Visit Bart’s blog for all the details.

From October 1st – December 19th I’ll be reading as many dystopian books as I can.  I’ll be participating at Level 3 which means I have to read at least five (5) young adult dystopian novels during that time.

Bart doesn’t require us to post our lists in advance, but suggests that posting our reading pool might be helpful to others.  So, here are a few that are on my list to read for the challenge.

It’s the near future – the very near future – and the fossil fuels are running out. No gas. No oil. Which means no driving. No heat. Supermarkets are empty. Malls have shut down. Life has just become more local than we ever knew it could be.

Nobody expected the end to come this fast. And in the small town of Spring Valley, decisions that once seemed easy are quickly becoming matters of life and death. There is hope – there has to be hope – just there are also sacrifices that need to be made, and a whole society that needs to be rethought.

Teens like Nicki, Tom, and Leila may find what they need to survive. But their lives are never going to be the same again.

Set in the very near future, a wounded New York struggles with the aftermath of a power plant explosion that plunged the city into fourteen days of violence and darkness. Christened “Big Black” by the media, the presumed terrorist attack accomplished what 9/11 couldn’t: killing the city’s spirit and draining it of its life force. An enormous bug-like dome hastily constructed to keep toxic gases from escaping the site casts a gloomy pall over the city and serves as a bleak reminder of the tragedy. Deprived of all reason for optimism, New York’s inhabitants slowly withdraw from human interaction and into the cold comfort of technology.

Seventeen-year-old Mal returns to the Brooklyn home of his foster parents one night to discover that his older brother, Tommy, has vanished after leaving a strange message on his phone. Mal launches a search for his brother that leads to a foreboding, seemingly unoccupied Manhattan skyscraper; once inside, he makes a careless mistake that reveals hidden cracks in the surface of the world he knows. Meanwhile, Laura, a high school senior is shaken from her quiet suburban life when her parents inexplicably abandon her and two agents from Homeland Security armed with a hypodermic needle show up at her home.

The two teenagers are thrown together with a cynical and bitter highschool teacher named Mike, and Jon Remak, a covert agent for a shadowy cooperative. The strangers share little in common, save for one terrifying fact: someone or something has wiped them from the memories of every single person the four have ever known. Only by working together can Mal and Laura hope to reclaim a past that was stolen from them–and start a future no one can take away.

The Maze was only the beginning…

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more Variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety… until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, much of the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated–and with it, order–and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim… and meal.

The Gladers are far from done running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Thomas can only wonder–does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?

Finn has escaped from the terrible living Prison of Incarceron, but its memory torments him, because his brother Keiro is still inside. Outside, Claudia insists he must be king, but Finn doubts even his own identity. Is he the lost prince Giles? Or are his memories no more than another construct of his imprisonment? And can you be free if your friends are still captive? Can you be free if your world is frozen in time? Can you be free if you don’t even know who you are? Inside Incarceron, has the crazy sorcerer Rix really found the Glove of Sapphique, the only man the Prison ever loved. Sapphique, whose image fires Incarceron with the desire to escape its own nature. If Keiro steals the glove, will he bring destruction to the world? Inside. Outside. All seeking freedom. Like Sapphique.

This is a blood-pumping, white-knuckle sci-fi thriller of epic proportions. The FAYZ goes from bad to worse…The darkness has been foiled once again and the resurrected Drake has been contained. But the streets of Perdido Beach are far from safe, with a growing army of mutants fighting against the humans for power in the town. In a small room of a house near the edge of town, Little Pete lies ill on a bed. In his fevered dreams, he continues his battle with the hidden evil that seeks to use his power to bring about anarchy and destruction.

One year ago, Lia Kahn died.A few days later, she woke up.

She had a new body: Mechanical, unfeeling, inhuman. She had a new family: Mechs like her, who didn’t judge her for what she could no longer be. She had a new life, one that would last forever.

At least, it was supposed to.

