The City of Ember -- Jeanne DuPrau

In the city of Ember, the lights are starting to go out... a lot. Nobody knows how to fix the generator permanently... the generator which powers the entire city. And nobody knows what to do about all the supply shortages which are happening either. Perhaps, in most cities, this wouldn't be a problem. But Ember isn't like most cities. Because when the lights go out in Ember, there is NO light at all -- everything is pitch black. There is no fire, no flashlights. And there's nowhere to go, for as the citizens have been told for centuries: there is no place BUT Ember.

Most of the citizens are content to accept that Ember is the only city in existence. They are willing to pretend nothing is wrong, though somewhere inside they know the now-frequent blackouts are not good. Some of the citizens know things are bad -- and they are seeking to make their lives comfortable until the end. But there are some who are unwilling to accept the impending doom of their city. Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow are two of those citizens. And though they are only twelve years old, they begin the search for a solution and a way out of Ember.

Lina feels there must be a city somewhere else, for she has dreamed of it. Doon feels there must be a way to fix the generator permanently, if only he understood electricity. But when Lina happens upon a partially-destroyed (thanks to her toddler-sister Poppy) sheet of paper with instructions that seem to be vitally important, she turns to Doon as one who can work with her to solve the mystery of the instructions -- and maybe find a way out of the City of Ember and into a different world.


**I picked this book up to read to fill the space between the last book I finished and the one I was waiting for at the library. I ended up liking this book. I think it's a great read for early teens (12/13), both boys and girls. There is adventure and suspense. I was eager to see how it ended, and I'm now planning to read the next in the series!

Divergent -- Veronica Roth

Some time in future Chicago, the day has come for Beatrice Prior and all her 16 year-old friends to make a decision which will change their entire lives: the decision to leave their family and the only way of life they've ever known, or to stay. For Beatrice, the choice has been something over which she struggled. Though her heart yearned to be with her family, she did not feel that she fit in with the way of life of the Abnegations -- those who are selfless. But to choose to leave her family, with the sure knowledge she'd be disowned, was a heart-breaking choice.

Even more troubling than the decision which lays before her are the results of the aptitude test -- the test which determines where she really belongs, even if she chooses otherwise. When her results come back inconclusive, she hears a word she's never heard before: DIVERGENT. It is a word almost whispered. A word warned against. A word she is admonished to keep secret, even from her parents. It is the word which describes Beatrice.

With little help from the aptitude test for decision-making, Beatrice chooses to leave her family and join the Dauntless -- those brave ones who are meant to protect the city from harm. And she changes her name to Tris, a more fitting name, she feels, for a brave fighter.

But all is not as it seems. Because all is not as it once was when the factions were created years before. As Beatrice initiates into the Dauntless faction, she faces violence, cruelty, betrayal. She finds herself singled out and must work constantly to keep her secret safe -- for there is fear associated with her divergence. And when she finds out the truth, she must strive to warn her family whom she loves; because she cannot fully accept the edict "faction before blood," even if it costs her her life.


*I will say that this book was a page-turner for me. I wanted to see how things would pan out. That being said, I found it disturbingly violent for the age group it is intended for and also felt like some of the storyline got rushed toward the end of the novel, thereby making it not as well developed as I think it could have been.

The Book Thief -- Markus Zusak

It's 1939 and Leisel Meminger is a young girl living in Nazi Germany. She and her brother are traveling with their mother to be left in the care of foster parents Rosa and Hans Hubermann. But Leisel's brother doesn't make it -- he dies on the train and is buried in a town along the way.

And that's when Leisel steals her first book, an act which sets in motion her destiny.

Though at first reluctant to accept her new living arrangements and the loss of all her family, Leisel eventually acclimates and finds her place among the Hubermanns and the other residents of Himmel Street. She finds her best friend in a boy named Rudy who lives next door. And, with the help of her new Papa, she learns to read during midnight reading sessions. Soon Leisel's hunger for words grows, and when, at a book burning to celebrate the Fuhrer's birthday, she spots a book that escaped destruction, she steals it. An act she will perform every time she needs a new book flong or reading.

