One of My New Favorites: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin  ISBN:  9781442421769.  Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Younger Readers, 2011
I purchased this book from Barnes and Noble for my library.  Format:  Hard copy

Summary from Amazon.com
Mara Dyer doesn't believe life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.  It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.  There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.  She's wrong.

What I Think...
One of my new favorites, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is hypnotizingly haunting. Once I finished this book, I just couldn't let it go.  I wanted more, and I am definitely holding out for a sequel! Please let there be a sequel! 

Riddled with in-depth touches into the power of the human mind, Mara Dyer grabs the reader by the hand and leads them into dark and hollow places that only Mara herself can navigate.
Hodkin does an excellent job writing Mara as a believable character who is trying to redeem herself through her past and through the realities that she faces at the forefront of her undoing.  
A fabulously written book, Mara Dyer questions the control that one has over one's own mental strengths and weaknesses. Insane or sane? From beginning to end, I was glued to every page.  And oh, my! What an ending. After reading the last page, I sat in my reading chair, gripping this book wide-eyed, silently screaming for more.
 

Hourglass: Making Hermione's Time-Turner Look Like a CrackerJack Toy

Hourglass by Myra McEntire.  ISBN: 97816841440.  Publisher:  EgmontUSA, 2011

Summary from Amazon.com

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there:  swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant.  Plagued by phantoms since her parent's death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal.  She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.  So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure.  But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.  

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barley older than Emerson herself who seems to believe every crazy word she says?  Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around?  And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

What I Think...

Since this book is one of those that can easily be spoiled by sharing too many details, I will do my best to highlight the elements of Hourglass that stand out.  

At first I thought that the heroine, Emerson, was going to be all "I see dead people" like Haley Joel Osment.  Boy was I wrong.

I soon found out that Hourglass is a well-rounded paranormal romance jam-packed with mystery, suspense, action, and time-travel, yes time-travel!  I must also mention that the chemistry between Michael and Emerson is straight-up intoxicating, making this book a real page turner.  

Yes, this is considered a paranormal romance, but it is not your typical paranormal filled with vampires, werewolves, and faeries.  McEntire's ideas of time-travel set her book apart from other paranormal romances, filling the reader's mind with the possibility of changing one's destiny, the possibility of controlling those things that should never be controlled.  Overall, McEntire weaves a plot that is unique and fulfilling.  Hourglass will definitely satisfy your paranormal romance cravings.

Myra & Me at a book signing in Huntsville, AL.

A Legendary Read

Legend by Marie Lu.  ISBN 978039925675. Publisher: Putnam Juvenile, 2011
I purchased the book from Amazon.com.  Format: Kindle eBook.  I also have a hard copy of this book in my library.  


Summary from Amazon.com
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors.  Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles.  Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal.  But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
What I think...
Legend is a solid addition to the dystopian YA genre.  While it has most of the essential elements for a dystopian novel, i.e. a futuristic world in uproar, a cruel government/leadership, it also has unique qualities as well.  These qualities include the military talent and charisma that characters June and Day possess.  Rooted in determination and strength, both June and Day are believable characters that readers will connect with and "root for."  Despite their differences in social background, June and Day find themselves romantically connected and working together to discover the truth about the Republic and its leaders.


I think both male and female readers will enjoy this book, especially since the chapters alternate between June's perspective and Day's perspective.  Put this book together and you have a little Jason Bourne mixed in with The Hunger Games with a dash of Divergent.  

Dystopian Fiction Makes a Shattering Impact in YA

Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to read several new YA books that I would definitely describe as “stand-outs.”   Interestingly, all of the new releases that I have purchased and read fall into the dystopian genre.  The following review covers my thoughts on one of my current favorites, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. ISBN 978-0062085481. Harper Collins, 2011.

Purchased as a Kindle eBook from Amazon.com.  I also have a hard copy of this book in my library.

Summary from HaperTeen.com

“You can’t touch me,” I whisper.  I’m lying, is what I don’t tell him.  He can touch me is what I’ll never tell him.  But things happen when people touch me.  Strange things.  Bad things. 

No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her.  Plans to use her as a weapon.  But Juliette has plans of her own.  After a lifetime without freedom, she’s finally discovering strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she’d lost forever.

What I Think

So this book had a grip on me from the “get-go.”  The writing style alone is a great reason to label this book as a “stand-out.”  Mafi’s poetic style of writing--crossing out words and sentences that shouldn’t be said, but should be read--really allows the reader to get in touch with the protagonist’s thoughts and inner struggles.  This allows main character, Juliette, to blatantly reveal her spoken words to the reader as well as her internal thoughts and fears.  I think that teen readers will not only connect with Mafi’s writing style, but they will also connect with Juliette---a 17 year old teen who is constantly struggling with her fears and feelings, both physically and mentally.

One of the things that is so engrossing about Shatter Me is the realization of the importance of physical contact with other human beings.  Juliette has been cursed with a fatal disease all of her life; one touch from her and your life is over-- she hasn’t touch another person is 264 days. This curse has dictated her life for so long that she has no idea how to live her life without fear and vulnerability.  But when she sees Adam again for the first time since elementary school, she soon realizes that so many things are possible for her.  She can learn to love, and she can learn to control her own destiny.  And it doesn’t have to be a destiny filled with sadness and fear.  She can live among those she loves, and she can help the greater-good around her.  She is powerful.  She is beautiful.

The best thing about Shatter Me is that is it unique to the dystopian genre.  It is part romance, part fantasy, part super hero.  Hunger Games + Divergent + X-Men = Very Cool.

New Books!

Whoo hoo!  If you are a public educator in Alabama, then you understand that having funding to do anything in your classroom or library is a big deal.  So having a little cash (from a recent fundraiser) to buy new books for my students has been awesome!

Here is a list of my most recent purchases from Barnes and Noble.  And by the way, these books are currently looking all shiny and new on my New Arrivals Shelf!

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
Dark Eden by Patrick Carman
Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Hades by Alexandra Adornetto
How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
Legend by Marie Lu
Phantom by L.J. Smith
Ruthless by Sara Shephard
Shatter Me by Tehereh Mafi
Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
The Fire by James Patterson
The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
The Pledge by Kimberly Derting
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin