feed…for a tragic reason she keeps to herself. Titus finds himself falling for Violet and awakening to the scary reality of his world. This satire offers a thought-provoking and scathing accusation that may prod readers to examine the more sinister possibilities of corporate and media-dominated culture.

Review

The scariest thing about this novel is how close to our reality it comes. Written in 2002 this story becomes ever more apt as the years pass. The citizens of Anderson’s world have a Feed inserted in their brain as babies creating a constant connection to society, practically from birth. Invasive as this may have sounded almost 10 years ago, we’d all have to admit that our own society is just as connected…if not in such a physical way.

In the book everything from entertainment, to social interaction, to sex is performed through the Feed. Not too different from the prevalence of YouTube, Facebook, or sexting. I’m sure there are people in our own society who would sign up in a heartbeat if someone offered to rid them of that pesky, and often lost item, ‘the cell phone’ for a more permanent direct connection. This novel hits hard the theme of corporate dominated culture. Showing how as a society we’re all trained to want the latest and best trends whether they be technological or a new hair style. The obsession with following these trends serving to limit our own free thought and creativity.

Anderson also includes an environmental aspect. The Earth of this novel is dying. Oceans have become inhospitable to life, women can no longer conceive naturally turning instead to in-vitro fertilization, and clouds can no longer form in our atmosphere. Again, the parallels of today’s world are scarily similar. While the environment is a secondary theme in this book it makes for great discussion given the Green trend that has formed in recent years.

What drives the reveal of these themes is the romance between Titus and Violet. Because of this Titus ends up dealing not only with the ramifications of his first true relationship but his own burgeoning awareness of the society he’s been trained to follow. He’ll deal with the loss of friendships and the weight that knowledge and adulthood bring. Titus does not end this story as a finished person. Instead the end only serves to bring Titus to his beginning as someone ready to fight the Feed.

Worry not, this book was published before the advent of the YA-series-explosion. It’s actually…gasp…a stand-alone novel, and a very good one at that. Again, the timelessness of this tale lies in it’s ever more accurate portrayal of our society. Take away the space-age setting and the physicality of the Feed and you’ll see a story too chillingly close to our own for comfort.

Rating: 9/10

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Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

BookTalk

Clay Jensen comes home from school and finds a package waiting for him…He’s excited…Nothing like an unexpected package – with no return addresss – to make your day. What Clay finds inside is a shoebox full of cassette tapes. What he hears when he inserts the first tape is the voice of Hannah Baker. Hannah, the girl he’d had a crush on, went to school with, and worked with at the movie theater. The girl who had changed, drastically, in the past few months.

Hannah Baker, the girl who committed suicide.

Clay soon realizes that these tapes aren’t just a suicide note, instead, these are thirteen reasons — thirteen people, to be exact — who created a snowball-effect of events that led Hannah to believe that suicide was her only option. But why is Clay on that list? How could he possibly be one of the reasons that she killed herself? You’ll learn along with Clay that it’s impossible to stop the future or rewind the past…

Review

The single saddest thing about this book is its cover! It catches female teen eyes like an Anthropologie display, but boys ignore it as soon as they see it. And it’s a travisty, really. This book is told from Clay Jensen’s point of view. True, you get a female voice through Hannah’s tapes but the action plays out based on a male perspecive. The book could have major crossover appeal if only guys weren’t so visual.

That aside, this is a great novel. What makes it so strong is that nothing too tragic happens to Hannah. The events and people she outlines as having led her to her final decision of suicide are seemingly normal teenage slights. The problem being…teenagers can be cruel. It’s violations caused by friends and the rumors based in untruths piling up over the course of years that become Hannah’s crushing weight. It’s enough to make anyone look back over their high school experience and wonder if they ever saw people clearly…not just through the lens of accepted gossip.

Another thing I love about this book is that it’s interactive. Readers can go to Asher’s site (http://www.thirteenreasonswhy.com) and listen to Hannah’s Tapes or even visit her Blog. If you think it’s a creepy/devastating prospect to read about Clay uncovering the reasons in the tapes…try listening to a real voice reading them. It adds an extra layer of realism that will not only drive the emotion of the story home, but remind readers that this story could be true. This book is timely in it’s subject given the recent press of teenage suicides caused by all too common bullying. The artistry of the book is that Hannah’s bullying is not extreme. She wasn’t ostracized or humiliated in a public place. Asher manages to restrain himself from employing all too common YA theatrics and drama. Instead, in real time with Clay the reader will learn how all of our actions and even our inaction can privately wound another person.