But now everything Lia thought she knew has turned out to be a lie; everyone she thought she loved has been stolen away. And someone is trying to get rid of the mechs, once and for all. Lia will risk everything to save herself and the people she can’t live without. But not before facing one final truth: She can’t save everyone.

What about everyone else?  What do you want to read during the challenge?

I don’t know how I did it, but I read more this month than any other month this year.  On the down side, I didn’t write very many reviews and am very behind.  So behind it is completely overwhelming. So, I’ll be trying to do a better job of writing reviews in a timely manner this month.

59. GLIMPSE by Carol Lynch Williams (August 2, 2010) 496 pages
60. DUST CITY by Robert Paul Weston (August 6, 2010) 304 pages
61. THE ETERNAL ONES by Kirsten Miller (August 7, 2010) 416 pages
63. SHADOW HILLS by Anastasia Hopcus (August 12, 2010) 400 pages
66. FALLOUT by Ellen Hopkins (August 21, 2010) 672 pages
67. OOK AND GLUK by Dav Pilkey (August 23, 2010) 176 pages
69. PLASTIC by Sarah Harvey (August 28, 2010) 136 pages
70. MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins (August 26, 2010) 390 pages
71. iDRAKULA by Bekka Black (August 29, 2010) 160 pages

Total pages = 3,150

62. GLIMMERGLASS by Jenna Black (August 11, 2010) AUDIO 9 hrs and 45 mins
64. GIRL PARTS by John Cusick (August 17, 2010) AUDIO 5 hrs and 32 mins
65. SHE’S SO DEAD TO US by Kieran Scott (August 16, 2010) AUDIO 7 hrs and 59 mins
68. I AM NUMBER FOUR by Pittacus Lore (August 25, 2010) AUDIO 11 hrs and 24 mins

Total time = 34 hrs and 40 mins

Favorites of August

I’m looking forward to reading this new book by Alyson Noel.  It is an off shoot of her Immortal Series and takes up Ever’s sister’s story. Here is the synopsis.

Riley Bloom left her sister, Ever, in the world of the living and crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. Riley and her dog, Buttercup, have been reunited with her parents and are just settling into a nice, relaxing death when she’s summoned before The Council. They let her in on a secret—the afterlife isn’t just an eternity of leisure; Riley has to work. She’s been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a curious boy she can’t quite figure out.

Riley, Bodhi, and Buttercup return to earth for her first assignment, a Radiant Boy who’s been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But he’s never met Riley…

I read EVERMORE and listened to BLUE MOON on audio book. Click on the titles to see the reviews.

Check out the book trailer.

Visit Alyson at her website for more information.

http://www.alysonnoel.com/

Check out the book trailer.

September 7, 2010 – Little Brown

Ames lives a good life with her parents and younger sister. They take family vacations together, enjoy each other’s company, and have everything they want – a nice house, friends, and luxuries. Little does Ames know, but everything is about to come crashing down around her.

After returning home from a Christmas vacation isolated in the Alaska, Ames begins to hear the rumblings of rumors at school.  Rumors involving her father and something that happened at work. At first, she doesn’t give it a second thought.  Her parents have always been open with her and she knows her father would tell her if anything was wrong, but soon she can’t ignore the fact that her parents are acting strange.  Her mother is openly angry and belittles her father and her father hides in his office all day and won’t talk to anyone.

Eventually, Ames finds out her father lost a lot of money at work doing something illegal and cleaned out all of their personal savings in an attempt to pay it back.  They are left with nothing. Forced to move away from her best friend and everything she has known, Ames is angry.

Ames gets even more surprises when they move to Texas to live in a rent house that belongs to her dad’s parents. It is while working on the mess inside the house when she meets Marc. With only Marc to help her with the worst jobs in the house she begins to feel a connection to him. He offers attention, support, and protection from her parents and their misplaced anger. Ames feels betrayed by her parents and only Marc gives her back a feeling of power, but can she afford to pay the price it takes to get back at them?

