Uglies: Shay’s Story by Scott Westerfeld

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Shay is living in Uglyville waiting for the operation that will make her pretty.  While out on her hoverboard she makes friends with some Crims and starts exploring outside of Uglyville.  What she learns makes her question if she wants to be a Pretty or not.

This is a great new addition to the Uglies “Trilogy”.  Scott Westerfeld has teamed up with Devin K Grayson and Steven Cummings to make the first Uglies graphic novel.  It’s great to see things from Shay’s perspective.  I hope they do a few more of these. 

Eve by Anna Carey

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Eve and the other girls in The School are protected from the outside world and The Plague.  They are learning and when they finish their primary education at age 16, they will go to the secondary school to learn their trade.  Eventually they will help to rebuild society.  That is what everyone believes, but what if things don’t happen that way?  What if life is different after graduation?  When Eve discovers the truth she finds herself on the run fighting for survival. 

I like this story.  It’s a little more Handmaids Tale then Hunger Games, but the adventure and the world around Eve read true and realistic.  I like the romance (usually not my cup of tea) and the pace of the book.  I would recommend this to teen girls looking for a Hunger Games read alike or those who like a little romance with their adventure.  This is already being marketed as a trilogy so expect two more books to come out soon. 

Bumped by Megan Mccafferty

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So in about 20 years everyone will have a virus that makes them infertile. Both men and women will have a reproductive expiration date of their 18 birthday. So after years of telling teens not to have sex, and that they should use protection if they do, the message has changed. Condoms are illegal. Teens as young as 12 are encouraged to “get bumped” which means sex to get pregnant. The more babies they can have the better. Some of the teens are amateurs, they have a baby and then look for someone to adopt. Some of the teens are professionals. They have agents who sign them with families and when the perfect biological match is found they have a designer baby for the family. Of course they are paid very well.


This is the story of two sisters, Melody and Harmony, who were separated at birth but who find each other. One is a professional and the other is a part of a religious group that thinks each person should keep their own children. They live separately from the rest of society and get married when they are 13 so they can start having as many babies as they can before the virus takes over.

To say this story is weird would be an understatement. I like the different look at pregnancy. I like the way the story shows what can happen with teen pregnancy without taking a preaching turn. It is funny in parts and sad in others. I’m interested to read what happens next to these girls and their families. The one thing that really put me off is that condoms are illegal. No mention is ever made in the whole book about STDs. Condoms don’t just keep babies out, they keep out all of the dangerous viruses, infections, and diseases that can be passed during sex. Since these kids are having mass sex parties to try and get pregnant I can’t believe that STDs are not mentioned. I wonder if this is something that the writer is saving for the sequel, or if STDs don’t exist in this future.

All these Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

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In about 70 years the world’s resources are going to be spread very thin. Chocolate and caffeine are illegal, and paper is hard to come by. Because resources are so scarce water and food are rationed, new clothes are no longer produced, and people who were once inside the law are now on the outside. Annie’s family make chocolate. They have been making it for over 100 years. They still make it and sell it legally in places around the world where it’s not outlawed, but in the U.S. where Annie lives, she is part of an infamous crime family. When she is implicated in an attempted poisoning she must do everything she can to survive and protect her family.


Annie is a very likable character and the story has a lot going on; romance, friendship, and crime. A lot of event stake place in the book, but the ending was kind of a letdown. There is no big dramatic ending. The story just stops and we are left wondering what will happen in the future. The story is wrapped up, but since it’s about this girl’s life, we see that she will have to keep making hard decisions. I liked it, but at the same time I wanted a little more. I would recommend this to girls who like complicated plots and well thought out characters.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

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It’s 1996 and Emma just got her very first PC. She loads AOL and clicks on her favorites. Facebook pops up even though it won’t exist until 2004. She starts seeing what her life will be like fifteen years in the future. At first she thinks it’s a trick, but when she tells her friend Josh they start to take it seriously. Facebook knows things that no one could know, and there are pictures posted that they have not even developed yet. Once they believe Facebook is showing them their future they start to make minor changes that and soon they see the effects of knowing their future.


