Pandemic by Yvonne Ventresca
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Trade paperback in July 2016


My opinion, as is true for anyone, is a subjective thing. Each of us has our own criteria for judging a book. While reading Pandemic, I started to feel nervous about looters and actually thought for a second about if it would be safe to have lunch with my sister the day I finished the book. I judge this to be a good thing for a book!

Pandemic is a story of a flu pandemic that quickly spreads throughout New England and eventually throughout the United States with little to no warning. As many government and health organizations will tell you, this is not a far-fetched scenario. Liliana, or Lil as she is called by her friends, is a 16 year old girl who has recently suffered a trauma at the hands of a trusted teacher. As the flu begins its spread, she is already dealing with an obsessive need to feel safe and prepared for any disaster, as well as a strong need to avoid being touched. Lil has broken up with her boyfriend Ethan mostly due to these issues, and she is attempting to avoid a new boy called Jay who is showing interest. For the first time since "the event" as she calls her experience with the teacher, Lil is left home while both parents are traveling for work.

Lil's first exposure to the flu is while helping her best friend Megs get ready for a date. Suddenly Megs becomes seriously ill and is hospitalized. The worst part of this flu pandemic is the need to avoid people in order to stay healthy. But, Lil also has some anti-viral medication her father has placed in their safe for just such an emergency.

As the flu seriously spreads throughout Lil's town, the deaths become overwhelming. School is closed, businesses close, people are unable to travel due to quarantine or overwhelmed transportation, hospitals are overrun with the sick, and the bodies begin to pile up.

This is the point where Lil faces her own demons. Does she stay alone in her own home where she is mostly safe, or does she put herself out, facing her fears, to assist those in need. As the kids from her high school attempt to assist, with both Ethan and Jay involved, should Lil participate? What will this mean for her relationships? And, what can a 16-year old d0?

I found Pandemic to be a gripping tale and a great debut for Yvonne Ventresca. Information about flu pandemics is well researched and provides a chilling example of what is possible. There may be some aspects of the story that are a bit coincidental, but overall, this is a solid story.

For those YA readers who have been enjoying the stories similar to Fault in our Stars, this is another title to add to your reading list. It is a quick, absorbing read with a great deal of tension, sadness, fear, and the maturing of the main characters. Definitely recommended.





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This Is Where It Ends - Taut, tense, and topical

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

My rating: 4 of 5 stars 


Mass shootings in the United States are escalating, we are told. Our population is divided about gun control, and it appears to be beyond the ability of our politicians to pass federal laws restricting their purchase. Are we doomed to repeat this history because no action is taken to prevent it? In This Is Where It Ends, Marieke Nijkamp takes us inside a school shooting to help us understand what it is like for the students experiencing a mass murder of their teachers and friends.

Tyler Browne has returned to Opportunity High School after dropping out several months ago. He has chained all of the doors to the auditorium so no one can exit. He is armed and he is a very disturbed individual. Since his mother died in a car crash his father has become abusive, and his sister, Autumn, has "deserted" him to focus on her dancing and her girlfriend Sylv. Ty feels alone and betrayed, as well as being friendless. His rage has become overwhelming, so he plans to take it out on the population of Opportunity High.

The story is told mainly from the personal perspectives of four individuals:

Claire, an ROTC Sargent and track star is out running with her best friend Chris, the coach, and the track team when the shooting starts. Her handicapped younger brother Matt is in the auditorium, and her former boyfriend, Ty, is the shooter.

Autumn, Ty's sister, and girlfriend to Sylv, knows a good portion of Ty's rage is based on her deteriorating relationship with her brother. Ty hates Sylv and believes Autumn's relationship with her is a betrayal of him and what he expects from a sister.

Sylv has a past with Ty's violence and fears him above all others. She knows he will be focusing on her, and she has every reason to fear this wild and armed young man. However, she has another concern - she knows her twin brother is also still in the school, and he has had more than one run in with Ty.

Tomas, Sylv's brother, and his friend, Fareed, are the mischief makers of their class. They strongly feel their difference in a mostly white school and use their antics in school as a way to belong. They are in the principal's office attempting to locate some private files, when the shooting begins. Tomas calls 911 and then realizes only he and Fareed are outside the auditorium while his sister and the rest of the school are in danger.

Each of these four individuals has a relationship of some kind with Ty. They wonder if they could have done anything to prevent what is happening, and if they can do anything now to save the lives of their teachers and fellow students. In addition, they each have someone they love who is in imminent danger.

This Is Where It Ends is a taut, tense, story told over only 55 minutes. The characters are torn between surviving themselves, assisting those they love, and helping their schoolmates and teachers escape harm. Each is a senior class member with hopes and dreams for the future. Will they live to follow their dreams or will Ty take those dreams from them? How far can they go to protect others while doing what they can to survive themselves?

Nijkamp adeptly weaves the story through the thoughts and experiences of each of these major characters. A few additional side characters tweet and blog their thoughts, and we see some of the horror and fear of the school as a whole through their encounters with our main characters. This last bit is not quite as successful and feels a bit mechanical, although the tales of the four main characters are very well developed and we learn about them and their relationships through their thoughts.

