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The Giver
by Lois Lowry

I accidentally re-read this today. Today was supposed to be research paper day but I was thinking about The Giver after reading and being disappointed with The Prophet of Yonwood. And it just so happens that I had checked this book out for my mom because our family book club is doing it for August. So I was eating lunch and the book was just sitting there and I thought I’d just read a little bit of it while I was eating. But The Giver is one of those books that you just can’t put down - even if it is the fourth or fifth time you are reading it.

Every time I am initially seduced by the apppearance of utopia and the sense of order and control. Every time I fall for it, thinking how much I’d like to live in a world like that. Every time, I experience the same joy and shock and outrage as Jonas does as he makes his journey towards enlightenment. I think this is not unusual, to want to be able to live in a utopia. But The Giver always reminds me that you can’t have a perfectly ordered world without giving up the things which make life really valuable.

This is a timeless book, the children’s and young adult’s version of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. It is a quick read and I recommend it highly to anyone who has not already experienced it, no matter what your age may be.

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The Prophet of Yonwood (Book of Ember)
by Jeanne DuPrau

I was thrilled when I realized that there was a third book of Ember out since I loved the first two in this series, The City of Ember, and The People of Sparks. I’d say they fit best into the genres of sci-fi and young adult literature. I love young adult lit, but I don’t usually like sci-fi. Ember, however, had certain elements to it that were very reminiscent of Lois Lowry’s classic The Giver and I was hooked immediately. Sparks was a brilliant follow up.

The first two books basically follow a future civilization of people living underground, except they don’t know they are underground because they don’t know that anything even *exists* except underground. But as the story progresses, we learn more and more about where these people are, why they’re there, and so on.

So, obviously I was excited about the third book, and especially so because it is actually a prequel to the first two books. And I was so disappointed. The whole book felt like one big fake out with too many storylines that just never went anywhere worthwhile. What was the point of Hoyt McCoy? He had the potential to be a brilliant character but we never really got his story. And the grandfather’s journal? It was almost like DuPrau was setting up another prequel that would be pointless after this.

The Prophet of Yonwood essentially tells the story that precedes the one I really wanted to read. The story I wanted to read is summarized in an awkward tacked on ending. It feels like DuPrau was trying to be creative by not telling the story of the events immediately preceding Ember but she only defeated herself and betrayed her truly creative and fresh writing of the first two books. Instead we get a story that, standing alone is decent enough, but compared to what her readers have come to expect, is predictable and heavy handed with its all too obvious parallels to the issues of modern society.

Having said that, I do look forward to reading more of DuPrau’s future works, but I think it is time to let go of Ember and pick a new story line. Are there any other Ember fans out there who want to weigh in on this? I know a couple other people who felt the same way I do but I’d love to hear from anyone who wants to tell me what you thought!

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I considered doing one of my “all time favorite books” for this first book blog review but decided I’d just jump right in with a review of the last book I read. Doesn’t hurt that it was an incredible book! So, here we go….

Book review of:

Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda
by J.P. Stassen
translated by Alexis Siegel

I’m a graphic novel fan and my favorite graphic novels are the autobiographical variety. Deogratias isn’t autobiographical but it is an historical story set in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994. The author was living in Rwanda at the time and obviously experienced some unspeakable stuff up close and personal. So while this graphic novel is not autobiographical, it has an element of truth and history to it that hits home for me.

This book shook me harder than any book in a long time. The story is told in two parts, flashing back and forward. We never witness the crucial moment in the story but we see Deogratias’ memories of what happened before the genocide, and his experiences now after the genocide. Eventually we find out what happened at that crucial moment that transformed Deogratias from the light hearted boy to the haunted madman. As a child he was endearing: sometimes charming, sometimes obnoxious, but only in the way of all teenaged boys. But the Deogratias we see now is frightening and possibly hallucinating. Up until the end you will be wondering what is real and what is not, what actually happened and what is purely in Deogratias’ mind.

The illustrations are beautiful. The colors you see on the cover are the colors used predominantly throughout the novel. Lots of deep, muted blue, shades of brown and maroon, and only the occasional bright splash of green or yellow. Pay attention to the border of each frame for a quick visual cue whether you are in the past or the present.

This book came to my attention when I became aware of a new publishing imprint called First Second Books that is publishing some great new graphic novels. I think I found them via my interest in the works of Joann Sfar. Their website is pretty awesome and you can see some more pictures from Deogratias there.

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You’re probably thinking, “So, Annie, why did you decide to start a blog?” Well, dear readers, here is why…

As you probably know by now, since you have somehow found your way through cyberspace to this tiny blog, I’m a bibliophile. I read lots of books and have horrid short term memory. I don’t know how many times I’ve been at work in the library and someone asks, “So … read any good books lately?” and I draw a complete blank.

I never wanted to have a blog. I like the general idea of it and I like reading other peoples’ blogs but I could never justify having my own. What on earth would I write about that people might actually care about? And of course, in a moment of genius, I came up with the the idea of blogging about the books I read and what I think of them.

So really, this is as much for me to keep track of my bibliophilia as it is for you to find out what I’ve been reading and what I loved or hated. If no one ever finds their way here, so be it, I’m quite content to tap into my inner English major and ramble on to myself about my latest literary adventure. It can be my own little readers’ advisory. But of course I’d be pleased if you follow along and let me know if you’ve read the same book and what you thought about it.

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