Tag Archive | technology

Fellowship For Alien Detection, by Kevin Emerson (fiction) – strange memories, time rewind,

Mar11

book cover of Fellowship For Alien Detection by Kevin Emerson published by Walden Pond PressVoices in his head.
Time losses that catch her eye.
It really is aliens this time!

It’s easy to identify with Dodger’s sense of never fitting in or with Haley’s alternating affection and annoyance with her family, but entire towns experiencing 16 minutes of missing time? People vanished from each place? Radio transmissions from a town not shown on any map?

Somehow, this is not the summer vacation that Dodger or Haley envisioned… and the extraterrestrials are trying to make them disappearance statistics, too!

Published in late February 2013, Kevin Emerson’s The Fellowship for Alien Detection  is a bit more light-hearted than his Atlanteans series (see my review of The Lost Code  here), but the perils for Dodger and Haley are very real.

Any “missing time experiences” in your life?
**kmm

Book info: Fellowship for Alien Detection / Kevin Emerson. Walden Pond Press, 2013.  [author’s website] [publisher site]

My Recommendation:  Awarded money for a short summer trip to investigate their theories of aliens on Earth, two young teens find more adventure than they anticipated and more danger than they could have imagined during their search for missing people and a vanished town.

Haley follows obscure news online that might lead to a reporting breakthrough; that’s how she uncovered “missing time episodes” experienced by people in several towns and knows each place has missing persons now. She’s going to interview folks in those missing-time towns – if she can just get Dad to stick to the travel plan instead of trying to see every oddball attraction on their route west from Connecticut.

The radio station that unpredictably plays in Dodger’s head is from Juliette, Arizona (which is not on any maps) and from a different day and year than now. He’s always felt different, unsettled – and it’s gotten worse as the radio broadcasts started this year. His dad looks at him like Dodger is a disappointment – the trip from Seattle to Roswell, New Mexico is going to be mighty long if Dad has as little to say to him as usual.

Debit cards from the Foundation in hand, the two families depart from opposite coasts on their fellowship journeys. But soon Haley’s investigations are noticed by United Consolidated Amalgamations which owns old mines near every missing-time town, and Dodger becomes a transmitting loudspeaker for the Juliette radio station during the gathering at Bend.

The two fellowship winners aren’t the only folks who have made the connection between UCA mines and missing-time or who have heard KJPR from Juliette, but they’re the only ones who are tracking down the clues step by step – the falling star dream in missing-time towns, the significance of the 16-minute time loss, the radio transmissions from one April day years ago. And the extraterrestrials are tracking down them and their families!

If Juliette is a real place, why isn’t it on the map?
Why does that same day play over and over on KJPR?
Can Dodger and Haley join forces before it’s too late?

This summer before starting high school may be the start of something big…or the end of Earth as we know it!  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Peanut, by Ayun Halliday and Paul Hoppe (book review) – allergy joke gone wrong

Feb1

book cover of Peanut by Ayun Halliday and Paul Hoppe, published by Random HouseTransferring into a new high school,
Everyone else has been here forever.
How can someone get noticed in such a crowd?

Peanut allergies are certainly no laughing matter, but one casual conversation in a fast-food place sets in motion Sadie’s whole new persona to make her unusual enough to stand out at Plainfield Community High School.

Once she makes new friends, she’d like to drop her fake allergy, but doesn’t have the courage to do it. And no way is she telling her mom about all this. How long can Sadie keep up her double life?

If you can’t find Peanut  at your local library, ask them to order it. Or try an independent bookstore which may have gotten copies on the graphic novel’s December publication day.

So, how far would you go to be noticed by “the right people” at your school or workplace?
**kmm

Book Info: Peanut / Ayun Halliday, illustrated by Paul Hoppe. Schwartz & Wade Books (Random House Children’s Books), 2012. [author’s website]  [illustrator’s website]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk: So not fair, having to move during high school! Sadie is sure everyone at PCHS has known each other forever and won’t have time for new friends. When she decides to stand out by pretending that she has a severe allergy to peanuts, there’s no turning back.

The med-alert bracelet ordered in secret is on for school, off at home. Her “about me” essay for homeroom details the life-threatening incident that just a single peanut caused. The school nurse is understandably miffed when she doesn’t have the proper paperwork about her medical condition, but does let Sadie keep the emergency epi-pen in her backpack instead of the office – which is good, since Sadie really doesn’t have the prescription-only device.

