Lois Lane: Fallout

Superheroes are big right now, raking in millions of dollars in movie and merchandise sales (I should know…my son was Spiderman this year for Halloween).  But what about the sidekicks?  Don’t they get a story too?  This book is the first in a YA series that revolves around Lois Lane, pre-Superman.

In Fallout, Lois is a high school student who just moved to Metropolis because of her military general father.  She doesn’t have the best track record with her old schools, but she’s determined to make a new start at her high school.  Meaning she’s going to keep her head down and stay out of trouble.  It works for about five minutes, until she sees another student being bullied by a group of kids who are eerily connected.  She quickly finds out through her new job at the teen Scoop newspaper, a small off-shoot of The Daily Planet, that this same group is targeting kids in a virtual reality game called World Wars Three.  Lois, with the help of her online friend SmallvilleGuy and her new Scoop buddies, soon realizes how far this group is willing to go to get what they want.

This book was a splurge buy at ReadUp Greenville after hearing the author talk about it on the Girl Power panel.  I enjoy superhero books and finding one that I think my kids would enjoy with a strong female lead sounded interesting.  However, this book was slow to start.  Maybe it’s because I’m nothing like Lois?  Maybe it’s because her constant need to snoop around was slightly annoying?  Maybe it was just getting a feel for the story and the whole virtual game aspect of it?  I don’t know what it was, but I had to read half-way into the book to fully get invested in the storyline and characters.  They grow on you the more you read, and by the end, I really liked the development of her friendships with her Scoop teammates.  

If you have a teen into the DC comics world, this book would be an appropriate one to pick up for your middle or high schooler.  And the story continues into two more books! 

The Darkdeep

So this middle grades read was an appropriate way to end by October reading.  Scary, horror reads aren’t really my thing (I have an overactive imagination, according to my mom), but I know lots of my kids really like the spooky, thriller stories.  This book is appropriately done with suspense without all the blood and gore that may scare off upper elementary kids.

After a bullying mishap, Nico, Emma, Tyler, and Opal find a hidden island in the middle of Still Cove, the eerie mist covered cove near their northwestern coastal town.  But the weirdest thing is the old houseboat floating on a lake with a swirling whirlpool under it.  They soon realize that this isn’t any ordinary island, and the secrets of the Darkdeep are more sinister than they first thought.

This is was a quick read for me, mostly because the authors pushed the action along as a fast pace without being confusing.  I also enjoyed the character dynamics, although Tyler and Emma seemed a little one-dimensional.  

I had the pleasure of hearing Brendan Reichs and Ally Condie speak about this novel at ReadUp Greenville this year, which was the main reason why I wanted to read it.  Their camaraderie and candidness was refreshing, and their playfulness does come through the characters as well.  Overall, it fits squarely into the “friends adventuring a secret while trying to outsmart their parents” genre of books.  This book seems to be geared more towards the tween crowd, as I could see my 8th graders scoffing at a few parts, but overall a solid start to the series (this is going to be a trilogy, so just be prepared for a little cliffhanger).  

What If It's Us

Books are a gateway into different stories.  One trend in books, especially YA books, recently is modeling diversity.  An author at ReadUp Greenville put it best…in the past, author’s writing YA books were writing about when they were young, basing their stories on their own personal experiences.  Now the YA genre has expanded greatly, and stories have infinite possibilities.  You can read about fantasy time traveling stories or creepy monsters or just everyday personal conflicts. Allowing students the ability to see themselves in books is a great encourager, especially as a teacher who sees many kids who are reluctant about reading.  I always try to find books that not only their interested in, but also ones they can learn something from, and What If It’s Us would fit this criteria (one of the co-authors, Becky Albertelli, also wrote Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Leah on the Off Beat and The Upside of Unrequited).

The story is set in New York City, where Arthur Seuss is living this summer while interning at his mother’s law firm.  Originally from Georgia, he feels out of place, without any friends, and lonely…until he randomly meets a guy at the post office.  He feels they had a connection, but without a name, phone number, or social media handle, he’s at a loss at what to do next.  With some help from his friends—and the universe—he realizes that some people are meant to be in your life.  

