Also Known as Rowan Pohi

Also Known as Rowan Pohi by Ralph Fletcher (YA)

Bobby Steele has a few problems. 1) His mom left after his father did something unforgivable. 2) That means that he's stuck trying to take care of what family he still has. 3) He goes to the worst school in the city. 4) He's actually a smart kid, but he lives and goes to school with people who don't appreciate or value  smarts.

Then one day, someone leaves an application  to the elite Whitestone Academy on the table at the IHOP. As a joke, he and his friends make up a kid, Rowan Pohi (or IHOP backwards) and apply. They are surprised when Rowan gets in, but decide to kill him... or they think they do, until Bobby decides to be Rowan.

This is a fairly slight book, but it does deal with violence within families, issues of privilege, and the importance of a good education. I found that a lot of things happened on the surface and there wasn't a huge amount of real resolution. However, I did like Bobby's characterization, and I feel like there could be a few more stories written about him.

CB #7 Pandaemonium

Pandaemonium by Christopher Brookmyre

                I loved my exchange year in Scotland. Sometimes I get homesick for it… well not exactly homesick, because it wasn’t really my home, but I start to miss mountains and that particular shade of green that only comes from daily rain. I miss Scottish accents and taking the train everywhere. I miss seeing the Wallace monument in the distance. I also miss the nightly cage around the William Wallace statue that prevented locals from decapitating it because it looked like Mel Gibson. I was feeling morose over Christmas so I picked up a book by someone who gets the accents  and the Scottish attitude right. I have found Brookmyre hit or miss in the past, but I thought that a darkly comic thriller involving the US military’s secret facility in Scotland, physics, possible demons from a Hell dimension, the Catholic Church and a group of high school students who are going on a retreat to  deal with the murder of a classmate would keep my attention. This book definitely bends genres.

 At the beginning of the novel, there’s a chart that names all of students at the retreat and puts them into little groups, like the Hard Team, Heidthebaws, the Beautiful People, and the God Squad, so that you have some understanding of the group dynamics. It was essential with about 33 characters including the teachers. Oh, and that was only the school narrative. There’s also the people in the top secret military facility who are studying the demons, until of course the system is sabotaged and the creatures escape.

I loved how Brookmyre portrayed the relationships between the high school students. I liked the  group dynamics, as well as the way that people struggled with how they are perceived both inside and outside the group. They were worried about sex and friendship and the aftereffects of witnessing a murder, but that they also just wanted to drink and have fun as well. It felt pretty realistic. Not all the students were focused on, obviously, but those that were, were distinct individuals who I cared about.

Now my problem with the book is this. I started it on January 4^th and read most of it in 2 days. Then I stopped and I only finished it today. Part of the problem is that I often read two or more books at once and sometimes one falls to the wayside, but the other part of the problem is that after all that set up, I wasn’t very interested in having these kids battling for their lives. I just wanted them to figure things out and have some fun.  I didn’t care at all about the people in the military facility and could have used less of that (even though it was incredibly important to the plot).  A final factor was that after reading two chapters I remembered one of Brookmyre’s particular interests and realized how exactly the novel would have to end. If you haven’t read any Brookmyre then it will probably be surprising, and you might love it more than I did.

Overall, I did get my Scottish accent fix, and the teens felt real. I even loved some of the fight scenes (there was a chainsaw!) but I felt that it went on a bit long and could have been tighter.

CB #5 Mockingjay

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins    (YA)

                Possible spoilers to every book in the trilogy (I’m sorry)

I thought that this was the perfect conclusion to the trilogy. In fact, I feel like it’s the only right way for things to end.   The Hunger Games can be seen as about the way that suffering can be unreal entertainment when it’s not happening to you. The Capitol’s citizens don’t seem to realize that real children are dying as they watch it on the big screen. Innocents are forcibly destroying each other for their own survival, and the Capitol places bets. In Mockingjay, the fight comes to the Capitol and its children, but it doesn’t make everything better for those in the Districts. Instead Mockingjay is about the way that violence and power struggles can only be damaging. At least, that was how I saw it.

I’m not really going to comment on the narrative itself, but instead on the possible issues that people may have with it. I never saw this trilogy as being about a great love story. I felt that Katniss has too much to think about and do to have any time for romance. Sure there are two men for her to fall for, but I don’t think that Katniss understood either of them enough to really fall in love, until perhaps the very end. Especially in the first book, you saw how she went through the motions to keep both herself and Peeta alive.  For me, this trilogy is about the other kinds of love that exist: love for family members that is so strong that you’ll give up your life and your chances of happiness for them,  a love for truth that means you’ll sacrifice your life so that the “better” leader will survive the Games, and a love for friends. I can’t even see a Team Gale or a Team Peeta in this story, though apparently others have seen it this way. Katniss needs to survive long enough for her to have a life, before she can even think about love.