DARK SONG is a fast-paced, intense story. The reason it only received 3 Glasses is because I felt Ames fell into Marc’s trap a little too easily. I also felt the family dynamics didn’t ring true.  While I understand the anger that would be in the household, I didn’t feel Ames parents would have turned on her as much as they did. After discussing this book with a colleague, I was told I felt this way because I didn’t have any experience with dysfunctional families. So, my question to you is, what do you think?  Did the story work for you?

My favorite character in the story was Ames’ little sister Chrissy. She is the smartest and most insightful character in the book.

It is my pleasure to host a stop on the SHADOW HILLS Blog Tour. Take some time to get to know Anastasia by reading the Q  & A below.  Be sure to stop by her website for even more information. http://www.anastasiahopcus.com/

1. You include information about Goddesses, genetics, and supernatural powers in SHADOW HILLS. How much research did you have to do to write this story?

A lot.  But fortunately I really enjoyed it.  The science aspects were difficult to grasp at first, but it was also fascinating.  I learned a lot about genetics and disease and how certain things cause changes in the way your brain functions.  I had studied Greek myths in middle school, but I really didn’t know anything about Hekate or their religious ceremonies.  So I read some books about ancient Greek religion.  Probably the best thing was the trip I took to Massachusetts.  I took pictures of the cool old cemeteries and buildings from the 1700s.  Massachusetts is a beautiful state, and I felt really at home there.  I’d  love to live in the Berkshires in the future—though probably just in the summers. I am from Texas, after all.

2. When writing, what is more comfortable for you?  Do you write at home or somewhere else? Do you write alone or with a group? Give us a peek inside your writing environment.

I am easily distracted.  Even if I just listen to music while I write, soon I’m singing along and have completely lost my train of thought.  So I need silence and nothing going on around me.  I could never write in a coffee shop like some writers do.  I write in my home.  I’ve been in my new condo for about a year now, and I have a cozy little office.  I either work there or take my mini-laptop downstairs and sit on the couch while I write.  I prefer to work in big chunks of time.  Usually I’ll write pretty continuously for several hours, and then I’m done.  I don’t often go back and write again later the same day.  I’ll spend the rest of my work time researching or answering email or doing interviews for Shadow Hills or something like that.

3. How often do you read young adult literature?  What is the last young adult novel you’ve read?

I read it almost exclusively because  I have so little time to read nowadays.  I’m reading WHISPER right now, so I guess that technically it would be the last one I read.  I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m really enjoying it.

4. Why did you decide to use Phe’s sister as the reason she went to Devenish Prep? Are you planning to bring the sister up again and explain why she was having the dreams before Phe started having them?

I planned for Shadow Hills to be a series, so some of the ideas were meant to come up in later books.  Athena’s dreams are one of those concepts.  If there is a sequel,  it will give more insight into Phe’s and her sister’s ties to Shadow Hills, and there will definitely be more about her in some of the books after that.  I hope that isn’t all too cryptic—I can’t give away all my secrets!

5.  What are you writing now?

Well,  since the sequel is kind of up in the air for the moment, I am working on an idea for an entirely unconnected book.  It would be a paranormal YA set in 1830′s London.

6.  Just to get a feel for your tastes, what is your favorite TV show or movie?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my all-time favorite TV show, but last year my favorites were probably Supernatural and Vampire Diaries.   I also like Bones and House.

I really like Sherlock Holmes.  I enjoyed the Robert Downey movie, and I also own the entire BBC series starring Jeremy Brett—he’s a very different, but equally fantastic Sherlock.  (Someone told me that House was actually based on Sherlock Holmes, and I can see the similarities.)  You can probably tell from this that I like mysteries.   I’m also apt to like movies Robert Downey, Jr. is in.  (Wonder Boys and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang are another two movies that are high on my list.)

