Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

If an entire nation could seek its freedom, why not a girl?
As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight... for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.
From acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling, impeccably researched novel that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.

~Print copy (library), 300 pages
Published: 2008 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Yes, I saw Laurie Halse Anderson's name and picked this up. I am a fan of her Speak and Wintergirls, as well.

And, also... well, I do like psychological, kidnap/slave/people-as-property stories, where the protagonist emerges from that situation and deals with the aftereffects. Which sounds wrong, but I swear, I don't get off on suffering -- I just enjoy observing psychological effects. And stories where I'm really punched in the gut by the protag's suffering. It keeps the mind empathetic.

Chains, in essence, is a historical fiction, of course, not a psychological horror/thriller story. But as I read through, I loved the metaphor, the easily-grasped way of looking at the psychology. Isabel, a slave from Rhode Island whose owner's will granted her freedom, is taken anyways to New York, where she and her sister are sold to -- well, really, the only bidders.

Through the beginnings of the war -- the signing of the Declaration of Independence, through the British occupation, to a great fire in New York City during this time -- Isabel wants nothing to do with it. All she knows are the newspaper stories, as her last owner had taught her to read, and the oppression under the Locktons. 

I don't doubt that Isabel would've considered the Locktons' treatment of her to be normal. Completely UN-oppressive. IF it hadn't been for the way Madam Lockton treated Ruth.

Because, you see, Ruth is described as simple-minded. She's five years old, has fits/seizures, and from what I gather, can't say much. Madam Lockton thinks she's possessed by the Devil, and the little girl ends up crying and in the kitchen.

Isabel, when serving Sir Lockton in his library with some of his Loyalist companions, stands in the corner and cannot help overhearing details of Loyalist plans. Because she is just a slave, and has no ears at all as far as the men are concerned.

Curzon, a slave under a Patriot, offers her a chance in a lifetime to help the Patriots by passing such information on: the Patriots will track down that lawyer with her late owner's will, giving her freedom. Freedom to go back to Rhode Island, where her mother is buried. Freedom to leave the beatings, the cold, the rags, and the humiliation of serving the Locktons. And best yet, the freedom for Ruth not to be beaten.

The characterization of this novel really brings the convoluted American Revolution to life. Even though, yes, I'm American, and I'm glad I have liberty and freedom and all that, the plight of these two slave girls -- even if they're fictional -- brings home the complicated philosophy behind an event in American history I don't pay much mind to.

There is, first of all, the issue of slavery at all. The North, contrary to some people's beliefs, DID have slavery. Despite getting riled up over liberty and equality, slavery still held strong. and the British, on the other side, weren't fond of giving these colonists liberty and equality, but they did offer some slaves their freedom, on the condition they help the British.

Except, of course, the British only offer that deal to the slaves of Patriots, to sort of undermine their economy. Slaves were still property of their owners, and there are several parts of this book where Isabel -- though clearly in the right, or at least the understandable -- is still punished for defying the Locktons, once by being branded in the face with a letter I.

And what's a really, really good part of this novel for me? There is no romance. Curzon is a friend, who helps save her life, and she's indebted to him -- but they don't fall in love. It's so rare for me to find such a book, one without romance or romantic subplots or tropes. I feel a little lighter, knowing that not all my precious YA books are filled with romance, romance, romance.

What else? ... Did I make my opinion of Isabel clear? She's a pretty strong girl. She bears the weight of lifetimes on her shoulders, and still gets up every morning for a day of hard, back-breaking work. Her suffering, repeatedly, is referred to as "ashes" and "bees" under her skin, choking her throat, buzzing in her brain and pushing her thoughts out. She is and should be, by all rights, miserable. (I won't name specifics. Read the book.) But it doesn't leave her staring passively out a window like a certain vampire's wife we know in a muddle on the cellar floor.

