Tag Archive | survival

This Song Will Save Your Life, by Leila Sales (book review) – will this change work?

Oct11

book cover of This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales published by Farrar Strauss GirouxRepeat suicide risk,
perennially unpopular girl,
or rave-worthy DJ –
which persona would you choose?

Widely available at your favorite local library or independent bookstore, This Song Will Save Your Life is a Fall 2013 “Fierce Read” – catch Leila Sales at the Texas Book Festival in Austin at the end of October.

What songs are on the playlist that keeps you going when things get rough?
**kmm

Book info:  This Song Will Save Your Life / Leila Sales. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2013. [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Elise wasn’t sure what to add to her killing-myself playlist, but never dreamed that she’d finally find friends through a suicide attempt and music.

Being born unpopular was the problem – Elise hadn’t had a friend since grade school, and high school was simply hell. Her remarried mom with the perfect husband and two perfect kids didn’t see it, her rock musician dad didn’t see it, so Elise figured why live at all?

Of course, killing herself didn’t work, made her more of an outcast at school than ever, kept her awake at night. Running in the dark calms her down and one night brings her to a secret dance club in a warehouse. Great DJ, awesome music, folks don’t mind that she’s just 16 – Start is the best thing that ever happened to Elise.

Soon, she lives for Thursday nights at Start (never mind that Mom thinks she’s asleep upstairs)  where Vicki, Pippa, and Char respect her eclectic taste in music, encourage her to try becoming a DJ, and like her for herself – especially handsome Char.

Secrets can be hard to hide, though, and Elise’s lack of sleep and dropping grades trip her up (have her folks ever stopped considering her a repeat suicide risk?).

How can she keep DJing at Start?
What suddenly made affectionate Char so distant?
Why is high school so important anyway?

Her dad taught her about all kinds of music, her mom taught her about social activism – maybe Elise needs her friends at Start to teach her how to live.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Monster in the Mudball, by S.P. Gates (book review) – ancient hunger, on the loose!

Oct9

book cover of Monster in the Mudball by SP Gates published by Tu BooksTrapped for decades,
she awakens hungry,
violently hungry…

Every time ancient Zilombo is reborn, the monster from deep in an African lake has new and frightening powers that help her hunt – this time in England!

Try out three chapters for free here and you’ll be hooked as Jin, Frankie, and Mizz Z go after The Monster in the Mudball  along the Oozeburn River’s littered shores.

Do you hear the shivery jangle of a bottle cap anklet…  or is it just me?
**kmm

Book info:  Monster in the Mudball (An Artifact Inspector Book) / S. P. Gates. Tu Books, 2013.  [author biography]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: A baby, a monster older than the world, and a mysterious inspector – Jin and Frankie need the last one to help them rescue the first one from the middle one, before Zilombo eats him!

No one would expect that dusty old ball of mud contained an African monster which would gladly eat anything, especially when the mudball had been high on a shelf in a small British house for 20 years. How the dried dirt became mud again, hatched out its oversize feet and huge-clawed hands, escaped from its exile just before the Inspector of Ancient Artifacts arrived on her annual inspection… Jin knows, and Mizz Z the inspector knows that his baby brother is in great danger if this Zilombo monster isn’t caught – soon!

After such a long imprisonment, ancient Zilombo needs food and a hiding place, so she runs toward the scent of water, finding a secret spot near the river and sniffing for the delicious scent of that Smiler baby – oh, how she will enjoy eating it!

Jin and Mizz Z are on Zilombo’s trail, recruiting big sister Frankie along the way, but they may be too late, as baby Smiler chooses this night to take his first steps at Grandma and Grandad Tang’s riverside house.

Why does Mizz Z know so much about this ancient monster?
What new powers does Zilombo have in her newest form?
Can Jin and Frankie really save their baby brother?

Wild adventure along the muddy banks of the deceptively calm Oozeburn River as Jin, Frankie, and Mizz Z try to recapture the monster with her jangling ankle bracelet of soda bottle caps before she strikes again.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Linked, by Imogen Howson (book review) – illegal twin, found again

Oct7
US book cover of Linked by Imogen Howson published by Simon Schuster

US cover of Linked

Separated at birth,
each thinking she was alone,
yet connected by thoughts,
their suffering begins again.

“Telepathic twins in space” was UK author Imogen Howson’s working title for Linked,  and it describes the basic plotline well. Looking forward to scheduled 2014 sequel Unravel.

