Divergent/Insurgent

In Beatrice Prior's future version of Chicago, the architecture and highway systems of the past are largely destroyed, and the population is divided into five factions.  The Amity value peace, the Dauntless value courage, the Candor value honesty, the Erudite value intelligence, and the Abnegation, Beatrice's faction, value selflessness.

Beatrice has grown up believing that she should put everyone above herself, that to think of her own desires or wants is selfish and immoral.  The abnegation don't even have mirrors in their homes; vanity is selfish.  As Beatrice approaches her sixteenth birthday and the ceremony where she will choose her faction, she is uncertain.

The idea of spending her life in Abnegation doesn't appeal to Beatrice; she feels trapped and alone, but to choose another faction is to turn away from her entire family.  Her new faction would become her family.

Beatrice chooses freedom over family and becomes a Dauntless initiate.  This life is wilder and freer than anything she's ever known, and she will experience friendship, cruelty, and love like she never would in Abnegation.

As exhilarating as this new life is, Beatrice notices strange and frightening things happening in her society, things that most everyone else is unaware of.  The danger increases, and Beatrice may lose more than she ever dreamed possible.

Read Veronica Roth's thrilling adventure to find out what happens!

 SPOILER ALERT! STOP READING NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T READ DIVERGENT YET!

In the sequel to Divergent, Tris is still reeling from the death of her parents and most of her former faction.  She also struggles with her own grief and horror over killing Will to save herself that horrible night when the most of the dauntless became mindless robots of the Erudite.

Now that everyone knows Tris and Tobias are Divergent, they face fear and stigma from those around them.  With the Dauntless home base filled with memories of horror and surveillance cameras, the few Dauntless who are have not joined the Erudite are left to search for shelter and belonging.

Tris loves Tobias more than ever, but she she finds herself drawn to his abusive father and his teasing hints about a secret.  Marcus Eaton swears that this secret is so powerful that the Erudite would do anything keep it from getting out.  Tris believes him despite herself, but she feels disloyal to Tobias.

The city is becoming a battleground of faction against faction, and the thousands of disenfranchised factionless may be the deciding factor.

Under the Mesquite

For Lupita, family is everything.  Her mother is the driving force that keeps everything together from Lupita's young childhood in Mexico to life now in los Estados Unidos.  Mami can make everything work from squabbling little brothers and sisters to fresh tortillas to a yard full of beautiful rosebushes.  As the oldest, Lupita has always helped out, but she doesn't really mind the extra time those chores give her with Mami.  Papi spends most of his time working to provide for his family and save for the future, so Mami counts on Lupita to help with the little kids.

When Lupita is 14, her mother is diagnosed with cancer, and life changes forever.  There are moments of lightness and occasional trips to Mexico to visit family and friends there, but most of the family's energy and all of their prayers are devoted helping Mami get better.

Even with the stress about Mami and her responsibilities at home, Lupita finds time to take drama at school, and she's pretty good.  But as Mami's cancer gets worse, Lupita feels overwhelmed with responsibility, and her efforts to improve herself, could pull her away from family and friends.

The verse novel is a beautiful story of heartbreak and triumph and the struggle of balancing who you were with who you want to be.  I highly recommend Guadalupe Garcia McCall's novel.  Plus, she is San Antonio middle school teacher who used her own immigration experiences to inform Lupita's story.

A Good Long Way

March 27th is a day that starts at 2:34 in the morning for three kids.  Roelito was up late studying for an algebra test, so he's not happy to be awakened by noises in the hall so early on a test day.  When he realizes those noises are his older brother, Beto, and their father fighting, he starts to get nervous.  This fight is not like all the others.  There is so much intensity and anger between the two.  Roelito is horrified by what he sees especially when Beto doesn't just walk away; he runs away, and Roelito can tell he doesn't intend to return.