I can’t talk about favorite movies without mentioning John Hughes.  I’m a huge fan, and Weird Science, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,  and Sixteen Candles are the ones I like the most.

Okay, by the sound of it we could be best friends.  We read the same thing (YA) and love the same TV shows and movies. Ha Ha Ha.  Be sure to pick up a copy of SHADOW HILLS. It was a book I couldn’t stop reading once I picked it up.

How would you like to win a Middle Grade Prize Pack of books? Well, if your answer is yes, all you have to do is fill out the GOOGLE FORM and enter your information. Contest ends Monday, September 6th at Midnight.

Here is what you can win.

• A Simon & Schuster MG book pack, including:
  • Spaceheadz by Jon Scieszka
  • Brixton Bros: The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett
  • Amelia Rules! The Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular by Jimmy Gownley
  • Nightmare at the Book Fair by Dan Gutman
  • Keepers of the School: We The Children by Andrew Clements

Here is more about SPACEHEADZ.

Michael K. just started fifth grade at a new school. As if that wasn’t hard enough, the kids he seems to have made friends with apparently aren’t kids at all. They are aliens. Real aliens who have invaded our planet in the form of school children and a hamster. They have a mission to complete: to convince 3,140,001 kids to BE SPHDZ. But with a hamster as their leader, “kids” who talk like walking advertisements, and Michael K as their first convert, will the SPHDZ be able to keep their cover and pull off their assignment?

Jon Scieszka is the first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, named by the Library of Congress. He is the author of some of the best known and funniest books written for children including The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Time Warp Trio series and the Caldecott Honor Book The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Fairy Tales.  He is the creator of the Trucktown series, of which Smash!Crash! was an NY Times bestseller for many weeks.  Jon is a former elementary school teacher, and a avid promoter of literacy—particularly for boys. His website www.guyssread.com focuses on his national campaign. Jon lives with his family in Brooklyn, NY.

Check out some cool websites that go along with the book:

At sphdz.com, you can sign up to be a SPHDZ and help stop the Earth from being turned off.

At antialienagency.com, you can see what the government is doing to protect the Earth from the alien menace.

At mrshalleyscomets.com, you can see Michael K.’s fifth-grade class website.

Want to watch the Book Trailer? Here is the link:

http://www.simonandschuster.com/multimedia?video=97801107001

For more about the book visit this website:

http://books.simonandschuster.com/SPHDZ-Book-1!/Jon-Scieszka/Spaceheadz/9781416979517

September 30, 2010 – Razorbill

Henry Whelp lives in a reformatory for troubled boys called the Home for Wayward Wolves. He’s been there since his father was thrown in jail for killing Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother.  He’s been mad at his father ever since and embarrassed when people bring it up.  He doesn’t like people thinking he is going to twist off and go on a killing spree like his dad, but everyone thinks killing is in his blood.

Henry lives in Dust City, a dark and dangerous place known for its black market dust.  Dust is a mind-altering drug that has the entire population addicted.  The wolves, foxes, ravens, and hominids all crave dust to make them feel better and heal their sicknesses.  At one time, the dust was a good and magical thing – actual fairy dust given out by the fairies themselves in order to make people live up to their potential. Something has happened to all the fairies though.  They have disappeared without a trace and the only way to fill the need is for the thaumaturgical companies to create synthetic dust to push on the public.

Henry has always tried to stay away from dust and only accepts it when administered by medical personnel. He is afraid it will turn him into a killer like his father, but when there is a murder at the Home where he lives, Henry is forced to hunt for the truth about it, what really happened the night his father killed Little Red and her grandma, and what happened to the fairies.  With the help of Fiona, a beautiful she wolf, Henry jumps into the world of the black market, hoping he can find his way out again.

DUST CITY is so creative. The mix of different fairy tale characters and story lines is amazing. Cindy Ella is the headmaster at the Home for Wayward Wolves.  The policeman on Henry’s case is Detective White (Snow White) and Jack (Beanstalk) is Henry’s best friend. As soon as I read the first page I was hooked.  These wolves aren’t the typical wolves we’ve seen in fantasy novels lately so if you are in the mood for something unique, give this one a try.