Grab this book if you like:

  • Mystery with a twist
  • Teens against a corrupt society
  • Action and adventure
  • Colonies in space
  • SciFi with grit

How far would you go to save part of your family, if it meant leaving the rest behind?
**kmm

UK book cover of Linked by Imogen Howson published by Simon Schuster

UK cover of Unlinked

Book info: Linked / Imogen Howson. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Elissa’s nightmares bring pain and bruises with them – not mental illness, but telepathy with her unhuman twin sister. Now they must escape the planet whose government wants to use them, regardless of the costs.

Brain surgery is the teen’s last hope of ending the visions of white-masked figures, the brutal pain, the bruises that bloom on her skin as she watches. Thankfully, their planet-colony has advanced medical care, thanks to the wealth that their unique spaceship engine technology brings in.

When Elissa discovers that her nightmares are the real thoughts and torture of another girl on Sekoia, she has to act. When she finds out that Lin is her sister, she doesn’t even know a word for it – twin? When she helps Lin escape, the girls become wanted criminals, and Elissa’s police chief father must catch them both!

How can two children be born at the same time, yet be separated?
Why are those people torturing Lin and other ‘unhuman’ children?
Can they convince brother Bruce to get them off-planet in a space academy ship?

A mystery, a terraformed planet filled with colonists and secrets, a race to safety… Lin and Elissa are linked through their minds – will they die that way?  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Killer of Enemies, by Joseph Bruchac (book review) – mind, heart, death in future

Oct4

book cover of Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac published by Tu BooksTechnology gone,
New monsters join the old,
Hungry for the people’s blood.

Read this desert-based dystopia for Lozen’s warrior woman spirit, her respectful killing skill, and her tenacious love for her family.

For a taste of  the dangers and monsters that Lozen faces inside and outside Haven, try chapters 17-19 for free here.

Then ask for Killer of Enemies  at your local library or independent bookstore now- you won’t want to miss it!

**kmm

Book info:  Killer of Enemies / Joseph Bruchac. Tu Books, 2013. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Lozen can sense the monsters on both sides of the compound’s walls and kill the mutants outside skillfully. But those holding her family hostage inside…can only be eliminated with a skill that the teen isn’t sure she has.

The land of Lozen’s Apache ancestors survived the Cloud from space which wiped out all technology, but so many people perished. The privileged Ones who survived meltdown of their implanted enhancements have holed up in secure places and gathered small armies, ‘recruiting’ those with blacksmithing or hunting skills to add to their power.

With her family held hostage in “Haven” Lozen must hunt the freakish Cloud-magnified animals who can batter down the former prison’s walls. The four Ones ruling Haven don’t know that the teen can sense the gen-mod monsters’ thoughts, as well as those of most humans.

Carefully-made plans for her family’s escape from the insanity of Haven may have to accelerate when the Ones declare her only friend is a traitor and plan to execute him.

Can she sway their decision without exposing her telepathic powers?
Can she get her family out of Haven before it’s too late?
Can a monster-killer save herself?

Weaving traditional Chiricahua beliefs with a new Stone Age power struggle, the Killer of Enemies  must remember her heritage while she strives to live long enough to have a future.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

The Chaos, by Nalo Hopkinson (book review) – myth to reality on city streets

Oct2

Book cover of The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson published by Margaret McElderry Books“Sasquatches, demonic Tinker Bells,
purple hippos wearing party hats;
they were all real now.” (p.167)

Auntie Mryss, cousin of Scotch’s white Jamaican dad, has been waiting for the End Times – looks like maybe they’re here and somehow related to the tarry growths inching along Scotch’s chocolate brown skin.

Hopkinson’s comments on “Noticing Race” are worth hearing, as you can well imagine that questions of race and identity have threaded through Scotch’s life for a long time before the Chaos brings every bedtime story and nightmare to life in Toronto.

Grab this imaginative novel at your favorite local library or independent bookstore and get ready for a mind-blowing ride through the dream-tainted city.

**kmm

Book info: The Chaos / Nalo Hopkinson.  Margaret McElderry Books, 2012.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Fitting in at school becomes the least of Scotch’s worries as legendary creatures descend on Toronto with terrifying results and her big brother goes missing.

Scotch (like the Jamaican hot pepper) doesn’t stand out for being biracial at this more-diverse school. Her dancing is stand-out good, like her big brother’s rap poetry. Their conservative parents don’t like either gift. And how they turned in their own son to the police for one joint! Chuh!

