VVMBookBlog

Life As We Knew It

Students often come in asking for “scary books.”  Deciding what is “scary” varies from person to person, but this story is very scary to me.

A large meteor is on track to collide with the moon.  Shouldn’t be a huge deal since it’s the moon and not Earth, right?  But then it happens and day by day they began to find out how the moon’s influence on the Earth through tides being messed up and the resulting tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcano eruptions  around the world, turns everything into chaos.  Communication was affected when cable TV went out and cell phones stopped working.  Then real problems began when they realized the climate was affected and winter was coming on sooner than usual.

This is the kind of book where I put myself into the story and wonder how I would react as a mother trying to take care of my family.  When supplies of food, fuel and other necessities get low, how will people behave so that they can all get through the crisis and on to hopefully better days?  Read this book and find out.  Then read the sequel, The Dead and the Gone, to see what happens next!

Cherry Heaven by L. J. Adlington

Cherry Heaven has a Lexile of 830 and proves to be a more difficult read. It is a futuristic story of two worlds (two societies?). People are separated because of their DNA. The prejudice separates these worlds. Luka (Bottle Seal 55) lives a horrible, ghost like life while Kat and Tanka live a better life. These stories mirror each other in events yet are opposite. It’s a complicated novel which comes together at the end. This is a novel for those who appreciate science fiction and a bit of mystery. The theme of intolerance is woven throughout the novel as these girls live their lives near the Hydro factory.

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury

Shift is a good name for this novel for three reasons: 1) It involves two teenagers who bike across the United States. 2) It shifts from bike trip (present) to college (future). 3) One of the characters could be considered “Shifty.” When Chris and Win graduate from college they decide to take bike (pedal) across the United States. Along this bike trip, Win leaves Chris. Chris continues on his own and returns in time for his first day of college. Suddenly the FBI is talking to Chris about Win’s location. Win has not been in contact with anyone, and his family is worried. Shift is a mystery in the sense that the reader must read and figure out what happened to Win and how Chris is involved. It is also a story of friendship, family, and most importantly adventure. The book also follows the teenagers bike adventure across the United States.

Remember how good Among the Hidden was?  Well, this is by the same author with the same possibilities for LOTS of sequels in the future!

Jonah is 13, knows he is adopted and has a younger sister–not adopted–named Katherine.  His friend who lives across the street, Chip, is also 13 and just finds out NOW that he is adopted.  And the other thing they have in common is that they are both receiving mysterious letters in the mail with a one-line message saying, “You are one of the missing.”  The second message that says “they” are coming back to get them–Jonah and Chip–is even more disturbing.  They start asking questions about the adoption agency that placed them and getting very little information. All their questions led Jonah and his parents–and sister–to a meeting with an FBI agent and then things REALLY got crazy–people and documents appearing and disappearing, mysterious meetings with people, and why were their names on a list of “survivors.”  What did they survive?

I can’t say any more about the story but get ready to stretch your mind and your understanding of time and all the possibilities of moving through time that we can’t even imagine.

Twelve-year-old Becker Drane, 7th grader, has answered the call to be a Fixer for The Seems.  The Seems is the secret, alternate world that keeps everything–the weather, time, light, etc.–working according to The Plan in our world.  When one department has a problem, it threatens all other departments with the possible slide into Chaos!

This time the problem is with the Department of Sleep.  No one can!  Back in the World, lights burn bright late into the night as everyone suffers from insomnia.  So Becker takes on his first mission as a Fixer, using his vast array of cool Tools™, to figure out what is the cause of this “glitch in sleep.”   He confronts the Bed Bugs and the Worst Nightmares in his search for the glitch.  And in his quest he runs into a friend from his training classes who has gone over to The Tide, an organization that is out to destroy The Seems.

Really fun book to read.  It gives you lots to think about as Becker moves back and forth between The World and The Seems.  Harry Potter fans will like this as well as readers who like to take control of their World and go on adventures to solve the problems in it.

Live to Fix!  Fix to Live!