Posts Tagged 'power'

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Genre:  Realistic Fiction

# of Pages:  307

RAC Book:  Yes

Waverly and Kieran live on a giant space ship that houses a large community of people who have fled earth due to the inhospitable conditions.  Waverly and Kieran were actually born on this ship so they never knew earth.  The idea is that after many years they will be able to inhabit a planet called New Earth.  They are not the only ship who deserted earth, but the ship that took off before them left an entire year prior to their departure.  Therefore, they are shocked to see this other ship one day.  The captain assures everyone that everything is okay, but naturally everyone is on edge to see a ship after all this time.  Their suspicions are confirmed when soldiers from that ship attack their home and take all the female children hostage.  Waverly is taken to the new ship against her will and believes it is her job to protect the younger children.  Meanwhile, Kieran is left in a position of power on their home ship, but has difficulty getting others to follow his will.  Will they ever be reunited?  Can they ever sort out all of the lies to find the truth?

This story is simply captivating.  Once you begin it is almost impossible to stop.  There are so many things Waverly and Kieran do not know about the people who have been making all the decisions around them.  In most cases, people they either  trusted or hated end up have sympathetic sides as well as deplorable ones.  The situation is unique, yet the actions taken by the humans seem believable and understandable given the circumstances.  Fans of books with futuristic themes will love this book and will eagerly await the next installment.  Highly recommended.

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

Genre:  Fantasy

# of Pages:  400

RAC Book:  Yes

2010 Iowa High School Book Award

Jena and her four sisters use a secret portal to sneak into the woods to dance with the magical creatures every full moon.  When Jena’s father gets ill and is sent away to recover, she is left in charge and her cousin Cezar begins to take over.  Cezar believes that women are frail and need to be looked after by men.  As Jena struggles to take care of her sisters, their home, and her father’s business she always has her best friend, Gogu, by her side.  Gogu is a talking frog that only she can hear.  As Cezar becomes frantic trying to control the five sisters, Jena starts to worry that all is not well in the wildwoods either.  Can she protect her sisters and everyone else she cares about from a power hungry dictator?

This fantasy story begins a little slowly as the characters are introduced, but accelerates quickly as the family battles Cezar on a daily basis.  There are some twists and turns along the way, but a few are fairly easy to predict.  The end will leave readers wanting more.  Highly recommended for fantasy lovers.


a


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 38 other followers