Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick

Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick

Published by Harper Collins May 2012

Reviewed from ARC provided by the publisher 

Summary:

When soldiers arrive at his hometown in Cambodia, Arn is just a kid, dancing to rock 'n' roll, hustling for spare change, and selling ice cream with his brother. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever. Arn is separated from his family and assigned to a labor camp: working in the rice paddies under a blazing sun, he sees the other children, weak from hunger, malaria, or sheer exhaustion, dying before his eyes. He sees prisoners marched to a nearby mango grove, never to return. And he learns to be invisible to the sadistic Khmer Rouge, who can give or take away life on a whim.
One day, the soldiers ask if any of the kids can play an instrument. Arn's never played a note in his life, but he volunteers. In order to survive, he must quickly master the strange revolutionary songs the soldiers demand--and steal food to keep the other kids alive. This decision will save his life, but it will pull him into the very center of what we know today as the Killing Fields. And just as the country is about to be liberated from the Khmer Rouge, Arn is handed a gun and forced to become a soldier. He lives by the simple credo: "Over and over I tell myself one thing: never fall down."

My Thoughts:
“Over and over I tell myself one thing: never fall down”. -This book is based on the true experiences of Arn Chon-Pond and his experience when the Khmer Rouge came into power. It is tragic, and disturbing. I am embarrassed to say that I had no idea this happened. I was young during this time period but still-while I was reading I kept asking myself –how did I not know about this? Sometimes I feel like I live with blinders on, which is one of many reasons why books like this need to be written, why we need to be reminded of the horror that can happen.  Books like this, like Sold or like The Boy and Striped Pyjamas, leave me shaken and upset but I think that's the point right? It's so easy to get caught up in our "western lives" that we can forget and/or ignore the atrocities that have happened and continue to happen.
What makes his story even more incredible is not just that Arn survived but that he has done incredible things with his life since. He continues to give back to his community and country.
I didn’t give this book a “rating” on GoodReads...how can I possible rate something like this?? Brilliantly written, this book is a reminder of how lucky I am to have the love of family and a roof over my head. A bed to sleep in. A silent night, without screaming or gun shots or fear of losing someone I love. It makes the worries of my day, small and insignificant.
An important read. Destined to be an award winner.

Other titles about the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia: 
A Song for Cambodia - by Michelle Lord
First they Killed My Father - by Loung Ung
When Broken Glass Floats - by Chanrithy Him

Book Review: No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz

No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz

Published by Dial Books May 2012

Reviewed from ARC provided by the Publisher

Summary

A biological bomb has just been discovered in the air ducts of a busy suburban mall. At first nobody knows if it's even life threatening, but then the entire complex is quarantined, people start getting sick, supplies start running low, and there's no way out. Among the hundreds of trapped shoppers are four teens.
These four different narrators, each with their own stories, must cope in unique, surprising styles, changing in ways they wouldn't have predicted, trying to find solace, safety, and escape at a time when the adults are behaving badly.
This is a gripping look at people and how they can--and must--change under the most dire of circumstances.
And not always for the better

 My Thoughts:


    Aside from the fact that this title was highly recommended to me, I definitely would have been pulled in by the book comparison “ Life As We Knew It, meets Lord of the Flies in a Mall”.  The story opens and we meet Marco, who is on the run from two determined bullyish jocks from his school. Attempting to hide in a the HVAC closet he stumbles upon something even scarier than the bullies who pursue him.
The bomb has released something in the air and soon the mall is over run in chaos as the people inside the mall  become quarantined and unable to leave.  We follow 4 teens (the narrators) as they attempt to make sense of their surrounding, their situation and each other.  I enjoyed reading the perspectives of each of the 4 teens especially as they realized their worries from earlier in the day ie. what shoes to buy, parent issues, and the latest computer game became unimportant in the face of trying to survive. Themes of sacrifice, helping others or yourself, and the importance of family are laced through out. No Safety in Numbers reads like a stand alone novel. It wasn’t until the last two chapters that I began to accept that the book would not come to conclusion in the next 100 pages. Twists and turns and the voices of the narrators propel the book forward to the inevitable cliff hanger ending. Enjoyable read. (love the cover too) I can also see this becoming a popular recommendation for reluctant teen readers.