It’s been 18 months since Ally Ryan has lived in Orchard Hill and she is nervous about moving back. She doesn’t know how her friends are going to welcome her back after she left without even saying goodbye to them.

Ally didn’t have any warning the night her and her parents left town. With her parents fighting and yelling at her to pack whatever she can, Ally couldn’t think straight. She couldn’t even process what was going on or why they had to leave. When she found out that her father made a horrible investment and lost their house, cars, and everything of value she felt bad enough, but when she realized her father had lost her best friends’ parents money as well, she was devastated.

Ally knows it might take a little while to ease back into the life she left behind, but since what her father did wasn’t her fault she has high hopes for seeing her friends again.  The first thing Ally does when she and her mother arrive in town is to hop on her bike and ride over to her old house. She can’t help but reminisce about all the times she and her friends ran around their upscale neighborhood. She is surprised to see a gorgeous guy poke his head out of her old bedroom window.

Jake Graydon moved to Orchard Hill after the scandal and doesn’t know much about Ally except what he’s heard in passing from his friends. His friends just happen to be Ally’s old friends. It is almost like Jake stepped in and took Ally’s place in the Cresties (the kids that live on the Crest, a.k.a. the rich kids).

Ally and her mother don’t have much money and can only afford to live in a condo down the hill from The Crest. Living in this part of town makes her a Norm and needless to say, Norms and Cresties don’t mingle.

Ally’s friends don’t give her a warm welcome. They freeze her out, play pranks, and are verbally abusive. To make matters worse, Ally can’t stop thinking about Jake – the least available boy in school (to her anyway).

SHE’S SO DEAD TO US is told in alternating points of view – Ally’s and Jake’s.  The story takes place over the course of Ally and her friends’ Junior year.  Kieran Scott does a wonderful job creating a realistic high school world including all the drama that goes along with it. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with Jake –  a lovable yet flawed character. Kieran Scott leaves the reader with some questions at the end of the story, but not so many that the reader will be unsatisfied.

Three (3) lucky winners will receive a Nanny McPhee Returns Prize Pack, including:

• A copy of Nanny McPhee Returns by Emma Thompson
• A Nanny McPhee t-shirt
• A Nanny McPhee Lunch Box
• A Nanny McPhee Notebook
• A Nanny McPhee Crayon Wheel

To be eligible to win this FUN FUN FUN prize pack, fill out the GOOGLE FORM.  Winners will be announced on Tuesday, August 31st.

About the book:

With wit and warmth, Emma Thompson, writer and star of Nanny McPhee Returns, recounts one family’s tumultuous summer in a book that is part story and part behind-the-scenes film diary, bringing a delightful and unique perspective to this funny and magical adventure for all ages.

About the movie:

In Nanny McPhee Returns, Oscar®-winning actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson returns to the role of the magical nanny who appears when she’s needed the most and wanted the least in the next chapter of the hilarious and heartwarming fable that has enchanted children around the world.

In the latest installment, Nanny McPhee appears at the door of a harried young mother, Mrs. Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who is trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war. But once she’s arrived, Nanny McPhee discovers that Mrs. Green’s children are fighting a war of their own against two spoiled city cousins who have just moved in and refuse to leave.

Relying on everything from a flying motorcycle and a statue that comes to life to a tree-climbing piglet and a baby elephant who turns up in the oddest places, Nanny McPhee uses her magic to teach her mischievous charges five new lessons.

Release Date: August 20, 2010

Genre: Family Comedy

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nannymcpheereturns

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/nannymcpheereturns

Starring:  Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rhys Ifans and Maggie Smith

Screenplay By: Emma Thompson

Directed By: Susanna White

Produced By: Lindsay Doran, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner