Reading Abounds

Title: Eight Keys Author: Suzanne LaFleur Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 52693 Description:  When twelve-year-old Elise, orphaned since age three, becomes disheartened by middle school, with its bullies, changing relationships, and higher expectations, keys to long-locked rooms and messages from her late father help her cope. Rubric Rating: Level 4: Love It Why I Read it: I was looking for a book for middle school that would appeal to girls.  I liked the two kids on the cover. Lori's Notes:   Things all change for Elise when she starts middle school.  Her locker partner is a hurtful, name-calling, bully who makes Elise question her friendship with her best friend Franklin and worse her own self-worth.  Elise's story is complex; her mother died the day she was born and her father dies just three years later of cancer.  Aunt Bessie and Uncle Hugh raise Elise.  They are very compassionate and mostly understanding to her situation. Every year on...

Title: Lockdown Series: Escape from Furnace Author: Alexander Gordon Smith Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 40155 Description: When fourteen-year old Alex is framed for murder, he becomes an inmate in the Furnace Penitentiary, where boys who disappear in the middle of the night sometimes return weirdly altered, and escape might be possible. Rubric Rating: Level 2: Like it Why I Read It: The cover looked really interesting and a little bit frightening; particularly the boy looking back in one eye of the gas mask. Lori's Notes: Alex is no angel but he certainly doesn't deserve the hell that is Furnace Penitentiary.  Located miles underground, this prison is a nightmare.  No windows, no fresh air, and strange mutant guards and dogs. When Alex is framed for murder he finds himself facing a life sentence.  In order to keep his sanity he searches for a way to escape.  His cellmate Donovan and fellow inmate Zee and eventually "new fish" Toby attempt escape.  Al...

Title: Robopocalypse Author: Daniel H. Wilson Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 60920 Description: Two decades into the future, humans battle for their survival after a powerful AI computer goes rogue, leading all the machines on Earth to rebel against their human controllers. Rubric Rating: Level 4: Love It Why I Read It: My husband scooped this book up first and highly recommended it. Lori's Notes: This was a fantastic read.  The book begins at the end and through the "Hero Archive" we see how Cormac Wallace and the "bright boy squad" have ended up in remote Alaska battling the AI - Archos.  The story is very well put together.  By using the Hero Archive, Cormac is able to piece together the stories of the various "heroes" Mathilda Perez, Takeo Namuro, Lonnie Wayne and Paul Blanton, Nine one Two, and the many others who were indispensable to human survival.  The events take place all over the world and by telling the story in retrospect we are a...

Title: Cheesie Mack is Not a Genius or Anything  Series: Cheesie Mack Author: Stephen L. Colter Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 48874 Description:  Eleven-year-old Ronald "Cheesie" Mack relates events he and his best friend, Georgie, experience as fifth grade comes to an end and their summer plans are drastically changed, due in part to an old, possibly valuable coin that may belong to the mysterious inhabitant of a place they call The Haunted Toad. Rubric Rating: Level 3: Laud It Why I Read It: Trying to find a book to appeal to a boy and the title was really cute. Lori's Notes:  Cheesie is a great friend, and honesty in this book really does turn out to be the best policy.   I loved the relationship between these two friends and between Cheesie and his sister June (aka Goon).   The book is easy to read, covers a short time period of time - Georgie and Cheesie's grade 5 graduation, and has a good mystery story included.    The only flaw for...

Title: Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow Author: Susan Campbell Bartoletti Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 137945 Description: Gives voice to the youth of Europe who were faced with choosing between indoctrination into the Nazi party or being targeted as undesirables and how they dealt with the consequences at the end of WWII. ***Newberry Honor Book*** Rubric Rating: Level 3: Laud It Why I Read It: I like books about history and this seemed like a good nonfiction book about this time period.  On quick scan it didn't seem to dense or overwhelming. Lori's Notes: Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler's Shadow is an amazing non-fiction account of 12 children and teens living in Germany during the indoctrination of the Hitler Youth and the rise of Adolf Hitler.  As a student one learns about the causes of war, dates of significant battles, and the horrible tragedy that is the aftermath.  One is often left to wonder how such tyrants gain power in a civilize...

