Goliath: Imagination Inducing

Another mini, syndicated Amazon.com review of mine. Sorry for the mini-ness. . . . it's because I've been busy tired lazy experimenting with the power and simplicity of shorter writings these days. :)

Oh, how I've missed the series! And how I'll miss it forever more!

Goliath is the ultimate conclusion to the thrilling, witty Leviathan Trilogy. All the characters you love - Alex, Deryn (aka Dylan), Dr. Barlow, Bovril, and Newkirk (Yes, he'll become of favorite character of yours in this book) - along with a few new ones mold together with vivid settings to create a imaginative, crisp universe.

Alex and Deryn, still aboard Leviathan, the sky's greatest Darwinist, DNA-mutant "beastie", struggle with their problems. Alex's problems? His parents are dead, his home taken away from him, he's the heir to Austria's throne, and he's a deeply confused Clanker, one of engine and steam upbringings, that is surrounded by a world of Darwinists. And Deryn's problems? She has a "barking" huge crush on Alex, but he's nobility and she's just a low commoner. Oh! And she's also a girl disguised as a boy, who will be kicked off Leviathan, her newfound home, and possible tried for treason if her secret's revealed. No biggie . . .

Already faced with unimaginable obstacles, Alex and Deryn's troubles reach a new level when the Leviathan makes a pit-stop and picks up a new passenger . . . Mr. Nikola Tesla, a complete mad-man, whose ideas of world peace involve great deaths. And with Mr. Tesla comes deception, truths, and more secrets.

Faced with brutal decisions, Alex and Deryn must each decide their own future. Becoming closer than ever before, Alex and Deryn start a "no secret" relationship. But will that be enough to save their friendship from the life-changing, life-destroying war that has already taken one too many victims?

Accented by Keith Thompson's stunning black-and-white illustrations, Goliath is a perfect tale that depicts an alternative past. Scott Westerfeld flawlessly relates Alex and Deryn's problems to the issues of our age. Goliath, abundant in imagery, adventure, humor, and wonder, is not a story to be missed.

Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

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If You're Looking For . . .

Okay, I admit it. I've fallen behind, terribly behind, in updating. With the start of high school, particularly The Commonwealth Governor's, a half-day magnet school, the last two weeks have been rather hectic for me. I've decided to include multiple review/recommendations (Informal reviews. There are ellipses aplenty. Many parentheses are present. This is example A, for those out there keeping track.) in one post, in hopes that you will (pretty please) forgive me for my tardiness!

If you're looking for a scary story that also incorporates hippies, private schools, and those terrible all-of-a-sudden, why-are-you-doing-this-mrs-author-lady-you-must-finish-the-book-with-a-happy-ending endings . . . read Bliss by Lauren Myracle. Once a hippie, Bliss Inthemorningdew (Yes, that's her name. Yes, it screams "World Peace!" and "Alternative Fuels!") has recently moved in with her grandmother, who is strictly against all things hippie. Bliss is living with her grandmother because her parents have moved up north to Canada in attempt to enter total hippie-dom, or something of that nature. Bliss must attend a rather prestigious school because her grandmother is heck-bent on "restoring Bliss's virtues and ways of living". However, trouble seeps in when Bliss hears voices on the first day of school . . . voices that she can only she can hear. Voices of a dead girl. Complete with mean girls, blood rituals, toilet floats, and quotes from The Andy Griffith Show, Bliss is a story to replenish your fear factor.

If you're looking for a book about human-animal relationships that also defines brotherhood, humane treatment of animals, and doing what is best even when it's hard . . . read Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel. Taking place in 1973 before many animal protection rights were established, Half Brother is about Ben Tomlin who was an only child . . . until his parents brought home a chimp. Zan, an ultra-wild, uber- friendly chimpanzee is brought into the Tomlin household as an experiment. Ben's father, a behavioral scientist, has been granted money to run a research project to determine whether chimps are capable of language and hand communication. Ben, at once first reluctant, eventually becomes a friend, a teacher, and, most importantly, an older brother to Zan. However, when questions of if Zan is actually learning to communicate or is just memorizing the hand gestures arise, Ben must question Zan's role in the family. A heart-wrenching, coming-of-age story, Half Brother shines light on the natural bond between brothers.
 

If you're looking for a book about popularity, media, misbehaving celebs, and our technology obsessed world . . . read Famous by Todd Strasser. Only fourteen-years-old, Jamie Gordon is already part of the paparazzi, receiving loads of attention on gossip and fangirl sites. When she's invited to spend a week with pop sensation Willow Twine, Jaime knows this is an opportunity that will either make or break her career. But when some scandalous photos of Willow make their way on to Jamie's camera, photos that she didn't even take, Jaime holds the pop star's future in the palm of her hand. Everyone wants to get their grubby, greedy paws on the provocative shots, but there's only one person who can hold the title of the photographer. A suspenseful look into the difference between photography and stalking and living your life with a camera as opposed to living your life looking through a camera, Famous supplies original characters in an original setting.

