Kearsten's Book Club Wrap-Up: Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

This past Monday night, we rowdy book clubbers discussed the creepy and awesome apocalyptic thriller, Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne.

Trapped inside a chain superstore by an apocalyptic sequence of natural and human disasters, six high school kids from various popular and unpopular social groups struggle for survival while protecting a group of younger children.

WE LOVED IT.  

The discussion was, as usual, all over the place.  We spent a lot of time on the disasters - deadly hail, bus crashes, earthquakes, and toxic smoke - and how we might (or, in Kearsten's case, might not) have survived.  We also talked about the unsettling interactions with adults in the story, and how the teens handled themselves and the younger children. 

Kearsten's favorite part of the meeting was when we examined the ways in which the teen characters reacted to their situations.  Some distanced themselves, whether on purpose by hiding from the others or unintentionally by going into shock, while others tried to ignore the situation by drinking or using drugs.  Most of us were pretty disgusted by the characters who used drugs and alcohol, primarily because it meant they were leaving the younger children without support when they needed it most.

The teens in book club are awesome.

Here's a pic of some of the questions submitted by book clubbers! 

Already read Monument 14?  Then try one of these teen-endorsed read-alikes, which also focus on themes of missing parents, disasters, and survival!

Gone by Michael Grant. In a small town on the coast of California, everyone over the age of fourteen suddenly disappears, setting up a battle between the remaining town residents and the students from a local private school, as well as those who have "The Power" and are able to perform supernatural feats and those who do not.

The Enemy by Charlie Higson. After a disease turns everyone over sixteen into brainless, decomposing, flesh-eating creatures, a group of teenagers leave their shelter and set out of a harrowing journey across London to the safe haven of Buckingham Palace.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.

No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz. Teens Shay, Marco, Lexi, and Ryan, quarantined in a shopping mall when a biological bomb goes off in an air duct, learn that in an emergency people change, and not always for the better, as many become sick and supplies run low.

Teen Review: Once by Morris Gleitzman

Today's recommendation is from Caitlin, and focuses on a 10-year-old Jewish boy navigating Poland alone during World War II: Once. 

Wanna to see your own review here?  Fill out our What Did You Just Read form today!

What Did You Read? 

Once by Morris Gleitzman.

I'd say this book was *mostly* about... 

An adventure; the past (it was bleak); true stories, bro.

This book's main character(s)...

Had a rough time

If others were interested in this book, I'd tell them...

It should be required reading for ALL teens

Any other thoughts about this book?

I thought it was an inspiring book about how stories can really change your life and everyone goes through rough times.

Should We Know More About You?

My name is Caitlin, I'm an otaku (someone whose obsessed with Japanese animations). I enjoy dystopian books and fantasy and I dislike historical or classic.

Ashfall

I have watched a program on the supervolcano which is situated under Yellowstone and the idea of it erupting scared the you know what out of me! Also the fact that I visited Yellowstone a number of years ago, my goodness, it could have erupted while I was there (okay maybe that's a LITTLE too dramatic). Seriously, a supervolcano erupting is horrifying.

Well Mike Mullin has done an excellent job in scaring me silly. His description of the eruption as far away as Iowa and its aftermath are terrifying. The research he did in order to write what took place did the story justice. What people will likely have to face is horrifying and something for which no one will probably be prepared.

Alex is alone, his family has gone for visit, when the eruption takes place. It is explosions, fire. buildings collapsing, having no power and pure terror. When Alex regains consciousness, he is hurt and practically deaf. He has no idea what has happen and no way to find out what just went on. He is left wondering if his family is alive.

Alex is 16 and a little cocky. But he is still scared enough to try to find out if anyone else survived. For a short time he finds shelter with neighbors, but after they are viciously assaulted, Alex decides it is time to search for his family.

The majority of the book is the tale of how Alex manages to stay a live. He is badly injured, food, water and shelter are constant concerns. Alex's determination to survive and find his family is admirable. It is also interesting to see how much he changes and the level of maturity he masters in the aftermath of this disaster. The people he meets on his journey run the gamut of types, heroic to slimebags.

It was difficult reading the book, since there were few uplifting things that happened to Alex. I could only hope I would be creative enough to survive more than a few hours. This eruption is inevitable, however, it probably won't happen during our lifetime (we hope). Still we have had too many recent instances of natural catastrophes where people had to find ways to stay alive until help came. As you read, think about what you would do and how would you manage to stay alive.

