Alison Reads

Wow! Collins takes reality TV to the nth degree in this post-apocalyptic tale of a country ruled by an autocratic central government. Every year a lottery is held to select a boy and a girl from each of the 12 regional districts to battle to the death in an arena. All citizens must watch the event, which plays out over several weeks, on television. The last child left alive is the winner. When her 12-year-old sister’s name is selected in the lottery, 16-year-old Katniss volunteers to take her place. What follows is not for the squeamish, but it’s fascinating and riveting. The story ends with a cliffhanger, so I assume there will be a sequel. Highly recommended for ages 12 and up.

Ben discovers in his senior year of high school that he has a terminal illness. He chooses to tell nobody and goes out for football for the first time. A wonderful book about a smart kid who learns to take risks and reach out to people, including a homeless drunk. Excellent; recommended for high school and up.

Middle schooler Amedeo Kaplan moves from New York City to Florida, where he gets to know his eccentric neighbor, an elderly former opera star, and makes his first friend, a boy named William. We learn a fair amount about modern art, especially art that was stolen by the Nazis during Hitler’s regime. This book’s OK, but didn’t grab me and hold on. Konigsburg’s books win all sorts of awards, and I’ve dutifully read most of them, but I haven’t really liked any since From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. For grades 6-8.

Catherine is 12 and is tired of having to deal with her 8-year-old brother’s autism. She loves him, but she doesn’t like being embarrassed by his behavior. She takes it upon herself to make him a list of rules to live by, because he won’t learn them any other way. At the speech therapist’s office Catherine meets Jason, a 15-year-old with cerebral palsy, and they become friends. Catherine hopes to make friends with the new girl her age next door, but she is disappointed. A sensitive lesson in looking beyond superficial appearances. Recommended for grades 5-8.

Fifteen-year-old Meline and 16-year-old Jocelyn are cousins who go to live with their eccentric uncle after their parents are killed. Their uncle lives on an uninhabited island near Vancouver, B.C. The story is told from alternating points of view of Meline, Jocelyn, Uncle Marten, the housekeeper, and the butler. Strange and quirky as Horvath’s books always are.

Parallel stories of two boys abandoned by their fathers told in spare blank verse. One story is the biblical one of Ishmael and the other is about modernday Sam, whose father has a new wife and son. Both boys rely on their faith in God to help them adjust to their new status. A quick read, somewhat confusing since it jumps back and forth in time. A YRCA 2008 nominee for grades 10-12, it is also suitable for middle schoolers. (Those who were upset by the appearance of the word “scrotum” in The Higher Power of Lucky should be aware that this book contains the word “foreskin“.)

Thirteen-year-old Peter and his scientist parents go to Greenland to study glaciers. He stumbles upon a group of people who have lived secretly underneath the ice for 200 years. Told in alternating chapters between Peter’s life above ground and 14-year-old Thea’s life underground. Both children end up learning long-buried family secrets. Includes information about mitochondrial DNA, global warming, and dog breeding. Inventive and thought-provoking, and gives a vivid sense of what it’s like to live in such a cold environment. Highly recommended.

After 9th-grade classics prodigy Jack is struck by a car in New York, he realizes that he can see a dead girl named Euri. She leads him into the depths of Grand Central Station, where he discovers that the dead of New York reside while they still have unresolved issues. He searches for his mother, who died when he was four. Based on the Orpheus and Euridyce myth, but with a modern twist. For middle and high schoolers. (I read an advance reader copy.)

In the 1850s, two teenage sisters are separated when one stays behind on a small Scottish island with her grandmother and the rest of the family emigrates to Canada. Their alternating stories are told in narrative poems which are intricately woven together. A note at the end describes the construction of the poems; however, the construction can be ignored and the story enjoyed for its own sake. For middle and high schoolers.

The third in an unconventional vampire series, this book finds Bella torn between her love for Edward the vampire and her friendship with Jacob the werewolf, since the two species are bitter enemies. They band together, however, to face a horde of vampire zombies from Seattle. Not as silly as I’ve made it sound, this is a compelling series. Does Bella get her heart’s desire and become a vampire so that she can be immortal like Edward? Read the book and see.