My one problem with the book was the addition of Clay becoming worried about another potential suicide risk within his school. I don’t think the book needed such a literal example of the lesson Clay learns from Hannah. It was a little after-school-special for my taste…but didn’t diminish my love of this book in the slightest. It’s a must read.

Rating: 9/10

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I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

BookTalk

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

I am next.

John Smith appears to be an average American teenager. He’s kinda cute, quiet, avoids P.E., and he’s really hoping that blonde junior in his science class will notice him. In reality John Smith is an alien. He’s a refugee from the planet Lorien, one of nine children smuggled off the planet during a hostile takeover by the planet Mogadorian. These nine children are the hope of the Lorien race…the only hope to save their home planet. These children have special powers to fight for their people, powers that are only beginning to develop. Hiding among us is their only defense.

But things just got personal. The Mogadorian race has destroyed life on Lorien, as they had with their home planet. The next closest life-sustaining planet is Earth…and they’re here to take over. Three of the nine children are dead, John is number four. They are coming and Earth’s only hope is still learning to control the power within.

Review

So, a lot of reviewers didn’t like this book. Blogs, YA authors, various sources of buzz all claimed that I Am Number Four’s popularity was a no-go for them. I have downloaded this book twice from my local library…twice…that’s 6 weeks of non-reading, sitting-in-my-nook time, that the librarian part of me feels slightly guilty for taking from another, more willing reader. My hesitation sprung from the bad book press this got. I mean sure, it was flying off shelves both in libraries and in bookstores. That hot guy and the pregnant cheerleader from Glee were staring in the movie version. What was wrong with me…scared of starting a YA book?

I put my big girl pants on and read it…in a day.

And

I liked it. …gasp… I did.

I agree with everyone. It’s not written well. Perhaps, this is why the identity of Pittacus Lore is so secretive. But still, I liked it, I liked the story. Once you get past the whole alien thing (and really if you’re reading YA today the jump from vampire and Witch to alien should feel somewhat natural) it’s a book that’s kind of delicious.

I liked John. His relationship with his guardian Henri is fulfilling and walks the line of fatherly and friendly very well. John’s romantic relationship is one you really want to see work. He desires a normal life, even just a taste of it, above all else. And the reader so wants to see him have it. Plus, the dual side-kicks of Sam and Bernie Kosar (the dog) are endearing. It might be a little far-fetched that conspiracy theorist Sam has a shot with a cute girl…but, hey I’m not reading a book about an Alien war for the realism…Let the geek have his day. As the story develops you’ll want to see where this war with the Mogadorians leads. The action at the end of the novel is long but, worth the wait.

Ultimately, I think for the first time in my life…this may make a better movie than a book. But, that doesn’t mean the book isn’t decent candy. Here’s to hoping that Mr. Pittacus Lore also read the reviews of bad writing and brings his skills up to the level of his plot for book 2.

Rating: 7/10

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Bruiser by Neal Shumsterman

BookTalk

On the outside he was The Bruiser, Voted Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty. A big, lumbering, withdrawn kid from the wrong side of the tracks. A kid who looked like he could take you down with one punch just for talking to him.

On the inside he does the impossible. He takes away all pain. He absorbs all physical and emotional anger, frustration, and bruises from those he cares about.

Brewster has begun dating Bronte. Bronte has always had a soft spot for strays and what begins as a mission quickly becomes real romance. Bronte’s twin Tennyson doesn’t like this development at all. With their parents on the brink of divorce, lacross championships to win, and girlfriends to keep, Tennyson has enough on his plate without worrying about a loser like Brewster ‘The Bruiser’ dating his sister.

But Bronte fights for the relationship and Tennyson begins to find a soft spot for Brewster. And unfortunately, Brewster finds room in his heart for the twins. A tale told from the alternating perspectives of these three characters, you’ll watch as they learn Brewster’s secrets slowly…and realize their implications when it’s almost too late…

Review

I was excited for this book. It’s such an interesting idea…watching someone who could take all pain away from another become intertwined with other people for the first time in his adult life. This is bound to end badly right?…you have to love a book where you can see the train wreck coming from a mile away. The family Brewster becomes involved in has it’s crisis…however they’re all pretty standard: divorce, teenage relationship dramatics, general stress. It appears as though Brewster’s life with his Uncle’s alcoholism and the random beatings of Brewster’s brother Cody (which obviously become absorbed by Brewster) are a bad thing. And a move to this seemingly normal suburban family would be a good thing. This is just what Shumsterman wants you to see in the beginning.

