Tween Tuesday: The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by GreenBeanTeenQueen focusing on MG literature. Do you read and review MG books? Hop on over and join the fun!

Release Date: 30 August 2011
Publisher: Aladdin
Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab

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Goodreads description:

Every year in Quill, thirteen-year-olds are sorted into categories: the strong, intelligent Wanteds go to university, and the artistic Unwanteds are sent to their deaths.

Thirteen-year-old Alex tries his hardest to be stoic when his fate is announced as Unwanted, even while leaving behind his twin, Aaron, a Wanted. Upon arrival at the destination where he expected to be eliminated, however, Alex discovers a stunning secret—behind the mirage of the "death farm" there is instead a place called Artime.

In Artime, each child is taught to cultivate their creative abilities and learn how to use them magically, weaving spells through paintbrushes and musical instruments. 

But it's a rare, unique occurence for twins to be separated between Wanted and Unwanted, and as Alex and Aaron's bond stretches across their separation, a threat arises for the survival of Artime that will pit brother against brother in an ultimate, magical battle.

My Thoughts...

When Kirkus Reviews calls this "The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter," how can you NOT want to pick it up and read it.  Now, while I can see the comparison and appreciate the crowd it may draw, The Unwanteds stands on its own two feet. Yes--it's a dystopia where young children are cast out to their death (but not really).  Yes--there is magic and their use it to fight.  So I see the comparison--I really do.  However, The Unwanteds is truly a gem of a book that will make a fabulous read for people of all ages. It deftly brings popular dystopian themes to MG literature while spinning a unique, creative twist. (See what I did there? "Creative" twist? LOL)

The people of Quill are governed strictly by High Priest Justine and her entourage of governors.  At the age of 13, all young boys and girls are sorted into Wanteds, Necessaries, and Unwanteds.  The rare separation of twins into one Wanted and one Unwanted causes quite the stir. Alex, the Unwanted, believes that his brother should have been cast aside alongside him--but no one ever turned HIM in.  The situation is even bigger than Alex imagines as the teachers and leaders of Artime worry about Alex and the decisions that they forsee him making.

The creatvity of this world (no pun intended) is incredibly engaging to read.  It's easy to imagine the stark contrast between the gray, dismal world of Quill and the vibrant, thriving world of Artime.  I loved the detail in which McMann described the worlds; she managed to include enough detail that I could imagine the setting each step of the way but she was never just "telling instead of showing."  And seeing Artime through Alex's eyes was truly the eye-opening experience that it was meant to be.

I loved the characters in this book as well.  (Have you noticed the trend lately? Good characters can make or break a book for me.)  I don't know exactly what it was about them, but I wanted to spend time with them.  They kept me coming back for more in this story.  Each character has to struggle with difficult decisions and makes some good decisions and some bad decisions along the way. Alex and Aaron are the epitome of opposites although we see from some flashbacks here and there that it may not have always been that way.  Alex's new friends each play their own special role in his life as well, shaping his personality and decisions.  Mr. Today is quite mysterious; you get the idea that he is definitely one of the good guys but there are some things that he is hiding as well.  Everyone has their secrets and everyone has a past.  You'll leave this world with a new set of friends that you are dying to spend more time with.

Tween Tuesday: Vanished by Sheela Chari

Release Date: 26 July 2011
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: NetGalley & Disney-Hyperion

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Goodreads description:

Eleven-year-old Neela dreams of being a famous musician, performing for admiring crowds on her traditional Indian stringed instrument. Her particular instrument used to be her grandmother’s—made of warm, rich wood, and intricately carved with a mysterious-looking dragon. When this special family heirloom vanishes from a local church, Neela is devastated. As she searches for it, strange clues surface: a teakettle ornamented with a familiar-looking dragon, a threatening note, a connection to a famous dead musician, and even a legendary curse. The clues point all the way to India, where it seems that Neela's intrument has a long history of vanishing and reappearing. If she is able to track it down, will she be able to stop it from disappearing again? 

My Thoughts...

In a blending of Indian and American culture, Sheela Chari has crafted an endearing mystery that will enchant readers and teach them a few things along the way as well!

Neela is a pretty typical sixth grader--often late to school, has friends and enemies at school, and, like so many kids her age, plays a musical instrument. However, while many other students take up the violen or the flute, Neela plays the veena--a traditional Indian stringed instrument. Until recently she has practiced on her teacher's student veena; then, one of her grandmother's coveted veenas shows up in the mail! It's absolutely beautiful and Neela is thrilled to have a veena all her own. She decides to take it to school as a sort of "show-and-tell" and is surprised at the students who take interest in her instrument. On the way home from school, Neela gets caught in the rain and takes shelter in a church, where she meets Hal. Hal claims he used to work for the church and makes her a cup of cocoa. He disappears rather abruptly and Neela returns to the closet where she stored her veena only to find it missing!