She does make friends in Plainfield after all, like Lou, who would also like to cancel PE forever, and Zoo, the cute guy who’s decided that technology doesn’t make life better and forswears computers and cellphones. Zoo’s communications are intricate origami notes, which he delivers to friends’ homes by bike, between trips to the library to consult printed reference books for homework (done with pen and paper, of course). Finding Zoo’s notes in her locker makes Sadie’s day special.

So, Zoo and Sadie are becoming more-than-friends. Why can’t she just come clean about not really being allergic to peanuts? How can he come to her house when Zoo might say something that makes Mom suspicious about all of Sadie’s online research about epi-pens and allergies? Why did she decide on such a radical way to stand out at her new school?

Big bake sale, big muffins, big trouble! What happens next? Read Peanut to find out! Hoppe uses sparing amounts of red to accent his black and white drawings of the Plainfield Community High School crowd as Halliday’s story of trying-too-hard to fit in follows Sadie through her first semester in a new town. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Year Zero, by Rob Reid (book review) – music downloads, alien invasion, legal loopholes?

Jan9
book cover of Year Zero by Rob Reid published by Del Rey Books

Sharing music is an age-old tradition.
Downloading music is more recent.
But global annihilation to avoid copyright fees?

That’s what Earth faces when the rest of the universe realizes that their music downloads since the 1970s have run up a copyright bill bigger than…than…than the universe.

Author Rob Reid knows quite a lot about music licensing and copyright, since he founded the Rhapsody music service before he wrote this first novel. About those lawsuit-happy aliens… he’s not telling us his sources.

Grab this funny-alien-legal-music-thriller in hardcover, eBook, or audiobook now at your local library or independent bookstore; available in paperback April 30, 2013.

Wonder if aliens really prefer disco to 80s hair metal?
**kmm

Book info: Year Zero / Rob Reid. Del Rey Books, 2012.  [author’s website] [author’s Facebook page] [publisher site] [book trailer]

My Book Talk: Radio waves going from station to listener bounce out into space, too, and the aliens agree that Earth’s music is better than any other in the universe.
But once they realize how much money the entire Refined League owes in royalty and copyright fees to human musicians, some alien bad guys decide that wiping out Earth to erase the debt is the only way to go!
However, most aliens would rather find a more-peaceful solution, so a few drop in on New York attorney Nick Carter to have him fix it all. Alas, Nick is not the Backstreet Boys singer Nick (as the aliens had hoped) nor is he the world’s best music copyrights attorney who could possibly find a way to reverse-license a few decades of slightly-to-completely illegal music downloads many light years from Earth.
But he’s going to have to try, since the bad-aliens will blow up Earth in a few days’ time if he can’t find a way around or through this problem. Of course, his law firm will decide this week on whether he’ll finally be named a junior partner or get axed, his cute neighbor also acquires a stray pet who’s an alien spy, and the wrinkles of universe-travels get a little sweaty.
Did the aliens of the Refined League honestly decide that Earth’s musical domination of the universe ended with rap?
Are there truly jokes coded into human (or Perfuffinite) DNA, since our bodies only use 2% of the genome?
Is there really a loophole in US music copyright law that Nick can find in time?
This debut novel by the founder of Rhapsody online music service brings music-crazed aliens to Earth, whisks earnest-but-only-human humans into outer space battles, and sharply skewers the most restrictive music copyright system in the universe between all the laughs.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Ivey and the Airship, by Cheryl Ammeter (fiction) – dark shadows, steampunk quest

Oct8
Ivey and the Airship by Cheryl Ammeter published by Wisdom House Books

A luxury dirigible high above the clouds,
Fine dinners and stealthy footsteps,
Sudden visions through others’ eyes,
Rumors of vicious war.

Welcome to the steampunk world of Aether, where a young lady’s social skills are far more valued than her intelligence, where a good marriage is a barometer of success, and where Ivey Thornton is determined to do things differently.

Favorite of her father’s five botanically-named daughters, she wants to follow in his scientific footsteps, investigating the new otheophainers that allow flight without use of a balloon. But first, she must discover why otheocoils affect her so strangely – and break off her arranged engagement to Miles (and his mother).

Ask for the first book in The Aether’s Edge series at your local library or independent bookstore. The author is busily at work on book 2 right now; let’s hope that the life-sucking leeches don’t make an encore in Master of the Manor!
**kmm

Book info: Ivey and the Airship (The Aether’s Edge, Book 1) / Cheryl Ammeter. Wisdom House Books, 2012.  [author’s website] [publisher site]

My Recommendation: Ivey just wants to research the unknown with her father. But Aether’s society frowns upon girls as scientists, so Ivey’s family arranges her betrothal to the son of her father’s best friend. Perhaps she can make Miles so angry during their airship voyage that he’ll break off the engagement – if the murderer on board doesn’t get them first!

