This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

After our Scholastics book fair, one of my students Jessica finished this book and told me that I would love it. At the time, we were reading Empty in class and this book has many similarities with regards to global warming and dwindling supplies.

This World We Live In is the story of a family trying to survive after a meteor collided with the moon causing the earth's climate and weather conditions to drastically change. Supplies, food and luxuries are very hard to come by. Miranda, her mother and two brothers are barely surviving. They scavenge for what little food they can and try to stay warm without the benefit of the sun. When Miranda's father returns with other friends, life becomes even more difficult.

This story was incredibly interesting. It is easy to imagine living in a world where resources are limited. It is a bit of a precautionary tale, but also at it's heart it is a story of survival and the love of a family.

Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

I haven't been reading much this fall, but when Emily came to me to tell me she had Silence and said I HAD to read it, I knew I had to make time to read this one. Silence is the third book in the Hush, Hush saga. The second book was Crescendo. I liked reading both of those books. Last year I was on a real paranormal romance kick and the girls in my class really enjoyed reading all these books after me. I find with any series of books it is often hard to pick up where the last book left off. This book was no different.

The Hush, Hush series main characters are Nora and Patch. Nora is a regular teenage girl and Patch appears to be a misguided boy who Nora is drawn to. Patch however is not a normal troubled boy, he is a fallen angel and while he falls in love with Nora in the first book, he will do anything to protect her from the Nephilim and the Black Hand.

In the beginning of Silence, Nora has been returned after being missing for the last 3 months. She has no memory dating back to five months before. All she wants to do is return to normal, go to school, shop and hang out with her best friend Vee. Of course life isn't easy for Nora, she continues to find herself in sticky situations that leave her totally confused. When Nora meets Jev, for some reason she can't explain she finds herself drawn to him, even when every time she is with him she is fighting for her life. Slowly Nora's memories start returning and she realizes that Jev is Patch, the boy that fills her dreams every night. As her memories start returning, Nora is faced with some frightening truths about her life and she must make some big decisions about her role in the war between Angels, Fallen Angels and the Nephilim.

Again, with this book, I found it hard to remember all the names of the different bands that were fighting and the reasons behind these feuds. However, the romance between Nora and Patch is still strong and I can understand why teenage girls enjoy this book so much. I'm not sure that I will rush out and get the next one, but I will always read it if a student gives me a copy!

Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari

This is a book that I ordered last spring and had planned to read it over the summer. One of my students just HAD to read it, so I gave it to her for the summer. When she came back in September, she was telling me what a great book it was and that I just HAD to read it. I finally picked it up and started reading it over the weekend.

Ashes, Ashes is like many dystopian novels. The main character has had to adapt and adjust to a new strange world. Lucy is the main character in Ashes, Ashes and she remembers a time when life was normal, when she went to school, fought with her brother and sister and was safe. But that was a long time ago. Now, all she does is try to survive. Lucy is the only survivor from her family. She lives by herself, avoids other people and at all costs avoids the 'Sweepers' who are looking for people who survived the plague that wiped out Earth's entire population. Then one day Lucy meets Aidan, a boy who is unlike anyone she has met since the world changed. He reintroduces Lucy to the concept of family and working together to survive. But living in a community has its' own challenges for Lucy, she needs to learn how to trust people again.

I enjoyed reading this story and I think Junior/Intermediate students will enjoy it too. The themes of survival, friendship, adventure and romance are enough to keep both boys and girls reading this book.

The Death Cure by James Dashner

It's hard to believe that it has been 3 months since I've posted anything- it's been a bit of a crazy fall and I haven't been able to read much. Hopefully this will get me back into reading!

I picked up The Death Cure last week at Titles. This is the third in the Maze Runner series. The first being The Maze Runner and the second being The Scorch Trials. If you haven't read the first two, I'd suggest you stop reading and go find those books.

I sometimes find with trilogies that it takes me a while to remember what happened in the previous stories and it is harder to get into the final books when a bit of time has passed between books. This holds true for The Death Cure, although it didn’t take long for me to remember the characters and what had happened.

The Death Cure starts out with Thomas and his friends having survived several challenges. The first was the Maze and the second was the Scorch Trials. Thomas and his friends are tired, worn out and very suspicious of Wicked, the organization that claims they are here to save them. Of course nothing is ever easy for Thomas. On the one hand there is Teresa who was once his best friend and then betrayed him. On the other hand there is Brenda, someone who he grew close to during the Scorch Trials, but who works for the very organization that Thomas isn’t sure of. Then there is the ‘Flare’, the disease that slowly takes over your brain and makes you crazy. This ‘flare’ is what everyone lives in fear of. Contacting the flare is the same thing as a death sentence.

