Susan Beth Pfeffer’s the dead & the gone (Harcourt 2008) is a companion story to her previous YA novel Life as We Knew (Harcourt 2006).  The novel takes the same cataclysmic disaster, but this time tells the story from the perspective of Alex Morales, a seventeen-year-old boy living in New York City.

When a meteor hits the moon and pushes it closer to the Earth, the change in gravitational pull causes massive worldwide destruction.  Tides rise, magma surfaces, tectonic plates shift, and soon the earth is enveloped by natural is –tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes.  Volcanic ash darkens the sky, temperatures plummet, crops fail.  There are evacuations, power outages, food and fuel shortages, deadly epidemics.  Lines of communication shut down–no radio, internet, cell phones, tv. 

 Thousands of people are dead, and most of Alex’s family are among “the gone,” as Alex refers to them.  These include Alex’s older brother Carlos who is deployed with the Marines, Alex’s aunt and uncle who evacuate soon after the disaster, Alex’s mother who has never returned home from her shift at the hospital, and Alex’s dad who has never returned from a family funeral in Puerto Rico.  They are “the gone”–never confirmed dead but nonetheless absent.  Just like Alex’s aunt and uncle who evacuate NYC soon after the disaster. 

Thrust into the role of protector and provider for his two younger sisters, Alex second-guesses his decisions and struggles to come to terms with overwhelming responsibilities  (including a nightmarish visit to Yankee Stadium–now morgue–to look for the body of his mother).  Dreams of being elected senior class president and getting accepted to a good college are totally irrelevant   in a world where survival is the only goal.

 What is essential?  What is important?  If life all changed tomorrow,  what would really matter?  Author Susan Beth Pfeffer offers another great novel that makes you question your needs, your wants, and your priorities.

When you’re a sister sandwiched between two sets of twins, you pretty much get ignored.  It’s the twins everyone finds interesting, they’re the novelty–you’re just an extra.  At least that’s how Miri feels in The Magic Half (Bloomsbury, 2008).  This middle grade novel by Annie Barrows weaves a story of family and friendship with a unique time travel twist (and a surprise ending to boot).  

When Miri’s family moves to a new house, Miri has no one to hang out with.  Older brothers Ray and Robbie, and younger sisters Nell and Nora, all have built-in friends, their twin.  Mom and dad are swamped with work and unpacking.  So Miri, a girl with ”a dazzling imaginative capacity”  is on her own.   

Soon Miri finds herself in trouble.  She hits her brother with a shovel and gets sent to her room.  Miri’s old, quirky bedroom with its ugly orange and purple wallpaper was once part of the attic.  Miri explores the room and discovers a small piece of pinkish glass.

As Miri looks through the glass, the room seems “to bend and collapse in the middle, as though the center of the house were being sucked into a whirlpool.”  Miri has been transported to 1935.  She’s in the same bedroom, but it looks completely different.  The bedroom also belongs to Molly, a girl who is in grave danger from a vicious cousin and a jealous aunt. 

Soon Miri finds herself travelling back and forth through time trying to save Molly.  Molly begs Miri to take her away, back to future.  What should Miri do?  Will she get trapped in 1935?  Can she get Molly to the future? And what will she tell her parents when brings home a complete stranger, a girl with no family, no money, and nowhere to go?  Read The Magic Half and find out!

Seems like everyone likes a treasure hunt.  Add to that a web of historical artifacts, ancient symbols, and mythic beliefs, and you’ve got such stuff as The DaVinci Code and National Treasure are made of (to paraphrase Shakespeare).  You’ve also got the stuff of the YA Novel Ring of Fire: Century Quartet #1by Pierdomenico Baccalario and translated by Leah D. Janeczko (Random House, 2006) has mystery, action, and seemingly endless clues that make you think everything is an ingeniously interconnected web of cosmic importance.  

The novel takes place on Rome on December 29 as four teenagers from across the globe–all born on February 29–meet by chance at the hotel Domus Quintilia.  A mysterious blackout leads them outside, a stranger fleeing for his life thrusts a briefcase into their hands, and they find themselves searching a trail of ancient clues and stalked by a deadly international assassin.  

That’s all I’m giving away.  But be prepared:  the book ends on a cliff-hanger.  You won’t be satisified at the end of this book because you’ll be wishing for the next one.

For those of you who loved The Hunger Games, author Suzanne Collins has written a sequel, Catching Fire (Scholastic, 2009).  The story picks up where Hunger Games left off, with Katniss awkwardly trying to choose between Peeta and Gale and living a life of ease as a Hunger Games champion.

But things start to fall apart when Katniss discovers that her and Peeta’s dual survival was seen as an act of rebellion and has encouraged uprisings in several districts.  The Capitol cracks down and life becomes even more oppressive, something Katniss thought impossible.  Not surprisingly, Katniss’ first instinct is to survive, to stay out of trouble and keep her family alive.

