Young Adult

1.4 by Mike Lancaster

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Mike Lancaster’s 0.4 is one of my favourite books and the best science fiction story I’ve read.  I read it just before the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch so I was distracted by everything that was going on and didn’t get the chance to tell everyone how amazing it was.  It’s the story of Kyle Straker, a teenage boy living in a small village in England, who wakes up after being hypnotized to find his world a very different place.  It hooks you in from the first line and you don’t want to put it down until the last word.  1.4 is Mike Lancaster’s sequel to 0.4 and it’s just as addictive.

It’s a brave new world. In the far future, people no longer know what to believe…Did Kyle Straker ever exist? Or were his prophecies of human upgrades nothing more than a hoax? Peter Vincent is nearly 16, and has never thought about the things that Strakerites believe. His father – David Vincent, creator of the artificial bees that saved the world’s crops – made sure of that. When the Strakerites pronounce that another upgrade is imminent, Peter starts to uncover a conspiracy amongst the leaders of the establishment, a conspiracy that puts him into direct conflict with his father. But it’s not a good idea to pick a fight with someone who controls all the artificial bees in the world.

1.4 is an upgraded, even better story than 0.4.  The story takes place 1000 years after the events of 0.4 and Mike shows us his incredible vision of the future.  It’s a future where bees have died out and been replaced by robot bees, humans can connect to technology and each other through filaments that come out of their bodies, and they are constantly connected to technology through their Link.  The story is told through the LinkDiary entries of Peter Vincent, whose father invented the robot bees, which many people believe saved the world.  There is a small section of society who believe that the Kyle Straker tapes are real and that the events of 0.4 actually happened, but these people are treated like second class citizens and live in slums.  Amalfi (or Alpha) is a Strakerite who goes to Peter’s school, and when she asks for Peter’s help to find out what has happened to her father, their world is turned upside down.

The thing I like most about 1.4 is the way that Mike Lancaster has woven the two stories together.  If you’ve read 0.4 you know why society is so technologically advanced and who the ghosts in the photos are.  I also really like that Mike doesn’t let relationships between his characters get in the way of the story, like many female authors tend to do.  Having said this, his characters are still interesting and you empathize with the situation that they’re in.

1.4 is a smart science fiction story with lots twists and turns, freaky technology, and hidden truths.  If you haven’t discovered Mike Lancaster, you don’t know what you’re missing.

5 out of 5 stars

Unravelling Book Trailer

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Unravelling is the debut science fiction YA novel from Elizabeth Norris.  Ever since I heard about it back at the beginning of the year I’ve wanted to read it.  It’s out now in NZ thanks to HarperCollins New Zealand.  I’ll be posting my review soon.

 

The Kill Order Book Trailer

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The Kill Order is James Dashner’s prequel to one of my favourite series, The Maze Runner. It’s due out on August 14 (probably slightly later in NZ) and I’ve got my copy ordered.  The Maze Runner, the first book in the series, is in my top 10 favourite books and I think it’s even better than Hunger Games. 

James Dashner is also the series architect of the new multi-layered series from Scholastic, The Infinity Ring, which is due out worldwide on August 28.  If you’re a fan of the 39 Clues series you’ll love The Infinity Ring.

Pop! by Catherine Bruton

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There are so many different types of reality shows on TV these days, involving everything from singing and dancing, to cooking and building.  Suzanne Collins took the reality show idea and turned it into a fight to the death in The Hunger Games and in Catherine Bruton’s new book, Pop!, one of her characters has worked out the rules of talent TV and reckons she knows how to play the system.

The first round of auditions was a bit mad. All these wannabe popstars sitting around trying to look wacky/soulful/tragic (delete as appropriate) to catch the attention of the TV cameras.

At least we had a cracking back story. The story of me, Agnes, Jimmy and baby Alfie; the tears, the tragedy, the broken homes and feuding families, the star-crossed lovers. And only some of it was made up.

If I say so myself, it was genius: a sure-fire golden ticket to stratospheric stardom. Or at least that was the plan…

Pop! is a terrific story full of moments that will make you laugh, cry, cringe, jump for joy, and possibly want to slap a certain character.  The story is told from the point of view of the three main characters; Elfie, Jimmy and Agnes.  Elfie is the smart-ass who always comes up with crazy schemes that Jimmy gets roped into.  Her mum is incredibly unreliable and always walks out when times get tough, so Elfie is often left to look after her baby brother Alfie.  Jimmy and Elfie have been best friends for as long as they can remember, so Jimmy always gets involved in Elfie’s schemes.  Jimmy is a fantastic swimmer and his dad trains him hard so that he might get a chance to go to the Olympics.  It’s one day when Elfie and Jimmy are hanging out under the bridge that Elfie announces their next big scheme – they’re going to enter the Pop to the Top talent contest.  Their only problem is that they don’t really have any talent.  Then they hear a girl singing.  That girl is Agnes, the daughter of one of the ‘immos,’ the immigrant workers who have taken the jobs of local workers at the power station.  Agnes has an amazing voice and so Elfie ropes her into being in her girl band for Pop to the Top.  Agnes and Jimmy have no idea what they are getting themselves in for, and as Elfie weaves more and more lies, their lives and the lives of those around them spiral out of control.

