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A Librarian Reads Blood Red Road

Friday, September 9th, 2011

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Saba is a young woman who has grown up in a future where the world is a desolate place. Her family has constructed a shack to live in near a small lake and far away from other humans. Her father believes he can predict the future by reading the stars. Saba helps her twin brother, Lugh, to scavenge materials left over by the Wreckers, people who destroyed the world. Saba and Lugh realize that their time at the lake is coming to an end. There has been a year long drought and the lake is all but dried up. By scavenging what they can they can eke out a meager existence for one more day. Emmi is Saba’s little sister and wants to help as much as possible, but Saba tells her to take care of their father. Her father daily dances and chants to call down rain from the sky but his magic doesn’t work, and Lugh fears for his father’s sanity.

Unfortunately for Saba and her family their lives are about to become worse then they can imagine. A gang of armored men on horseback arrive one day; kill her father, and kidnap her brother Lugh. Saba will do anything to get her brother back. She and Emmi set out to rescue him and begin a journey of hardship and violence. Beyond their lake the world is an ugly place where people are addicted to a substance called chaal, and who are entertained by bloody gladiatorial battles. What started off as a rescue mission quickly becomes a life of survival. Saba and Emmi are captured. Saba is forced to fight as a gladiator. And somewhere far off her brother may still be out there, or is possibly dead. Saba will need to learn the ways of violence to survive, but in order to succeed she will need to learn to make friends and trust people. Can Saba and Emmi escape captivity and save their brother? Can a person filled with so much hate and violence ever change into someone who can live, trust and love?

Blood Red Road is a gripping post-apocalyptic western. It remind me a lot of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome crossed with Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. People will inevitably compare it to the Hunger Games but I believe Blood Red Road distinguishes itself enough to stand on its own. Anyone who likes action and adventure will love this book. It is appropriate for ages 14 and up due to the amount of violence in it.

It should be noted that the book is also written in a certain vernacular to capture how the people in the novel really speak, so most common words are misspelled (jest for just is one example), but after a few chapters you will be so caught up in the story that you won’t mind. :)

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A Librarian Reads Bumped

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

What if only teenagers could have babies? This is the reality in the world of Bumped. A virus has left everyone in the world older then 18 infertile. Even in vitro fertilization no longer works. Condoms have been banned and society has changed to embrace teenage pregnancy. Advertising teaches children that the most important part thing about them is their ability to reproduce. Teens have babies in order to auction them off to couples who want children. Some teens can go “pro” and get endorsements, college tuition and other awards to have babies with very specific genes.

Melody is one such girl. Her adopted parents have groomed her all her life to be a breeder. Melody is special because of her specific DNA traits. Melody even has an agent that helped her sign a deal with a couple, the Jaydens, who wants the most genetically gifted baby ever. The Jaydens have searched for years to find  the perfect partner for Melody. Melody is getting older though and only has a few years before infertility sets in. Little does she know that the Jaydens have set her up with the most sought after teenage male in the whole world, Johndoe.

But before she can learn the news her life is thrown into chaos by her long lost identical twin, Harmony. Separated at birth, Harmony has grown up in Goodside, a sequestered community of religious conservatives who believe that breeding should only be done within marriage. Melody is sure her sister is here to save her soul. But when Melody’s breeding agent calls to inform her about Johndoe, he confuses Harmony for Melody. Now the twins are mixed up and their lives are spiraling out of control.

Bumped is an excellent book, mixing humor and science fiction while raising important questions about sex in a teenager’s life. The most interesting thing is that answers aren’t easily found. Melody and Harmony struggle with different understandings of life, sex, and how to be a good person. I highly recommend the book but caution that is appropriate for mature readers that are 16 and up.

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A Librarian Reads the Iron Thorn

Monday, June 13th, 2011

The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge

Aoife is a ward of the state, lives in the city of Lovecraft, and attends the School of Engines. Her mother is an asylum for  madness and her brother has run away after viciously attacking Aoife on his sixteenth birthday. The doctors tell Aoife (pronounced ee-fuh) that her family suffers from a strain of the dreaded necrovirus. This strain causes a person to go increasingly insane as the virus eats away the person’s brain. It is only a matter of time before Aoife suffers the same fate as her mother and brother. The doctors assume she will go mad just like her brother: on her sixteenth birthday, which is only weeks away.