Wrestling underwater with her secret pet waterdog and experimenting with explosives aren’t the ladylike arts that her sisters learned; it’s doubtful that Mrs. Fenchurche will appreciate Ivey’s ideas about the essential skills of life. However, the young man’s mother must admit that his late father would have delighted in this union between their innovative families. If Miles would only cease his world travels and settle down to provide heirs to the transportation industry fortune…
The luxuries and gadgetry of the airship Monarch take Ivey by surprise, as does Miles’ appreciation of her curiosity about his inventions. Neither is happy about the idea of marriage, but their scientific discussions are quite interesting. Someone else is paying extremely close attention to the awkward young couple, as strange ‘accidents’ begin to occur around them once the airship is far from port.
Sabotage, murder, killer bubble baths? Who wants to bury the Monarch and her passengers deep into the mountains? What is drawing Ivey into a sinister dreamworld that threatens Aether? Who is trying to unearth a secret that will shatter the world? Does the Institute of Sciences hold the key to these mysteries?
Steampunk meets dark and mystical forces in this action-packed first book of the Aether’s Edge series, where Ivey and Miles use quick thinking and their own kind of courage to meet dangers head-on. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the author.

XVI, by Julia Karr (fiction) – in future, 16 isn’t so sweet

Sep24
book cover of XVI by Julia Carr published by Penguin

Sweet Sixteen for American girls can be cake and candles, maybe new driver’s license…

But a 16th birthday in Nina’s future Chicago means no more protection from sexual assault.

Now added to the government stranglehold on the Media which bombards city-dwellers with advertisements around the clock and all-pervasive surveillance is a mystery about Nina’s long-dead father, who may be alive after all!

The over-sexualization of girls by the media has certainly begun. Is it time for young women (and those who protect them) to fight back before a coercive XIV  society takes away their freedom?

While sexuality is a main theme of XVI,  it is not sexually explicit, so read it now, then rush to your local library or independent bookstore for more of Nina’s story in the sequel, Truth.

Book info: XIV / Julia Karr. Speak, 2011.  [author’s website]    [publisher site]    

My Recommendation: 

Nina’s friends can’t wait to get their XVI tattoo, showing they’re old enough for anything, but this 15 year doesn’t want to be a “sex-teen” that guys can have at will.
Her best friend Sandy might stay a virgin to get into FeLS to move up a social tier or might succumb to the constant media sexteen hype. Nina will do anything to stay out of the program, especially since her mom’s creepy married boyfriend Ed is a FeLS Chooser. If only her dad hadn’t died on the night she was born, forcing them from Tier 5 into the poverty of Cementville…
A bare wrist and implanted GPS should keep her safe in 23rdcentury Chicago, but Nina has seen violence against young teen girls that the Governing Council denies. Lately, there have been so many police forays looking for NonCons rebelling against the GC, sudden city-wide silences in the constant Media vid streams, heightened audio surveillance everywhere.
And now her mom has been attacked, leaving Nina to care for her little half-sister in her grandparents’ tiny welfare apartment. Mom’s last words warn her to keep Dee away from Ed and reveal that Nina’s own father might still be alive and hiding out in Chicago!
As Nina looks into her parents’ past, she meets people who knew them both in their youth and realized that their anti-GC opinions would put their lives in danger. Sal and Wei at her new school are level-headed about XVI, cautious about accepting Media news as complete truth.
Could her dad really be alive after all this time? Why did Mom want to make sure Ed never saw Dee again? Why is the GC suddenly stepping up security? What’s the truth behind FeLS?

Set in a future that divides the Haves and Have-Nots further apart with each generation, XVI considers questions of personal liberty, freedom of thought, and social justice through Nina’s eyes and heart. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

On the Road…again and again (reflective) – pause in review postings

Aug8
San Luis Valley Sunset

Well, I thought that I would be able to keep up with my normal three-times-weekly blog posting schedule this summer, but moving (in July) and long vacation with unreliable internet service (now through mid-September) have shot a hole in that idea.

I’ve discovered that I can read books anywhere, even with noise and other potential distractions. But writing my recommendations requires a level of quiet that I cannot get during all this to-and-fro stuff.

So be assured that I am reading marvelous YA books for y’all while logging thousands of miles as pickup truck navigator and will have so many great recommendations to write up soon.