Determined to find her Veena, despite her mother's insistence that the instrument is bad luck, Neela embarks on a charming mystery adventure.  As she uncovers clue after clue, Neela must connect the dots and figure out: is the veena truly cursed?  Neela's personality is endearing and she is nothing if not persistent.  I enjoyed how determined she was to find her instrument.  Her friends aren't as well-developed as charcters as I might have liked, but I felt like I knew them enough to enjoy their presence in the story, especially Matt, who I felt was probably one of the most developed side characters.  Matt is the kind of character that you can't help but like. His friendship comes fairly easily, and he's always willing to help.  He ends up almost as involved in solving the mystery as Neela!

While I kept reading because I desperately wanted to know what happened to the instrument, the novel did seem a bit lengthy to me.  I felt that it could have been condensed a bit to increase the pacing for younger readers.  When the action does pick up towards the end, it is engaging and fun to read.  I found once I hit that point in the story that I couldn't put the book down!  This was definitely an enjoyable read that I would recommend to MG mystery fans.

Tween Tuesday: Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: 4 October 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Once Upon a Twilight Book Tours

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Goodreads description:

We meet Liesl the night after the day her young father has died. That same day she is visited by a ghost, Po, an eight year old boy who lives on the other side, the territory between life and death that runs parallel to the living world. Po has come to tell her that her father is stuck on the other side, and that she is the only one who can help him cross over. A couple of wooden boxes. Some ashes. Some magic dust. A ghost, its pet, and a boy who forgot to wear a hat in the cold. From these seemingly odd, random characters Oliver weaves the enchanting story of how, with the aid of Liesl, these elements come together over the course of one week to restore love and luster to a world gone grey and heartless.

My Thoughts...


My love for Lauren Oliver's writing in her novel Delirium gave me some pretty high expectations for this MG debut.  Thankfully, Lauren Oliver's writing is truly as spectacular as I first thought.  Her ability to tell breath-takingly beautiful story shines like no other in this book.  Oliver has created a story that shines as a mix of fairy and folk tale with a mix of magic, fantasy, and love (although not the romantic kind that you may be thinking).

Liesl is a child whose situation will at once remind you a bit of Cinderella--the unwanted step-daughter hidden away from the world by her "evil" stepmother.  However, that's where I'll stop with the fairy tale comparison.  Liesl is an independent child, hidden away in the attic of her stepmothers house, slowly forgetting the outside world and her past as each day passes.  When Po shows up in her attic one day, no one could guess how drastically the lives of each would change.

Alongside the story of Liesl, the reader follows the story of Will, the alchemist's apprentice who admires Liesl from the street corner each evening.  Will's life, much like Liesl's, is not of beauty or love, but of sadness, loneliness, and dreaming.  Each child dreams of a world bigger than themselves without knowing how to achieve it.  When fate throws them together into a whirlwind adventure, only time can tell what the outcomes will be.

I don't want to spoil anything about this story for you, so I'm going to stop here.  Just know that this magic tale will pull you in and make you remember why you loved fairy tales so much as a child.  The love and care that Lauren Oliver put into this story is apparent in her beautiful writing and the enchanting story that she has woven.  This is not a book that you will regret picking up, and it's definitely not just a book for younger readers.  The themes in this book will resonate with readers young and old alike.

Tween Tuesday: Priscilla the Great by Sybil Nelson

"Tween Tuesday" is a weekly meme hosted over at GreenBeanTeenQueen.  If you're looking for a good middle grade book or have a review to share, be sure to check it out!

Priscilla the Great by Sybil Nelson
© 15 April 2011 by Little Prince Publishing

Goodreads description:

Meet Priscilla Sumner, an ordinary seventh grader with extraordinary gifts. As if middle school isn’t hard enough, not only does Priscilla have to fight pimples and bullies, but genetically enhanced assassins trying to kill her and her family. Armed with wit, strength, and a genius best friend, Priscilla must defeat the Selliwood Institute, an organization dead set on turning children into killing machines.

Add an older brother annoyingly obsessed with Christina Aguilera, mischievous baby twin brothers who could scare the sin off of Satan, and parents more puzzling than a Rubik’s cube in the Bermuda triangle and expect a smoking page-turner!

Thoughts, Musings, Ramblings...

