Maw Books » science fiction

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Natasha Maw — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:11:09 +0000

So Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin is one of those books where perhaps not reviewing it in a timely manner ultimately creates the final judgment: it’s a pretty forgettable book. I hate to say that because I remember thinking that the book wasn’t that bad while I was reading it but when I picked it up again I almost convinced myself that I hadn’t read it before. I couldn’t remember a single thing about it. I had to go read some other reviews to refresh my memory and that’s not a good thing. It’s not the small details that I’m talking about but rather the basic premise.

Elsewhere is a story about the afterlife. Liz is almost sixteen when she’s hit by a car and killed. She awakens to find herself on a cruise ship, headed to Elsewhere. It’s there that she meets her grandmother and discovers that everybody ages backward until they are ready to be born again. How could I forget that? The premise certainly is unusual. I don’t remember ever wanting to put it down. It held my interest. I wouldn’t tell people not to read it because I think many teens will like it. But it’s not one that stuck with me for long. Oh, yeah. And there’s talking dogs. I don’t like talking dogs.

Links of interest: Gabrielle Zevin website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction/Fantasy
Publisher: Square Fish, May 15, 2007. (original publication: August 11, 2005)
Paperback, 304 pages. ISBN: 0312367465
Copy source: Library
Elsewhere is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Natasha Maw — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:51:51 +0000

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead is the perfect realistic fiction book with a fantasy twist. It’s a mystery too. As well as a coming of age, friendship book. In fact, When You Reach Me dabbles a little in many genres. In a short 197 pages, this book packs a punch! From what I’ve read about the book it’s also getting a lot of Newbery buzz. Which I wouldn’t mind one little bit if it received Newbery recognition. It’s also on all of the Best of 2009 lists and deservedly so. Long story short: worth the read!

So I really don’t want to say to much about the book because I didn’t know a single thing about it when I read it, so the little twist at the end was a really nice surprise. It’s also the type of book that as soon as you close the very last page, you want to open the first one again and start all over again. I borrowed this one from the library but it’s a keeper that I’d like to add to my library and I think would also make a great read-a-loud as a family.

A perfect compain book to When You Reach Me is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (which by the way I hated! Previous link is my review). Our main charater in When You Reach Me, Miranda, has this FAVORITE book which she reads over and over again. When she first mentions the plot but without mentioning the title (not given till much later – so the comparison between the two books may go over some people’s heads), I thought to myself – ugh, that sounds like it’s SO not my type of book. At the next book reference I realized that her favorite book was A Wrinkle in Time and yep – so not my type of book!

But When You Reach Me IS my type of book. One that I would wholeheartedly recommend even if I didn’t tell you anything about it.

Links of interest: Rebecca Stead website and blog, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, approx ages 9-12.
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books. July 14, 2009.
Hardcover, 208 pages. ISBN 0385737424
When You Reach Me is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Natasha Maw — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:34:02 +0000

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson is set in the very near future and seventeen year old Jenna has just woken from a year long coma. Her parents tell her that she suffered a terrible accident. But yet, she’s now perfect and whole. But even though she’s perfect in every way, she can’t remember anything. Not her parents, her grandmother, her friends, her childhood. She doesn’t even know the basic meaning of words. Jenna’s parents give her videos to watch in hopes that she’ll gain her memory back and soon she is gaining flashes of memory. But the more she learns and tries to return to a normal life, the more questions she has.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox is the type of book that you don’t want to know to much about and I was glad that I didn’t. I loved learning each new detail as they were revealed throughout the book. There are a lot of ethical and moral dilemmas presented throughout the book as well as discussion on what it means to be human. Where does our identity come from?

The writing is very tight, no words wasted here. I’m not sure I liked the epilogue. It seemed a bit too forced, but it didn’t hamper my overall enjoyment. Recommended.

The book trailer:

Visit www.whoisjennafox.com and Mary E. Pearson’s website and blog.