The sequel will be coming out in October of this year. I am looking forward to seeing whether Alex will be able to keep himself and other survivors alive long enough to have a future. In the meantime, I will be stockpiling MREs, blankets, aspirin, my favorite books..........

Trapped by Michael Northrop

As it was nearing 90 degrees here in Arizona, I picked up Trapped. Scotty narrates this survival tale and lets you know right away that not everyone survives. When the snow starts coming down during the school morning, Scotty is most concerned about the basketball game that night. He doesn't want it cancelled--all of his hard work practicing would be wasted. And cancelled it is. Along with the rest of the school day. Scotty's friend convinces Scotty and their friend Pete to stay behind and work on a go-cart with him. His dad will pick them up. He's close by. But as the snow continues, their cell phones stop working, and their ride never shows. 7 students and 1 teacher are left there. No one knows that they are there. The teacher leaves to get help and doesn't come back. No big deal, right? It's got to stop snowing sometime. The school has a heater, plenty of food in the cafeteria, and lots of space. What could go wrong? Everything. Starting with the power and the heat. And then the roof starts creaking. And it's still snowing. Again, it was almost 90 when I read this book and I had to read it under a blanket. It chilled me thinking about all the snow, the lack of heat, and the over all atmosphere. If you are looking for a good survival story, then you should pick this one from the library.

hunger games, catching fire, and mockingjay...

So I'm re-reading Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins to prepare for Mockingjay, the third book in the series, which comes out on the 24th of this month. I noticed that only Karen wrote anything about The Hunger Games when it first came out. That surprised me. I came into the series a little late in the game. We were going to do a Catching Fire release party so I needed to read Hunger Games to be ready for it. While everyone was gushing over HG, I was thinking that it probably wasn't much different from Battle Royale. Boy was I wrong. I mean, it's natural to compare the two titles. They do have a lot of similarities. But while BR is all about death. HG is about survival. I liked that. I liked that a lot. Not that I didn't adore BR, because I did. It's just nice to see survival being a pivotal plot point.

Catching Fire was probably more enjoyable to me because I could see more of the world Collins' created. Some people thought this was the weaker of the two books--which is understandable. It doesn't stand on its own. It has a horrible cliffhanger. But that's what the second book in a trilogy does for the trilogy bridges the reader from book one to three. Anyway, I'm rambling a bit now. What I was trying to accomplish here is to let you all know that the third book is coming this month. You can put it on hold on the library catalog. The Foothills Library is having a Mockingjay release party the release day that should be lots of fun--oh and you can win the book as well. And the movie is coming in late 2011. Can't wait to see how they do HG. Gotta get back to my book now!

The Printz Award

On Monday, I went to the Printz Award reception. There the honorees and winner of the Printz Award presented their acceptance speeches. A variety of book genres and accents were represented with the winners. The honorees were from New Zealand, Australia, and two from America (one with a Southern accent). The winner was from the United Kingdom. The honorees were a nonfiction title, a fantasy, a black comedy, and a realistic fiction book. The winner was a survival story. What a variety! There's something for everyone in this year's list of winners!

The first honoree of the evening was Judith Clarke. She was honored for her book, One Whole and Perfect Day. This book focuses on families. Lily has an eccentric family and when preparing for her grandfather's 80th birthday celebration, she just wants them to be normal for one day. But of course, that's really too much to ask for! Ms. Clarke was unable to attend the reception, but she sent a video that I hope will be available later on for other people to view.

The fantasy winner was Elizabeth Knox for her second book in the Dreamhunter Duet called Dreamquake. This New Zealander has a fabulous accent. Seriously, I just wanted to listen to her talk nonstop! I don't know many people who have read this book or the first one in the series, but hopefully this award will grab some people's attention! This fantasy delves into dream worlds which has always fascinated me...

The next author who won a Printz honor award was Stephanie Hemphill. She won for Your Own, Syvlia. The author writes a wonderful nonfiction book about the life of the famous and tragic poet, Sylvia Plath. And she does it in verse. When Ms. Hemphill spoke she began her speech in verse which made me want to listen to her so much more! Karen wrote about this book when it first came out, so after you read this post, make sure to read Karen's take on this book! I have a soft spot for Sylvia Plath, so I'm always happy that there are writers who love her too.

