Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14 is written by a new author, this is her debut novel and she has hit a homerun with this book. The story starts out with two brothers on their way to school. It is a typical morning with both boys getting onto the school bus. What starts out normal quickly turns to a crisis when enormous hail starts to hit the bus causing major damage. Luckily the bus driver brings them to safety by driving into a superstore. Suddenly, these kids- some high school, some in elementary school and some just primary children are stuck inside this huge superstore. They must learn to survive on their own. The news they hear from outside the store isn't good. Environmental conditions are worsening and the kids stuck inside are not sure what to do. The story is told from the perspective of Dean, a 15 year old who doesn't really fit in with the 'cool' group of school. Of course some of those cool kids are stuck inside with him and this causes a lot of tension. Watching the way the kids take on the various roles is familiar from books like The Maze Runner, and Trapped. It is always interesting to see what personality traits comes out in situations like this. Monument 14 was a really exciting read and I couldn't wait to see

how it was all going to end. Most of this book would be appropriate for grades 6 and up. There is a bit of mature content, so I would read it first to make sure it is appropriate for your class. It is a good read.

The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse

The Forsaken is a book that was getting lots of buzz on twitter a while ago so I picked it up based on many recommendations. It is a great dystopian novel. It reminds me a bit of The Maze Runner. Alenna is living in a world called UNA- a nation that was created by joining Canada, United States and Mexido. Her parents were taken away from her when she was 10 and she was then raised by the State. At 16, all children from the UNA are 'tested' to uncover subversive tendencies. Much to Alenna's surprise, she is set to the wheel- a place where kids are sent who fail the test. There life is all about survival. Alenna meets some very interesting people there, some she trusts, some she doesn't. The one she is drawn to the most is Liam- someone who is a hunter and a fighter. As Aleena learns the way of life in the wheel, she discovers that she has strengths she didn't know she had. I really enjoyed this story. Alenna is a great character and the society that Stasse created was quite interesting. Anyone who enjoys alternative reality novels will enjoy this one!

Fear by Michael Grant

Fear is the 5th book in the Gone Series. I find I am just wanting this series to be over, yet as soon as a new book is published, I have to pick it up. In this case, one of my students picked it up and let me borrow it (thanks Em!) In this book, it has been a year since all the adults disappeared. Kids have mutated and have had to deal with a world without law and order and rules. Yet they are surviving. Everyone seems to have their place in this new world. People have jobs and responsibilities. Of course because these are kids, sometimes things don't go as planned. As this book starts, several of the kids living in the FAYZ start to notice that the dome is changing. It is getting darker from the bottom up. They soon realize that the dome will be in complete darkness and so will the kids living inside. The smarter kids realize that this will mean chaos, no light means no food, no safety, and nothing to do. This strikes fear into everyone. I actually liked this book better than I thought I would. It was much more exciting than some of the last ones. I have a hard time keeping track of all the different characters and who is good and who is evil and why. However, the line in this book is pretty clearly drawn between good and evil. I am looking forward to the next one coming out.

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

I picked this book up a few weeks ago in Chapters and now that it is summer holidays I finally got around to reading it. This book is written by the author of Elsewhere (a book I know I've read, but apparently I didn't blog about it- which is strange!) This book is set about 90 years in the future, although life is pretty similar to today. There are a few strange things, like having to pay for each litre of water used and chocolate and coffee are illegal, but other than that the story could be set today. Anya Balanchine is the middle daughter of a mob family. Her parents are both dead and she is responsible for her older brother who has a brain injury and her younger sister. Her grandmother is on her death bed and all Anya wants to do is graduate high school and keep her family together. Yet life keeps throwing curves at her. I don't want to give away any of the plot here, but there are lots of things that Anya needs to overcome. Through all of it, there is Win, a boy who Anya really likes and who seems to be there for her. Anya is a really interesting character. She is strong, determined, and very very smart. She misses her parents very badly, and works very hard to make sure they would be proud of her. Anya knows what she wants, and even though she is only 17, she makes some very difficult decisions. I enjoyed reading this book, there are some mature themes in it, but it is a great read.

Crossed by Ally Condie

Crossed is the sequel to Matched, a book I really liked reading. One of my friends gave me this book to read and I picked it up over the long weekend. What I found difficult was that I couldn't really remember how Matched ended and so I had a hard time following this book. That is one of the problems with reading trilogy as they are published instead of waiting for them to all to be published. Crossed picks up where Matched left off. Cassia is working in the Outer Provinces finishing up her three month work detail. The work is hard and she isn't sure exactly what she is accomplishing. All throughout her time at these camps she is thinking about Ky, wondering where he is and if he is safe. Ky is also in the outer provinces and he is just trying to stay alive so he can find his way back to Cassia. The story is told from alternative perspectives, one chapter from Ky's point of view and the next chapter from Cassia's. It is a story of love, and deciding what is right and wrong and how to best live your life. I enjoyed reading it, but I wish that I had reread Matched before starting this book. When the final book is published I will be sure to read the first two.

Starters by Lissa Price

I had read about Starters on Twitter a few months ago, it was being promoted for fans of the Hunger Games novels so I knew I was going to have to read it. When a former student showed me this one, I asked Emily to lend it to me when she was done. After a few reminders, she finally brought it to me this week, and am I ever glad she did. Starters is the story of life after a war in which everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty are wiped out. All that is left are the 'Starters' or the younger kids and the 'Enders', those at the end of their lives. There is a bit of tension between the two groups, laws have been passed that make it illegal for Starters to work which makes survival very difficult. Callie is the main character and she is a 16 year old who has been living on the streets trying to take care of her 7 year old brother as best she can. Callie learns of a way that she can make a great deal of money and all she has to do is 'rent' out her body to an Ender who wants a chance to relive their youth for a short period of time. For Callie, this seems like an ideal solution. She sleeps for a month while someone rents her body and when she wakes up she will be able to buy a home and look after her brother. Of course things don't go as planned for Callie. As she is being rented, she wakes up living someone else's life. She is confused and doesn't know who to trust. The more information she gets, the more confused and conflicted she becomes. This book was an incredibly exciting read. It was easy to follow and hard to put down. The ending leaves me thinking that there will be a planned sequel to the story, which is great because I really want to know what will happen to Callie and her brother. Fans of dystopian novels will really like this book.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent is a book that I have been waiting for for over a year. It is also the book that many of my students from last year have asked about as well. Insurgent is the sequel to Divergent and it begins at the exact moment where Divergent ends. Luckily I had reread Divergent just the weekend before, because otherwise I would have been a bit lost. If you haven't read Divergent, Insurgent might be a bit confusing for you. Once Tris decided on her faction, she thought she would be set for life. She was happy with her ranking as one of the top Dauntless initiates and was also happy with her future with Four. However all that changed at the end of Divergent, when war between the factions broke out. Now, Tris must deal with what she had to do to save herself, Four and what is left of her family. As she is trying to deal with all of that, she also has to figure out a way to stop the other faction from destroying themselves. This leads to Tris needing to make many difficult choices as she tries to navigate through the complexity of war.

I was so excited to start Insurgent and see what would happen with Tris and Four. I did find it a bit confusing to remember who was fighting for what side as I was reading. As with most wars, it is often hard to know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. I love the strength that Tris has throughout both of these novels. While she feels remorse and guilt about decisions she makes, she always makes well thought out and planned moves. Anyone who liked Divergent should read this one. It is the second in the planned trilogy series and the ending certainly leaves you wanting to read the next book.