A huge BRAVO to SLJ for picking an enormous number of my favorite titles of the year to highlight on their list. Lovely! They have selected 67 titles this year that span from infants to teens.
I am especially happy to see some of my favorite teen novels made the list. It’s been an amazing year for teen fantasy and science fiction, hasn’t it?
I am heading off to place library holds on the ones I haven’t gotten my hands on yet. Enjoy the list!
Anyone else missing out on the hype over this book? Or perhaps I have been too caught up in a sequence of flu, pink eye and then a holiday cold to notice?
I know that it will be a bestseller – no question. But at our library system, for 30 libraries there are only 41 holds. A lot less than any of the Twilight series currently have! So is anyone desperate to read this one?
The Compound by S. A. Bodeen
When the US was attacked with nuclear weapons, Eli and most of his family were the lucky ones with an underground compound where they were safe. To be safe, they had to stay in the compound for 15 years. Six years have now passed and Eli has grown into a solitary teen who hates to be touched. His twin brother Eddy and his grandmother had both been accidentally left out of the compound when the door was shut. Though he tries not to think of his brother, he finds himself often dwelling on him. His other siblings who are in the compound with him and his parents are either ignored or heaped with abuse. The pace of life in the compound is slow and steady, with everyone relying on their routines to keep sane. Something is about to happen to shatter that complacency and make them question everything.
Bodeen has written a taut thriller that male teen readers will enjoy. The dynamic between Eli and his family rings true as does his desperation to be separate and alone. As the truth about their life is revealed to the reader in tantalizingly brief glimpses, readers will be unable to put the book down. Bodeen’s pacing is masterfully crafted from the slow, almost claustrophobic early part of the novel to the breakneck speed as their world changes. Eli is a distasteful protagonist who is neither kind nor interested in others, one might think this would make him less effective, but instead it makes the book even more gripping and fascinating as the reader deals with this unreliable narrator.
Highly recommended for teen readers who enjoy Scott Westerfeld’s dystopian fiction.
Listen to Jon Scieszka on NPR as he talks about his new book, Knucklehead. If you haven’t read it already, then run out and get it! I have seen several reviews saying that it misses its intended audience, but I completely disagree. My 7 and 11 year old sons adored having it read aloud to them.
You can read my gushing review here.
Waking Brain Cells 