What a great tween read! I honestly can say that I really enjoyed this story from start to finish.  The author created an engaging protag and blended together a perfect amount of suspense and action to keep me "turning the pages." (read this as an ebook) 

I loved the fiery (yes, literally and figuratively) narrator, Priscilla (or Priss, as she's called).  She was written in such a way that she comes across as very real and very relateable. Her inner dialogue and, well, her actual dialogue strikes me as very much how I envision (and vaguely remember) that of an actual tween.

The storyline never seemed to drag for me.  You get right into the heat of things from the very beginning when Priss sets towels on fire in a bathroom at a party.  (hahaha, get it..."heat" of things? Yeah, I'm feeling very punny today)  I actually got so frustrated with her dad because he knew what was up and I wanted him to freaking tell me! When she overhears her parents' phone conversation, I wanted her to call him on it so I could find out the truth!

In the hopes of not spoiling any of the fun for you, I'll conclude by saying that there is a lot of action and suspense in this one. A little violence and blood makes its way in, but not in a graphic way at all--just the amount you would expect to move the storyline along. There is just a hint of romance sprinkled in as well--the very innocent first love kind of romance that is fun to read in tween stories.

Tween Tuesday: Green by Laura Peyton Roberts

"Tween Tuesday" is a weekly meme hosted over at GreenBeanTeenQueen.  If you're looking for a good middle grade book or have a review to share, be sure to check it out!

Green by Laura Peyton Roberts
(c) Jan 2011 by Random House Children's Books

Goodreads description:

Lily's thirteenth birthday starts off with a bang. Literally. A present explodes on her porch . . . and soon after, a trio of leprechauns (yes, leprechauns) appears in her bedroom. They whisk her away to a land of clover, piskies, a new friend, a cute boy, and lots of glimmering, glittering gold. A world of Green.

It turns out that Lily—as her grandmother was before her—is in line to be keeper for the Clan of Green, in charge of all their gold. That is, if she passes three tests. And she has to pass them. Because if she doesn't? She may never get to go home again. She'll be stuck with the Greens.

Forever.

Thoughts, Musings, Ramblings...

I picked this book up on a whim from the library. (You know those times when you don't really know what you want so you walk up to the J Fiction "New Books" section and just pick one?  That was me.) I've been trying to read more books for the 8-12 crowd. (I work in the library but I'm only REALLY proficient at YA reader's advisory...I'm trying to fix that.) I tried to read this one last fall, but it couldn't catch my attention amidst my overwhelming amount of homework.  Anyway, getting to the point--I'm glad I picked this one up (again).  It was a cute, quick read!


To begin with, Lily is a very "relateable" (spell check says that's not a word, but it's all my tired brain can come up with this morning) tween character.  Lily and her mom have moved around a lot so Lily doesn't have many friends and really doesn't feel like she fits in.  She goes to gymnastics class basically because her mom told her to take it.  She has one real friend, but that friend has another "best" friend, which leaves Lily alone the majority of the time anyway.  While sometimes I find characters like this a tad "whiny," I didn't ever feel that way about Lily.  She didn't whine and complain about not having friends; she just seemed kind of sad and got really excited about the one friend she did have.

The story is well-paced, although maybe a tad on the slower side for many tween readers looking for a fast-paced read.  It starts off a tad slow with Lily's descriptions of gymnastics class and plans for her 13th birthday party.  Things starts to pick up a tad when the leprechauns come and kidnap her.  I thought Lily's reactions to the leprechauns were pretty well-written.  She doesn't instantly accept their story and even as they are entering the Green meadow, she is trying to concoct an escape plan.  I appreciated that she didn't instantly accept her magical heritage.  She does eventually  accept and even embrace her "destiny."  The plot twists enough to keep you engaged as Lily battles through her three keeper tests, despite setbacks and manipulative leprechauns.

Overall, this was a pretty enjoyable tween read.  Sure, there was some cheesy dialogue and plot lines, but what else would you expect with leprechauns? ;-)  I would probably recommend this book to tween readers who like contemporary reads and a little fantasy mixed in.  With the female lead, I would tend to recommend this more to 8-12 year old girls.  A reader who enjoys the Magic Tree House books might be a good candidate for this standalone novel.

The Limit by Kristen Landon

From the cover:

An eighth grade girl was taken today . . .

With this first sentence, readers are immediately thrust into a fast-paced thriller that doesn't let up for a moment. In a world not too far removed from our own, kids are being taken away to special workhouses if their families exceed the monthly debt limit imposed by the government. Thirteen-year-old Matt briefly wonders if he might be next, but quickly dismisses the thought. After all, his parents are financially responsible, unlike the parents of those other kids. As long as his parents remain within their limit, the government will be satisfied and leave them alone. But all it takes is one fatal visit to the store to push Matt’s family over their limit—and to change his reality forever.