As well, in this novel we finally see the consequences of all of the fighting. None of the victors of the Games are fully themselves anymore. All the fighting means that they’ve lost any sense of stability they may have had before. I found this, though dark and troubling, very realistic. I honestly wouldn’t expect any of them to have stayed the same. I read another review just after finishing the books that said that Mockingjay was too dark in comparison to The Hunger Games. I have to disagree. Mockingjay is about consequences catching up to people. It’s about the complications of reality and politics. As well, The Hunger Games was about children killing each other, and that's never a cheerful subject.

Anyway, I really loved the trilogy and I would recommend it to anyone who loves dystopias or novels about political power struggles. If you liked the political aspects I would suggest that Megan Whalen Turner’s novels about Attolia, starting with The Thief. They’re set in a fictional kingdom in the past, but they’re as gritty and political as The Hunger Games.

CB #4 Catching Fire

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins  (YA)

                Catching Fire is definitely the second book in a trilogy. It has the non-beginning and non-ending that sometimes happens with trilogies (think Pirates of the Caribbean). It’s not necessarily the fault of the trilogy format, especially since The Subtle Knife is my favourite of the His Dark Materials trilogy and Back to the Future II is just plain awesome. However, it makes me wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to have the stories of Catching Fire and Mockingjay put in one book. NB: If you haven’t read Hunger Games yet, you might want to stop reading.

You're still with me? Katniss and Peeta survived the game, but now the Capitol is basically out to destroy Katniss and her family’s life. They can’t do this overtly, because their entire audience loved the star-crossed lovers who could not live without each other story that Katniss used to save both their lives. However, Captiol saw her actions as rebellion and as the spark that may convince the Districts to rebel against the Capitol. Now Katniss must use all her skill to  convince the Capitol that she really does love Peeta.

Now I did have a few issues with this book so if you haven’t read it, you won’t want to read further.

                I HATED the idea of the Quarter Quell using previous victors. I know it was just a way to get back at the Katniss. This time there would be no way to save Peeta and herself, so she’s going to want to sacrifice herself to save the better person. I was mainly bothered by the way it brought the Hunger Games back into the novel. I know it adds excitement and tension to the story, but it felt cheap. It felt like a repeat of the first novel. What did surprise me was how many of the previous victors weren’t completely mentally destroyed by their experiences in the ring. Haymitch, Katniss' mentor, is an alcoholic, and there are a few drug addicts, but otherwise the victors are surprisingly stable. One roommate noted that this was probably because those who survived the ring were mentally strong and had an incredible will to live, and would never do anything that would harm their ability to survive. Once again, I would be a complete mess if I survived anything like that. All I'd do is cry.

               There were still a few things that I liked about this book though. I liked that Peeta pretended that Katniss was pregnant with their child. It’s one way to make the audience in the Capitol remember that those who fight are people too. I also liked that Katniss and Peeta basically ignored each other for a while after the Games. Of course they were forced to go around the Districts on tour together, but for a while they could pretend to be differnent people.

CB #3 The Hunger Games

 The Hunger Games  by Suzanne Collins   YA

                Here’s the thing about living with a bunch of library students. When one person’s read something that she loves… well she really want to talk about it. So once two of my roommates had read The Hunger Games trilogy, I simply had to or else I would be left out of the conversation. It was definitely worth it, and highly engrossing. I read the entire trilogy in a week.

                The first novel,The Hunger Games, was described to me as “Survivor meets 1984”. I’d describe it as Battle Royale but they didn’t go to high school together. In the distant future, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event in which two children (12-18) are taken from each of the twelve districts of what remains of North America and forced to kill each other. The victor is the only survivor and he or she brings honor (and more food) to their district. In reality, the games are a way for the Capitol to demonstrate its power over the other states. Every year they kill some of the district’s children, and therefore some of the district’s hope for the future.

                Katniss is the narrator and she’s prickly. Or at least she likes to think so. I know that she’s supposed to be hardened, but in my mind she’s really sweet. When her sister’s name is drawn for the Games, Katniss immediately takes her place. She doesn’t even think. So for me, everything she does is coloured by that act, especially when she acts tough. Unfortunately, the other person from District 12 is Peeta, whose act of kindness towards Katniss helped her turn her life around and care for her family after her father’s death. It’s hard to know that you may have to kill the person who helped you save your life.

                Sometimes Katniss is a little bit too media savvy as she plays the Games. She knows that there are always cameras so she tries to do things to win over the audience. She knows that they can sponsor her and send her food, water, medicine and weapons. Sometimes her savvy comes across as a bit much. However, other than that she comes across as a real person. I’ll talk about her relationship with love in the review for Mockingjay, because I think it’s an overall series issue for sure.