I have been waiting since 13 Reasons Why for a new Asher book and I’m not disappointed. This book is not deep and gut wrenching like 13 Reasons Why, but it is a fun read and it has an interesting take on the way our lives are shaped. I loved the idea that even the smallest change could have astounding consequences in our lives. Because it’s told in alternating chapters from the point of view of a boy and a girl, I think anyone will like the story.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

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In Tally’s world everyone normal is an Ugly. It’s ok, because when you turn 16 you get an operation and you become a Pretty. You get to leave your ugly life behind and move to New Pretty Town, where you can party and have fun. Tally has snuck out and seen the parties and the pretty people for herself so she can’t wait for her operation. When there are only a few weeks left until her operation she makes a new friend who challenges what Tally thinks about being pretty. Soon Tally is given an ultimatum; she can turn on her friend or stay ugly forever.


This is one of those books that I read so long ago, and I just assume everyone has read it, but of course not everyone has. I LOVE THIS BOOK!! If you only read one book I recommend this is the one. It’s set in the distant future. The old governments failed, and a virus destroyed all of the worlds’ oil. New ways of living and doing this had to be created. The government decided that the reason people hated and made war was because people where jealous and hated people who were different, so their solution was to make everyone the same; Beautiful. I love the concept and the delivery. This is a clean read, with a lot of action. I recommend it for guys and girls. I predict you will get sucked in.

This is my favorite cover for the book.  It's been reprinted and recovered a lot.

 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

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Candor - The quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness


Abnegation - Renunciation of your own interests in favor of the interests of others

Dauntless - Invulnerable to fear or intimidation

Amity - Peaceful relations, as between nations; friendship.

Erudite - Having or showing knowledge

Society is divided into five factions, each valuing a different virtue. The day has come for Beatrice and everyone else who is sixteen to choose which faction she will belong to. Once they choose, they must complete an initiation. If they survive initiation their faction will become their new family. Beatrice make the difficult choice and starts initiation. What she discovers about herself and the world she lives in, threatens to change her way of life forever.

The book is a Hunger Games and Maze Runner read alike; teens in a distant future, trying to survive. The idea of choosing who you will be for all time, when you are so young, echoes reality where teens are meant to choose a college and career before they even know who they are yet. Reality aside, this kind of survival story is exciting to read. The characters are well thought out and multilayered. I’m interested to see where the story will go if there are sequels. I would recommend this for guys and girls who like action and survival stories. There is some romance and the story is slightly more girly than Hunger Games. The movie rights have been picked up so we will be seing it before to long. 

Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan (Forest of Hands and Teeth Sequel)

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Annah is alone in a dying city. She can’t keep waiting for Elias to return to her, and she can’t stay in the city any longer. She must go back to her village in the Forest of Hands and teeth. When she meets Catcher and he seems to know things about her, she makes the decision to find her long lost sister and find a way to make a home. Of course nothing goes as it should in the Zombie Apocalypse future.


I was so excited to read this book because I really loved the Forest of Hands and Teeth and the Dead Tossed Waves. This book was kind of a letdown. I found myself picking it up, and putting it back down. I just couldn’t get into the characters, or muster up much interest in what happened to them. I’m not really sure what why the book fails to deliver, but maybe it has something to do with trying too hard to weave the stories together, or the hopelessness in the story. This particular story was not for me, but you might like it if you like romance, and tormented lounging (and I know some of you do).

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

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This is the sequel to The Maze Runner.  I loved the book.  It has complex characters (including some new people), betrayal, danger, action, and a serious mystery.   This book is about as close to the Hunger Games as you’re going to get these days.  I’m hoping that this will just be a trilogy and that all of the answers will be revealed in the next book.  This book is a must read.  I recommend it for mature 12 year olds and older.  There is a little romance, and lots of violence.   It’s a great survival story and those are my favorite!   

XVI by Julia Karr

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In this distant future when you turn 16 (XVI) you get a tattoo that lets everyone know you are of age to become sexually active. You are safe until you hit the age of 16. Once you are sixteen you are now officially a “sexteen”. Health class is for girls too learn how to attract a guy, and all of the magazines are training you to look and act a certain way so that guys will want to have sex with you. Nina is fifteen and she is not looking forward to turning sixteen. She doesn’t want a boyfriend. She just wants to get good enough grades so that she can go to a good college and get out of being a low income and low class person. Only the upper class people in society get to choose what happens to them. When something tragic happens in her family she is trying to save her sister from a horrible fate and protect herself.