In the meantime, if you want an occasional account of our ramblings in the Mountain West during vacation, follow me on Twitter @BooksYALove ; that account will return to its normal coverage of books, cats, health news, learning styles, and other such stuff when ‘real life’ resumes.

Looking for some fun end-of-summer reads? Try a road trip through the wackiest parts of touristy Florida with How to Be Bad (my no-spoiler review here) or Myra’s summer job with a dream in Girls Don’t Fly (more here).

May all your reading journeys have intriguing endings!
**kmm

Listen up! (audio) – SYNC your reading with 2 free audiobooks weekly through August

Jun27
teen girl with earbuds listening to SYNC free YA audiobooks

Audiobooks!  All summer!   FREE!

Yes, the SYNC program is back for summer 2012, providing two great audiobooks for you to download – free! – each week (Thursday-Wednesday).

One is a recent YA title, the other is a classic, both in full-audio recording by outstanding readers. Each title is downloaded separately and is available only during that week’s download window.

The SYNC audiobooks use Overdrive (free download through the Audiobooksync page here) which many US public libraries also use for audiobook check-out. Once you’ve downloaded a SYNC title, it’s yours – no due dates or expiration.

Here’s the rest of the summer’s lineup. Click on a link to read more about the book and its reading cast, and mark your calendar to download it during its scheduled week:

June 21 – June 27, 2012
Irises  by Francisco X. Stork, Read by Carrington MacDuffie (Listening Library)
Sense and Sensibility  by Jane Austen, Read by Wanda McCaddon (Tantor Media)

June 28 – July 4, 2012
The Amulet of Samarkand  by Jonathan Stroud, Read by Simon Jones (Listening Library)
Tales from the Arabian Nights  by Andrew Lang, Read by Toby Stephens (Naxos AudioBooks)

July 5 – July 11, 2012
Anna Dressed in Blood  by Kendare Blake, Read by August Ross (AudioGO)
The Woman in White  by Wilkie Collins, Read by Ian Holm (AudioGO)

July 12 – July 18, 2012
Guys Read: Funny Business  by Jon Scieszka [Ed.] et al., Read by Michael Boatman, Kate DiCamillo, John Keating, Jon Scieszka, Bronson Pinchot (Harper Audio)
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Stories  by Mark Twain, Read by Norman Dietz (Recorded Books)

July 19 – July 25, 2012
Cleopatra’s Moon  by Vicky Alvear Shecter, Read by Kirsten Potter (Oasis Audio)
Antony and Cleopatra  by William Shakespeare, Read by a Full Cast (AudioGO)

July 26 – August 1, 2012
Pinned  by Alfred C. Martino, Read by Mark Shanahan (Listen & Live Audio)
TBA (Brilliance Audio)

August 2 – August 8, 2012
Daughter of Smoke and Bone  by Laini Taylor, Read by Khristine Hvam (Hachette Audio)
A Tale of Two Cities  by Charles Dickens, Read by Simon Prebble (Blackstone Audio)

August 9 – August 15, 2012
Skulduggery Pleasant  by Derek Landy, Read by Rupert Degas (Harper Audio)
Dead Men Kill  by L. Ron Hubbard, Read by Jennifer Aspen and a Full Cast (Galaxy Press)

August 16 – August 22, 2012
The Whale Rider  by Witi Ihimaera, Read by Jay Laga’aia (Bolinda Audio)
The Call of the Wild  by Jack London, Read by William Roberts (Naxos AudioBooks)

Please note that several of this summer’s SYNC selections are available to listeners outside of the USA; check this list for details.

Thanks to these audiobook publishers, you can fill your mind with stories all summer, so mark your calendar to get the SYNC downloads you want.
Which title is tops on your personal listening list?
**kmm

Amped, by Daniel H. Wilson (fiction) – amp your brain, lose your humanity?

Jun25

book cover of Amped by Daniel H Wilson published by DoubledayWelcome to the near-future!
A simple implant negates epilepsy,
another upgrades low IQ,
yet another amplifies physical performance.

We’re not talking 3-D headgear to improve complex visualizations – these are directly attached to relevant brain areas to control problems or enhance capabilities. Shouldn’t disadvantaged children be given help to overcome obstacles to their success, to keep them off the welfare rolls as adults?

And people who don’t use this technology – the pure humans – feel more-threatened every day by it. Should amps really be recognized as citizens? Aren’t they now less than human because of their implants? From lawsuits to concentration camps to outright violence, if you’re Amped, you’re a target – until it’s time to fight back!