Beto may not be a star student, but he gets so angry with his father for not trusting him.  He may be out late playing pool with his friends, but he doesn't drink or smoke.  He just wants his dad to respect him, but it seems like that will never happen.  He's only a few months from high school graduation, but what's the point?  Now that he's out alone a night, he starts to feel a little panicky, so he turns to his best friend, Jessy, for encouragement.  He's sure she can tell him what to do.

When Beto shows up at Jessy's window, he's just another crisis in a stressful evening.  Of course, he doesn't know about the raging fight her parents had earlier or that she spent most of the evening locked inside her bathroom.  She's tried to run away so many times, but she keeps coming back; for what, she doesn't really now.  Like Beto, she's a senior, and no one messes with her at school, not even the teachers.  Everyone knows she's tough, maybe even a little scary.  Most people don't bother to look long enough to really see how smart she is or how much she loves art.

March 27th is a day that starts too early and too hard for these three, but by the end of the day all three will experience change, learn to see others in a way, and make decisions to that will affect the rest of their lives.

Read Rene Saldana's new book to find out what can happen in a day.

A Dog's Purpose

A Dog's Purpose is W. Bruce Cameron's journey inside the mind of a dog as it tries to discover it's purpose.

Life starts for Toby as a feral dog.  He is inquisitive and finds fleeting affection, but death is not the end for this dog.  Each time he comes to the end of life, he awakens as a puppy with a new life and a new name.  As he travels through each life, he uses the lessons he has learned to help the people around him as he tries to discover his purpose for existence.

A Dog's Purpose is at times funny, sad, and touching.  Every animal lover should read it, but it is especially for dog lovers.  As a cat person, I enjoyed the book, and I loved the dog's observations about cats.  He generally thinks they have "no discernible purpose."

This book is a wonderful view of love from a dog's eyes.  The complexities of human life and relationships get boiled down to play, love, comfort, and eat.  Anyone who has ever loved an animal will understand and appreciate this dog's single-minded devotion to his master's comfort and happiness.

Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip

This is the newest book by Jordan Sonnenblick, author of Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie and other fabulous books.  Curveball has the same energy and tone as the others as Sonnenblick's characters face life's disasters with humor and sensitivity.

Peter Friedman loves baseball.  He and his best friend AJ have been pitching and catching on the same team since they were kids, but just as they are on the cusp of what they know will be their brilliant high school careers, Peter faces a devastating injury that will impact his ability to play baseball forever.

But he does have one more thing going for him, photography.  Peter's grandfather has been sharing his love of photography with him his whole life, and the two are close friends beyond the lens.  One day on a photography trip something strange happens to Gramps.  It's like he's just gone for a few minutes, and things get worse from there.

So instead of starting high school on a high Peter is beginning with the specter of his injury and his worries about Gramps hanging over him.

Even with all this, there is Angelika, the really cute girl who keeps flirting with him and the hope of something other than baseball to love.

Will Peter be able to handle life's curveball, or will completely lose his grip?  Read the book to find out!

Sweet Venom

This is the latest book from Tera Lynn Childs, author of Forgive My Fins, Oh. My. Gods, and other books.  Sweet Venom goes back to the world of Greek mythology with the story of Gretchen, Grace, and Greer, three girls adopted into different families.  Though they are adopted and come from different backgrounds, they can't deny that they are physically identical.  The shock of finding long lost triplet sisters isn't the only thing they'll have to deal with!

Gretchen is the only one of the sisters who knows anything about who they really are, descendants of Medusa.  Forget everything you learned about the hideous gorgon who could turn men to stone with a single glance.  That's just a smear campaign from Athena who was jealous!  The truth is that Medusa was a guardian of the seal that separates the human world from the world of mythological creatures.  Regular humans can't see the truth about these creatures; the three sisters are the only ones who can.

Gretchen thought she had everything figured out, but now her mentor is gone, two new untrained sisters have appeared, and the beasties are popping up everywhere!  These sisters will have to discover the truth, protect the humans, and keep from getting killed themselves, but first they'll have to figure out how to keep from killing each other!