Aoife is almost resigned to her fate until one day she receives a coded message from her lost brother. The letter tells her to seek the witch’s alphabet at her father’s estate in order to stay sane. Aoife believes the letter to be a ravings of a madman. If anyone discovered the letter Aoife could be declared a heretic just for communicating with someone infected by the necrovirus. In Aoife’s world the country is run by a group called the Proctors and that anything dealing with magic and monsters are actually different side effects of the necrovirus. The Proctors prize rationalism and science. If anyone mentions the supernatural they can be thrown in jail or burned in a public display.

But Aoife does not want to lose her mind so she leaps at the chance that her brother’s letter represents. Soon she is running away from the only home she has ever known. Her best friend Cal follows her to keep her safe. Aoife and Cal must must trust the riffraff and heretics that they have been taught to loathe in order to make it to Arkham.

But there will be danger along the way; monsters beyond imagine as well as the Proctors who are on their trail. Aoife will have to trust her crazy brother, and herself if she is going to discover the secrets of the witch’s alphabet in time. If she doesn’t she will lose her mind and the world as she knows it will die, forever locked away on the other side of insanity.

The Iron Thorn is a great read. It does take a while for the story to explain how Aoife’s world works. The author has taken many different genres and woven them together in an impressive way. There is a lot of steampunk and the horror of H.P. Lovecraft, but there is also dashes of fantasy. This world might seem incredibly different to you but if you give it chance it is well worth the read. Highly recommended and appropriate for ages 14 and up only due to the high learning curve of getting to know the strange and wonderful world Aoife lives in.

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A Librarian Reads Human.4

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster

Today is the day of the big talent show in the village of Millgrove. Kyle always is a little hesitant about the talent show because he once, years ago, he did a stand-up routine that bombed. This year his friend Danny is going to try hypnotizing volunteers from the audience.

Kyle doesn’t know why he volunteers but  he soon finds himself on stage with a girl named Lilly, and two adults. Danny starts to hypnotize them and slowly the world fades away.

When they awake everyone except the four of them are frozen in place. Everything electronic has stopped working properly. Computers can be turned on but they only display a strange language no one can discern.

Kyle, Lilly, and the adults are worried they have gone crazy, or are still hypnotized. But then everyone in Millgrove wakes up. Now no one talks to the four of them; like they don’t exist. Things start to get worse when they see the people of town start growing tendrils from their hands.

Somethings has fundamentally changed everyone in the world except Kyle, Lilly and the two adult volunteers. Can they discover what has happened? Is it able to be reversed? And what do you do when it seems like you have be erased from everyone’s mind?

Human.4 is a quick, engaging, and spooky sci-fi tale, and is recommended if you want to get a peek at what is in store for the future of humanity. It is appropriate for all ages.

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A Librarian Reads The Dark And Hollow Places

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

Annah has been surviving alone in the Dark City for three years. Her friend Elias left to join a militia group called the Recruiters; who are ruthless warriors that protect the remnants of humanity against the zombie horde.

Annah didn’t grow up in the Dark City though. She group in the Forest of Hands and Teeth surrounded by tall fences. When she was just five years old her, her twin sister Abigail, and Elias left to explore the forgotten paths that connected different villages amongst the forest. When Abigail scraped her knee the blood from the wound woke the monsters on the other side of the fences. Elias and Annah fled leaving Abigail to fend on her own.

Ever since Annah has led a life of guilt. Perhaps this is why she takes risks, like exploring tunnels under the Dark City. It was under there where she fell into barbed wire and sliced her face and body to shreds.

Elias still cared for her despite the scars. But after he left all she had were her scars and self loathing. After three years of despair she decides to leave the city. But just as she is leaving the city she sees her own face without any scars coming into the city. She thinks she is hallucinating. But she isn’t. Her long lost sister has come to the Dark City… and she has brought a boy who is infected with the zombie disease.

What has Abigail been up to all these years? Can Annah find her sister in the Dark City? Can she protect Abigail from the Recruiters? And what of Catcher, the infected boy? He can walk amongst the living dead but not be attacked. Something has brought Annah’s past to the Dark City. Is Annah strong enough to uncover the mystery? Or will she discover that Abigail resents her for being left behind.

The Dark and Hollow Places is an excellent addition to Carrie Ryan’s post-zombie apocalypse world. This one has suspense, thrills, chills, and just a dash of romance to keep it light. Highly recommended and appropriate for ages 14 and up.

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