Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent is a fantastic, action packed, and thought provoking novel written in the near future.  The inhabitants of the city once known as Chicago, have been split into factions.  Each faction cultivates a specific virtue in its members. Selflessness (Abnegation), Intelligence (Erudite), Bravery (Dauntless),  Love (Amenity), Truthfulness (Candor).  Each inhabitant takes a special test when they are 16 and are placed in a faction that best fits their personal attributes.  Then there are the odd balls, the ones that walk their own path,  and fit into many places, they are the Divergent.  It is dangerous to be a Divergent.  Tris, the main character, is divergent.

Divergent follows our main character through her chosen faction's, Dauntless, initiation training, through perils, heart ache, new friends, and new romance.  The novel builds to a cliff hanger of an ending, making you biting at the bit for the next book in the series, Insurgent! 

What I liked about this book is that it is great for all readers, it has action and suspense for the adventure lovers and it has romance for the whimsical, and for those that like thought provoking pieces of work, there is a whole lot of soul searching going on in this novel.  Divergent is sure to interest many readers of all ages. And for those Book to Movie lovers, the premier of Divergent the Movie is March 2014!!

Moon Over Manifest

This is a wonderful story told partly from the perspective of Abilene Tucker, a thirteen year old girl just arriving in Manifest, Kansas during the Great Depression.  This novel flashes between summer day adventures of Abilene Tucker and her two newly made friends Lettie and Ruthanne during 1936 and the lives of the Manifest townfolk in 1918.  The novel is told in a variety of formats, including first person narrative, news paper clippings, third person omnipresent storytelling, and letters written by one character to another.  Once the story picks up, it is full of mystery, suspense, humor, and drama.  This great work of historical fiction will keep students attention right through to the end of the book.  I chose to listen to this book as an audiobook, and really enjoyed the narrators voices that she gave each character, making it easy to follow and fun to listen to.  However if you are reading this novel the publisher has chosen to give each perspective a different font which makes the text easy to follow as well.  

Use in the classroom : This novel would fit in greatly with lessons on both the Great Depression and World War I.  Without knocking you over the head with facts this novel does a great job at "showing" the reader what it was like to live in both in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression, in a small town in 1918, and in the trenches of World War I.

40 Book Challenge!!

Miss. Joy is taking the forty book challenge as well, stay tuned here for synopses of the books I read this year.  I am currently in the middle of Mood Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.  So far so good!!

What I Saw and How I Lied

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell was a superb book about a young girl growing up in Post World War II America. Evie's step father is back from the war and is acting weird. He soon is receiving mysterious phone calls. Suddenly he packs the family up and drives down to Florida. They settle in Palm Beach, and soon run into a couple named the Graysons and a charismatic young soldier named Peter Coleridge. Evie is quickly smitten with Peter and does all she can do be with him. But soon, she, her parents and Peter are snarled into a tangled web of lies, deceit, and murder.

This historical piece of fiction written for young adults is filled with facts about life during and after the war. Readers get a sense of what it is like to go through this harrowing time. Young readers will identify with Evie as she experiences her first kiss and her first love. They will start to question what they would do in Evie's place. This books brings up the question of family loyalties and the bonds of friendship.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

So I'm done with my YA Lit class but still feel I would like to keep this blog running. But since this won't be graded I think I might take a looser approach to the book summary slash review. So here it goes.

Chains is a courageous tale of a young slave fighting for her life, her family, and her freedom. Isabel and her younger sister are promised freedom by their owner, Mary Finch, at the owner's passing. Unfortunately Ms. Finch's nephew has other plans for Isabel and her sister. He sells them to a rich couple from New York and Isabel's life turns quickly from bad to worse. This piece of historical fiction takes place during the Revolutionary War when slaves watched their white owners fight for their freedom and heard promises of their own freedom swirl around their heads. After Isabel's sister, Ruth has another one of her episodes (the reader is led to believe that Ruth had epilepsy) she is sold right out of underneath Isabel's watchful eye. The rest of the book is Isabel's story against the confines of her enslavement and the courageous strides she makes to free herself and save her sister. The book is left as a cliff hanger leaving the reader wanting more.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author did a lot of research previous to writing this book and the reader can tell. The life of this poor slave is described in such detail that it comes to life right off the page. I was left wanting more and will be awaiting Ms. Anderson's sequel to this phenomenal story.

