UNWHOLLY is a book I’ve been waiting for since 2008 when I finished UNWIND. Neal Shusterman really set the bar high with UNWIND and I was hoping he could keep up the momentum with the next book in the trilogy.  Well, he didn’t let me down.

I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of the book at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference last week. Both UNWHOLLY and INSURGENT were being autographed at the same time so I had to rely on a colleague to stand in line for me since both series are so popular there was no way I could be in both lines at ones. One or the other would have run out. So, thanks Holly.

UNWHOLLY picks up where UNWIND left off. Shusterman does a great job catching up the reader so you don’t feel lost. However, I still recommend reading UNWIND before diving into this book. Since it doesn’t come out until August you have time to read it now. This review is intentional vague.  I don’t want to spoil anything for people who haven’t read either book.

After a terrible war between the Pro-Life people and the Pro-Choice people, an agreement was made to add The Bill of Life to the Constitution. Basically, life is protected from conception until the age of 13. Once a child reaches 13 a parent then has the right to Unwind their child.  Unwinding is a process where the child officially remains alive – but in a “divided state.” Every part of the body is harvested at a Harvest Camp and preserved and later used for people that need replacement parts. For instance, if someone is suffering from heart failure – instead of have bypass surgery you just get a new heart that once belonged to a child that was Unwound. A parent or legal guardian can sign the unwinding order until the child reaches 18 (now 17 after an amendment because of developments in UNWIND). Chilling, huh? Well, just wait!!

UNWHOLLY follows the characters we connected with in the first book, Lev, Connor, and Risa. They face horrible and dangerous situations at every turn. Shusterman provides us with several new characters – some you grow to like and others you grow to hate. Together, they are forced to make ethical decisions that will determine whether they live or die (a.k.a. live in a divided state).

This book brings up questions about what it means to be alive. How far would you go to survive? Would you take a new arm, new spine, new eye knowing they came from a kid between the ages of 13 and 17? A kid that became too much trouble for the parents? A kid that didn’t want to “die” anymore than you do? It really makes you think.

Absolutely fantastic! That is all I can say. If you liked UNWIND then you’ll love UNWHOLLY.  If you haven’t read UNWIND yet, get on it NOW!

Min Green is devastated. She and her boyfriend, Ed Slaterton, broke up. For two months, Min and Ed were practically inseparable. She introduced him to classic movies and he introduced her to basketball.  Neither one of them particularly liked the new activities, but they went in order to please the other.  

As with most new relationships, friends are neglected, compromises are made, and love is declared. 

Everything is great…until it isn’t.

WHY WE BROKE UP consists of Min explaining how her and Ed’s relationship goes wrong. Min kept many mementos from their time together and has decided to give them back. She composes a letter to Ed explaining the importance of each memento and the reasons they broke up. Her final act will be to put the letter in the box with the mementos and dump them on his porch.

Daniel Handler does a FAN-TAS-TIC job of portraying Min as a broken hearted girl. Her devastation comes through perfectly. Anyone who has had their heart broken will be able to identify with Min. 

I listened to this on audio and was completely happy with the performance of the narrator, but with the audio I missed out on the unique illustrations by Maira Kalman. Maira Kalman provides illustrations for the mementos throughout the book. Here is an example:

Daniel Handler is collecting break up sob stories at http://whywebrokeupproject.tumblr.com/. Go share your story.

Today is Karin’s Book Nook’s 5th Anniversary. I can’t believe I’ve been blogging this long.  It is kind of ironic that this anniversary falls during my first failure of the year to post. My goal this year was to post every day, but I’ve been off for a couple of days.  I’ll get back to it though. I’ll catch up on some reviews this week and hopefully schedule some so I can take the pressure off. 

Here are the reviews I have on deck:

THE FORGETTING CURVE
PARTIALS
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK
COLD CEREAL
BITTERBLUE
LEGEND
and
I’ll finish DAUGHTERS OF EVE by Lois Duncan this week.

So, hold me to it guys. I have a habit of just going from book to book without taking time to review it right when I finish. 

I have also fallen behind updating my Reviews (A-Z) page. I really need to go back and link all the reviews I’ve written.  Sadly, I think I’m at least a couple of years behind.  I wish my friend Julie from My Favorite Pastime would do it for me.

Even though my blogging productivity has had its ups and downs, I have enjoyed it and hope to have another great 5 years ahead of me.

I didn’t create this book trailer.  It is the Official Trailer from Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group. I read this book last year and have never gotten around to writing a review. So, to get my self in the mood I went to find the trailer. Look for the review shortly.

Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he’s doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak.

Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.  

With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer is a 2011 Bank Street – Best Children’s Book of the Year.

In honor of World Poetry Day (Today, March 21st) I am featuring BUG OFF! CREEPY, CRAWLY POEMS by Jane Yolen.

I’m not a fan of insects and frequently curse their existence when I spend any time outdoors.  Mosquitoes seem to love me and will flock to me from miles around. (Sadly, there isn’t a poem about a mosquito in this book) But, when I saw that Jane Yolen was the author of these poems I had to take a look.  I’m glad I did.  The poems are great. The two that stand out for me are: “Oh, Fly” and “POP! Goes the Tick.”

Here is an example of what each page looks like.

As you can see, each page includes a poem (in various styles) and a short factual paragraph about each bug. Both, the poems and facts were fun to read.