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Book Review: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Published by Little Brown for Young Readers -April 2012

Reviewed from finished copy provided by the publisher

Summary:

What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?

Jasper (Jazz) Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could--from the criminal's point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret--could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

My thoughts:

I am a wimp. (or highly sensitive) :)  I avoid scary movies -even the previews, scary television (IMO) like Dexter  or Criminal Minds as well as scary books. This book sat in my to-read pile for some time before I had the courage to pick it up.  I like thrillers, but tend to avoid books about serial killers as they usually give me nightmares. 

 The main character in the story "Jazz" has had his own nightmare to live through. Being raised by a serial killer father...an incredibly successful one at that was no picnic. Though Jazz was raised to believe what his father was doing, what he was witnessing was normal.  

  After his father's conviction, he attempts to pull himself together but always lives with the fear that he will be like "Dear Old Dad". When the killings begin again, Jazz becomes desperate to uncover who the killer is and prove to the world (and to himself) that he won't follow in the family business.

   The writing in I Hunt Killers is superb. Lyga paints a dismal & disturbing picture of death with incredible detail. I couldn't stop reading. I wanted Jazz to be free of his father, and of his past. I was desperate to find out who the new killer was...(no spoilers here).  Did I Hunt Killers disturb me? Absolutely.  In fact, there is a paragraph or two that are still replaying in my head a week later. It's like once you've seen something you can't un-see it.  I'm not sorry I read it, but it won't be one I'll forget any time soon. Perhaps that's the point? 

Recommended for fans of Darren Shan, King, Kootnz, Jeff Lindsay, and those with strong stomachs. 


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Top 100 YA Books-How Many Have You Read?

Loved this list I found over at Avery's Book Book....

I thought it would be fun to see how many of the books on the list I've read.....I can't believe I've read 56 of the 100 titles!

Top 100 YA books

1. Alex Finn – Beastly
2. Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones
3. Ally Carter – Gallagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4)
4. Ally Condie – Matched
5. Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
6. Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills
7. Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
8. Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)
9. Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)
10. Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
11. Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3)
12. Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2)
13. Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
14. Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret
15. Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4)
16. Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)
17. Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3)
18. Christopher Paolini – Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)
19. Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)
20. Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2)
21. Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3)
22. Ellen Hopkins – Impulse
23. Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
24. Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply
25. Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3)
26. Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere
27. Gail Carson Levine – Fairest
28. Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3)
29. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
30. James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2)
31. James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
32. Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why
33. Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)
34. Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
35. John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
36. John Green – An Abundance of Katherines
37. John Green – Looking for Alaska
38. John Green – Paper Towns
39. Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)
40. Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2)
41. Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3)
42. Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2)
43. Lauren Kate – Fallen (1, 2, 3)
44. Lemony Snicket – Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
45. Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3)
46. Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)
47. Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
48. M.T. Anderson – Feed
49. Maggie Stiefvater – The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)
50. Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
51. Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)
52. Markus Zusak – The Book Thief
53. Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger
54. Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
55. Mary Ting – Crossroads
56. Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)
57. Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)
58. Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
59. Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
60. Meg Rosoff – How I live now
61. Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
62. Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)
63. Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road
64. Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
65. Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
66. Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)
67. Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion
68. Neal Shusterman – Unwind
69. Neil Gaiman – Coraline
70. Neil Gaiman – Stardust
71. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
72. P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8)
73. Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)
74. Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
75. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick; Norah’s Infinite Playlist
76. Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
77. Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
78. Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks
79. S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)
80. Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip
81. Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride
82. Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key
83. Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever
84. Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
85. Scott Westerfeld – Leviathan (1, 2)
86. Scott Westerfeld – Uglies (1, 2, 3)
87. Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days
88. Shannon Hale – Princess Academy
89. Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)
90. Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
91. Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)
92. Stephanie Meyer – The Host
93. Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)
94. Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees
95. Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)
96. Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)
97. Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
98. Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)
99. Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)
100. Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped

How many have you read?