But the President  of the Capitol is determined to make Katniss pay, and once again she finds herself in the Arena.  She is selected to compete in the Quarterly Quell, a fight-to-the-death battle that occurs every twenty-five years, only this time competitors are chosen from prior Hunger Games champions.

Katniss must battle against the best of the best.  And the Capitol government fully intends to use the Quell to display their absolute power and to kill Katniss as a public and painful example of what happens to those who defy the Capitol.  

Again Katniss must use her skill and wits in an attempt to survive the Arena.  Is there anyone she can trust?  Does she dare form alliances?  Does it even matter, since the Capitol seems bent on destroying her and everyone she loves?

Catching Fire is Book Two of what will be a trilogy.  Most of the reviews I have read feel that Catching Fire is not quite as gripping as The Hunger Games, and I agree.  However, the cliff-hanger ending will leave you dying (figuratively speaking, of course) for the sequel.

The Amazing Race, American Idol, Project Runway, The Biggest Loser, Man vs. Wild, Dancing with the Stars–reality shows are all over television. 

But what if winning Survivor meant being the last one left alive?  What if the bloody battles of the Roman gladiators had been broadcast as reality TV?  Reality TV meets Lord of the Flies in the gripping new YA thriller The Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008) by Suzanne Collins.

The Hunger Games takes place in a brutal and harsh future.  North America has been decimated by war.   One central Capitol rules in tyranny over twelve districts.  Broken by their failed rebellion, starving and deprived, the districts are forced to send their resources to the Capitol:  coal, jewels, grain, weapons.  The Capitol controls the food supply, the economy, the government, the media.

As punishment for rebellion, the twelve districts must also send an annual tribute to the Capitol:  one girl and one boy, twenty-four in all, each of whom will fight to the death in the annual televised “Hunger Games.”  The voyeurism of reality TV takes a grotesque twist as citizens tune in–some by choice, some by forced decree–to watch the 74th Annual Hunger Games.

Sixteen year old Katmiss and her family live in District 12.  Poverty and hunger ravage most of its citizens, and Katniss and her family very nearly starved the year her father was killed in a mine accident.  But Katniss learned to hunt wild game and barter (even though the Capitol forbids both), and has managed to keep her mother and younger sister Prim alive.  

Then Prim’s name is drawn in the lottery for the female tribute for District 12.  Katniss insists that she go in Prim’s place and travels to the glittering, decadent Capital with Peeta, the male tribute from District 12.  Katniss barely knows Peeta but recognizes him as the baker’s son who, years earlier, saved her life and gave her hope by giving her a loaf of bread. 

Soon Katniss and Peeta are being groomed for the pageanty and brutality of the Hunger Games.  Besides the obvious prize of sheer survival, the victor of the annual Hunger Games also wins a house and an annual stipend for life.  A roof over your head and a full belly for life–what could be better?

Katniss is torn between her instinctive liking and gratitude toward Peeta and the knowledge that in the end they will have to be enemies:

To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed.  And more than once, I have turned in the school hallway and caught his eyes trained on me, only to quickly flit away.  I feel like I owe him something, and I hate owing people.   Maybe if I had thanked him at some point, I’d be feeling less conflicted now.  . . .  Because we’re going to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death. 

Trust is foolishness, a terrible weakness that only gives enemies an advantage.  Only one person can survive the Hunger Games.  It is kill or be killed.  Only one tribute will return home victorious.  But should Katniss and Peeta trust each other and work as a team?

If your middle schooler loves adventure books, they’ll love just about anything by Anthony Horowitz.  Last week I listened to a lively discussion by a group of middle-schoolers sitting around my kitchen table.  General consensus:  Anthony Horowitz books are AWESOME!  Two days later, I heard another group of teens debating which of Horowitz’s books was best.

In Stormbreaker, Alex Rider isn’t your average fourteen year old.  An orphan living with his uncle, Alex suspects foul play when his uncle is killed in a car accident.  Alex invesigates and discovers that his uncle  was really a secret agent who was murdered during a top-secret mission.  Soon Britain’s elite M-16 force (like our CIA or FBI) has enlisted Alex to help uncover the evil plot.

Luckily for Alex, his uncle has prepared him well.  Experience with karate, rappelling, scuba diving, and moto-cross racing all come in handy as Alex enters the villain’s lair and uncovers the dastardly plot.  James Bond meets Harry Potter in Alex Rider, the reluctant orphan hero who has greatness foisted upon him. 

Sure the protagonist is fourteen, but other than that (plus no sex and no swearing), Stormbreaker could have been written for adults.  With one intense adventure after another, Stormbreaker is a page turner both kids and adults can enjoy.  It makes a great summer read.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (Tor 2006).  I just finished this fantasy novel at the recommendation of a reader comment (see comments for the November post ”Luke Skywalker vs. Edward Cullen”).  Mistborn is Book 2 of Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy series, and it’s a great read.  The main character Kelsier combines the brash devil-may-care adventurism of Indiana Jones with the roguery of Robin Hood and the fighting talents of a ninja as he battles against the evil Lord Ruler. 