 In The Limit, Kristen Landon creates a slightly dystopian world where the amount of debt that a family can incur is closely monitored.  When a family goes over that limit, there are consequences.  Generally, a family is allowed to choose what happens next, whether they'll go on strict spending observation or choose more drastic measures.  For Matt's family, the choice is taken away--Matt is almost instantly carted off to one of the state workhouses to help work off his family's debt.  Once there, Matt is tested and assigned to the Top Floor, where the brightest kids are taken to work.  When strange things start to happen, Matt and his small cadre of friends investigate (using their superior intelligence and planning, of course).  The story offers a good amount of action with some moral lessons on the side.

While the storyline isn't overly complex, it was definitely a fun, quick read. (It's a great read for its intended audience)  I enjoyed the main character, Matt, quite a bit, as he progresses through the story.  I really felt he learned a lot through the process (at least it surely seemed that way in the end).  I start off my synopsis by saying "slightly dystopian" because it didn't have the same "doom and gloom" feel to me that a lot of dystopian stories have.  There is definitely the overly-controlling government aspect as a result of too much debt in the country.  However, there wasn't the same sense of previous destruction leading to such control that I attribute to most dystopias.  A similar lesson was there (watch out how you use your resources) but it didn't have the same effect.

There is a good amount of action that goes on throughout--from Matt's original taking to the mischief he gets into in the workhouse (to other things I won't mention for fear of spoiling the story).  The story really plays into the geeky nature of some of the main characters (a lot revolves around computers and math--need I say more?). I think this is a good recommendation for young male readers especially. (Not to say girls won't enjoy! It just seems like people are always looking for good books for boys)

The Year Money Grew on Trees by Aaron Hawkins

Jackson Jones has no idea what he's gotten into when he agrees to tend the Mrs. Nelson's apple orchard, but anything has to be better than working at the scrap yard...right?  Quickly realizing the futility of endeavoring alone, Jackson recruits his sisters and cousins to help him after school and on Saturdays tending to the orchard. From February through September, the kids work diligently--pruning the branches, fertilizing the soil, watering (not an easy task in dry New Mexico), spraying pesticides, thinning the apples, and eventually picking. The kids make it through the entire process and even forgive Jackson when he finally reveals to them the terms of his contract with Mrs. Nelson--that she gets $8000 of the profits and Jackson gets the orchard if he can make at least that much.

I really enjoyed this book overall. There were very, very few moments when I wanted to skim over the prose to "get on to" the next part.  The main character, Jackson, is a fairly well-developed, dynamic character that the reader can easily sympathize with. Hamilton does a good job placing the story in time without ever actually coming out and saying when exactly it takes place. From pop culture references to "The A-Team" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and "Beat It," the observant reader can place the story in the 1980s. However, the story holds the same significance whether one catches onto these context clues or not. Each character has a distinct personality that adds to the story. The development of the rugged band of cousins and siblings into a team displays the value of teamwork and the role that each person plays.

I think that this is a book that middle grade boys would enjoy quite a bit. I wouldn't discredit it as a book for girls, since there are prominent female characters, but it is not as "girly" of a story-line as many young girls might enjoy. The diagrams included by the author may seem tedious to some readers who aren't as interested in the farming aspects of the story. I would recommend this book for age 10 and up.

The People of Sparks by Jean DuPrau

In this sequel to the juvenile fiction book The City of Ember, Jean Duprau explores the post-apocalyptic world that is Earth after multiple wars and plagues have struck.  The "Emberites," having discovered a way out of their underground, dying city, must now find their way in a bright, hot world that they know nothing about. The former citizens of Ember stumble into the village of Sparks, a small town that has finally managed to begin flourishing on its own after the great disasters of the past.  The villagers graciously agree to take the Emberites into their village and help them learn how to build and farm for six months.  Tensions grow between the two groups sparking conflict and accusations on both sides.  As tension mounts, violence escalates until disaster strikes.

This series follows a very straightforward, post-apocalyptic world storyline.  The author does, I believe, a fantastic job in presenting such a topic in a way that young readers can grasp.  The main characters and heros are pre-teens who make tough decisions; it is easy to identify with their struggles for acceptance among peers and to make difficult decisions. I enjoyed this novel as an audiobook.  The narrator was very pleasing to listen to on my daily commute.  The recording company has included small sound effects in the background here and there, which are a pleasant addition that don't deter from the reading/listening experience.  The only problem I had was the the copy I borrowed from the public library had a lot of scratches and skipped frequently. Not a single disk was left unscathed! I suppose this is an expected occurrence when borrowing children's audiobooks, but I would recommend either reading the book or obtaining the audio from elsewhere (DBRL also offers the downloadable audio version of this--I suppose that would have been a better choice.)