The final honor book was awarded to A.M. Jenkins for Repossessed. Out of all the books that won this evening, this is the title I was most excited about. Repossessed is the type of book that no one really ever thinks has a chance to win a literary award (or an Oscar if it was a movie for that matter). Funny books simply aren't taken as seriously as those realistic fiction titles. Ms. Jenkins' last three books have had a supernatural slant to them --ghost story, vampires, and this one, fallen angels. Kiernan is a demon--working in the depths of hell, day in, day out for years--so he leaves hell. A vacation of sorts and inhabits the body of a 17 year old boy and learns all the little things about life. Karen also wrote about this one, so go check out her thoughts!

The winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for 2008 was Geraldine McCaughrean for White Darkness. This survival story is set in Antarctica as teenager, Symone, discovers that the man she thought was her uncle is obsessed. Karen wrote about this one too. Karen finished this book and nominated it for our Mock Printz award and told me that this was the book that was going to win. Some years we really have a good as to what book will win or at least get an honor. This year, I don't know of a single mock Printz group that called it. Except Karen. That's pretty impressive. Karen reads a lot and loves literary books, so if you're looking for book suggestions on that level--check out her posts. Not that the rest of us aren't as good as Karen! I don't want you (or her) to think that. We don't need to feed Karen's ego! ;)

Anyway, those were the winners that were announced in January. But I just heard their acceptance speeches last night at the ALA conference. I was told that they were going to be putting the acceptance speeches on YALSA's website at www.ala.org/yalsa. So keep an eye on that site and hopefully they'll be up soon!

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean

Symone has an imaginary boyfriend--and he's been dead for over ninety years. The man of her dreams, quite literally, is Titus Oates, the famous, doomed Antarctic explorer. At age fourteen, Symone or Sym, knows more about the Antarctic than many people twice her age. She has an affinity for Titus, and her conversations with him are more real to her than her everyday life in modern England. It makes sense that her boyfriend would be decades older and a figment of her vivid imagination since Sym doesn't fit in among her classmates. Her hearing aids, general clumsiness, and painful shyness make it difficult to be anything other than the class joke. In her own estimation, Syms is a weak girl.

Luckily, the reader of The White Darkness figures out pretty quickly that Syms is much braver, stronger and smarter than she gives herself credit for. And it will take all of Syms's courage to survive the trip her Uncle Victor has planned for them. Both Uncle and Syms have been obsessed with the Antarctic for as long as they can remember. From Uncle's gift books, Syms learned about Titus Oates. So when Uncle Victor surprises Sym with a trip, first to Paris, and then on to Antarctica, Syms is overjoyed. She reveres her Uncle, the man who has practically raised her, and she never once considers that he could be doing anything wrong. After all, Uncle Victor assures Sym that he's told her mother about their trip and that missing so much school won't matter either. The reader's antennae go up at this, but it takes Syms a lot longer to even begin questioning whether Uncle-- the most brilliant man on earth, a genius, and her mentor--could be taking them into danger. After all, they're going to the Antarctic on a guided tour. What could go wrong?

This novel is beautifully written, and Syms emerges as an incredible character. She feels like a real teenager--one who lives inside her head, one who suffers from self-consciousness, one who is more than she realizes she is. She's a wonderful narrator, and her "relationship" with Titus works not only to give Syms some sense of stability, but to draw the reader into Syms's psyche as well. I found myself becoming sweet on Titus, and then I'd remember that Titus was invented by Syms and Syms was invented by Geraldine McCaughrean, and I'm sure there's some interesting philosophical musing I could pursue there, but I'll refrain. Suffice it to say, Titus is one of the best characters in the book even if he's not really "there." Even the flawed characters--and they're are several of them, deeply flawed---are shown as human. One may not forgive or excuse their evils, but through McCaughrean's beautiful writing, one understands why they've done the things they've done.

Plot is also a major strength. This book is exciting. I wasn't really expecting it to be since it takes awhile in the book for Syms to reach the point of danger. I thought, initially, this would be a book about a shy teenage girl in London (I hadn't read any synopses of the plot) and I was satisfied with that. Then things really begin to spiral in terms of conflict. I kept thinking that things in the Antarctic couldn't possibly get any more dangerous for Syms---and each time I thought this, things got more dangerous. Now things can't get more dangerous, I thought. And then they got more dangerous again. It was an intense read. I'm glad the book is on the long side, because I wanted it to go on and on. That's always the mark of a good read, in my opinion. At the same time I wanted the book to end, so I could know, will Syms live or die? She can't die can she? Well Titus did. . .

This novel is about many things--betrayal, love, the realization that those we love are not infallible, personal courage, imagination, and most of all survival. I'd highly recommend it.