The black gooey growths on Scotch’s arm worry her, the hallucinations she sees flying all over worry her, then everything goes crazy as a bubble of light zings her and Rich disappears!

A volcano erupting in Lake Ontario, monsters from myth stomping through the city streets, cell phones not working – Scotch tries to help people as she doggedly makes her way to Auntie Mryss’s house. And those things from nursery rhyme dreams appearing everywhere? Mryss is sure that Scotch is the key to fixing it all…

Why are all these subconscious images becoming real now?
Why is the black goo spreading over Scotch’s skin so fast?
Where is her brother? Where!?

Jamaican author Nalo Hopkinson brings the myths and stories of many cultures into this nightmare reality threatening her adopted Canadian hometown where a heroine who doubts her own strength perseveres amid The Chaos.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Ravens of Solemano, by Eden Unger Bowditch (book review) – journey of secrets, families lost?

Sep25

book cover of Ravens of Solemano by Eden Unger Bowditch published by Bancroft PressBelongings vanish, then reappear.
Mysterious coins and curious murals.
Fabulous food, but no parents to share it with.

The remote village hides the five Young Inventors and their teacher well, but it also hides many secrets, perhaps even the origins of the Mysterious Men in Black who guard, guide, and confuse them! Hopefully, its ravens can hide the children from evil Komar Romak long enough for them to solve a baffling problem which endangers the world.

Just published on Sept. 24th, The Ravens of Solemano  surprises with clever puzzles, endearing characters (except for Romak),and links to historical figures famous and obscure. Ask for it today at your favorite local library or independent bookstore – if they don’t have it, use the Book Info below to request it.

Of course, you’ll enjoy these further adventures of the Young Inventors Guild even more  if you’ve already read The Atomic Weight of Secrets (my no-spoiler recommendation here) , so check it out, too.

If the expectations of the world are on your shoulders, can you ever put family first?
**kmm

Book info: The Ravens of Solemano: The Order of the Mysterious Men in Black (Young Inventors Guild, book 2) / Eden Unger Bowditch. Bancroft Press, 2013.   [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: A daring escape, a too-brief family reunion, then the five Young Inventors must solve cryptic puzzles in a puzzling village before their dreadful enemy strikes again – now the world itself is in danger!

Fortunately, their schoolteacher Miss Brett is with Jasper and little sister Lucy, Wallace, Noah, and Faye as they must travel across the sea from the explosion site where they spent such a short time with their parents, on the run from evil Komar Romak. The Men in Black hustled the children and Miss Brett to safety aboard the strangest ship, crewed by more like them. Such wonders in its library and labs!

But a murdered man’s message sends danger their way, even before the Young Inventors reach the Italian village of Solemano with its ever-present ravens, mysterious garden labyrinth, and many puzzles to solve. Miss Brett helps the children settle in and resume their experiments – their inventive minds find much to ponder here.

Underground passageways with possible clues, garden statues that are not what they appear to be, friendly villagers with secrets of their own. How long will the children stay in Solemano? The Men in Black who guard/protect them cannot (or will not) say.

Has Komar Romak discovered their hiding place yet?
Can the Young Inventors discover enough of Solemano’s secrets to protect themselves?
Will they ever see their parents again?

This second tale in the Young Inventors Guild series takes readers far away, into an imaginatively peopled land of puzzles and parallels as the brilliant children who first met in The Atomic Weight of Secrets  must work together to save themselves and the world. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Save

Gated, by Amy Christine Parker (book review) – safe from evil world…perhaps

Sep23

book cover of Gated by Amy Christine Parker published by Random HouseInside the gates, it’s safe.
Outside, the evil world will end soon.
Or maybe it’s the other way around.

The messages that Pioneer began receiving from The Beloved in space during 9/11 have sent an entire colony of families to create their own Armageddon-proof underground Silo against the coming endtimes.

Inside the Community’s gates, Lyla’s mother still mourns a long-ago kidnapping, shooting practice uses human-size targets, and no outside TV, radio, or magazines are allowed in – sanctuary or captivity?

Doomsday cults are nothing new, but Lyla’s future is now, and it’s not at all what Pioneer promised!  What a page-turner!

**kmm

Book info: Gated / Amy Christine Parker. Random House, 2013.  [author Facebook page]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Pioneer comforted Lyla’s parents after her sister’s kidnapping and the 9/11 attacks, led them to establish the Community to survive the imminent endtimes, will keep them safe from the world’s evils… maybe.

