Ruben knew exactly when it happened. He was sitting in the backseat of an old Mercedes in his family’s salvage yard when the feeling came over him. Ruben often left his own body and could attach himself to others. He could sense their thoughts and emotions. This is what happened when he felt his sister, Rachel, get attacked and murdered. He knew exactly the moment Rachel’s life was taken from her. 

Even though he knew it had happened and knew that the Dead Man killed her, Ruben didn’t say anything to his family. He hoped he might be wrong. He realized he wasn’t when the police contacted the family. The details were simple: Rachel, nineteen years old, was visiting an old school friend in the small village of Lychcombe on Dartmoor. After her visit was over, she left and made her way toward London to return home, but never made it. Her body was found the following morning, strangled, raped, and battered. 

The most important thing to the family was to get her back. They wanted to bury her and put her to rest. After a trip to the police station to find out how long her body would be held, the family found out that the police would keep her until the case was closed; meaning the murderer had to be caught. The problem with that was, Ruben knew the murderer was already dead and buried and the case wouldn’t be solved anytime soon. 

Ruben’s older brother, Cole, wasn’t going to sit around and wait. He planned to go to the village to find out what happened himself and he planned to go alone. He didn’t want his younger brother going along to worry about. Ruben knew what Cole was thinking, though, and his mother wanted him to go along to make sure Cole didn’t get himself hurt. Cole’s temper tended to get him in trouble. He took after his gypsy, bare-knuckle fighter father who was sentenced to a prison term for killing someone. 

Even though their mother was worried about Ruben and Cole going away to look into the murder, no one could foresee the trouble in store for them once they started digging into Rachel’s murder. As soon as they arrived in the village they knew they weren’t welcome. Secrets were everywhere and no one wanted them to be dug up. Secrets that involved the entire village. Secrets that would lead them to pain, torture, death, and eventually the truth. 

Kevin Brooks doesn’t let us down. He has provided another heart-pounding, deeply emotional story with strong characters. THE ROAD OF THE DEAD is a great place to start if you haven’t read any other books by this creative and unique author.

Do you have something you’d like to forget? A memory too difficult to recall? Have no fear, TFC can take care of your problem.  

Nora is about to experience her first visit to TFC (Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic). Her parents are insisting she go after witnessing a horrible terrorist attack. Nora can’t seem to get the pictures of the dead out of her head. The only solution is to wash them from her head so she can get on with her life.

In a world where terrorist attacks are commonplace, TFC is making a killing. Not everyone trusts them though.  When Nora meets Micah and Winter, she is thrust into a world of mystery and rebellion.  Soon, the graphic novel, Memento, based on their sad and frightening memories becomes a hit.  Copies are spread well beyond their school and into different cities. Will they be able to keep their identities a secret? Will they be able to stay ahead of the people in the black vans? Will they be able to keep their memories?

MEMENTO NORA is an addictive story.  Once I started, I didn’t want to put it down. The world Angie Smibert created is fascinating. The technological advances are interesting and probably not far from what will be possible in our near future. At 184 pages, this is a quick read with short chapters. Told from multiple points of view, it is a great choice for reluctant readers.

WICKED IS GOOD. That is so hard for Thomas to believe – even though Teresa told him it’s true. 

THE DEATH CURE starts where THE SCORCH TRIALS left off. Thomas is in the custody of WICKED.  He is alone in an isolated room without any personal contact that it makes it hard to remember how long he’s been there.  He doesn’t know if the other Gladers are there too or if he is truly alone.

Eventually, Thomas is reunited with his friends and they are presented with the next task WICKED expects them to help with in the hopes of finding a cure for The Flare.  There is dissension in the group.  Some accept what WICKED offers while others refuse to trust the organization.

Soon Thomas and his friends find themselves in Denver where The Right Arm, a rebel group intent on bringing WICKED down, is headquartered. There they find that the world is in even worse shape than they ever could have imagined. When WICKED gets word to Thomas telling him he is the only hope for the cure, he has to struggle to decide whether he is going to voluntarily go back or not. As always, he doesn’t know who to trust or what WICKED is really planning to do.

I loved THE MAZE RUNNER (5 Glasses) and liked THE SCORCH TRIALS (4 Glasses). So, why did I give THE DEATH CURE 3 Glasses? Here are some of the reasons (SPOILERISH):

• After 3 books, we still don’t know what Thomas knows.
• The author didn’t do enough to make us care for the characters. I was kind of sick of Thomas by the end of the book and most importantly, when some major characters die – it isn’t a big deal.
• We lose track of some of the important characters from the first two books.
• The ending is not satisfying at all.
• It could just be me, but it wasn’t really clear what WICKED was looking for in the kids brain patterns while they were in the Maze and during the Trials.

