Divergent

     Divergent takes place in a futuristic Chicago where the people have divided into five factions:  Candor for honesty, Dauntless for the brave, Amity for the peaceful, Erudite for intelligence, and Abnegation for the selfless.
     Beatrice and her brother are both sixteen when they must make the life-changing choice of the faction they will join.
     Beatrice leaves everything behind, including her name.  If she survives the initiation, she will hold a place in the society she has always admired.  If she fails, she risks her life and the lives of the people she loves.
     Divergent by Veronica Roth is all action and no soul.  The plot is full of surprises and unexpected twists, but the characters are shallow and dull.  Even though the book is non-stop action, I was bored.  The few sex scenes thrown in for interest make it an unlikely suggestion for my students.  The lead up to the climax is interesting, but from the climax to the end, the book becomes a copy of several Hollywood movies.
     Unless you are a huge science fiction fan, I do not recommend Divergent.  If you want a poignant book about war, finding a place in a society you don't belong to, and fighting your personal demons, read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card instead.

Crossed

     I am so disappointed in Crossed and Ally Condie!  This is one of the worst sequels I have ever read.  She sold out.  It was like she just wrote anything to get done by a deadline rather than having thought about the characters, the writing, or the story.
     Cassia, Ky and Xander all act like totally different people without any explanation or reason.  The characters I fell in love with in Matched are all jerks in this book.
     Most of the new characters are superficially developed and only serve the purpose of moving the plot forward.  The exception is Vick.  Of course, he is suddenly killed off halfway through the book, just after touching my heart with his story of lost love.  It reminds me of a Shakespearean scholar who once told me that Shakespeare had to kill off Mercutio because he was stealing the play from Romeo.  There was no point to killing off Vick unless he was taking us away from Ky.  It didn't change the symbolic meaning of the book, move the plot forward, or change any of the other characters.  It was a pointless death and we already saw lots of other characters die pointless deaths at the beginning of the book.
     The actual writing is not very good, especially when it was brilliant in Matched.  In this book, Ally Condie doesn't take the time to show us what is happening.  She doesn't give us enough details to lead us to our own conclusions about the characters and what things mean.  She takes the shortcut of telling us how to interpret everything.  It is annoying and comes off as condescending.
     There are plot flaws in the book that Ally Condie uses when she wants and drops when they become inconvenient.  In Matched Cassia learns her society uses colored pills to control people.  When Cassia was very young, her grandfather told her she was strong enough to not need the pills.  She reflects on that memory several times and avoids taking any pills.  In Crossed, Cassia suddenly believes society's claim the blue pills will help her survive without food or water.  She doesn't stop to consider the consequences or her grandfather's words before she takes a pill.  Later, Cassia thinks about taking a red pill to forget the past twelve hours, but she remembers her grandfather's words and changes her mind.
     There are also lots of coincidences that happen so often they become unbelievable.  Cassia just happens to be placed in a camp near Ky's previous camp.  The first words she says are "I am looking for someone.  His name is Ky.  He has dark hair and blue eyes.  He came from a city, but he knows this land, too.  He has words."  Of course, one of the boys knows exactly who she means and leads her into the Carving.  Later, half dead from poison, she stumbles up a cliff to see the sunset.  Ky and Eli happen to see her and they happily reunite.  These kinds of coincidences happen constantly.  It would make a great soap opera because it is almost laugh out loud ridiculous.
     Rather than take the time to flesh out the plot and the characters, Ally Condie tries to force the plot by having new characters just "figure things out" without any knowledge of what went on before or using the clues we have.  Indie suddenly knows everything about Ky and Xander, even though she just met Ky and has never met Xander.  Since I didn't have any of the clues Indie used to "figure it out", I felt cheated, rather than having an AHA moment of "Oh, that's what that meant."  I felt like I was ten again and hearing Darth Vadar say, "Luke, I am your father."
     When Cassia finally finds what she is looking for, she is sent back to society.  Coincidentally, society hasn't even changed her status, so in the third book she can be back with Xander like she never left.  She risks everything to find the rebellion and then happily lets them sort her back into society without a word.  So much for all the times she and Ky swore not to go gentle.
    