But life is dangerous in Nazi Germany. Especially if you're a Jew. And, unbeknownst to Leisel, her life is soon to be intertwined with one such Jew. And nothing will ever be the same.


**This was an amazing read. I didn't want to put it down. A beautiful story of love and humanity -- both the goodness within us as well as the cruelty of which we are capable -- this novel had me thinking a lot about events which happened long before I was born, but which changed the world I would come into forever. And this book has certainly changed me as well.         

In Their Footsteps -- Tess Gerritsen

Beryl Tavistock is a 28-year old raven-haired beauty with brains and wits to boot. She and her brother Jordan were orphaned 20 years previously when their mother and father were both killed in the line of duty, working as spies for England. However, at a present-day party for spies and other high-positioned people who ran in the same circles, Beryl and Jordan learn the truth about their parents' deaths when one party guest becomes a bit too inebriated divulges the family secret: the official ruling was that Madeline Tavistock had been having an affair, and her husband Bernard had killed them both in a passionate murder suicide.

In shock over this revelation which had been hidden from them for years, Beryl and Jordan travel to Paris where the 20 year old murder took place, in an effort to track down the truth, because they feel confident that the official ruling is wrong. Accompanying them as a favor to their old family friend is ex-CIA agent Richard Wolfe whose magnetism with Beryl creates difficulties for both of them. As they traipse around Paris, in the footsteps of their parents, murders begin anew, and the assurance that their parents were innocent becomes more and more concrete to Beryl and Jordan. But will they be allowed to learn the truth, or will it cost them their lives?

I Love You Miss Huddleston: and other inappropriate longings of my Indiana childhood -- Philip Gulley

This autobiography is a hodge-podge of stories from author Philip Gulley's childhood and teenage years in Danville, Indiana. From the rumor (spread by his siblings) that he was adopted to days being overworked by the U.S. Government, and up to the time he left his parents' house in the interest of not living in a "prison," these stories are told in Gulley's witty voice as he reminisces over various aspects of his colorful past.

The Post-Man Always Rings Twice -- James Cain

Frank Chambers is a drifter who gets kicked off a truck near a small gas station/restaurant in California. He decides to grab a bite to eat (without being able to pay for it) at the restaurant, and the owner, a Greek man named Nick Papadakis, ends up offering Frank a job. Initially, Frank is uninterested, and plans to hit the road and continue the life he is used to living. But when Frank spots Nick's wife Cora in the kitchen, he suddenly finds a reason to stay on and work for Nick.

Before long, Frank and Cora begin a torrid affair and plan the murder of Nick Papadakis with the goal of freeing Cora from the marriage she loathes and allowing the two lovers to begin a life together. As plans fail and succeed, and as the justice system gets involved, lies, truths, betrayals, and destruction taint the future Frank and Cora dreamed about, proving that some things can only end in tragedy.

This World We Live In -- Susan Beth Pfeffer

It is April, almost a year since the asteroid struck the moon. Though she had stopped writing in her journal for a while, 16 year old Miranda Evans decides to resume her journaling and describes the goings-on of her family in this world they now live in. For the most part, things remain as they were before: rare moments of electricity, weekly food deliveries, and dark, ash-laden skies.

But soon things start to change. Rain begins to fall, and Matt and Jon, Miranda's brothers, bike ride to the river in hopes of catching the fish that should be running. They return with garbage bags full of fish... But they also bring along Syl, a woman they met in a motel and whom Matt has "married." While the family strives to adjust to its new dynamic, tensions start to rise and only become worse when Miranda's father, his new wife and their infant son, and three strangers (including Alex and Julie Morales) show up. With the food they had already being stretched thin and now being stretched thinner, tempers flare and the definition of family becomes re-defined.

Before long, Miranda and Alex develop feelings for each other as they pilfer houses together in search of food and other items for survival. But Alex plans to leave again with Julie, feeling it is wrong of them to accept the charity of others when they can not repay it. Yet each attempt to leave is thwarted, and Alex and Julie find themselves with the Evans family longer than anticipated. When plans are finally set with a hopeful future for several members of the group, a tornado strikes and, once again, life changes for everyone.