So, what did everyone else think?  I saw on Goodreads that several people rated this a 5. It makes me so sad that this trilogy let me down. I frequently recommend THE MAZE RUNNER to people, but can’t suggest the other two unless they are out of other things to read or are just the kind of person who MUST finish a series or feel incomplete. :/

Godspeed is an amazing technological development. A vast spaceship able to sustain the life of thousands of people for three hundred years. Amy, along with her parents and others from Sol Earth, were cryogenically frozen, expecting to wake up when the Godspeed arrived on a new planet 300 years later.

When Amy’s cryogenic chamber is unplugged and nearly dies, she begins to worry that she was targeted and that her parents are going to be next. She attempts to protect her parents while trying to get used to the strange way of life on Godspeed. She finds it difficult to understand how the people follow Eldest, a tyrannical leader. He doesn’t like having Amy “awake” on board. He considers her a distraction and a danger because of her differences – she doesn’t sound like them, doesn’t look like them.

Amy finds she desperately wants to trust Elder, the next in line to rule the Godspeed. She gets to know him as they work together as they explore some of the secrets the ship holds and that Eldest has been keeping from everyone. 

Will Amy be able to figure out who is trying to kill the people in the cryogenic chambers? Can she learn to live without access to the outside – only breathing recycled air and seeing artificial sunlight. Can she resign herself to the fact that she will live out her days on the Godspeed?

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is a great book.  It has a little of everything – mystery, suspense, and romance.  I loved the world Beth Revis created on the Godspeed. I can’t wait for the sequel, A MILLION SUNS due out January 2012.

Here are two pictures of the Godspeed.

Benson Fisher has finally found the educational experience he’s been looking for.  As a foster kid who has been bounced from home to home for all of his life, he’s never had a chance to stay at a school for very long.  He wants to make something out of his life. He wants to learn.  He is sick of the competing for learning with the deadbeats at school who don’t want to learn.  He applied for the scholarship to Maxfield Academy as part of an outreach program for foster kids and got accepted. He couldn’t wait for his life to change.

It doesn’t take long for him to realize he made a very big mistake.

Maxfield Academy doesn’t have any adults on campus. All the teaching is done by the students. The day begins with announcements from a man the students call the Iceman. Once announcements are over the daily schedule appears on the screen. The schedule is different every day. Sometimes classes may start at 7 AM – sometimes they may start at 1:00 PM. There is no way of knowing. 

This might not sound so bad.  Follow the rules and everything will be okay. But, things can’t be right if the students are locked in can they? And what about the students that disappear and never come back after going to detention? What kind of school has students acting as security guards patrolling the perimeter of the property on 4 wheelers? Why is Benson the only one who wants to escape?

VARIANT is twisted! Usually I can kind of see where the story is going, but this one was very hard to predict.  There were a couple of things that REALLY surprised me.  The ending absolutely left me going, “W-W-What????” I’m definitely interested to see what happens in the sequel. I can’t even guess!!! ARGH!!!!

Little Brown – April 2011

Neva lives with her mother and father under the Protectosphere – an electronically charged dome that covers and protects the population.  The Homeland tells the people there is nothing beyond the Protectosphere except an unliveable wasteland.

Young people are encouraged to get married and have children in order to increase the dwindling population.  Neva and her friends don’t like being forced and manipulated to have children and make a pact to abstain from sex.

Neva keeps track of people who have disappeared over the years.  At the top of the list is her Grandmother.  She doesn’t believe what the government told her family about her Grandmother dying and always holds on to hope that she’ll see her again someday.

When Neva and her friends can’t stand by and watch what’s going on anymore , they attempt to start an underground rebellion.  They knew it would be dangerous, but they never realized just how much the government was keeping secret.  Neva and her friends might be the next ones to go missing if they don’t stay one step ahead of the government.

DARK PARTIES is an interesting dystopian novel. It includes friendship, survived, betrayal, and suspense. The story will keep you turning pages until you get to the exciting conclusion.

Imagine a world where there are only women and men are considered criminals. On an island called Foundland, Keller is a teenager training to be a Tracker.  Trackers are expert archers and equestrians and meant to protect the shores of their island from the enemy – men.

Foundland is run by a group of powerful women that have implemented many strict rules and harsh punishments. For instance, friendships are NOT encouraged. Any prolonged conversations or quiet whispering is punished. Another thing not allowed are fads.  Anytime one girl starts something like flipping her hair over her shoulder or wearing clothes a certain way the people in charge put a stop to it before the other girls start copying her.