Pair the great text with the beautiful photographs and you have a book that the kids are going to go crazy for. Jason Stemple has collaborated with Jane in the past.  Be sure to visit his website to see other examples of his work. Here is the picture from the Table of Contents page.

In honor of the newest Chronicle’s of Nick release, INFAMOUS, I have been authorized to giveaway a copy of the book that started it all.  If you would like to win a copy of INFINITY, please fill out the Rafflecopter below. I reviewed INFINITY in 2010. Click HERE to read the review.

At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.

But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn’t hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

Want to win? Enter by Thursday, April 5th.

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Danny Bigtree and his family were forced to move away from their Mohawk reservation in order to find work.  Starting at a new school would be hard for anyone, but Danny is also the only Indian at his school in New York City and has to listen to kids call him chief and ask him about his Tipi everyday. The kids don’t care that Iroquois used to live in Longhouses so Danny doesn’t even bother to correct them.

Danny’s dad works as a steel worker and is gone for weeks at a time traveling from job to job.  When he comes home early one day, Danny begins to explain to him how hard school is.  His father tells him the story of the Iroquois peacemaker, Aionwahta, for inspiration and offers to visit Danny’s fourth-grade class to talk about the Iroquois culture.

Danny is both excited and nervous about his dad’s visit.  What if the kids are mean and tease his father?

Will the kids continue to tease Danny even after his father explains the Iroquois culture to the class?

Joseph Bruchac is a master at sharing Native American culture in childrens and young adult literature. While the legend in this book is just as engaging as some of the others he has shared, the character development is lacking.This is a Puffin Chapters book and only 96 pages so the story is very quick. So much so, that the problem resolution seems rushed and even a little unrealistic. But, as short as it is, there is no reason not to read EAGLE SONG.

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I love Daniel Waters and I fell in love with the Generation Dead series in 2007 when I got my hands on an ARC of GENERATION DEAD (the first in the series) at an English teachers conference. I’ve reviewed all of the book and posted a Q & A with him over the years. Links to the reviews for the books are below:

GENERATION DEAD
KISS OF LIFE
PASSING STRANGE 

I was very excited when I saw the news about this ebook of short stories set in the Generation Dead world. I read through it in one night and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know some of the minor characters from the series. 

STITCHES contains four short stories – each following a different character.

HOW’S LIFE

This story gives us a look at Margi and Colette’s friendship. This is nice because in the other books we only see a glimpse of this complex relationship.

DOLL PARTS

This was my favorite story of the collection. It focuses on Sylvia and her time inside the Hunter Foundation. This one is a bit on the creepy side. So cool!

MY DEAD HEART

This one gets us inside Tommy’s head. This is great since he didn’t play a big role in books two and three. It was nice to read about his feelings about Phoebe and Adam and the goings on back home while he was out of the road fighting for the rights of the Differently Biotic.

PURPOSE STATEMENT 

This is probably the most disturbing of all the stories.  It follows Popeye and his experiences at school. You really get a sense of his anger in the story. 

I loved this collection and I’m not usually a fan of short stories. If you like the GENERATION DEAD series you definitely need to get STITCHES. Right now it is only $2.69 at Amazon and $3.35 at Barnes and Noble.  What are you waiting for? Go go go!! Order it.

Gene has a secret. One that, if ever found out, could get him killed. He has to constantly stay focused  to make sure he doesn’t do anything to give himself away. That means no sweating or laughing and shaving all the hair off of his body every day. Gene is a human, one of the last in the world and he has been blending in for his entire life.  His father taught him all the tricks before he died and left him on his own. It is an effort every day to keep going, but Gene hasn’t reached the point of giving up…yet.

Everyone at school is a buzz about the special Declaration due from the Ruler. Rumors are flying around as to what it might be about and all are hoping it is to announce another Heper Hunt. Hepers are humans and there has been one time when the Ruler set up a Hunt for specially chosen people. The hunt consisted of citizens (vampires) chasing the Hepers down and tearing them apart limb from limb. It was over in an instant. The hepers never stood a chance against the citizens’ speed, strength, and blood lust. Everyone thought the hepers were gone – driven extinct by people attacks over the years. Could there be any left?

When the announcement begins, everyone is glued to the Live Feed from the Heper Institute. The excitement is palpable as the students watch as a captive heper begins choosing the lottery numbers that have been randomly assigned to the citizens. Five to ten citizens will be chosen to participate in a Heper Hunt. These hepers were only children during the first Hunt so the Institute kept them hidden. This time the Hunt won’t be over so fast because the Institute has trained them to use simple weapons so they could learn to fight back. The Ruler wants this Heper Hunt to be more exciting.

Gene and another girl from school are chosen for the Hunt. Immediately they are whisked away to the Institute for a few days of preparation before the Hunt begins. What is Gene going to do? He is trapped with people that would kill him in a heartbeat. He doesn’t even get a chance to go home for supplies. How is he going to be able to shave? Where will he be able to get water? How will he be able to mask his scent? Is there any way he will be able to maintain his cover and more importantly, what will he do when he is set loose and expected to hunt down one of his own?

THE HUNT is an interesting take on the vampire novel. It is fast-paced and exciting. Andrew Fukuda does a wonderful job of blending traditional vampire lore with cool and new ideas. He did a good job of bringing the story to an end, while at the same time leaving the reader begging for more after an amazing cliffhanger. Even if you aren’t a fan of vampire stories, you should give this a try. THE HUNT is definitely unique.