Lyla has grown from shy little girl to inquisitive teen in this pastoral place of horses and friends and meadows and shooting practice on human-shaped targets. Yes, Pioneer expects everyone to defend the Community when the Earth’s rotation reverses soon and these chosen ones go into their underground fortress to wait out the chaos.

Despite Pioneer’s efforts, the Community hasn’t completely escaped the notice of nearby townspeople during their monthly supply runs. In fact, the sheriff has just come for a visit to make sure everyone is within the gates of their own free will.

When Lyla is chosen as tour guide for the sheriff’s teenage son, she begins thinking about the outside world and finds Cody in her dreams (even though Will is her intended now).

A small mistake on her part leads to disastrous results as Pioneer shows the Community outside news that confirms his prophecies are coming true now!

“This is not a drill!” Pioneer thunders – but Lyla doesn’t want to believe that the endtimes have arrived in this novel about belief, lies, and faith.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Criminal, by Terra Elan McVoy (book review) – girlfriend, lover, accomplice?!

Sep20

book cover of Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy published by Simon PulseHe loves me,
he loves me not.
Of course he’s innocent!
Oh, God, he’s not…

Hopefully, you read guest blogger Alison Law‘s introduction to fellow Georgia author McVoy’s latest book earlier this year on BooksYALove. I just have to chime in with my recommendation for this book and pray that I never have to see anyone I know trapped into a situation like Nikki is!

What are you waiting for? Get this novel now at your local library or independent bookstore  – if you’re a fan of realistic fiction, you should be on their waiting list for anything that Terra writes.

How far should you go to protect the one you love, even when you know that love is not returned?
**kmm

Book info: Criminal / Terra Elan McVoy. Simon Pulse, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Nikki loves Dee and is so glad he came back to her, until a joyride in a borrowed car turns into deception, murder, and worse.

So Dee left her alone for a while, came back with a new N tattoo, but it’s just not his style to say anything about love out loud. She’d do anything to keep Dee happy, keep him from leaving again, keep herself in Bird’s house away from her addict mom.

She still hears the gunshots in her dreams, wonders how the police were so quick to question Dee. Maybe they didn’t get every fingerprint off Bird’s fancy car when they borrowed it that day… When Dee calls her, he’ll straighten it out. Waiting and waiting for him to call.

Murder? Dee isn’t some goody-two-shoes guy, but they’re pinning that deputy’s murder on him – and now Nikki’s in the slammer because she just drove when he told her to drive away from some Atlanta neighborhood she’d never seen before.

Her best and only friend Bird warned her about Dee, now she’s cutting off all contact with Nikki for the sake of her little daughter. Momma’s no help, ever, and Dee is lying about Nikki’s involvement in the crime to save his own skin!

Doesn’t Dee love her?
How can she find out when they’re in separate prisons?
What if she really doesn’t want to know?

The desperation of Nikki’s love for Dee is only matched by her growing determination to get out of this mess, with or without him, in this gripping novel which begins the morning after the getaway and unfolds in damning detail after detail.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Boxers & Saints, by Gene Luen Yang (book reviews) – two views of war, graphic novel style

Sep18

book cover of Boxers by Gene Luen Yang published by First Second Booksbook cover of Saints by Gene Luen Yang published by First Second BooksChina at war with itself in 1900,
tradition versus new beliefs,
cultural identity versus change.

We may have heard of the Boxer Rebellion or Uprising because of its unusual name (and inevitable juvenile snickers about the word ‘boxer’), but didn’t realize that Western countries were eyeing China for conquest and colonialism in the late 1800s.

Now this pair of  well-scripted and evocatively drawn graphic novels examines the larger conflict from the viewpoints of two individuals whose paths cross once (or was it twice?), neither of whom can realistically expect to win the fight of their lives.

Yang uses a muted palette for the drabness of village life, reserving strong colors for battles when Bao and his disciple-brothers and sisters transform into all-powerful Chinese gods and for Joan of Arc’s appearances to Vibiana. The boxed set of both books is gorgeous; check out the spine art’s continuation of the cover sequence.

When is it too late to change your beliefs? When is it too soon to stand your ground, despite the odds?
**kmm

p.s. I wrote and scheduled this post before the National Book Awards‘ long-list was announced on 16 September – congratulations, Gene!