This Is Where It Ends is a very fast-paced tale with a timely concept. There is obviously a large amount of violence, and a small smattering of foul words, but this is to be expected. The story has an anticipated ending, but not all of the major players survive. Lessons about the importance of love and family are learned, but there is no happy ending to an event such as this.

The topic should appeal to high school age readers and is recommended for this age group.





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Reckless Hearts by Sean Olin

My rating: 2 of 5 stars  


I hate to be too negative in a review, but I received an ARC from Edelweiss/Above the Treeline with the understanding I would give an honest review.

Reckless Hearts is a story of Jake and Elena who have known each other since they were in diapers. Jake is in love with Elena, but she is just a friend. Jake's mom marries a wealthy man who has a son named Nathaniel.

Nathaniel resents the "hippie chick" and her son who have come into his and his father's lives. He feels they are in it for all they can get. Of course, he actually is. He is a bad boy. He determines the best way to get to Jake is through Elena. He plots and carries out his evil plans. And, of course, Elena immediately falls for "Harlow" the character created by Nathaniel. After all, girls love bad boys and don't realize how wonderful the steady boy is that is beside her as her friend.

This is a trite story written with as many cliches and worn out lines as is possible to get into a book. The conversations are stilted, with lines you have heard in a dozen movies. Everything you expect to happen will happen. Nothing is unexpected or unusual. When Nathaniel asks Elena "how's tricks?" I had to recheck the age of the book to make sure it wasn't written in the 1940's.

There is another book coming in this series. I won't bother. The epilogue in this book tells you all you need to know about the next title.



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Powerful first novel Everything, Everything

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Maddy Whittier lives in a bubble. She has not left her house since she was a baby. One month after her father and brother were killed in a crash, she was diagnosed with SCID, Severe Combined Immunodeficiency. SCID is a condition that is a dangerous inability of the immune system to ward off infection of any kind. Luckily for Maddie, her mother is a doctor and has created an environment that is totally clean and free of bacteria, but Maddy's life depends on staying inside this "bubble" for the rest of her life.

Maddy has resigned herself to this life and is content. Her mother does all she can to keep Maddy entertained and to provide her with an excellent online education. Only very rarely is anyone admitted to the house and only after an hour of decontamination.

Then, the empty house next door is purchased by a family with two teens. Maddy begins an IM relationship with Olly (Oliver) and they begin to fall in love.

Now, Maddy becomes seriously disenchanted with her life and frustrated with her illness. She begins to yearn for a life in the real world; to see, and touch, and experience. Her mother and Carla, the nurse that cares for her each day while her mother works, begin to see her withdrawing and changing. Carla has guessed the reason, but Maddy does not want her mother to know, and Carla keeps her secret.

But, what can Maddy and Olly do? There is no future to their relationship due to Maddy's illness. Olly has additional problems with an abusive father who is becoming more and more dangerous for he, his mother and his sister. Carla allows a few visits from the decontaminated Olly, but this is still no life for the young couple.

Maddy becomes increasingly frustrated and decides to risk it all. But, how long will she have? And, what about Olly's continuing attempts to convince his mother to leave his abusive father? In addition, what is the secret Maddy's mother is keeping from her?

Although my description may sound a bit melodramatic, Everything, Everything is filled with the joy of life. Maddy's yearnings help us to see the world from her perspective and to see the importance of the small, every day occurrences of our lives. Maddy is courageous in her attempt to grab life with both hands. Her growing love for Olly makes her world intolerable. She wants so much more.

The relationships in Everything, Everything are very vivid and engrossing. Maddy is a strong female figure and broadly educated girl. Since the majority of the story happens in and around Maddy's home, we see a large emphasis on the characters in her world, which mainly consist of Maddy's mother, her nurse, Clara, and Olly. The sense of Maddy's caged feeling grows along with Maddy's frustration and her mother's concern that Maddy not be hurt and become discontent. But Maddy makes the distinction between being alive and living. How much of life are we willing to give up in order to just stay alive?

One very important factor in Everything, Everything is the fact that Maddy is racially mixed, half Japanese and half African-American, but this has very little impact on the story line itself. We bemoan the lack of diversity in teen writing, and this is an opportunity for us to fall in love with a strong character that is just incidentally racially mixed. More of this, please!

I read an advance copy I received from Netgalley that contained a few errors that were hopefully caught in the final copy. But this is a very strong story with highly sympathetic characters that can appeal to teens and adults equally. Highly recommended and I would like to see it added to a lot of library teen collections for the diversity aspect alone.



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Ordinary Grace - an adult story for teens through seniors...

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger is one of those books that crosses so many genre and age groups; it makes it hard to talk about it using only a few words. I can recommend this to women and men, to teens through seniors, to mystery lovers, to historical fiction lovers, etc. My book club selected this for our upcoming meeting and I am pretty sure we will have a ton to discuss.