It's not just her strength to stand up, though. It's her strength to stand up for her freedom. Like I mentioned, she got branded in the face for her "insolence." She visits the prison where hundreds/thousands of rebel soldiers were captured and imprisoned, to feed them scraps and "conversate," as she puts it. (Did I mention voice? This has unique antiquated-American dialect here, but not enough to make the book obscure or difficult to read.) Madam could have her sold, beaten, branded, or hung on a whim, if she finds out.

Even the ending -- a part of the novel I usually dislike -- was pretty good. I didn't realize it had a sequel until pretty much the last page (Forge), but it didn't just, like, let off. It ended with enough closure to satisfy me.

Overall, while it's not catch-my-spark material (It's not Doctor Who, Artemis Fowl, and Harry Potter all rolled into one), it is a lovely read. I enjoyed it. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good, unique, strong voice, with no romance and good setting. 4 stars.

 

The Apprentice's Masterpiece by Melanie Little

Fifteenth-century Spain is one of the most enlightened cultures on record -- one in which Jews, Muslims, and Christians coexist within an atmosphere of respect. Then the zealous Queen Isabella enacts policies that put an abrupt end to the peace. Violence, mistrust, and intolerance shadow everyone as the Spanish Inquisition takes shape. In this fear-filled atmosphere, fifteen-year-old scribe Ramon Benveniste must hide the family's secret. They are conversos: Jews converted to Christianity.

One day a young man is delivered to the door. Amir wears the robe and red patch of a Muslim. Soon, both Ramon and Amir are caught up in dramatic events they cannot escape.

Little's elegant verse breathes life into memorable characters and captures the turbulence of the period. Drawing on extensive research, she has crafted brilliant, inescapably real story about one of the most politically complex and troubling times in human history.

The plight of Amir, Ramon, and his family is a powerful reminder of the importance of examining the past.

~Print copy (from the library), 409 pages
Published: 2008 by Annick Press

You can kind of tell this is a powerful book by their use of the word "inescapably" up there in the summary. I've never heard a book described with that word, but it fits.

I picked up this book from my school library with a strange feeling. It's not a big book, but it has a weight to it: a feeling that this book contains something very important. It's the sort of feeling I might expect to find if I pick up an ancient tome that reveals the secrets of the universe.

Before you call me a romantic, fantasy-stuffed daydreamer, that feeling proved to be a factor in my reading this. That sort of feeling makes you want to read it, but I was still reluctant. I didn't really want to read 400 pages of dense, historical, important and weighty material.

It didn't turn out that way, though. This is a verse novel. Not what I was expecting, but it suits this book perfectly. It is still weighty and meaningful, but it not so dense and unenjoyable. In fact, it was quite deep. It really changes the way you look at things.

(And, in case you're like me, the 15th century means the 1400s. Specifically, this takes place about 1485-1490, thereabouts.)

This book is told in three parts: the first in Ramon's POV, the 2nd in Amir's, and the 3rd back in Ramon's (four years later). As I said, written in verse; it reads and looks like freestyle poetry. I've always admired verse novels. To fit a whole story in those scarce stanzas, I think modern literature should be proud.

Anyways, the book itself tells of the Spanish Inquisition, and two boys caught up in it. Of course, the Spanish Inquisition was more like three centuries long, much too long for them to be caught up in the whole Inquisition, or even in the starting of it.

Ramon is kind of selfish in the first part. He changes in the third, after an event. But Amir is a slave, given as a gift to Ramon's family by some wealthy client. Ramon hates Amir at first sight; poor scribes have no need for a slave, and Amir is only another mouth to feed.

I don't really want to mention everything else. It's too tied to the ending. But trust me, it's some good stuff.

Anyways, the plot is very thoughtful. Amir and Ramon push things along, not just a product of the plot as you see in some books. Events and characters are equal culprits in this plot.

Overall, it's a good read. I'm glad I read it; it changed how I viewed things. Before, Isabella and Ferdinand were the monarchs who gave Chris Columbus aid to Sail the Ocean Blue. Now, the monarchs are the distant masterminds of an Inquisition that destroys lives.