Book info: Boxers / story and art by Gene Luen Yang, color by Lark Pien. FirstSecond Books, 2013.   Saints / story and art by Gene Luen Yang, color by Lark Pien. FirstSecond Books, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site – Boxers]  [publisher site –  Saints]  [book trailer for both books]   Review copies and cover images courtesy of the publisher.

My book talks:    BOXERS – Foreign powers want to take China’s wealth in 1900, but patriotic men (and women) will use fists, swords, and fire to reunite their country.

This graphic novel of the Boxer Rebellion traces the roots of the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist, a people-led army rising from impoverished villages, dedicated to getting justice for the wrongs committed by foreign devils, including Christian missionaries and Chinese converts.

Youngest brother Bao becomes strong and mighty through the Society’s practices, eventually leading them against foreign and imperial troops at Peking. When he allows the Red Lantern maiden warriors to join the cause and fight alongside men, some Brother-Disciples question his motives, though not the women’s killing skill.

Practicing martial arts and stern rituals, Brother-Disciples of the Fist feel themselves transformed into gods of Chinese legend as they fought to wrest the capital city from the ’round eyed’ foreigners uncontrolled by weak emperor Ching.

Yet time doesn’t stand still for gods or empires or young men who are visited in their dreams – the Boxer Rebellion ends just as this book portrays it.

Yang’s companion book, Saints, shows this historic conflict from the viewpoint of a Chinese convert to Christianity who escapes her abusive family to watch history unfold.

SAINTS – The God preached by foreign missionaries might rescue an unwanted daughter in 1900 even as a peasant army marches to kill all the foreign devils who want to drain China of its wealth and debase its heritage.

Four-Girl, born on the most inauspicious day of the year, doesn’t even merit a name as her grandfather blames her for the untimely death of her father. A devil, he calls her, and nothing she does is right. To fight back, she begins secretly learning about Christianity, since its missionaries are known as ‘foreign devils’ to everyone.

Escaping from abuse at home, Four-Girl receives the saint-name Vibiana when she is baptized and travels with the foreign priest to a town with its own church. Away from its orphanage, she sees visions of a slim girl in bright metal armor – the priest says her name is Joan of Arc, a champion of her Church and her country.

Now Vibiana knows she is being called to save someone, even in the face of the Righteous Fist army killing Christians and foreigners wherever they go as the Boxer Uprising begins.

Be sure to read Yang’s companion book, Boxers, to see how a peasant army tries to push out the foreign devils and their converts to reunite the China they love.  (Two of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Tumble & Fall, by Alexandra Coutts (book review) – Earth in asteroid’s path, the end?

Sep16

book cover of Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts published by Farrar Strauss GirouxAsteroids pass near the Earth often enough.
This Persephone one will hit us,
No doubts, no magic superhero rescue,
Now what?

As the collision date nears, families all over the world are faced with a crisis that’s not covered in any emergency preparedness manual.

In this novel, Sienna, Owen, Carly, Caden, Zan, and Noah each have their own ideas about what to do before it’s all over  – “Stand by Me” seems to be the island’s theme song, for sure.

If you knew we only had a few weeks left before the end of the world, what would you do? (Alexandra’s list is here)
**kmm

Book info: Tumble & Fall / Alexandra Coutts.  Farrar Strauss Giroux, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Just a week left to live… not someone in particular, but everyone, as an asteroid zooms toward an unavoidable collision with Earth. Who to be with, what to do or not do – how does a small island town cope with The End?

Sienna’s dad brought her from rehab to the summer home they’d avoided since Mom’s death, to her persnickety little brother Ryan, to the woman Dad is marrying so they could spend the end of the world together. The island kids have grown up, too, and Owen wants to make sure Sienna hears his band and their pal Carly singing while there’s still time.

Zan felt like the world ended 10 months ago when Leo died in a wreck. Now his little sister brings her a book found in his truck afterwards, little knowing that its receipt-as-bookmark holds a hidden message for a Vanessa, someone that Zan must find.

Kidnapped! Caden isn’t surprised that his selfish absentee dad used force to get him off the island, but why didn’t he grab sister Carly, too? He’s got to reach his family on the island before the asteroid disrupts the tides too much for boat travel.

A performance-art installation called “the Forgiveness Machine”,
Optimists building an amphibious ark,
Secrets kept and secrets uncovered.

The days until collision tick down, and these teens, their friends, and their families must each decide how to live fully until The End.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)