The author of Robopocalypse brings us another all-too-possible view of a technology-enhanced future that’s more nightmare than dream-come-true. Published in early June, you’ll find Amped  at your local library or independent bookstore.
**kmm 

Book info: Amped / Daniel H. Wilson. Doubleday, 2012.  [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]  

My Recommendation: Brain implants to control seizures help millions like Owen; why shouldn’t implants help amplify limited intelligence or upgrade physical strength for those with challenges? Wealthy parents began enhancing their children’s mental skills and physical prowess with amp implantation, then The Uplift Act authorized amp implants for low-income kids to help them overcome long-standing disadvantages.
Soon, the “pure humans” worry that the “amps” have unfair advantages for college admissions, athletic contests, and job applications. Senator Vaughn and his Pure Pride organization file so many lawsuits against amps that their case goes to the Supreme Court.
Suddenly, amps are no longer full United States citizens, are hounded by Pure Pride, corralled into small enclaves under constant attack. All research on human amplification is stopped, and its leading researchers and doctors are arrested – if the authorities can reach them before they commit suicide.
A final message from his father shocks 29-year-old Owen to the core: his amp is not just for medical assistance, but contains information on amazing skills and abilities that he’ll be able to use some day.  All he has to do is cross half the country without being picked up by the FBI and find Dad’s friend Jim in Oklahoma for some answers.
Did Owen really want to find out about the Echo Company of amp-enhanced soldiers who can access levels of superhuman strength with the flick of a mental switch? Can this calm schoolteacher stand by while Pure Priders attack innocent kids who were amped under The Uplift Act so they could concentrate in class? And exactly what skills did his researcher father add to Owen’s amp?

Newspaper articles and news reports punctuate this fast-moving story, showing the rise and flow of public opinion and occasional outright propaganda in a future not-so-distant from today. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

"We now return to our regular programming" (reflective) – BooksYALove posting schedule update

May31
drawing of black cat reading a paper original from Diamond Dye advertisement
from Library of Congress *

We did it!

I wrote and y’all read every BooksYALove post through April’s AtoZ Blog Challenge and May’s WordCount 2012 Blogathon (at least, I hope you read them all).

Highlighting so many great YA books in a such a short time has indeed been challenging. I read books quickly, but really take my time writing recommendations to give readers a good taste of the book without revealing any vital plot twists or the ending (I personally hate spoilers in reviews!).

So BooksYALove goes back to its normal posting pattern on June 1; you’ll get lots of great books to choose from, but on a more-relaxed summertime schedule.

Watch for Mysterious Mondays and tales of the paranormal, fantasy, whodunits, and such – like Wizard of Dark Street, Between Sea and Sky,  and Hereafter.

We’ll have World Wednesdays, with historical and contemporary books set in places outside the United States, including Australia (Butterflies  and Dying to Tell Me), Africa (Now is the Time for Running  and Mamba Point), and Southeast Asia (Nowhere Girl  and Dogtag Summer).

Fun Fridays can bring humorous books, crazy settings, and non-fiction faves, from yummy Insanewiches  and Ask Elizabeth about anything, to the summertime wackiness of Withering Tights  and Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots.

Occasionally, books will slip in on other days of the week, especially for “book birthdays” (marking their first day of sale) and holidays. So many great books being published this summer and fall – just you wait!

So, which BooksYALove titles have been your favorites? What sorts of young adult books do you want to see more of? Which upcoming titles have you bouncing on the edge of your seat, anxiously awaiting their publication? Let me know, and I’ll see what I can wrangle from the publishers…
**kmm

* Black Cat reading, from vintage Diamond Dye advertisement, Public Domain image uploaded to http://openclipart.org, available for creative reuse with no fees or restrictions.

Word Cloud Day! (reflective) – important words and the big picture

May28
heart shaped word cloud of BooksYALove blogpost words made using Tagxedo

Making word clouds is so much fun!

Today’s WordCount Blogathon challenge was to create a word cloud using our recent blog posts.

The more often that a word is used in the text selection submitted to the word cloud generator, the larger that the word appears in the word cloud. You can omit extra-common or extraneous words from the word list, choose one or more fonts to use, horizontal or vertical or mixed-up word orientation, and other creative options.

LOVE shaped word cloud of words used on BooksYALove blog created with Tagxedo
Using the free online Tagxedo word cloud generator allowed me to go past the original cloud-shaped display that Wordle makes and select from dozens of shapes, including four different hearts and the iconic LOVE graphic.

I couldn’t choose only one Tagxedo, just like I can’t limit myself to just one YA book beyond the bestsellers to recommend per week!
**kmm