The idea for the book is interesting. It does a good job of illustrating that not all teen girls are boy crazy. That said I didn’t like the book. I usually love a dystopian future story, but this one did nothing for me. The book ended leaving lots of questions, the characters where kind of one dimensional (except for the grandmother) and overall it left me feeling flat. That’s just my opinion. There is a little romance, kissing, but the book is for 14 and up based on all of the talk about being a “sexteen” and the truth about what happens to some of the girls in the book.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

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Lena is about to turn 18 and have the surgery that will cure her disease. Everyone gets the surgery so that they will never be afflicted with love. Love is the most insidious disease of them all, because once you have you it; you don’t want to be cured. Everything is going as planned until she falls victim to the disease. Now she will do anything to stay with the guy she loves.

Set in the distant future the government has decided that once cured of love people are more docile and productive. The surgery is compulsory and if you don’t do it you become an invalid. You are no longer part of society, and you are on the run from the law. The book had some interesting ideas, but it’s a romance from start to finish. I never felt much for any of the characters and I wouldn’t say this is a must read. I know a lot of other people who really like the book, but it just wasn’t for me. Maybe because the hype built it up so much, I was expecting more so I was disappointed with the book. I would have liked a little more about the supporting characters, and some background on the society. This is not a book for Hunger Games fans. The action is limited, and the romance is not exciting. I would say for ages 13 and up based on the romance towards the end of the book.

Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

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Nick is a street wise teen, who goes to a a fancy private school his single mom can't afford.  When he gets involved in a mugging, and a mysterious stranger rescues him, Nick is caught up i a strange adventure.  He has to save himself, friends, his future, his mom, and all this while battling an angry swarm of zombies.

This is the first in a series called the Chronicles of Nick.  We find out about who he is and a little about his future.  I liked the story and the idea that future Nick is trying to help past Nick.  Percy Jackson fans will like the story because it features a greek goddess, and because it is a multilayered story featuring a regular kid forced into a series of unusual and dangerous events.  I would recommend this to teen guys who enjoy adventure and zombie stories.

Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences by Brian Yansky

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Jesse is a regular teen living in the U.S. He is at school when everyone around him just stops moving. It looks like everyone has fallen asleep, but they are all dead. That's how the Earth is conquered by aliens; not with a bang and lights and battle, but with silence. What follows next is the real invasion. The humans, or product, that is left are rounded up and taken to houses to work as slaves. Jesse is taken to the house of Lord Vert and is assigned various mundane tasks. If the product is good they will do as their told and live a painless but hardworking life. Jesse and the others are not good product, so Lord Vert has his hands full.


I loved the story. It's funny and heartfelt. The aliens are not all good or all bad, the same way that the human product is not all good or bad. The story moves quickly and does not leave the reader time to wonder what's going on, but when the story ends it leaves you thinking. I recommend this for teen guys who like survival stories, aliens, and humor.

Matched by Ally Condie

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Sometimes perfection can be perfect hell.  - Jack's Mannequin 

In the distant future everything is perfect.  People are assigned the jobs they are best suited to, their meals are delivered hot each night to provide the perfect amount of nutrition, and when you turn seventeen you are matched to the person who will be your perfect mate.  But what happens if the government is wrong?  What does it mean if you have more than one perfect match?  Cassia has just been matched but it's not what she thought it would be.  Now her whole world is turned upside down and she's not certain that her perfect world is as it seems.

OK.  Think Hunger Games without the fighting. This book is great.  If what you liked about Hunger Games was the love triangle this is the book for you.  It also has a controlling government meddling in the lives of its citizens.  All of the characters are well thought out, the romance is serious but chaste, and the government was just evil enough to keep me reading.  I've been to the authors webpage and this is going to be a trilogy.  The next book will be out in November 2011 and the way this book ends it seems like we will be learning more about the world outside the perfect suburb that Cassia and her family live in.  I can't wait!

Click here to watch the book trailer on YouTube.





The Maze Runner by James Dashner

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Thomas is in a box that is moving up; when he opens his eyes he is in the Glen. Outside of the Glen is the Maze. He is alone and without a memory of how he got there or why. He is with a group of about 50 teen boys. Together they work hard, farm, and try to solve the Maze. Soon circumstances change; Thomas and the other boys are in a race against time for survival.


Fans of the Hunger Games will like this story of teen survival. What happens at the end lets the reader know that there will be another story. We get to find out a little about a conspiracy and we get a glimpse of the people behind the Maze. I liked the book and can’t wait to read the next in the series.