Mockingjay

     Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is the third and final book in the trilogy.  I loved the first two books, but I did not like Mockingjay.
     The characters did not act like themselves, and it was frustrating to see they way they treated each other.  I didn't like any of the main characters anymore.
     Although Peeta was tortured to get back at Katniss, she refused to let him get close to her.  Peeta thought Katniss was the enemy and she considered him another tragedy of the war.  Without their love hanging in the balance, the fight against the government didn't seem to matter.
     It was obvious from the beginning of the book that the rebels would be betrayed by the new leaders, but it wasn't developed sufficiently.  It seemed like Suzanne Collins ran out of time and just tacked an ending onto the story.
     I didn't believe Snow or Coin were fit leaders, but the people who could have been effective leaders, were killed.  If these are the only two choices, everyone in all three books died in vain.
     The last chapter of the book should have been a fitting conclusion to all Katniss and Peeta had sacrificed, but instead it felt like a Hollywood conclusion.  I was disappointed in the whole book. 

Catching Fire

     Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins is an incredible read.  I usually hate sequels because they are pale imitations of the original, but this book is even better than The Hunger Games.  I read this book in a day because I could not put it down.
     Catching Fire starts a few months after The Hunger Games have ended.  Katniss and Peeta live next door to one another in the Victory Circle, but are further apart than they were during the games.  They rarely talk to one another anymore and Katniss is confused about her feelings for Gale and Peeta.
     President Snow appears unexpectedly to threaten Katniss' family if Katniss does not stop the rebelling colonies.  When Peeta hears the threats, he proposes to her and the two spend their victory tour acting madly in love.  When they fail, President Snow determines the Quarter Quell tributes will be reaped from the victors in each district.  Katniss and Peeta reenter the arena.
     The new arena brings new threats and new opponents inside the arena; forces outside the arena are controlling Katniss and Peeta in ways they can not understand.  Tick Tock, the countdown begins.
     This book is action packed but character driven.  I could not stop reading this book.  I was surprised by the plot twists and the way everything fit into the bigger scheme behind the scenes.
     My favorite part was seeing Katniss' wedding dress transform into the Mockingjay dress.  I was proud of Cinna for taking a stand, even though it cost him his life.
     This book made me think about life.  Where is the line between following the law and standing up against corruption?  How do we decide who to trust?  What is worth sacrificing my life?  What is love?  What am I willing to sacrifice for the people I love?
     This book is a must-read, especially if you already loved Katniss and Peeta.        

The Hunger Games

     I really liked The Hunger Games.  Although it is hard to be in such a bleak and brutal world where children are forced to kill one another, it is a book you can't put down.
     This dystopian world seems too close to reality for my comfort.  Seeing people beat each other at sporting events, voting for our favorites on reality t.v. shows, and our love of action and violence today isn't far from The Hunger Games tomorrow.
     My favorite part was when Katniss put the poisonous berries in her mouth to save Peeta and force the government to back down.  I love Little Rue and cry every time she dies and Katniss sings her to "sleep."  I was thrilled to learn how Peeta survived his attack in the water and loved how he used his talent to survive.  I also liked Cinna and the beautiful costumes he designed for Katniss and Peeta.
     My least favorite part was finding out the government stooped so low as to use the bodies and minds of the dead children to create muttations.  This part of the book disgusts and depresses me.
     It is a great read, especially in the fact there is so much to think about after you read it.  You won't be the same person you were before you read the book.

Gone

     You know it's going to be a great book when 8th graders are stealing each other's books to read it.  It took me a while to get into Gone, but if I were 15, I would have loved it. 
     Gone had an interesting plot line, but I was bored through the first half of the book.  The non-stop action wasn't enough to make me care about any of the characters.  I couldn't even keep track of most of them because they were only superficially developed.  Since I didn't feel invested in the characters, the epic battle seemed contrived.  Stephen King did a much better job of portraying the same battle in The Stand because I cared intensely about the characters.  Several characters died in Gone, and Michael Grant tried to make their deaths seem noble, but I just felt indifferent. 
     The evil controlling the book is an unknown force in the pit.  Since we do not truly understand this force, I didn't feel scared or intrigued or disgusted.  Instead it made everything seem hopeless.  If fate controls us and evil is unavoidable, why continue to fight? 
     Throwing man-eating coyotes into a day care with babies was cruel and did nothing to lead the plot forward.  It was a sad commentary on our society.  We have taught our children well.  Left alone they revert into us and willingly kill one another to survive. 
     The only character with a conscience for killing a girl becomes half asphalt and nearly unable to move by the end of the novel.  The character with the guiltiest conscience has the coolest weapon at the end.  He has been rewarded with nearly unlimited power.  It's not hard to see which character the kids will identify with in the novel.
      Okay, so that is my adult take on Gone.  As a kid, it is fast-paced, violent, and gritty.  Many of the characters develop superhero powers and use them to battle one another in huge battles that tear the town apart.  I would love it - especially if I had recently read other dystopian literature lately - like The Hunger Games.  As an adult, read The Stand. 