I didn't know whether to give this a four or a five, honestly. I decided a 4.5, which rounds up to 5 stars. I really would recommend this to most people, but most especially if you love history being brought to life.

  

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Some race to win. Others race to survive.
It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.
Some riders live.
Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connelly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition -- the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.
As she did in her bestselling Shiver trilogy, author Maggie Stiefvater takes us to the breaking point, where both love and life meet their greatest obstacles, and only the strong of heart can survive. The Scorpio Races is an unforgettable reading experience.

~Print copy, 404 pages
Published: 2011 by Scholastic Press

I wasn't really expecting to like this novel.

I'm not a romance fan, as you might can tell if you've been poking around my blog for awhile. And this seemed, from its summary, like one of those books that understates the romantic element in the summary when really, the whole freakin' thing is romance dressed up as magical.

But thankfully, it wasn't like that. The romance was kinda subtle, didn't really pick up until the end. Most of it was the worrying over the water horses and Puck's stubbornness and a worrying lack of money.

Let me go into a bit of detail here. Puck Connelly is a stubborn, family-oriented girl who has never witnessed the Races, despite having grown up on the only island that does the Races. But she feels forced to participate when her brother announces that he's leaving for the mainland. Their parents are dead, and she and her little brother would be left all alone.

So she blurts out that she'll join them, just so he'll stay a couple more weeks. This seems kind of a flimsy reason to join the Races; she could have found a different way, or just accepted that he'll leave, or insist she'll go, too. But she does none of that. She joins a bunch of Races she's never seen for herself. Races that consist of superhorses who eat human flesh if you're not careful racing against each other, right next to the habitat that magically calls to their blood: the sea.

But really, overall, I kinda liked Puck. Whatever her reasons behind it, she still joined the male-dominated Races against everyone's advice, even after the male racers shun her in little ways and big ways. And anyways, she finds out she needs the prize money: without her older brother, the primary money-earner, she'll be kicked out of the house she grew up in. And that's worth fighting for. 

And Sean Kendrick? He's a weird one. He's a cool character -- for some reason, he reminded of Four from Divergent, though I can't pinpoint why -- and his reasons are his own rhyme. Or, in other words, he seemed like a real person, and moreover he seemed like a real person who I might actually be able to stand. He doesn't care about society, sticks up for Puck, loves his water horse a little too much.

This is a real character-oriented novel, really. I can't tell you where this novel took place, other than the romantic vision of an isle of scrubby grass and tough people, all living near cliffs and the sea. I believe, from the references to America and the mainland, that it takes place somewhere around the British Isles, or Ireland or Scotland or... you know the vague area I'm talking about. (I'm not good with geography.)

Overall, this novel was pretty interesting. I finished it a little less than a week ago and I can still give you this opinion, so obviously it was in some shape or form memorable. I wouldn't stick it among my greater favorite books, because it didn't quite catch my spark. It almost did, but it didn't for whatever minute reason. But I think it's a book that plenty of people would love beyond love. It's a fine book. So, I give it four stars.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

"Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch."
In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina is preparing for art school, first dates, and all that summer has to offer. But one night, the Soviet secret police barge violently into her home, deporting her along with her mother and younger brother. They are being sent to Siberia. Lina's father has been separated from the family and sentenced to death in a prison camp. All is lost.
Lina fights for her life, fearless, vowing that if she survives she will honor her family, and the thousands like hers, by documenting their experience in her art and writing. She risks everything to use her art as messages, hoping they will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive.
It is a long and harrowing journey, and it is only their incredible strength, love, and hope that pull Lina and her family through each day. But will love be enough to keep them alive?
Between Shades of Gray is a riveting novel that steals your breath, captures your heart, and reveals the miraculous nature of the human spirit.

~Print copy, 338 pages
Published: 2011 by Philomel Books

[First off, happy 1st day of April! My birthday's this month. And it's spring break. Meep!]

This novel... is most certainly riveting.