The capital city of Luthadel, reminiscent of Dicken’s industrial England, is a filthy city full of crowded slums where the people known as skaa live enslaved to a corrupt noble class.  These nobles in turn are controlled by the Lord Ruler and his reign of terror.  The dashing Kelsier and his band of thieves combine forces with the skaa rebellion to overthrow the government.  They plot the ultimate heist-the overthrow of the government and a raid on the treasury which they believe is full of the priceless metal atium.

Why does Kelsier think he can win against impossible odds that have defeated so many?  Because Kelsier is a Mistborn-an elite magician who has the abilities to “burn” ingested metals to activate his powers.  Burning iron or steel enables Kelsier to “pull” and “push” on metals so he can climb up buildings or push off a coin and leap superhuman distances into the air.  Other metals heighten Kelsier’s senses or enable him to influence the feelings of others. 

Mistborns apparently are a rare lot, so when Kelsier discovers Vin, a beaten slum-rat thief of a girl, he takes her under his wing and mentors her.  She becomes his sidekick and a critical member of the team.

I don’t read a lot of fantasy, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Great characters, great setting, great plot.  And while I found myself skimming the fight scenes, I’ve read blogs that said the fight scenes were their favorite part.  Anyone who likes the fast paced moves of an action flick will love the fight scenes. 

We all root for the underdog.  We all want Frodo, Harry Potter (and Wilbur the pig for that matter) to win.  But what is the price of success?  Read Mistborn and find out. 

Comment on Mistborn or other fantasy books you love!

I thought long and hard about the topic for my very first blog.  Something special.  Relevant.  A fascinating topic with mass appeal.  So it had to be Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. 

The just-released blockbuster movie is raking in major bucks ($70.5 million in the first week alone).  Meanwhile Robert Pattison (vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen) has been attacked by rabid female fans, crazed-Beatle-mania style.  Not sure he realized what he got himself into when he decided to be the repository for all women’s dreams.

Stephenie Meyer’s phenomenally best-selling clean-teen books, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, are a cross between a romance and an action thriller.  They tap into female’s deepest desires for the perfect man.  So he’s a vampire.  Who cares?  Finally the homely, nobody girl wins the hottest, sweetest, smartest, most romantic boy in the whole school (ok, in the whole world).  Ah, the joys of fiction, where dreams really do come true, and Cinderella really does meet and marry her handsome prince.

But what about the boys?  I’ve heard of a few guys who read and even enjoyed Meyer’s books.  I’ve even heard of a few more who dared to be seen at the movie.  But not too many of these mavericks exist.  Most guys I know and have talked to have a) zero interest in even opening one of Stephanie Meyers books; or b) tried them because their sister or girlfriend forced them to and universally agreed: “Twilight sucks.” 

So what do teen-age boys read?  “Do teen-age boys read?”  I hear you ask.  What book would make a teen-age boy stay up late into the night, sacrificing sleep (but not food, of course) to finish that page-turner?

Teen-age guys spend inordinate amounts of time shooting at virtual things on screens.  And guess what?  They’ll also spend inordinate amounts of time reading about fictional characters who shoot at things. 

Star Wars novels teem with characters who’ve got tight weaponry, awesome firepower, and crazy-fast ships.  To grasp the basic plot of these books, think about any Star Wars movie you’ve ever seen.  Change the name of the character, the planet, the bad guy, a few details and voila!  A new novel.

 For example, in Star Wars: Ambush at Corellia (Book One of the Corellian Trilogy), Han Solo, Princess Leia, and their children return with Chewbacca to Han’s home planet of Corellia.  Han finds his planet on the brink of civil war and it turns out that the bad guy happens to be Han Solo’s cousin.  “As jammerships block all communication with Luke Skywalker and the outside universe, Han and Leia find themselves trapped on a world about to explode in violence unless the can meet a fanatical Rebel leader’s impossible demands . . .”  You get the picture.

Well over a hundred Star Wars novels have been written by various authors, usually as series (The New Jedi Order series, the X-Wing series, Young Jedi Knights series, etc.) or trilogies (Jedi Academy trilogy, The Corellian trilogy, The Black Fleet Crisis, etc.).  You might have a hard time finding them on your library’s catalog.  Our library carries many of these mass media paperbacks, but doesn’t list them in their catalog.  So you have to go to the library and hope they have one you haven’t read.  Many guys just end up buying them.  Twenty, thirty, forty of them. 

So move over Edward Cullen.  You may be the Mr. Darcy of Dracula.  You may have killer looks and a personality girls would die for.  But there’s one thing you don’t have.  The Force.

Do you know guys that read Star Wars novels?  And . . . did you think the Twilight movie was as good as the book?