This YA rom-com does feature a boy-boy romance, but it’s more than that.  It shows that no relationship is perfect—with friends or significant others—and hiding your true self is exhausting and emotionally complicated.  Both the main characters admit their faults.  They are honest with each other when one makes a mistake.  They fight with their friends and learn how to apologize.  Overall, it’s a very good lesson on friendships and how to maintain them when dynamics change.  

As with my YA books, parents may want to read up on the content before blindly handing it over.  There is lots of cursing, some underage drinking references, and some romantic encounters.  This book, in my opinion, is definitely more of a high school book but still has merit nonetheless.

The Proposal

Sometimes after a long difficult book all you need is a light read that will make you laugh.  That’s why The Proposal was such a good relaxer for me.

The Proposal is a companion book to The Wedding Date, which means it has some of the same characters in it, like Drew and Alexa, but the main characters are different.  This time around, it’s Drew’s friend Carlos turn to accidentally find love.  While at a Dodgers baseball game, Nikole’s actor boyfriend decides to propose…during the game…on the JumboTron.  The problem (one of many) is that they’ve only been dating for five months, and Nik knows it won’t last, so she turns him down.  Now she’s the villain, stuck in a stadium full of people with camera crews closing in when in swoops Carlos and his sister.  Feigning recognition, they save Nik from the crowds, and a friendship starts to form.  Neither Carlos, a busy doctor with extended family to take care of, nor Nik, a writer with many failed relationships under her belt, want anything serious, but their natural chemistry is hard to deny.

There are many striking similarities between this book and The Wedding Date (which I—of course—had to go back and read after finishing this book).  First, they both go into the relationships with the “I’m never going to fall in love” mantra.  The Wedding Date meet cute was funnier—getting stuck in an elevator then becoming the guy’s fake girlfriend for a wedding—but The Proposal’s felt more real, mainly because Carlos and Nik started off as friends before getting physical.  Another similarity is the interracial relationship.  Alexa and Nik are both black, so there are a few cases (especially in The Wedding Date) where race is brought up because people said utterly inappropriate things.  Finally, they both also focus on current struggles.  Alexa in The Wedding Date is working to implement a youth outreach program for troubled teens, while Nik is learning self-defense to protect herself from her threatening ex-boyfriend.  I felt like the issues brought up in The Proposal were good and valid, but it did seem to take away from the ending because the explanation for it was very lengthy.

Overall, it was a cute, predictable story, but if you liked first one, you’ll enjoy this second book as well.

Outlander

After watching the Great American Reads on PBS this summer, I decided to choose a few books from the list to read.  One of my choices was Outlander.  

I honestly didn’t know a lot about the plot other than a woman time travels back into time.  Being a fan of history and time travel, I thought this book would be right up my alley…and it was.  I really enjoyed the characters, learning about 1700s Scottish/English history, and the storyline in general.  In the book, Claire and her husband Frank travel to the Scottish Highlands for a second honeymoon since WWII has now ended and they have been separated for eight years.  While there researching her husband’s genealogy, Claire finds herself accidentally propelled 200 years in the past, into 1700s Scotland full of clans and English redcoats.  Seen as a spy, she’s now caught in a whirlwind of events that imbed her in the past with little hope to return to 1945 again. 

As much as I loved the story, however, there were a few drawbacks to this book that will turn off non-bibilophiles.  

First, it’s L-O-N-G, over 600 pages of tiny print.  I’ve read a few books that length before, but I’m pretty sure they were YA books and the writing style is completely different.  Which brings me to my second frustration, the writing itself.  I loved it and hated it at the same time (if that makes sense).  Typically I’m a fast reader, but with this book I could not read as fast as I wanted because of all the details.  Most were interesting additions and plot driven, but others plodded along ponderously (I don’t really care to read about English botany or the intricacies of Catholic monasteries).  But I also loved the details.  It created a memorable story that made you feel like you are in 1742 Scotland and made you invest fully and wholeheartedly in the characters.  The last drawback was the sex and violence.  This book has very mature content, like multiple attempted rapes, many consensual romantic encounters, and violence (partly due to the Scottish skirmishes with the English and partly because the main character is a fugitive). It did feel very over the top at times, which probably plays into the TV show content.