What the novel eventually manifests as its central topic, is the discussion of our ability to walk away from a painkiller. Brewster unwittingly becomes a buffer for anyone he cares about. Wanna play harder in a game? Have Brewster come watch, he’ll take all the hits for you. Girlfriend hurt your feelings? Sit next to Brewster he’ll take the pain away and leave you with contentment. The characters figure out the connection between their emotional happiness and Brewster’s ability much slower than the reader. They focus on the standard abuse of Brewster’s Uncle rather than see how their lives are ruining Brewster’s in a far greater capacity. In the end the reader wonders which situation was worse for Brewster and if anyone can give to Brewster what he naturally allows other people to have…Happiness.

Shumsterman wants the story to culminate with the question of: If we never feel pain how will we recognize happiness? I think the question has merit but isn’t one that Shumsterman asked early enough to really answer. The characters take so long in realizing Brewster’s ability and what their lives have done to him that adding this philosophical question to the plot kind of feels like it was simply tacked on. A stronger ending might have resulted from allowing the characters to truly deal with their drug-like addiction to Brewster’s ability. I much preferred when the character of Tennyson realizes that he’s not strong enough to walk away from Brewster’s gift. I wanted everyone to deal with that…I wanted vindication for Brewster! But in my eyes it never happened. Well, obviously something happens, the book ends, but I wish it would have been more of a breakthrough for the characters.

I did enjoyed the book. The format of various character views as well as varied writing formats (Brewster shares his story in free verse) kept the delivery fresh. This also helped Shumsterman pace the plot so the reader has revelations way before the characters. The knowledge of what this family is doing to Brewster is what drives the reader on…You’re waiting for everyone to realize what they’re doing and to fix the situation. But, like I said, I didn’t really feel that that happened in this story. I don’t know that in the end the characters are really ready to look out for Brewster’s best interests…I don’t think they learned their lesson at all. But maybe that’s the point.

Rating

8/10

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The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Warning: This book is slow to start.

Warning: This book is confusing for at least the first 30 pages.

Warning: This book will become so addictive you’ll shut out the world to finish it…

Seriously, Think Hunger Games addicting…

Like The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner is a dystopian fantasy teen trilogy. I’d recommend it to the same audience with the warnings above.

Because…

It is confusing. The main character of Thomas wakes up in a pitch black elevator…heading to who knows where…with his memory wiped. He’s then spit out into a world completely populated by teenage boys who have their own jargon: “Shank”, “Klunk”, “Shuck” (I’ll give you two guesses what that last word stands for *wink*). If the folksonomy and disorientation weren’t enough, no one explains anything to Thomas (or the reader) well. Thomas is constantly being told to “wait” that he’ll understand “later”, and on top of it all to “stop asking questions”. I had issues with this as a reader. I understand we are to feel as disoriented as Thomas, but I don’t think the author cleared up details through experience fast enough. The result is about 30 pages of confusion.

But I’m willing to overlook this. In fact by page 90 I’d completely forgotten about it…I was hooked.

It becomes obvious that Thomas is not a normal Glade newbie. He becomes aware that he has had prior experiences with this place. Also, he seems to have a connection to the comatose girl delivered by the lift (the only girl, the last person to enter the glade, the beginning of the end). Thomas shares a telepathic link with her. While this would be enough to set him apart, Thomas realizes that he knows the maze. He knows things other Gladers (even those who had been there for 2+ years) don’t know.

Oh, did I not mention the eponymous Maze. The relative safety of the Glade is surrounded by a labyrinth of shear stone walls, filled with creatures called Grievers. The Grievers can kill you, or poison you causing a painful recovery process called ‘The Change’.

It becomes apparent early on that this whole world is more of an experiment than a prison. For two years the boys have been trying to solve the maze…attempting to map its changes and find an exit. With the arrival of the final girl it is clear the experiment is ending. Solve the puzzle or die trying. It makes for delicious reading.

BookTalk:

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls. The walls being the inner edges of a seemingly unsolvable maze.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Runners trace the changes in the maze endlessly trying to solve the maze’s puzzle. The boys must also outwit the Grievers inside that might kill them. Every night the walls close tight, protecting the Gladers from death by Griever. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. She is the last person to enter the Glade and…that Everything Will Change.

Uses:

This could make decent companion reading for Lord of the Flies as the boys in both books had to create their own society. The difference is that The Maze Runner is based on the idea of a social experiment. By the end of the book not only will the reader be aware of this, but you’ll briefly meet the scientists conducting the experiment, and read a memo. This opens the novel up to a wider range of uses. It could be used in a sociology/psychology class as an example of social experiments or as a jumping point for discussions about them. If the content doesn’t merit enough to be part of a curriculum (and it may not) it would most definitely make for great extra credit.

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