If you're looking for a book about teen characters who act just like teen characters and have real problems that real teens are often faced with and also create for really, really, really (really) FANTASTIC stories that consist of spectacular prose . . . read anything by John Green (specifically Looking for Alaska, but all his books are stellar) and anything by Laurie Halse Anderson (specifically Wintergirls and Speak, but, much like with Green, all her books are MEANT TO BE READ). Excellent story-telling, wonderfully-drawn characters, and meaningful messages are what make these books award-winning, accolade-garnished, waterproof up to fifty meters, shock resistant masterpieces of literature. OK, I was kidding about the sportswatch-esque (?) details, but what can I say? I really like this particular set of novels.

And, lastly,

If you're looking for two of the absolute best books ever published . . . read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King. I've already written a review for The Book Thief, so you can read that for details on a historical novel that takes place during the Holocaust and is narrated by Death (However, it's a super old review, so don't make fun of any spelling or grammatical or lifestyle errors. Please). As for Ms. Vera, she has been the best book I have read so far this year, and I expect her to stay at that number one position too, so I would like to publish my review of her on the first day of the new year. (Or maybe the last day of 2011, since it's going to be numero uno this year, not next.) However, I will tell you that it is an AMAZING book about pizza deliveries, flow charts (the good kind), and losing a friend who was kindasortamaybe an enemy/love towards the end. (For the record, I never use gigantic font sizes, so you have to infer that is book is very good. And when I say "good", I mean "one of the best books ever written".)  It, along with The Book Thief, also won the Printz Honor, making them two of the best books in young adult literature.
 
So there you have it! Read, read, read! It's the beginning of the school year and you are now well-equipped with a list of books to take you through the first semester. I hope that I will be updating regularly this month, but I cannot make any promises. Just hang with me, internet community!

Till next time,
Jacob Hopkins
 
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Torn: M.P. Haddix Has Done It Again!

A short note from your reviewer:

Greetings, readers of The Bookshelf! I know earlier I posted a list of reviews that would be published throughout this month, but with the start of school, my personal vacation to Ocean City, Maryland, multiple orientations, and . . . oh, yeah, the EARTHQUAKE, I've fallen a wee bit behind.

Below is a short "mini review" of Torn by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This is a syndicated review from my Amazon account. While this review is shorter and more informal than most, I believe it provides much insight, explanation, and opinion of a fourth book in a historical, mystery, sci fi, thriller time traveling series.

Look for a few more posts before the end of August. Thank you!

And by "done it again", I mean "created another great history/mystery time travel tale".

The fourth installment in The Missing series, Torn by Margaret Peterson Haddix, follows Jonah and Katherine as they travel back in time to the year 1611. The missing child that they must return to history in order to correct time? John Hudson, son of the famous (famously crazy, that is) Henry Hudson. The only problem: JB, Jonah and Katherine's time travel...supervisor, you could say, is unable to find the 21st century boy who is actually John Hudson to send him back to the past. A truly missing child!

But, of course, there are more problems than just a missing (missing) historical figure. Jonah must pretend to be John, mask, wigs, clothing, and all, in hopes of setting history straight. However, after an hour or so aboard the Discovery, Henry Hudson's ship, all time is thrown out of balance. Tracers, ghost-like figures that show what is supposed to happen in history, go missing, Jonah and Katherine lose all connections with JB, and an evil Mr. Prickett threatens the safety of the ship's crew, most significantly Jonah.

Taking matters into their own hands, Jonah (still disguised as John Hudson) and Katherine (who is invisible thanks to the time traveling device, the Elucidator) try to make sense of the odd mishaps in time that keep occurring and attempt to save history and rescue their friends who are still stuck in the year 1600.

Captivating and well-paced, Torn provides a set of loveable characters and rich historical settings to create an enjoyable read. Fans of the previous books in the Missing series will not be disappointed.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

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Michael Vey, The Prisoner of Cell 25: Positively Electrifying

Recommended to me by Amazon (my new bookseller since the tragic death of Borders), Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25, by Richard Paul Evans, is the latest book to receive the coveted title of “the next new Harry Potter”. Despite that being a cliché saying in the bookselling universe, I couldn’t resist what could possibly be the next multibillion dollar franchise.

