I read practically any type of book. This includes everything from graphic novels to sci-fi to poetry, though I do draw the line at venturing into any bodice ripping romances. Since every summer puts in a constant state of beach read mode, this summer I took a dive into the YA side. This isn't the first time I'm reading YA novels, as I've read His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, Harry Potter, and Twilight (regretfully.) I'm going to go into why I am currently reading these kind of books, and then tell a little bit about them:
YA can be straight up good storytelling. If it's well written, very few parts of the story drag. Authors that write books geared towards readers 14-18 years old have their work cut out for them - appealing to a group with a ridiculously short attention span that has countless other more immediately entertaining options, like blogs, video games, tv shows, and so on. Nowadays, I feel like my attention span is hopelessly stretched in a million places - this is one of the reasons that I decided to read a few books that require less concentration than something more challenging. It's the summer after all. Both mind and body need a vacation! Now, on to the list of a few books I'm recommending. Only one is currently on sale, so be sure to look for these when they hit shelves this fall.
1.) Maze Runner by James Dasher. (Book 1 in the Maze Runner trilogy)
Read it if you like The Hunger Games, 1984, Brave New World, Never Let Me Go, or any other work that is set in a dystopian society.
Thomas wakes up alone in an elevator shaft, knowing only his name but nothing of where he came from. He has been delivered to a community where a group of 50 teen boys live, called The Glade. All of the boys were delivered in the same fashion as Thomas - no one knows who they are, where they came from, or how they got there. Though the same shaft, food and supplies arrive daily by who the boys refer to as "The Creators," though that is all they know. The boys are surrounded by a maze that is crawling with creepy half-machine monsters known as Grievers that hunt the boys that venture in the maze to find a way out. The day after Thomas arrives, a girl is delivered with the note "She is the last." Soon, supplies stop arriving and Thomas is appointed as the leader to get the boys out of the glade fast, as things go from weird to worse.
Great, fast read. The plot is completely engrossing and the action follows with every page turn. I finished it in 2 days, but it can easily be read cover to cover in a few hours. It reminded me of Lord of the flies if it were set in a labrynth - cool concept. A few complaints I have are minor - the characters are a little one dimensional, and the dialogue is a little silly. There is a whole vocabulary made up of faux swear words, like shuck, klunk, and slopper. You get used to it, but I thought it was rather distracting at first.
2.) Scorch Trials by James Dashner. (Book 2 in the Maze Runner trilogy - on sale 10/12/10)
Without spoiling it for those out there who have not yet read the Maze Runner, all I'll say is that it is an enjoyable follow-up.
3.) Trash by Andy Mulligan (on sale 10/12/10)
I'm calling it when Slumdog Millionaire meets Stand By Me.
One of my favorite books coming out this fall. The book takes place in an unnamed, poor country and focuses on three boys: Raphael, Gardo, and Rat who live in mounds of garbage in a dump. Along with their family, a community of trash pickers sift thorough a city's garbage to salvage things to sell. One day, the boys come across a wallet. Soon, the police are at their homes, inquiring about the same lost wallet, which belongs to a very important man. The boys decide to hang on to the wallet, not because of the money, but because the wallet contains important secrets and documents that the police are going through great lengths to hide. Soon, the boys are being pursued and must go to extreme lengths to protect documents as they try to put together the pieces of the puzzle that it will solve.