Title: The Game (Previously Titled: Invitation to the Game) Author: Monica Hughes Perma-Bound Cat#: 157695 Description: An adventure/survival story set in the future as teenagers are either assigned jobs or unemployed status when they graduate from high school. *** Canadian *** Rubric Rating: Level 2: Like It Why I Read It: I was looking for a dystopian novel by a Canadian and this book was enticing.  I also read some of Hughes' other books and quite liked them. Lori's Notes:  After being educated in a government school, Lisse and seven of her friends end up as "unemployeds" living in an inhospitable "DA" (designated area).  When they hear about "the game" they do everything they can to get invited.  A good read but further explanation as to some of the book's issues would have gone a long way, for example: Why couldn't the government get rid of the robots after the population rebounded?  Despite the number of questions I h...

Title: Breaking Stalin's Nose Author: Eugene Yelchin Perma-Bound Cat#: 56148 Description: 10-year-old Sasha is painfully disillusioned about life in Stalinist Russia when his father -- the best Communist he knows -- is arrested. Rubric Rating: Level 4: Love it Why I Read It: The trim size of this book was smaller than normal and a quick flip through the book made it look like a quick read. Lori's Notes: A fantastic and fast-paced read taking place over just two days.  10-year-old Sasha's story begins with his letter to Stalin extolling the ruler's leadership. However, when his father is arrested (because his neighbour wants their larger apartment) Sasha sees communism as something entirely different.  The treatment of the children, once ostracized by the communist regime, is awful and their treatment by teachers and other students disgraceful.  A heart-wrenching story made more powerful through the use of graphite illustrations throughout the text. Re...

Title: Little Brother Author: Cory Doctorow Perma-Bound Cat #: 26651 Description: After being interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus, released into what is now a police state, decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right. ***Canadian*** Rubric Rating: Level 3: Laud it Why I Read It: This book was recommended by an associate. The cover didn't really appeal to me, so I may not have picked it up on my own. Lori's Notes:   Set in the near future, Marcus and his friends; Darryl, "Van," and "Jolu," skip school to participate in the geo-game "Harajuku Fun Madness."  Unfortunately, the teens find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time - the vicinity of a terrorist attack.  To make matters worse, while trying to get into a fall-out shelter, Darryl is stabbed by someone in the crowd.  I...

Title: Egghead Author: Caroline Pignat Perma-Bound Cat#: 33352 Description: Three teens struggle to find their way through life with a bully. ***Canadian*** Rubric Rating: Love 4: Love it. Why I Read It: I was looking for some books with Bullying as the main theme and this was by a Canadian. Lori's Notes: Freshman year in high school is not easy for anybody - but it's even worse when you have to put up with a bully, or you're best friends with a bully, or you stand up to a bully.  Devan is Shane's best friend and Shane is a bully.  Devan understands the difficult home life Shane has and knows that he needs a friend to tell him right from wrong.  William is the kid who's just a little bit odd, nicknamed "egghead" by Shane, William just tries to get through school without getting in anybody's way.  And then there's Katie, she likes Devan but doesn't know how he can be friends with someone like Shane.  She's friends with Will...

Title: Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Story Author: Adam Rex Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 44352 Description: After being bitten by a vampire, not only is fifteen-year-old Doug doomed eternally to be fat, but now he must also save himself from the desperate host of a public-access-cable vampire-hunting television show that is on the verge of cancellation. Rubric Rating: Level 1: Leave It Why I Read It: This was all title and cover.  I thought the cover image was fabulous and I was piqued by the humour of the title. Lori's Notes:  Doug is a vampire.  But he isn't the typically good-looking, mesmerizing, adaptable vampire.  He's a socially awkward, geeky, fat vampire.  He is an overweight social misfit who just wants to fit in.  Becoming a vampire just further emphasizes how out of place he is at school and even within his own social group. Sejal, a foreign exchange student (and Doug's crush) exemplifies this same idea having been diagnosed as ...