Another YA Title....that every adult should read!

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne - This powerful work of historical fiction about the Holocaust stands out in part because of the unusual perspective: It's told through the eyes of the 9-year-old son of the Commandant at Auschwitz, a boy who has no clue as to what is going on around him. This perspective allows readers to feel a strong sense of foreboding, long before they know the extent of the terror surrounding Bruno's world. Readers will be struck by the contrast between Bruno's normalcy and naivety, and the extreme horrors of the time.

Most readers who know any of the history of WWII, especially of the Holocaust, will catch on to the nightmare of Bruno's plight fairly early on. They'll figure out that the "Fury" refers to the Fuhrer, and what having Hitler to dinner would mean about Bruno's father. They'll also know that the high fence, desolate grounds, smokestacks, and dirty, unhealthy people in striped pajamas that Bruno sees from his window mean that his new room overlooks a concentration camp. Of course, even clued-in readers may not realize that "Out-With" is Bruno's mispronunciation of Auschwitz...until his sister Gretel points it out quite clearly toward the end.

Readers will quickly relate to the 9 year old, who is uprooted from his home and moved somewhere "nasty and cold" where he has no friends. He is lonely, his sister bugs him, and adults treat him as if he's not there. He wants to study art and read fantasy books rather than history and geography. He wants to get outside and explore. Eventutually Bruno befriends a boy on the other side of the fence and meets him for talks every day. He laments that he can't visit his side. It is quite clear that Bruno has no idea of the implications or even the circumstances of just what is going on around him.

Younger readers may not get all of the historical significance of this story, and teens may wonder how anyone could be so clueless about what's going on around them as Bruno appears to be. Even so, readers of any age will be moved by the young boy's story, and the unlikely friendship he forms with a boy he meets at Out-With. Even more so, readers will be stricken by the way the friendship comes to an end and will be left with much to ponder at the conclusion of Bruno's story.

*** I would recommend this book to any student in a heartbeat and feel that it is a "must-read" for adults as well. I was amazed at the language and the perspective the author uses throghout to bring Bruno and Shmuel to life. Although the book is written from a nine-year old's perspective, the impact this book will have on its reader is more than just child's play!

Acceleration by Graham McNamee - This book is the winner of the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Young Adult Mystery writing, as well as an Eliot Rosewater Nominee. Rather good billing for any book!

Acceleration is defined as the escalation of increasingly destructive aberrant behavior, or, more pointedly, the stuff of which serial killers are made. Seventeen-year-old Duncan comes faces to face with this "new" term while wasting away his summer by working in the lost and found of the Toronto subway system. That is when he finds it...the diary...made up of the plots and plans of a truly demented man. The Roach, as Duncan dubbs him, plans to "accelerate" his killing ways... graduating from eviscerating animals and setting fires to tracking human prey. When the police refuse to take it seriously, Duncan enlists the aid of his best friends Vinny and Wayne to help him find The Roach on his own...with deadly results.

All in all, a rather good read from the teenage perspective. The plot is rather compelling and all-too real at points. The characters are very real and most teens will be able to relate well to their witty, often crass, language and attitudes about life. My only issue with this book is that it could have been much more developed. The climax comes out of nowhere, really, and the conclusion comes much too soon. McNamee could have done a lot more with this book, but I'll agree that what he did do was done quite well.

Finally, back to the books!


A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray - After hanging out at Sue's Java House a few weeks ago and talking with several of her avid readers, I decided I really needed to read this book! Plus, Sue was reading it, too, and I never want to miss a chance to actually get to talk about a book with someone else who's also read it :) Anyway, it certainly was deserving of it's position on the NYT Bestseller list. Not only was it well-written with a well-developed plot, but the book kept me in suspense...which almost never happens with a YA title. There were a few things I figured out before the end, but the ones I didn't were the ones that sent me reeling! I seldom read a a sequel or a companion book, but I've already started Rebel Angels, this book's companion title. I may even read the third book as I just found out it's going to be a trilogy!

Now, about the book....



Gemma Doyle lives with her mother and father in India. On her sixteenth birthday she sees her mother's murder in a vision. Shortly after her mother's mysterious death, Gemma is sent to a finishing school in London. While there, she meets several other girls, all of whom fit the popular/unpopular stereotypes of most schools. However, after a while, Gemma finds out that all of them have problems of their own. As was the custom of the Victorian era, most of the girls deal with their own internal pain by not showing it to anyone. Each girl's torment surfaces in it s own way, from Ann's inclination to cut herself to Felicity's cruelty to the weaker girls...especially Ann. The visions revisit Gemma and lead her to a diary that creates a bond between her, Felicity, Pippa, and Ann. The diary tells the story of Sarah Rees-Toome and Mary Dowd, two girls who went to Spence and perished in the mysterious fire of 1871. Both girls practiced magic, a fact which interests Gemma because she experiences visions that she's unable to control, even though a mysterious boy named Kartik tells her that her visions are dangerous and she must stop them. Soon, Gemma and the others learn all about the magic that Sarah and Mary possessed and try to harness it for themselves, despite grave warnings from Gemma's deceased mother. What happens when the girls take the magic from the realms and bring it back to Spence is more than they could have ever imagined.