Catherine Bruton has created three very different characters who are all doing what they believe is right.  Even though Elfie creates these twisted versions of their lives, she is only doing so to try and win the money that she thinks will solve all their problems.  She cares so much for her dad and her little brother and wants to give them the life they deserve.  Jimmy and Agnes go along with Elfie’s scheme because they want what’s best for their families too.  At first Elfie made me laugh with her plans and her fake back stories, then she made me want to slap her, but by the end of the story she had redeemed herself.  Agnes is a really interesting character because she really grows throughout the story.  At first she’s quiet and withdrawn because nobody, apart from her family, talks to her.  Not only is she the daughter of an immo, but she also doesn’t speak much English.  She says that she is a collector of words and she picks up new and interesting words from listening to conversations.  Throughout the story she grows in confidence and manages to settle the moths in her stomach when she sings.

I absolutely love Pop! and the wonderful characters that Catherine has created. Whenever I watch a reality show now I’ll be looking out for people who know Elfie’s Rules of Talent TV.  If you love Frank Cottrell Boyce’s books, like Millions and Framed, then Pop! is definitely the book for you.

5 out of 5 stars

Ransomwood by Sherryl Jordan

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Every now and again a book comes along that surprises you.  I find myself reading a lot of Young Adult science fiction because I like the sound of the story and I love the different versions of society that authors can create.  A completely different type of story caught my eye recently, one by a New Zealand author who I love.  That book is called Ransomwood, by award-winning New Zealand author, Sherryl Jordan.

Spurned by her lover, and with her uncle threatening to marry her off to his odious widowed brother, Gwenifer is almost relieved to be sent away to escort the magistrate’s old, blind mother to Ransomwood, where the tears of the statue of the Holy Mother are said to have healing qualities.

Together with Harry, the village halfwit, who is escaping a sentence of hanging for being in charge of an ox that trampled a child almost to death, they embark on a perilous journey … each of them looking for a different kind of healing.

Ransomwood is a story of gossip, friendship, loyalty, suffering, acceptance and identity.  It’s the story of three very different people thrown together to go off in search of a cure for their ailments and medicine for a dying girl.  There is Halfwit Harry, the village idiot, whose fault it is that a little girl was trampled by oxen; Mother Dorit, an old crone who is thought to be a witch and is hoping to cure her blindness; and Gwenifer, who was caught with another boy who was betrothed.  Each of the pilgrims is hoping to achieve something by journeying to Ransomwood to collect the tears of the Holy Mother.

As we follow the pilgrims on their journey, you learn that there is more to them than the other villagers have assumed.   One quote from Mother Dorit that I love is about the gossip that flies around the village.

“If every word of gossip in Grimblebury was a bumblebee, the buzzing about the village would be enough to deafen the Good Lord Himself.  And if every gossip word were true, I say there’d be a blessed silence, and not one drop of honey to be had.  Nor anyone stung, for that matter.”

Mother Dorit is much more than the witch that others believe she is.  She’s a wise, kind soul who cares for Gwenifer and Harry and reassures them that everything is going to be alright.  Gwenifer is far from the girl of loose morals that others believe she is either.  She wishes to escape the clutches of her uncle and his horrible brother, and make a life for herself, where she can decide where life takes her.  Mother Dorit encourages her to follow her dreams by saying “If you have a dream, pick it up in both hands and shake it in the face of fate, and fight till you make every bit of your dream come true.”  She grows incredibly throughout the story and even puts herself in danger to help her friends.  My favourite character by far though has to be Harry.  Although everyone (even Gwenifer at first) believes him to be a half-wit and should be treated like one, he is probably the wisest of the pilgrims.  He truly regrets the awful thing that happened to Tilly and wants to make things right.  He is incredibly loyal to both Gwenifer (who he affectionately calls ‘Gwennie’) and Mother Dorit and will do anything to protect them on their journey.  One of my favourite parts of the book is when they are attacked by a group of men and Harry fights back with his pilgrim’s staff.  He’s also incredibly gentle and loving, and adopts a bantam along the way that he nurtures.  Harry actually reminded me of a bulkier version of Forrest Gump (think ‘I love you Gwennie’).

Sherryl Jordan’s writing is absolutely beautiful and she had me hanging on every word.  She transports you to an England of long ago, where everyone lived off the land, you slept on the hard ground or scratchy straw, you cooked over a fire, and it took you days or weeks to get to where you wanted to go.  Ransomwood will certainly be a finalist in next year’s New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards, if not the winner of the Young Adult category.