Throughout the Death Cure, Thomas must decide what he believes in, who he believes in and make decisions for his own future. This book, like the other two is full of action, adventure and suspense. You are never really sure who will make it and who will die. This book had a great ending that really wrapped up the whole series.

If you’ve read the first two books, you really need to read this one as well.

0.4 by Mike Lancaster

I was looking for a new book to get me back into the swing of read YA books. This one looked like a dystopian novel, which I love. It's a bit more sci-fi then dystopia, but it's a great read.

The premise of this book is unlike any other book I've read. The book is obviously set in the future, and the 'editor' is transcribing tapes that were found from many years ago (or our present day). At times, the editor needs to explain some word or phrase that wouldn't be understood by people from the future. I found these little asides to be quite amusing. It reminds me of how dangerous it is to assume things based on historical evidence.
The story is about Kyle Straker, a normal 15 year old boy whose life takes a very strange turn one day. It's hard to write too much about this book because I don't want to give away anything. What we read in this story is Kyle's life as he told it through a series of tapes he left behind. In these tapes we learn about how Kyle's life changed after his friend hypnotized him and what he missed out during his trance.
I would suggest picking this book up- it's a very interesting quick read. I can think of a few boys from my class last year who will want to get their hands on this one tomorrow when I take it to school.

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

I picked this book up the other day when I ran into Chapters to pick up a new journal. I had to take a swing through the YA section and this one caught my eye. I'm always looking for new dystopian novels since those are my favourite books to read and so many kids seem to gravitate towards them as well.

Jeff Hirsch is a new author, this is his first book. I have to say that I'm looking forward to reading more of his work. His characters, the plot and concept of this novel is unique and fascinating to read.

The Eleventh Plague is set sometime in the near future after a war that left all of America completely devastated. What the war didn't wipe out, a deadly flu virus did almost destroying all of earth's population- most people refer to it as "The Eleventh Plague." For Stephen, his life as a scavenger means that he walks across North America searching for useful items left behind. When he, his father and grandfather have enough items they take them to trade for things they need in order to survive. His grandfather has drilled into him that they need to stay away from other people and not get involved. When his grandfather dies, Stephen and his father are faced with the difficult task of scavenging enough to stay alive. After an accident, Stephen's father falls into a coma and Stephen is left to figure out how to go on. He makes it to a settlement unlike any place he could imagine. There, he comes to realize that there is more to life than just surviving. He begins to make friends and finds a place with a family. But not everything is happy in Settler's Landing. Some people don't trust Stephen and he has a hard time trusting others. Throughout the story, Stephen is constantly battling his grandfather's voice telling him people can't be trusted with the safety and love he feels when he is with the family who took him in.

This story has it all, adventure, romance and friendship. I can see many kids enjoying reading this one. I can't wait until school starts on Tuesday to share it with some of my kids from last year. This would be a good book for those who like The Hunger Games, Gone and other novels about a post-apocalyptic world.

Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

The book Power of Six takes up where I am Number Four left off. If you haven't read the first book, you should probably stop reading because there will be spoilers ahead.

The Power of Six has different stories happening at the same time. First there is John, who is trying to cope with the guilt he feels over Henri's death. He is on the run with his best friend Sam and Six, one of the other children who came from the planet Lorien to escape the war. John, Sam and Six are trying desperately to stay alive and away from the Mogadorians and the police since they are wanted for the destruction of the school. John deals with his feels of guilt and longing to see Sarah again.

The other story happening takes place in Spain. We are introduced to Seven, or Marina who has lived most of her life hiding in a religious orphanage with her Cepan Adelina. However, Adelina is very different from Henri. Where Henri recognized the importance of training and being prepared, Adelina is the opposite. It seems that she has forgotten her role in keeping Seven alive to protect Lorien. This leaves Marina at a loss when her legacies start to develop. She is left with no friends and nobody to confide in or talk to. When Marina starts having visions, she realizes she needs to take matters in her own hands.

I found this book to be hard to get into. It might have been because it's been a while since I've read Number Four and I'd forgotten parts of it. I sometimes found the plot a bit confusing and hard to follow. The names that come from Lorien and other planets close by are a bit confusing. However, I did enjoy many parts of it. There was a great deal of excitement, battles and suspense and a wee bit of romance. I liked the ending of this one much better than the first. I know many kids will be begging for this book in a few weeks when I get back to school.