                Overall, I loved this book and as soon as I finished it, I had to read the other two. I would like to mention that the participants in the Hunger Games are far more brave than I would be. The second I was able to, I’d run as far away as I could and then cry in a curled up ball until someone found me and killed me. Instead, Katniss is able to pick up some helpful items, make some allies and SPOILER (but it’s a trilogy so you knew this) survive.

Sometimes we’re always real same-same

 Sometimes we’re always real same-same by  Mattox Roesch

             There is a huge amount happening in this novel, and I’m not sure that all of it comes together. Cesar, 17 moves from Los Angeles, when his mom decides that she wants to return to where she came from: Unalakleet, Alaska or Unk for short. Cesar really doesn’t want to live in such a small town, where there are no real stores and the only job going is counting fish in the stream. However, his life in LA wasn’t exactly that great.  His brother ran with a gang, but is now in prison for killing two fifteen year-olds,  so Cesar hasn’t seen him for years. His father has left his mom, and doesn’t really seem to care much for Cesar. As well, Cesar has been running with a gang for the past few years, and he’s done something horrific that he doesn’t feel that he can admit to anyone.

            When he gets to Unk, he meets his cousin Go-boy, who has huge reserves of energy and enthusiasm. Go-boy is the kind of guy that you want to know because he cares about everyone and he always tries to make a difference. However, as the novel continues, it becomes apparent that Go-by isn’t the stable presence he appears to be. Go-boy’s step-sister Kiana, a math genius who still keeps on messing up, is a possible love interest for Cesar, but she really seems to hate his guts.

             Go-boy is really interesting because as Cesar starts to build a proper life for himself, Go-boy seems to be falling apart. Go-boy has a strong personal philosophy about how people should behave and how they should be good, but there seems to be something wrong with him. On one hand, he runs for mayor and makes t-shirts for the entire community that say same-same, indicating how much he cares for and loves his town. On the other hand, he starts writing the 100 reasons why he loves Valerie all over town, but she isn’t interested in him anymore. In fact, she’s become scared of him.

            I’ll say it again; there is a huge amount of things happening in this book. First there is Go-boy and the question of his mental health. Then there are the issues within the Eskimo community of Unk (As a Canadian I feel really weird typing Eskimo, but apparently it’s the only word that really covers the two native communities in Alaska).  There aren’t a ton of jobs, and the old jail still exists as a symbol of some of the past traumas within the community. As well, there is a horrific incident in which a father comes home drunk and accidently puts his four year old son in a coma.  Then there is the fact that Cesar is unsure if anyone can know him, unless they know what he’s done. In LA, as the situation between the two gangs kept on escalating exponentially, he participated in the gang rape of a rival leader’s girlfriend.

          There are some really interesting ideas in the novel, especially when Go-boy is talking about religion or community. However, the novel comes from Cesar’s point of view, which means that the plotting is confusing, as we discover things that happened months ago only when Cesar finds out. As well, Cesar’s not the most organized of story tellers.  I enjoyed this book, but I kept on flipping to the end, or back to the beginning to figure things out.  I did like that this book tried to really show how life is in a small town fishing village in Alaska. The only other book that I’ve read recently that dealt with the North (from a Canadian perspective) was Consumption by Kevin Patterson. I will say that the end of the novel moved me, but it took me a long time to get there.

Dark doubles

Too Late by Clem Martini
Train Wreck by Malin Lindroth             (YA)           

   

There are some pretty great things about being a library student. Publishers will actually send books to various student groups because they know that the students publish newsletters with book reviews in them - and the people who will read the reviews are actually going to be a position to buy tons of books in a few years. In fact, I got a free copy of this book so that I could write a review for the AQBLA student chapter's newsletter. However, I just couldn't get it out of my mind, even after I wrote the review.

             The book is two completely separate short stories for teens, put in one book that can be flipped so that the other one can be read. These "flip" books are part of a series in which two stories on similar themes are put together. The stories are quite short, about 55 pages each. I would hesitate to call them novellas because the type is so large.

The issue with these two stories, for me, is how stark they both are. The theme that they share is dealing with the consequences of rape and sexual violence. In both cases, the narrator helps perpetrate this violence, even if he or she has also been a victim of it. For example, Too Late is about a boy in a juvenile detention centre for individuals who have committed sexual assault. He has definitely been the victim of his father, but he has to face the fact that he has done the exact same thing to another person. I’ve never seriously thought about people like him, and what opportunities they have afterwards… can they change? What chances do they have? I don’t know.

In my review for the newsletter, I needed to suggest what age range the book is written for. That is where my real problem came in. I really don’t know when it comes to a book like this. It’s a young adult book, but it isn’t for everyone in that age range. It isn’t graphic, but there were enough details to make me feel queasy, and both stories have such ambiguous endings. I know that there are teens out there who need to read books like this, because the right book at the right time can change everything, but I don’t know who they are. I finally ended up recommending it for reluctant readers over age 13, but I'm probably very, very wrong.