It starts off with Lina, along with her mother and brother, getting kidnapped by the Soviet police. It's the beginning of World War 2, and the Soviets have captured Lithuania, where Lina and her family live. For that, and because her father helps some people escape to Germany, Lina and her family is deported.

Lina can be a bit of a selfish girl, a bit young and immature. I sympathized with her, of course, overlooked her flaws over the course of the novel, but I really liked her mother and some of the other, secondary characters more. Those were the adults, who took care of everyone; they felt more rounded out, more alive than Lina, who only in flashbacks could see why they were captured.

But the premise... the setting... the details... All of it's sort of breathtaking. In a breaking-your-heart sort of way. I pictured it all so clearly, felt the hunger and despair and almost smell the stench and feel the lice. The details are unapologetically honest.

The middle-to-end sort of upset me. I was expecting it, but hoping for something different. I don't know, I guess I still wanted a happy ending. But it couldn't really have a happy ending, and it didn't have one. It's kind of emotional.

I haven't really picked up any new book since I finished this one on Friday. That's how much this book impacted me. It's a really honest novel, and most certainly a worthy read; I'm not sure how I feel about it, though. I think it's more a 4 star novel than a 5, simply because it impacted me too hard. I recommend this to anyone looking for a serious read.

Follow Friday #34

Follow friday is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee.(!) (I wanted to put an exclamation point there for some reason, but I thought it would sound too preppy.)

Q: We always talk about books WE want. Let's turn it on its head. What books have you give other people lately?

Oh, goodness. I tend to buy or keep books for myself. (That is, when I'm not borrowing them from the library.) I don't often give other people books unless I've read them myself and didn't like them, or if I've somehow garnered enough self-control (goodness forbid!) to give away a book I haven't read yet.

I did give my mother a copy of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente. I've never read it before; but I've been dying to read it. I don't want to read her copy, because that makes it seem like I bought the book for her just so I can read it. But it's really tempting. I mean, look at that title!

I gave my friend a copy of After by Amy Efaw. I'd read it and was kind of iffed about the ending (can't remember why). And I gave my other friend a copy of a series called Wolves of the Beyond (Kathryn Lasky). Haven't read that book.

So, really, I can't stand giving away books I've read because it feels icky. I keep thinking the book feels somehow betrayed that I've just given it away. (I think of books like most people think of babies. Quite literally, apparently, reading over that last sentence.) Giving away books I've never read -- and therefore, never bonded with, in either a good or bad way -- is a bit easier.

Gah! Listen to me, going on about babies books. Anyways, what do you think? Do you give away books easily, and if so, what sort of books? Let me know!

Have a blessed Friday! =D

Divergent by Veronica Roth

One choice decides your friends... One choice defines your beliefs... One choice determines your loyalties -- forever... One choice can transform you.
In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to determine her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

~Print copy, 487 pages
Published: 2011 by Katherine Tegen Books

(The unbolded summary above is not the back-cover summary, because there was no back-cover summary, just the bolded sentence and rave reviews of the book. That is the... what's-it-called.... the publisher's summary. The one located on the back of the title page.)

Yes, I'm super late. I don't normally read popular books. I only picked this up at all because the whole "one-choice" thing caught my eye.

It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought.

What did I like about this?

• I liked the voice. I don't come across the first-person-present often, and Roth's style was perfect for a mature-teenager.
• I liked the premise. Obviously. If I hadn't liked the premise, I wouldn't have bought the book.
• Beatrice was... a strong character. Weak at the same time. Instead of contradictory, though, her conflicting qualities blended together to form an actual person.
• The whole conflict was well-handled. By that I mean, it took precedence. This isn't a romance story; it's an action story, and the struggle between Erudite (the Intelligent) and Abnegation (the Selfless) was the overarching thing. Not Tris and Four.
• The world-building was pretty decent, as well. I understood sort of where they were, even though I couldn't even tell you where Chicago is on a map. (Seriously. I looked US map on google and was like, "Chicago's really that far west?!")

What did I NOT like about this?

