Second in a Series

They're YA, they're page turners, they're both the second book in a series, and they're both from the library and need to go back!


Susan Beth Pfeffer's the dead and the goneis the second in her series of an apocalyptic future in which the moon has been thrown off course. Everyhing is a mess, the weather in particular, which is making it difficult for life to continue. I really liked the first book in this series, Life As We Knew It, and actually wasn't that interested in this installment until I heard there would be a third book involving the main character from the first book. Whew! So, this installment follows New Yorker Alex Morales as he deals with the fallout of this new existence and his new role of 'man around the house' for his two sisters. Alex's story was different in that he seemed to have more resources for food as well as relationships outside his family through school and church. Speaking of church, the Morales family are devout Catholics and their faith is referred to again and again. Readers with a low tolerance for religion may find this tiresome. While I did find this to be a quick read and a page turner, I never felt an emotional connection with Alex nor as drawn in to the story as I was with Pfeffer's other book. Despite this, I still plan to read the next book in the series to see what happens next. I'm fascinated by this future Pfeffer has imagined.

I was waiting, waiting, waiting(!) impatiently for Suzanne Collins' Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)to arrive at the library last Friday. It did, and I finished it Sunday morning. What a ride! Fast paced and exciting, this book picked up where The Hunger Games left off. Heroine Katniss is being targeted by The Capital as Someone Who Might Ignite a Rebellion and they decide to show her who's boss! Do they ever. Was anyone else a little surprised at the direction this book took? I was not expecting more of, you know. But it worked. And the ending was great - a cliffhanger, but what did you expect!? I'll be first in line (at the library) for the third installment.

Two Lauries

I was all set to participate in the blogishness yesterday but I went to the eye doctor yesterday and spent the afternoon blind. How did I forget that they were going to dilate my eyes and why does it seem it affected me more than ever? I went to the grocery store afterwards and almost had to ask someone to read the labels on the food for me. Thank goodness for tv.

This has been a busy week and I have only a short time now as I'm due at school for the 'picnic' when parents join their children for lunch and awful food is served. Ugh.

I'd just like to mention a few books I've read lately - it's been awhile since I've read them so I don't have a lot to say.

Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen is an absolutely delightful food memoir. She's funny, she's sarcastic, she knows what she likes and she's not afraid to eat it. I don't even know that I so much plan to cook any of her recipes - the writing here is what appealed to me. Happily, there is a follow-up to Home Cooking,More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen; unhappily this is all we will ever have as Colwin passed away at a young age.

I also read Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak in a flash last weekend. Utterly compelling, this young adult novel is one I've heard of everywhere and for good reason. Anderson certainly has some insight into the minds of teenagers. For those unacquainted, Speak is the story of a young woman who has entered high school as an outcast, thanks to a phone call to the police she made at a party. No one knows why she really made that phone call, no one knows why she rarely speaks. I can completely see why this book has become assigned reading for teens. This book is rather bigger than itself, in that so many teens can relate to feelings of isolation and of being misunderstood that Anderson writes of so vividly. This is the sort of book I hope my daughter is reading when the age is right.

Reading YA Books

Until about a year ago, I hadn't read any YA books, since I was, well, a YA myself. Before I began this blogging adventure I would have never thought of looking for books in the YA section. What I've found since, is that when you look past all the vampire books (sorry, that genre just doesn't appeal to me at all) and books with sexy girls on the covers, there are treasures to be found in the YA section. I've read a couple recently myself.


Laurie Halse Anderson's Wintergirls is the story of a young woman suffering from anorexia. I felt as thought I knew a fair amount about anorexia before reading this book. I did a science fair project about it in the 7th grade that was featured in the newspaper. I had a close friend in high school that suffered from the disorder. In my professional career, I've read doctor's interviews with sufferers and observed their behavior in the hospital cafeteria as they obsessed over food, threw some away and sometimes sat with their families in situations that can only be described as turbulent.

Despite all this, I didn't really know what was going on in the head of a person suffering from anorexia and what their families go through as well, and that is where LHA comes in. She has created a portrait of a young woman, full of self doubt and pain that exerts control over her life in the only way she feels she can, by starving and cutting herself. This is an intense and powerful read.


Another book I read was If I Stay by Gayle Forman. This is the story of Mia, a young woman with a joyful life who is preparing to make a choice. A choice between leaving home and going to Julliard after high school or staying home near her boyfriend who is a member of a local up-and-coming band. Suddenly tragedy strikes and Mia finds herself with a different sort of choice to make between everything or nothing.

Reading these books, and other YA books I've noticed some similarities. These books start with a bang. There's no meandering, get-to-know-the-characters in the first 50 pages as I so often find in adult books. By the end of the first chapter or even sometimes even the first page, the story is out there, we know where we're going, there is action and suspense from the get go. I understand this, I mean these books are being written for the ipod and text message generation, they want to just get to the story. This is also, I think, why I tend to not find these books completely satisfying. More likely though is the fact that I'm 'past' much of the subject matter.

I enjoyed both of these books, admittedly Wintergirls more, and will continue to read from the YA section when the right book comes along.