We have a signed copy of Sweet Venom and a signed ARC of Sweet Shadows, the not-yet-published sequel to give away at the Biggest Reader party!  Get your tickets ready!

No book trailer yet, but I'll add one when I find one.  Here is a video of the author talking about making character collages.  You can see some examples for this book at Tera Lynn Child's website.

Wish

Fifteen-year-old Bee is a perfectionist.  She makes perfect grades and is president of her class at school.  She is even perfect in her devotion to her younger brother, Tommy, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, a disease that causes his lungs to fill with mucus and makes his breathing difficult, but Bee doesn't resent Tommy.  The siblings have a deep and loving relationship, and they understand and respect each other better than anyone else.

Tommy's interest in sharks has won a trip to dive with them from a foundation that grants wishes for children with terminal diseases, so Tommy, Bee, and their mother are headed from New Hampshire to California.  His cystic fibrosis will make everything about the trip a little more dangerous, but Bee is always by his side to make sure he has everything he needs from medication to breathing treatments to a special vest that vibrates the mucus in his lungs.

Before the plane even lands, things are not perfect.  Bee is frustrated by her mother's constant need to for male attention, and even this trip for Tommy is no different.  Her mother begins a flirtation on the plane that irritates perfectionist Bee.  The dive trip itself is not what Tommy had hoped, but he tries to keep a positive attitude.

It isn't until Bee and Tommy set off on an unscheduled adventure of their own that Tommy can really enjoy the trip.  Not only will he have a once in a lifetime experience, but they will both meet real friends who give them the kind of understanding and support they have been craving.

For Bee, this trip started as an experience for Tommy, something to make his wish come true, but she will discover some truths about herself including some wishes of her own.

I love this book!  It is a beautiful story about the sea and love.  You should read it!

Link to the author's website here.

2012-2013 Lone Star List

Legend

Are you looking for something to cure your post-Hunger Games blues?  You will love Marie Lu's debut novel!  Set in a future where the United States is divided into two warring countries, and the United States itself is a myth that's been wiped from the history books, Legend tells the story of Day and June.

Day is a rebel living on the outside of society, causing problems while keeping his identity secret.

June is a prodigy destined for a military career just like her brother.

There is no reason for their paths to cross until Day's younger brother is diagnosed with the plague, and Day becomes desperate to get a cure.  When he breaks into the hospital to steal medicine, June's beloved brother ends up dead, and she is now desperate to find her brother's killer.

Both will discover secrets and lies about their worlds and find an undeniable attraction to each other.  Can these enemies find the truth and each other behind all the lies?

This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

This is a reimagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein which just means the author took the basic ideas of the original story and looked at them in a different way or in this case, fleshed out part of the story.  Oppel looks at Victor Frankenstein as a teenager.  Victor and his twin brother, Konrad, are best friends, but that doesn't mean there isn't a touch or jealousy and competition in their relationship.  This competitiveness only increases for Victor when he thinks of the lovely Elizabeth. 

Life is relatively peaceful until Konrad becomes unexpectedly ill, and all medical efforts fail.  Victor remembers a dark library hidden in the house with alchemy books and papers.  He struggles to create an Elixir of Life to save his brother and to glorify himself.  Victor and Elizabeth must battle vicious creatures and cunning enemies to meet their goal, but Victor finds the danger exhilarating. 

This book was a heart pounding thrill ride that manages to be character driven at the same time.  Oppell looks further into Victor's motivations than the original story does, and he creates a character who is believable and disturbing.

The best compliment I can give This Dark Endeavor is it inspired me to read the original Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I'd never read it, but I thought I knew the story based on a jumble of movie clips and cultural references.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was wrong and that Shelley's novel provokes questions about loneliness and personal responsibility.  We also have Shelley's book here in the library.  Both are challenging reads, so I would recommend them for 8th graders and 7th graders who are strong readers.

This Dark Endeavor was also named as part of the 2012-2013 Lone Star List!