The Lab by Jack Heath

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In the near future, the world is controlled in by an evil corporation.  There is no government and no police. The only hope for people is The Deck; a secret organization fighting for human rights.  The best agent in The Deck is Agent Six of Hearts.   He is the best agent and not just because he has never failed, or because he has never had to kill anyone during his missions.  He has certain genetic advantages that if discovered, would put him in great danger.  His current mission will reveal things about his past, and force him to decide if he is really human at all.

The book is fast paced, exciting, full of action, and totally addicting.  I found myself turning the pages as fast as possible so that I could find out what would happen next.  This story is strong, the characters are well developed, and the action never stops.  This book would be a great movie, but they would have to have John Woo direct.   There is plenty or violence, but no bad language or sex.  I recommend this series to fans of the Alex Rider series by.  Guys who like action will enjoy the book.  If you read the book at love it there are two other Agent Six books:
Remote Control
Third Transmission

(A forth book will be released in September 2011)

Click here to follow Agent Six of Hearts on his blog.

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

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Years after the plague...years after all of the dead stood up and started eating humans, there are a few small towns rebuilding.  Benny and his brother Tom made it out of their house on First Night.  They ran from their parents and the zombies.  Now, years later, they live in Mountainside.  Benny has turned fifteen and that means he must apprentice to learn a trade or lose his food rations.  Soon he learns the truth about the town, about his brother, and his so called heroes.  When Benny is forced to enter the Rot and Ruin of the zombie infested world outside the Mountainside fences, he must do things he never thought possible to survive and save the ones he loves.

Fans of Hunger Games will like this story of teen survival in the face of the adult agenda.  It is well written in the true voice of a teen guy.  There are amazingly resilient female characters and a world that is frightening real.  As with all zombie stories this book reflects back the worst and the best in humans.  Sadly the zombies are not the worst monsters in the story.  I recommend this to fans of Hunger Games, zombie stories, and survival stories.

Click here to watch an interview with the author.

The Limit by Kristen Landon

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In the not too distant future the government monitors our spending habits.  Families have a credit limit each month and if they go over it, their children are sent to workhouses to until the families can get under their limit.  As long as you pay attention and don’t spend too much your kids are safe. Matt’s family likes to buy stuff.  They never pay attention to their spending and when he ends up in the workhouse he finds out that the workhouse is not what it seems.

The idea for the book is innovative and original.  The ending was realistic without being hopeless, and I think a lot of teens would like to read the book.  I didn’t feel a connection to the characters and I’m not in live with the book, but I think it’s a matter of taste.  This is a good, easy read with a social conscience.  

Z by Michael Thomas Ford

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Josh is a just a regular kid living in the U.S. after the Zombie virus.  There was no apocalypse.  People got the virus, it was bad, the world moved on.  Zombies are all gone and the world he lives in is pretty much like ours now.  The games are a little cooler and the technology is a little more advanced, but it’s not like everyone has hovercrafts.  Josh is a gamer and his favorite is an online zombie killing game.   When Charlie invites Josh to play a different kind of zombie game his whole world is changed forever. 

I liked the story and the fact that the zombie plague was kind of like most viruses.  Many people were killed but in the end society goes on.  The way Josh reacts to making new friends and doing things he never thought he would is something that most teens can relate to.  I would recommend this book to gamers, guys, and people who like a twist on the zombie genre. 

The Unidentified by Rae Mariz

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Kid is a player in The Game.  Her school is an old mall that the corporate sponsors have modified.  Teens are the players in The Game.  Their grades depend on how well they do, and if they can get branded by a sponsor.  When a prank catches Kid’s interest she finds herself in the middle of something bigger than she ever expected.

This dystopian story is set in the not too distant future.  Teenagers are only allowed to gather in The Game.  The idea of the story is great: A future world where corporations have a captive audience in the teens that they claim to be educating.  The amount of made up slang took away from the story.  It messed with the flow and was distracting.  Other than that the story is great.  I felt empathy for the characters, and I recognized a lot of the teens who make high school fun and those who make it hell.  The truth behind the mystery is revealed on page 267 and it’s like a slap in the face.  I read it in a one sitting and enjoyed it.  I recommend this book to people who liked the Scott Westerfeld Uglies series.  

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