• I'm not a big fan of romance-in-general. The whole thing between Four and Tris, while at least not too much a love triangle, still made me a little impatient. Everytime they had an intimate conversation (which wasn't too often, but still) I was like, "hurry it along. Tell me about Erudite's prejudice and speculate on what they plan on doing next!"
• I wasn't too big a fan of Four, either. He was kind of... controlled-violent. Well, really, I can't pinpoint what I don't like about him.

That's about it. I couldn't really organize my thoughts too well on whether I liked it or not, so I thought it over Sunday (yesterday) and came up with this. I guess it's a 4-stars. Or a 3.75, which still rounds to a four.

 
(And yes, it's a Monday. We have the day off -- it's a teacher workday, because it's the end of the 9 weeks. They have grades to put in, report cards to get.)

The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell

Twelve-year-old Clara Dooley has spent her whole life in the crumbling Glendoveer mansion, home to a magician's widow, a cage full of exotic birds, and a decades-old mystery. Clara loves old Mrs. Glendoveer, but the birds in the aviary frighten her -- they always seem to screech and squall whenever she's near. And then one day, the mynah bird speaks, and the mystery starts to unravel.
Clara discovers dark secrets about the family, and about her own past. Somehow the birds in the aviary seem to be at the center of it all, and Clara can't shake the feeling that they are trying to tell her something...

~Print copy, 337 pages
Published: 2011 by Yearling

 Clara Dooley has a weak heart, and cannot leave the ancient Glendoveer mansion, where she spends her days reading and taking care of old Mrs. Glendoveer. But when Mrs. Glendoveer dies and the birds begin to speak to her, Clara needs to pry into the secrets surrounding Mrs. Glendoveer. Where are her children, who disappeared nigh on 50 years ago? Why does she keep those birds? How have those birds lived so long?

This book is MG, true, but as my mother tells me: "there are good books for everyone in every genre." (Perhaps not for erotica. But by "genre" she meant MG/YA/Adult, not specifics.)

I felt this book could appeal to if not everyone, then at least plenty of people. There's ghostly activity, a stronger-than-she-seems heroine (did anyone else think Winnie-the-Pooh right there?) and a decent amount of magic.

The characters were all pretty solid. Especially Clara and her best friend, Daphne. (They're not technically allowed to be friends, since Clara's mother wants her in isolation because of her "weak heart", but they're still friends. Read the book.)  They are not deterred from this mystery, even with the somewhat-sinister finding that the children were found dead in the nearby Lockhaven Bay... and the magician's right hand man, a hypnotist by the last name Booth, seems connected.

The mystery itself, while somewhat easy for me to guess at by mid-book, was pretty satisfying. It kept me on my toes, my imagination on alert. The ending, when all was said and done, both chilled and relieved me. I won't say more, for fear of spoilers.

The dialogue was somewhat stilted, of course, this book taking place in the late 1800s/early 1900s. I wasn't particularly fond of it, but I read books for the ideas, not the dialogue.

Overall, I loved this book. It was well worth the read. It wasn't one of my absolute favorites, but still worth the two days it took me to read it. 4 stars!

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Stealing Beauty
You saw me before I saw you.
A girl: Gemma, at the airport, on her way to a family vacation.
You had that look in your eyes.
A guy: Ty, rugged, tan, too old, oddly familiar, eyes blue as ice.
Like you wanted me.
She steps away. For just a second. He pays for her drink. And drugs it.
Wanted me for a long time.
He takes her, before she even knows what's happening.
To sand and heat. To emptiness and isolation. To nowhere.
And expects her to love him.
Written as a letter from a victim to her captor, this is Gemma's desperate story for survival. Ty has stolen her bosy. Against every instinct screaming inside her, will he also steal Gemma's heart?

~Print copy, 299 pages
Published: 2010 by Chicken House

Where do I begin with this novel?

First of all, there's Gemma. She's an ordinary London girl: she feels her parents are too out-of-touch with her. As they're waiting in the airport to go to Vietnam, she steps into a coffee place for a drink, and Ty offers to buy a drink for her. She thinks he's handsome; but he drugs her coffee and smuggles her through the airport, onto a plane to Australia.