Michael Vey has always been a little different. He’s a little short by fourteen-year-old standards, has Tourette’s syndrome, which forces him to blink and twitch excessively, and. . .oh, yeah, has electrical superpowers. Living with his mother in a small apartment in Idaho, Michael finally finds a way to blend into the high school crowd. He’s figuratively invisible. Ostin, his only friend and straight A+ nerd, is the only person outside of Michael’s family that knows of his powers. One day, after being constantly tortured by older classmates who never receive consequences for their wrongdoings, Michael takes a stand. And does something dangerous. He uses his powers to, lightly, shock three bullies that are about to beat him.

Michael’s mom, an understanding, hard-working, caring person, refuses to let Michael to use his powers of electricity. The last few times that Michael used his powers, all times where he was in a situation of being seriously hurt, Michael and his mom packed their bags and moved to another unknown town in another unknown state. But Michael begs his mother to not make them move. He insists that only the three bullies were there to see what happened, and that they would be too scared of being called “crazy” to rat him out. Except, someone else did see Michael use his power of electricity through touch. A girl, named Taylor.

Taylor confronts Michael and asks him how he shocked the three menaces. When Michael doesn’t supply a response, she makes him a deal. Taylor reveals to Michael that she, too, has powers. She has the abilities to essentially “reboot” someone’s mind. Using electricity, Taylor can make a person disoriented and confused; forget what they were doing.

Constructing an investigation, Taylor, Michael, and sidekick Ostin, the self-proclaimed “Electroclan,” discover that both Taylor and Michael were born within one day of each other at a hospital in Pasadena, California. Searching for birth records on the hospital website, Taylor finds a gap of missing records around the time of their birthdays. After more internet research, Taylor, Ostin, and Michael discover that a new electric imaging machine was introduced around the same time as the births of seventeen children in Pasadena.

Unbeknownst to her, Taylor accidentally alerts an internet spider, a hidden internet scanner, which notifies its home base that someone is looking into the missing birth records. The spider was put into place by an agency in Pasadena, an agency that is searching for the two remaining children of the original seventeen: Michael and Taylor. And when Taylor and Michael’s mom go missing one day, Michael must take the investigation into his own hands, with the help of his best friend, of course.

Ostin and Michael take an undesirable road trip to Pasadena to get to the bottom of what this agency does, why they’re capturing these children, who may or may not be electric, and, most importantly, where they’re keeping Taylor and Michael’s mom.

Creating an unlikely group, Michael, Ostin, and Taylor are all loveable, relatable characters. A flowing, quick, read, Michael Vey is a book to be enjoyed by people of all ages. Its settings are rich with vivid descriptions and quirky expressions and its story is carefully plotted, allowing sequels galore.  While, I’m not sure if it’s the next Harry Potter, Michael Vey is certainly a refreshing, funny, mysterious, clean, new addition to a world of wonderful books.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Ninth Ward: A Poignant Scene of Survival

Lanesha, a twelve-year-old, lives in New Orleans’s Ninth Ward. She’s lived with Mama Ya-Ya, the midwife that helped deliver her, her entire life. Inquisitive and quiet, Lanesha always does her best at school, and teaches herself extra information from her encyclopedia set.  Teased at school for her freaky eyes, Lanesha makes relationships not with people, but, rather, ghosts. Born with the ability to see beyond what is present, Lanesha frequently runs into ghosts, including her mother who died minutes after her birth.

Mama Ya-Ya is Lanesha’s ultimate role model. She acts as Lanesha’s mother, grandmother, teacher, and friend. Kind and thoughtful, Mama Ya-Ya teaches Lanesha the unseen ways of the world. Claiming that everything is a symbol for something and that there is more to our world than most people see, Mama Ya-Ya encourages Lanesha to respect and take pride in life.

One day, an aging Mama Ya-Ya receives an uncertain dream after a restless night’s sleep. Often feeling premonitions about the future, Mama Ya-Ya sees something, something hazy and unpredictable that she can’t describe, looming in the future. With news that a hurricane is on the way, Lanesha stocks up on food and boards down windows and doors.

The storm, Katrina, arrives. Taking shelter in the bathtub, Lanesha and Mama Ya-Ya survive the terrible storm with their house still standing. But, as Lanesha soon realizes, the pounding rain, howling winds, and blazing lightning were only the beginning of a life-destroying storm. With the accompaniment of neighborhood friend Tashon, Lanesha must fight off the high flood levels that are consuming her house. Moving to the house’s attic, Lanesha horrifyingly realizes that the water will not stop rising. Taking action into her own hands, Lanesha must make a series of rash, terrifying decisions that no child, and even no adult, should ever have to make.

A story of life, death, loss, hope, and, most importantly, rebirth, Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, is a moving tale of one girl’s survival during a time of so much hurt. Complete with rich characters, witty southern traditions, and friendship, Ninth Ward offers an outlet of hope for change, resilience, strength, and love.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars 

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