Everything Sad is Untrue
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 The setting is 2002, right after 911. Shirin, a 16 year old American-born Muslim is sick of the racism and ignorance that is her daily reality. She has learned to just keep her head down and avoid attracting the attention that inevitably leads to ridiculous questions and hostile comments. Then she encounters Ocean.
Warning: Mature readers due to profanity and content.  Now to be fair, the first thing you need to know is that I LOVE books where the main character is in a witness protection program. I’ve read lots of them and I’ve at least liked them all.
I devoured this book in one day and I know that it will fly off the shelf in my classroom, if it even makes it to the shelf after I book-talk it. First of all, Sasha aka Sloane is feisty and fun and tough and very likeable. The only problem is that I don’t have a consistent picture in my head of how she looks. Then there’s the two significant men in her life, Jason and Marc. Can’t even BEGIN to say enough about those two. I imagine both of them as being gorgeous but in separate ways. I also loved that when I thought the book was winding down it really wasn’t; lots of twists and turns kept me guessing til the end. And lastly, in spite of what she says at the end about disappearing, I prefer to believe she’ll make that phone call.  Sensationally told story that made me feel all the panic, frustration, fear and anxiety along with Norah the main character. Under Rose-tainted Skies was a book I just couldn't put down. Don't want to spoil the ending for you but I can tell you that the saying, "Bad is never good until worse happens" fits perfectly. Just when I thought things were as bad as they could get, they got worse. I'm certain my heart was beating 200 bpm while I was reading Chapter 35. Highly recommended with one small warning for those who like their YA books free from profanity; the F word is sprinkled quite liberally throughout the book.
 This is the perfect book for girls who crave angst mixed with romance. Mallory's past as an abused foster child has left her an emotional mess, and as a result she has extreme difficulty talking to strangers or groups bigger than one other person. She's been homeschooled up til now but when The Problem With Forever begins, she's starting her senior year at a public high school. Although it was Mallory's decision, she's having second thoughts. Then, on her first day, she meets the boy she grew up with in the foster home, the boy who basically saved her life over and over again; Rider Stark.
The majority of the book deals with Mallory trying to sort out her feelings since Rider has a girlfriend and is off limits, but obviously still cares for Mallory. Mallory eventually realizes that she wants to be more than friends. While this is all happening, there are several subplots including bad choices about running drugs which affect someone like a brother to Ridrr, and a best friend, Ainsley, who's losing her eyesight. Not long after they officially become boyfriend and girlfriend, Rider breaks up with her because he feels that he's not good enough. Mallory ends up saving him by pointing out some hard truths. There's a very touching speech scene near the end of the book and it did make a few tears well up. The grade eight girls will love this story.  Although the book took a little longer than I thought necessary to get going, the action did pick up enough to have me interested in what happens next. We've got four teens all with newly acquired bracelets and we really only know fully about the capabilities of one of them. I think my middle school students will enjoy this series once it's out.
 I think it is auspicious that the first book I read in 2017 turned out to be fabulous. I had read Megan Shull's "The Swap" and enjoyed it, but admittedly was surprised to see her tackling the idea of being in someone else's life yet again in Bounce. However, I found Bounce to be a much more serious and deeper story than The Swap. Bounce is told with such exquisite detail and raw honesty that I really felt Frankie was living those lives. It's the kind of book that will stay with me long after I've closed the pages. There's a great lesson to be learned from The Bounce without it being preachy, and although NOT at all the same, it kind of had a Dickens Christmas Carol feel to it for me. I also love that Frannie's actual life didn't magically become perfect when she returned to it and that she didn't crumble. It's been a while since I read a book that I loved, and I'm excited that the first book of 2017 was a winner. Yay!
 The premise of this book is interesting; set in a future when humans have eliminated death by wars, disease, age and crime, it has become necessary to cull the population through the use of Scythes; specially trained and appointed humans who are basically responsible for gleaning (selecting and killing) humans to keep the population down. CItra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe, and neither of them are eager to take on the job. They are even less thrilled when they find out that only one of them can become a scythe and the successful candidate will have to glean the other.
I can almost guarantee that the fast action and simple language combined with the mystery of the dead body will entice my reluctant readers. Will be interested to see if it flies off the shelf as I suspect it will.  |
AuthorMiddle School former Teacher Librarian - then MYP math and science. Update... VERY recently retired! Still adjusting that I'm not just on summer vacation!!! Archives
January 2021
Janice's bookshelf: read
 
Just didn't enjoy it as much as Shadow and Bone. I just felt like the author was really trying a bit too hard to draw this story out. I was able to put it down several times and I couldn't put Shadow and Bone down so there's the differen...
The Grisha triology is a fantasy series that I really enjoyed.
I reread the last book because I thought I wasn't remembering something.
I'm a bit confused because I've started King of Scars and Nikolai isn't as I remembered. Don't want...
I’m not usually someone who enjoys a story that is predominantly about the attraction between two people BUT I did like this one.
The setting is one year after 9/11 and 16 year old Shirin, an American born Muslim whose family moves freq...
I love a good mystery, and although I correctly guessed the murderer in the first chapter, I still thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns.
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