The story is told from the perspective of 13 year-old Frank Drum. Frank is the middle child of Nathan and Ruth Drum, a minister and his artistic wife. A younger brother, Jake, stutters and is subject to ridicule for his handicap. Older sister Ariel, a very talented musician, originally plans on attending Juilliard in the coming school year, but becomes reluctant to leave. In addition, the family includes Gus, a war buddy who saved Nathan's life and needs help getting back on his feet.

It is the hot summer of 1961 in New Bremen, Minnesota, with the Twins baseball team playing their first season, and small town life is gentle, peaceful and innocent. But, for Frank and his family, this becomes the summer of lost innocence; a summer of death - suspicious, murder, suicide, and accidental deaths. In addition, there are secrets and misunderstandings, racism and bigotry, and a great deal of loss.

Through Frank's eyes we see marital struggles, misbehaving adults, injustice, and a tremendous amount of pain and loss. He and his younger brother Jake struggle to understand the world around them, and the impact of religion on many different lives. Both grow up during this painful summer of loss, and begin to see the world from the perspective of young men rather than boys.

Frank is an honorable, yet mischievous 13 year-old who has the normal boy's curiosity and the awakening interest in the opposite sex. He narrates the story, and the first person perspective works, as Frank is a tremendous eavesdropper and learns much from gossip. The story is heartwarming, yet tear-inducing, painful, yet funny, and the characters are common, ordinary townspeople, yet reflective of the best and worst of humankind.

Ordinary Grace is an extraordinary story that pulled me faster and faster through to the end. There is plenty of action to keep the interest of the plot-craving reader, but a tremendous amount of heart to keep the character-driven interest, as well. I laughed, I cried, I remembered. I recommend Ordinary Grace very highly.



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Satisfying Mystery Romance by Renee Collins

Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Until We Meet Again is a story of a time warp that brings together 17 year old Cassandra from 2015 with Lawrence from 1925. Renee Collins brings the two together in a story that combines romance with mystery in a very satisfying read.

Cassandra's family has rented a home along the beach in New England for the entire summer of 2015. The beach is private and consists of a stretch of sand along a rocky cove. This is Cassandra's sanctuary, as she is terribly bored and wishes to be anywhere but here; specifically Paris with her best friend Jade or NYC with her father and friends. She escapes to the beach to watch the full moon rise.

Lawrence has turned 18 in 1925 and his uncle Ned has thrown him a birthday party at the home he built in 1922; the same home rented by Cassandra's family in 2015. The party is not really to his taste and he escapes to the beach to watch the full moon rise.

Suddenly a flash of bright light allows Cassandra and Lawrence to see each other. This bit of magic only extends as far as the borders of the beach. They soon discover that leaving the beach causes Lawrence to return to 1925 and Cassandra to 2015. They only can see, hear and touch each other while on the beach. The couple meet often on the beach and find themselves falling in love.

Being the curious teen she is, and with access to information on the internet and through library microfilm, Cassandra makes a terrible discovery about Lawrence. Records from 1925 show that Lawrence will be murdered on August 6, 1925. That date is two weeks away.
Who would want to kill Lawrence? Can Cassandra and Lawrence stop the murder? What long-term impact will it have on history if they do? And, can Lawrence and Cassandra find a way to be together?

The theme of meeting across time is not a new concept, but Collins handles it well. The young couple is charming and yet very much the product of their ages and era. The mystery is well defined and the writing keeps us in suspense. The ending is satisfying and logical. The magic is kept to a minimum and never fully explained, as magic really cannot be.

I very much enjoyed the relationship of Lawrence and Cassandra and found the mystery kept me anxious to return to the story whenever my reading was interrupted. Collins gives us a glimpse into life in the Roaring Twenties and limits the connection to 2015. Cassandra's modern day relationship with a boy called Brandon feels very strained and his jealousy for Cassandra feels a little premature given their lack of contact. I don't really know if his presence adds much to the story, but this is a minor criticism.

Overall, this is a book I would recommend to teens looking for a romance with a good mystery. Light reading, but satisfying.




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Reviews of Paper Towns Are Not Encouraging

Rotten Tomatoes 56%

It just does not do Teen literature any benefit to make a well-loved book by a well-loved author into a poor film.  

It is so disheartening to see the reviews of Paper Towns as mixed as they appear at Rotten Tomatoes.  So many great teen reads are being turned into movies these days, but the result has not been all that great. 

When one of our favorite titles is announced as an upcoming film, the anticipation is high.  We watch for the casting, check out the trailers and wait for the opening.  Personally, I wait for the reviews.  

We all know the book is almost always better than the film, but that has to do with the inability for the film-makers to put all of the story into 2-3 hours and still do justice to the movie our heads created while reading the book.  Yes, film is a separate art form and it should be judged on its own merits and not compared to the original.  But, the purpose of the film is to capture the essence of the book.  

Too often the objective of the film-maker is to jump on the YA bandwagon and make some money from a popular author and/or title.  Seriously, don't do the author any favors.  If you can't take a teen title seriously and present a well-made film, please leave the audience to remember the book as they saw it in their mind's eye.

Some of the reviews are good, however.  Should I see the film?  Have you seen it?  Are the critics too harsh?  Or, did the film-makers take a great thing and make it so, so?

Let me know your thoughts....