5 out of 5 stars

The Tribe: The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina

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Walker Books Australia have introduced me to some of my favourite books and authors – Brian Falkner, Lara Morgan, and Patrick Ness.  When they sent me some information about an exciting new series that they were publishing, called The Tribe, I knew that it would be great.  Like many Young Adult novels at the moment, it’s set in a future world, but The Tribe has plenty to set it apart from the rest.

The world has ended. It died in an environmental cataclysm called the Reckoning, brought about by humanity’s abuse of nature.

Three hundred years later, and the society that emerged from the ruins of the old world are obsessed with maintaining “the Balance” between all life. They live in harmony with each other, and the earth. It is almost a perfect world. Except for one thing.

Anyone born with an ability is seen as a threat to the Balance. They are feared, controlled and locked away in detention centres. Ashala Wolf has run away to avoid such a fate. Along with the other runaways she calls her Tribe, she lives in the vast Firstwood. Her Tribe is defying the government –and the government doesn’t like defiance.

Can the Tribe survive their oppressors and transform the world in which they live?

“There will come a day when a thousand Illegals descend on your detention centres. Boomers will breach the walls. Skychangers will send lightning to strike you all down from above, and Rumblers will open the earth to swallow you up from below … And when that day comes, Justin Connor, think of me.”

Ashala Wolf has been captured by Chief Administrator Neville Rose. A man who is intent on destroying Ashala’s Tribe – the runaway Illegals hiding in the Firstwood. Injured and vulnerable and with her Sleepwalker ability blocked, Ashala is forced to succumb to the machine that will pull secrets from her mind. And right beside her is Justin Connor, her betrayer, watching her every move. Will the Tribe survive the interrogation of Ashala Wolf?

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is a refreshing, futuristic adventure, full of twists and turns.   The story is like a puzzle that you have to fit together as you read.  At the beginning we don’t know much about Ashala and her life with the tribe, but through her memories we piece together how she came to live in the Firstwood with the rest of the Tribe.  The main part of the story concentrates on the interrogation that Ashala faces at the hands of the Chief Administrator, Neville Rose, who is trying to extract information from her about the Tribe.  All children with abilities are supposed to be rounded up and imprisoned in detention centres so that the government can keep them, and their abilities, under control.  However, the Tribe lives free in the Firstwood and Neville Rose will stop at nothing to find them and capture them.

I really liked Ambelin’s characters, especially Ashala.  Ashala is the leader of the Tribe and a mother-figure for the other children.  She’s incredibly strong and will do anything she can to protect her Tribe and keep them free, including putting herself in danger.  Jaz was the other character who really stood out for me because he’s got heaps of personality.

The main reason The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf stands out from other Young Adult books like it is because of the cultural and spiritual connection that Ambelin has given to her characters.  Each of the Tribe has connections to an animal, which means that they can communicate with them.  For Ashala it’s the wolf, and other characters are connected to crows, spiders, and even the dinosaur-like creatures called Saurs.  When the Tribe first enters the Firstwood they must make a promise to the trees that they will not harm them in any way and that they will protect them if needed.  Ashala also communicates with the spirit of her ancestors who offer advice and protect her along the way. 

The story comes to a satisfying conclusion, with no specific lead-in to the next book, but there is plenty more I want to know about this world.  Why do some children get powers?  What is it like in one of the big cities? Is this the last we see of Neville Rose?  I’ll be eagerly awaiting book two in this exciting new series.

4 out of 5 stars

 

You can win 1 of 5 signed copies of The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf right here on the blog.  Enter your details here to win.

Between the Lines Book Trailer

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Between the Lines is the latest book from best-selling author, Jodi Picoult, which she co-wrote with her daughter Samantha van Leer.  I’ve never read a Jodi Picoult book before but Between the Lines sounds really exciting.  The book itself is quite a work of art, with different coloured fonts and colour illustrations throughout.  I can’t wait to go Between the Lines.

Win a signed copy of The Tribe: The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf

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The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is the action-packed first book in The Tribe, a fantastic new series by Ambelin Kwaymullina.  It has just been released in Australia and New Zealand by Walker Books and they’ve created a very cool website to promote the book.  At www.thefirstwood.com.au you can watch the book trailer, read an extract of the book, find out about the author and the series, and get some free downloads.

Thanks to Walker Books Australia we have 5 signed copies of The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf to give away.  All you need to do to get in the draw is read the extract on www.thefirstwood.com.au and answer this question – What is the Question?  Enter the answer, along with your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Friday 13 July (Australia and New Zealand only).

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The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf Book Trailer

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The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is the first book in an exciting new series called The Tribe by Ambelin Kwaymullina, out now from Walker Books Australia.  An oppressive future regime, kids with the power to change the weather and alter memories, and a machine that can extract memories – what more could you ask for.