Chains could be used to begin discussions on slavery, the Revolutionary War, inequality, the power of the written word (Isabel gets her courage from Thomas Pain's famous book Common Sense) and fighting against those far more powerful. It is an inspiring tale which is fast paced and draws the reader in quickly.

The Book Thief

Citation: Zusak, Markus. The Book Theif. New York:Random House, 2006

Ages: 14 and up

Genre: Historical Fiction

Theme: Holocaust, Survival, Power of Words, Friendship, Loyalty, Help One Another

Main Character: Liesel Meminger, Hans and Rosa Huberman, Rudy, Max

Plot Summary:

The Book Thief is about a young girl named Liesel who is taken from her mother and handed over to a couple living near Munich, Germany during the years during World War II. The Book Thief is about the many trials of Liesel's life and how she learns to deal with them. First getting used to living in a new home with an overbearing foster mother to finding enough food to feed herself and survive. Soon after moving into her new home, Hans, her foster father begins teaching Liesel to read and she soon learns the power of words. She can not get enough and begins stealing books to satisfy her need to read. Friends such as her neighbor Rudy, the Jewish man living in her basement, Max, and her foster father are the only things making it possible for Liesel to survive these harsh times. The Book Thief describes the horrors of war and what people will do to survive in terrible conditions.

Writing Style:

The Book Thief is told from Death's perspectives. He describes the lives he sees unfolding before him. It gives a strange twist to the story and gives a unique perspective to the novel.

Assessment of Quality and Utility:

The Book Thief is a terrific book that makes the horrors of war and the joy of friendship vivid for the reader. It shows how the power of words can help a person survive and deal with the unfathomable. The Book Thief also teaches the reader about friendship and loyalty even in the face of death. Liesel's life comes alive on the pages of the book and a young reader would have no trouble identifying with her.

The Book Thief is a great book to use in Social Studies units about World War II and the Holocaust. It can really show students the horrors of war and the horrible events that those living in Germany had to endure during the war. It would also be a great book for an English class to read to speak about the power of words and how it could help a person through troubling times.

Goonies

Citation: Goonies. Dir. Ruchard Donner. Perf. Sean Astin, Cory Feldman. DVD. Warner Bros., 2001.

Ages: 12 and up

Genre: Action, Comedy

Themes: Buried Treasure, Friendship, Loyalty, Adventure

Main Characters: The Goonies: Mikey, Brand, Mouth, Chunk, Data, Andy, Stef, The Fratellis, Sloth

Plot Summary:

The Goonies is a story about a group of kids who on the verge of loosing their homes to a country club being built in their place, set out on a treasure hunt to save the town they love. They are soon being raced to the treasure by a family of criminals named the Fratellis, a mother and her two sons. Her third son Sloth, named as such for his physical deformities, joins up with one of the group that is left behind to help save the day when the lives of the Goonies are threatened. In the end the treasure is discovered and enough jewels are found to save the Goon Docks.

Assessment of Quality

Each character has their own lovable qualities and The Goonies is a joy to watch. The movie is fast paced and the special effects are decent for the time period during which the movie was made. For me it is a trip down memory lane watching this movie because it was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. Although the movie was made in the 80’s I believe that young adults of this time period would still enjoy watching this movie. It is funny and exciting. It shows what a band of kids can do if they put their minds to it. The Goonies are a close knit group of friends which I believe young adults can identify with. There is even a bit of romance thrown in to catch the most reluctant watchers attention.