Once there, he takes her out into the unmapped desert, where he has a home set up for the two of them.

Ty is referred to as "you" the entire novel. It's a strange way to write a book; I like it. A romance, if I bothered to pick it up, should read like that. It makes things more intimate, more emotional. And even though he's stalked her since she was ten, kidnapped her, and took her miles from home, it still is a little bit romance-ish.

Gemma doesn't know how to feel about him. He's a stranger to her: somewhat familiar, since he's been stalking her since she was ten, but still a stranger. The entire novel, all she thinks about is escape and who this person is.

We learn Ty's backstory this way, through Gemma's questions. In my opinion, Ty was more realistic than Gemma was. A wild man, grown up among Australia's particularly wild wilderness.

What dampened my lovely opinion of this novel was the ending. I don't know: I guess I wanted a somewhat different ending. I can't tell you specifically what disappointed me, as that is what's known as spoilers.

There is a decent amount of swearing in this. And a little bit of nudity. But no sex. It was a bit of a damper as well, but life ain't perfect. There'll be swearing in a lot of books I come across, especially since I read so much YA.

The worldbuilding is amazing. Described in colors and emptiness. I suppose it has to be, being quite a part of the plot (no people around, no hope of rescue).
 
But overall, it's a decent novel. If it's your cup of tea. (Cup of tea. The main character's from London. Ohgoodness, excuse that.) I give it a 3.5 in my humble opinion. So, rounded to 4 by default.

[By the way, I am up to 7900 words on Nano. Whoot!]

Dark of the Moon by Tracy Barrett

Ariadne is destined to become a goddess of the moon. She leads a lonely life, filled with hours of rigorous training by stern priestesses. Her former friends no longer dare to look at her, much less speak to her. All that she has left are her mother and her beloved, misshapen brother, Asterion, who must be held captive below the palace for his own safety.
So when a ship arrives one spring day, bearing a tribute of slaves from Athens, Ariadne sneaks out to meet it. These newcomers don't know the ways of Krete; perhaps they won't be afraid of a girl who will someday be a powerful goddess. And indeed she meets Theseus, the son of the king of Athens. Ariadne finds herself drawn to the newcomer, and soon they form a friendship -- one that could perhaps become something more.
Yet Theseus is doomed to die as an offering to the Minotaur, that monster beneath the palace -- unless he can kill the beast first. And that "monster" is Ariadne's brother.

~Print copy (from the library), 310 pages
Published: 2011 by Harcourt

This was a pretty good book, overall. Adventure, Greek mythology, complications and misunderstandings.

One of the things I disliked was that in this summary, it mentions it could "become something more." Which it doesn't. There is very little romance in this at all, and so the summary is a bit misleading. I thought I would dread this book because of that one line.

But in fact, it was pretty good. It switches POV between Ariadne, in past tense, and Theseus, in present tense. Together, they tell this story of how Ariadne's mother died and how Ariadne has to take her mother's place.

They have this ritual in Krete, where She-Who-Is-Goddess (Ariadne's mother) chooses one man, who supposedly houses the god Velchanos's body, to make love to and then have him killed, so his blood can fertilize their fields. Ariadne is She-Who-Will-Be-Goddess, born to take her mother's place in this gruesome ritual.

Theseus is the illegitimate son of the Athenian king. His stepmother, the Queen, has had a child with the king already, and sees Theseus as a threat to her child's claim to the throne. When a serving girl (whose uncle is the king) suggests that they send Theseus along with the yearly tribute to Krete, everyone's happy... except Theseus.

I'm not sure what kept me from that I'm-obsessed-with-this! feeling. It just didn't catch my spark, for whatever reason. But I still think other people would love this new take on the Minotaur.

This book intertwines Theseus's adventures and Ariadne's destiny, and it was pretty well-written to boot. I would recommend this to any one who likes a good adventure/destiny/mythology book. I give it a 4.