This is the first in a series, so if you want to read it, prepare in advance.  You’ll need all your extra time for reading.  

Noodle Shop Mystery Series

This cozy little mystery series has been a nice change of pace for me.  Sometimes books really shake you up, make you upset, and just make your heart hurt.  That’s fine; books are supposed to broaden our horizons and expand our empathy.  But sometimes you just want something predictably fun, and that’s what this series is.

In Death by Dumpling, Lana works at her parents noodle shop in Asia Village, a pagoda-inspired mall full of Asian shops.  She’s between jobs, disgruntled at working back with her family, and just off a bad break-up.  What better way to shake her out of her misery than a good, old murder mystery!  The director of the Village is found dead in his office from an allergic reaction to shellfish, and everyone’s pointing the finger at Lana (who delivered his last meal) and Peter (the cook for the restaurant).  After meeting the police detectives—including dreamy Detective Trudeau—and deciding they cannot solve this problem alone, Lana and her roommate, Meghan, decide to dig up the dirt themselves.

Dim Sum of All Fears picks up a month after the first book ends.  Lana is still reeling from her findings surrounding Mr. Feng’s murder, but she doesn’t have time to mope.  Her parents are taking a surprise trip to Taiwan to visit her grandmother, and they’re leaving the restaurant management to Lana—much to her older sister’s chagrin.  While her parents are away, there’s another grizzly murder at Asia Village.  This time Lana’s close friend Isabelle and her husband Brandon are found murdered in their small souvenir shop.  What first seems like a murder/suicide turns out to be much more than that.  Detective Trudeau is back on the case and this time is determined to keep Lana out of trouble.

If there is such a genre as a mystery-rom-com, this would be in it.  It’s got the will-they-won’t-they love interest, the roommate side-kick, and spurned ex-lovers.  Oh, and murder mysteries!  I enjoyed these books because they read similar to YA books:  they aren’t difficult, the action in the story is spaced so you won’t have any long lulls, and I read each book in about two days.  Like I’ve said before, sometimes you need the Hallmark channel movie instead of an Oscar nominated film, and this is the literary equivalent.  

The Dry

So, I have a confession to make…I read this series out of order.  It has happened in the past (thanks, sister, for hogging Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) and will probably happen again in the future.  However, this time, I think it was for the best.

The Dry is the first in the Aaron Faulk series by Australian author Jane Harper.  I read the sequel, Forces of Nature, earlier this summer and really liked it!  Women lost in the woods…a mysterious serial killer…unknown motives…money laundering…it was a complex story but well told.  The Dry has many of those same literary characteristics, but it seemed to drag a little slower and not capture my attention as easily.  

Aaron Faulk is a federal agent in Australia, but he returns to his small southern town when he finds out his childhood friend murdered his family and then shot himself.  Since the town’s going through an epic drought, people assume it was motivated by money problems.  Even though the town hates him (due to past secrets revolving another dead friend), Aaron stays to try and clear his friend’s name.

Like the first, this story is told in the present with flashbacks interspersed to help fill in the blanks of what happened.  This was a good way to tell the story and to add some foreshadowing and suspense.  What I wasn’t too keen on were the people in the town.  For the most part they were so mean and petty, acting before thinking.  It’s nothing that takes away from the storyline, but it just rubbed me the wrong way.  The story is also two mysteries in one:  what happened to the recently murdered family and what happened to Aaron’s other friend twenty years ago to make the town hate him.  Both stories do get wrapped up, but by the time I hit the resolution of the first murder, I was on information overload and really didn’t care about tying up the second murder.

All in all, it was a fine detective novel…just not one I’ll be picking up again anytime soon.