When Keller and her fellow trainees stumble upon a buried home from the past, they are amazed to find countless hidden and forbidden treasures – teen magazines, high-heeled shoes, makeup, and beautiful clothes. The girls are determined to keep it a secret. They don’t want their leaders to confiscate the artifacts.

Keller’s world gets more complicated as she discovers some of the secrets of Foundland. Danger is everywhere. Will she be able stay ahead of those wishing to keep the island secluded and contained?

The idea behind NOMANSLAND is interesting and I was very excited about reading it. However, it didn’t live up to my expectations. It wasn’t near long enough. It ended just as the excitement started. As far as the characters go, I did like Keller, but as far as the other girls, I didn’t like them. When they started getting obsessed with the makeup and clothes in the hidden dwelling it annoyed me, like it did Keller. When it came time for punishments to be doled out, I absolutely didn’t care what happened to the girls. I don’t know if this was the intention of the author or not, but I didn’t have any emotional investment in the characters (except Keller).

If you are a fan of dystopian literature I would suggest you give NOMANSLAND a try.  You may have a different experience.

Walker Books for Young Readers – February 2, 2010

Lucy lives in conditions many people can’t even imagine. The kitchen is unusable, there isn’t any hot water in the house, and the furnace is broken. There are piles and piles of papers, plastic bags, and boxes littering every corner of the house. In order to maneuver, Lucy and her mother have to navigate through a maze of cleared paths just wide enough for a person.

Lucy feels her life is made up of lies and secrets. She lies to her friends about why they can’t come over. She avoids any topic of conversation that will bring attention to her or her family. Lucy is scared to death when she hears a knock at the door – knowing she could never allow someone to come inside to see what her house looks like. This is the reason her mother can’t call a repairman to fix the heater.

After another one of their usual fights where her mother accuses Lucy of moving something, Lucy packs an overnight bag and leaves to go to the movies and spend the night with her best and only friend. She doesn’t know it yet, but life is about to get a lot more complicated for her. When Lucy comes home the next morning, she discovers something horrible. Will she be able to deal with the tragedy and keep her secrets in tact?

DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS is a book that will suck you into the story. Your heart will hurt for Lucy as she reveals memories from her past with the reader. This book will certainly cause you to take a look at the clutter around your house and ask, “Do I really need those old magazines?”

I couldn’t give DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS 5 glasses simply because of the implausibility of the way Lucy handled the situation – it seemed more like denial than a plan. However, this didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story.

Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the book.

Young Adult books are filled with turmoil and angst. Secrets are a big part of teenage life. I’ve read some great books that share a theme – the characters all have something to hide. In some instances, the secret is something they wish they could scream from the top of the rooftops, but in others they just want everything to go away so they can lead a normal life.

THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer Hubbard

WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson

DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS by C.J. Omololu

LUNA by Julie Anne Peters

DULL BOY by Sarah Cross

CANDOR by Pam Bachorz

KEEPING YOU A SECRET by Julie Anne Peters

SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson

WAKE by Lisa McMann

AFTER by Amy Efaw

TEACH ME by R.A. Nelson

What books have I left off the list?

Viking Juvenile – January 7, 2010

Julia died in a car accident on Labor Day on her way home from a party.

Colt heard about it through the grapevine.

Colt and Julia had been seeing each other secretly for a year. They’d met regularly most Friday nights and spent the time alone talking, laughing and making love. Even though he wanted Julia to break it off with her boyfriend, he never pushed her. He understood they couldn’t be together – not really.

Julia lived up on Black Mountain Road where the houses were guarded by alarm systems and had servants to take care of the day-to-day business. Colt lives on the flats – far from the rich kids in town.

Colt has a difficult time dealing with the loss – especially since he doesn’t have a way to express his feelings without giving their relationship away. He is extremely surprised when Julia’s brother comes up to him at school one day and gives him a journal. Apparently, Julia had been writing letters to Cole ever since they started seeing each other – most likely never meaning to give them to him. Colt is both excited and anxious about reading the letters containing Julia’s secret thoughts.

Watching Colt’s progression through his grief is heartbreaking. He is a main character you can’t help but love and won’t be able to understand the reason Julia never broke it off with her boyfriend in order to give Colt her full attention. THE SECRET YEAR is a book you won’t want to put down. Julia’s letters provide wonderful insights into the pressures that come along with the life of the “privileged” kids. You’ll want to know what she was thinking during her and Colt’s secret year.