Matched and The Giver

     I absolutely love both of these books.  I happened to be reading The Giver with my students at the same time I read Matched.  They were interesting books to pair together because they had many of the same themes and questions to ponder.
     Cassia is the heroine in Matched.  She is the perfect daughter, student and citizen.  She knows who she will marry, what her job will be, and that she will die on her 80th birthday.  It all seems so organized and perfect for society.  Cassie never thinks to question the society or her place in it.  Jonas is the hero in The Giver.  Though younger than Cassia, Jonas is also a perfect son, student, and citizen.  He is told what job he will hold, who he will marry and when he will die.  They are both given pills to suppress their desires and emotions.  Both societies are very controlling, but tell everyone it is for their own good.

     Throughout both books, Cassia and Jonas learn of the horrors behind their perfect societies.  Cassia learns the society is not as ideal as it pretends to be - beginning with her grandfather's death.  Cassie learns about the flaws of her society slowly, so it is harder to feel her rage.  Jonas is forced to learn quickly and brutally as he discovers memories and emotions that he must take on for the good of the society.  I will never forget the scene in The Giver when Jonas watched his father "release" the twin baby.  It was horrifying and made me unerstand the horrors of this ideal society.  Cassia didn't experience any horrific moments like Jonas, so it was more difficult for me to see her society as "dangerous."
     Both of the books made me think in new ways.  Matched made me wonder about why we choose the people we love.  Is there one love for all of us that is our perfect match or is there always another person?  By choosing one, do we set a new set of choices in motion or is fate still set because someone knew what we would choose?  What about my job?  Why did teaching always seem like such a certainty?  In our rush to make everything less offensive to everyone, how much do we lose?  Which songs or poems or paintings or books would make the cut?  How much of ourselves would we lose in the choosing or later in the limitations that remain?
     The Giver made me wonder about the euphemisms we use to hide the brutal truth of our lives.  What happens if we lose our memories?  What is wisdom?  When we turn over the hard parts of our lives: war and death and suffering and loss, do we lose our best parts?  Without suffering, can we understand joy?  Without loss, can we understand love?  What makes us human?  In giving up our wisdom, do we lose our capacity to make life-changing decisions humanely?  Is this worth the cost of the hard parts of our lives?  What are we willing to sacrifice for the greater good?  What are we unwilling to sacrifice of ourselves?
     Both of these books are thought-provoking and poignant.  Although both books are easy to read, to enjoy the deeper meanings and questions, I recommend both books to advanced readers.

The Roar

     I chose this book because my 8th graders were excited about reading it.  It wasn't one of my favorite books, but I liked it. 
     The Roar by Emma Clayton is a dystopian novel set in the Earth's future.  The animals have gone crazy and attacked humans, causing terrible diseases.  Humans used nuclear bombs to destroy the rabid animals, destroying much of the land.  Now the humans have retreated behind huge walls in foldable houses.  Their lives are miserable.  There is little sun or food or space or fresh air.  In fact, there weren't any children born for years.  Now that there are children again, evil forces are at work to use the children.  Mika is doing his best to find his sister and stop the evil forces around him.
     Like other dystopian novels, this book holds up a mirror to society.  One of my favorite parts of the book was also the hardest part of the book for me to read.  This is a quote from that section.
_____________________________________________________
--Boom. Boom

"What's that?" he asked as his feet hit the pavement. It sounded like the heartbeat of an enormous beast, as if a dragon were sleeping beneath its treasure, instead of on top of it.

Boom. Boom.

"The Shadows," the chauffeur replied. "haven't you heard?"

"No," Mika said. "what's happening?"

"The mold is getting worse," the chauffeur replied grimly. "And hundreds are dying every day. And they say the government won't help them because it's cheaper to let them die."

"But the people in The Shadows won't be ignored," the chauffeur said. "So they're banging on the pillars holding up the Golden Turrets with huge steel balls on chains. All day and all night they swing them - one time for every person who's died. It was driving people crazy up here when it started on Friday night, but apparently you get used to it."

Boom. Boom.

"I don't think I'll get used to it," Mika said. He gazed at the pavement and tried to imagine what was below, all that darkness and water and millions of people trying to stay alive and balls on chains swinging against the pillars.
____________________________________________________

     This book reminded me of Ender's Game, but I didn't like The Roar as much as Ender's Game.  Mostly because I never really fell in love with the characters or cared what happened to them.  I absolutely loved Ender and felt like I was with him every step of the way.  Although I didn't care for the characters, I liked the ideas in the book. 
     I recommend this book for advanced readers.  It is also a good match for people who enjoy dystopian novels like The Hunger Games or Maze Runner.  At 481 pages, it isn't a good match for reluctant readers.