An adventure in the wilds of Alaska. A creepy old house that possesses its inhabitants. A high school senior facing unique challenges in her college search. I recently read three very different books: one thriller, one horror and one realistic fiction. But despite the differences in genre, they all plucked at my emotions and had me glued to the pages.
The North Line by Matt Riordan - After a foolish mistake costs Adam his college scholarship, he hopes to make quick tuition money by working the summer on fishing boats in Alaska. The job introduces him to the rough characters, grueling routines and physical risks that are part of the industry. When the captain of Adam’s boat decides to defy striking fishermen, the danger escalates. The author draws from his own work experiences to instill real grittiness, tension, and even humor. My only criticism is that the author sometimes grows philosophical about nature, evolution, and purpose, breaking up the action. In addition, halfway through the book, readers learn that it is set in the 1990s during the Gulf War. It’s never really clear why the author includes this historical element, and it’s not integrated throughout the story. Aside from those issues, the adventure may appeal to readers who liked Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Peak by Roland Smith or Adrift by Paul Griffin. The theme of shedding your past and forging a new identity also may resonate, although the coarse language and references to sex and drug use may make this book best for older teens. The ending is tense, thrilling, and unexpected. A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat - After a failed suicide attempt, teenaged Libby and her family try to make a fresh start in a mysterious home that’s been abandoned for decades. But while the family struggles to cope with its trauma, it must also face the secrets of the house, which include a history of seances, rumored disappearances and creepy bugs - so many creepy bugs. The author deftly balances a story about a shattered family and mental illness with a thrilling tale of hauntings and the supernatural. Libby, her younger sister, their mom and a quirky boy next door are well developed and relatable. The supernatural elements will make readers’ skin crawl and the ending is fast-paced, tense and thrilling. The bugs may turn off some readers. The discussion of suicide may be too heavy for some, but the author focuses on the aftermath and recovery, not the act itself. While it may trigger some readers, who are warned in an author’s note at the front of the book, the discussion is handled honestly but carefully, showing how that level of desperation impacts everyone connected. Readers who like horror stories and don’t mind being creeped out will devour this book. Fans of Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury and White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson, other stories where the haunted house is almost another character, also may enjoy this. Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest - Effie is a high school senior who uses a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, a condition that impacts her mobility and reflexes. She longs to go to college far from home and become a voice for people with disabilities. But she struggles with obstacles in her current school and fears leaving her support network of family and friends. Will her wheelchair keep her from following her dreams? Spoiler alert: of course it doesn’t. But watching Effie navigate the journey from a shy teen afraid to make waves to a confident advocate for herself and others is powerful. How she pursues her dreams and pushes past challenges sends a strong message to others. This book offers the rare perspective of someone with a chronic illness and a wheelchair user, and it’s eye opening. When Effie and her parents visit her dream school in New York City, readers see firsthand how hard it is for someone with limited mobility to catch the subway or cross a snowy campus. Readers learn how easy it is for colleges and businesses to make excuses for not being accessible, blaming the age of buildings or the cost of making upgrades for their failure to do so. The story brings to light sacrifices that people with disabilities are expected to make, such as forgoing the chance to have a roommate because the only dorm rooms that will fit a wheelchair are singles. When Effie tours a campus that has made strong efforts to improve accessibility, it is amazing what can be done, making the excuses offered by others even harder to accept. Readers with a disability or chronic illness will see themselves in the story, but so will any teen facing the decision about what to do after high school. Choosing a college or a career to pursue can be scary, confusing or, in some cases, ripe for comedy. Other books that cover this time period include Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertelli and When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon.
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Dystopian fiction deals with the end of the world - the collapse of civilization as we know it due to war, plague, alien invasion or some other calamity. Well-known examples are The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, a war-torn society where children must battle to the death for an audience's amusement, or The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a dismal journey of a father and son through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Teen readers are drawn to these stories for the action and excitement, but also for the echoes of the real-world problems they have to navigate. A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher is a gentler kind of dystopian story. Instead of focusing on how society falls apart, it explores what the world is like for the survivors decades after. The story is told by Griz, a teen whose family is immune to the condition that caused the human race to lose the ability to reproduce and die out. The family survives on a series of remote islands where they farm, fish, and occasionally go "a-Viking," exploring abandoned places for anything useful they can find. It's not an easy life, but despite some hardship, the family is somewhat content. When a trader comes by and steals one of the family dogs, valued as much for its companionship as for its hunting, Griz jumps in his boat and gives chase. The pursuit takes him and his remaining dog to the mainland, where he tries to reconcile what he’s read in old books with the ruins he sees. It's a contemplative adventure as the reader sees the remains of our society through Griz's eyes. Recounting the story in a journal at the lowest point in his life, Griz draws us in with his tales of danger and wonder; we want to know how he got into trouble, if he'll find a way out, and whether he will ever find his dog. When Griz finally catches up with the trader, the story enters more familiar dystopian territory, exploring issues of morality and individual freedoms with a few reveals I never expected. Griz is a compelling narrator, full of curiosity and honest about his shortcomings. His relationship with his dogs will resonate with anyone who's ever loved a pet. While this may not have the edge-of-your-seat thrills of some dystopian novels, there is plenty to move the story along. In fact, when it ended, I was left wanting to know more about the characters, and longing to accompany them on further adventures. In a society that accepts witches but regulates the use of magic, teenage witch Iris is struggling to move on after her friend’s misuse of magic turns deadly. Iris was cleared of wrongdoing, but the tragedy tears her family apart, forcing her and her mom to start new lives across the country. It leads Iris to hide her magic, especially from Pike Alder, a coworker at her mom’s nature refuge who hates witches and drives her crazy. But in a fit of frustration, Iris casts a spell she never intended to use. The result could mean deadly consequences for Pike and the new life Iris has built. It forces them to team up on a mission into the mountains surrounding the refuge in search of an injured owl who holds the key to the miscast spell. Will Iris be able to fix things while still keeping her magical secret from Pike? Or will the worst happen, causing her to violate the laws of magic and lose everything she holds dear? Wild is the Witch, a 2022 release by Rachel Griffin, is a page-turner that combines magic, nature and romance. The idea of magic as an organic force that can be channeled rather than controlled is refreshingly different from many other fantasy stories. The adventure in nature and Iris’ connection to animals reminded me of classic books by Gary Paulsen (Hatchet) and Jean Craighead George (Julie of the Wolves, My Side of the Mountain). The relationship between Iris and Pike is typical of many young adult romance novels where enemies forced together end up friends, and sometimes more. In addition, there is a positive depiction of a lesbian relationship. Zombie plagues have been the rage in TV, movies and books for years. But setting a Zombie plague during the American Civil War? Now that’s something new. Justina Ireland turns historical fiction on its head with her two-book series Dread Nation. Titled Rise Up and Deathless Divide, the books explore the racial, social and economic impacts of the ‘War Between the States’ and give new meaning to the term Reconstruction, the period of rebuilding and reunifying society after the war’s end. While no book involving zombies can be historically accurate, the stories build on the real people, events and issues of the time to highlight the brutality of slavery and the inequality that remained as the country moved forward – and westward. As the author explains in her notes, she wrote the books to give voice to characters often left out of history. The books focus on Jane and Katherine, two Black teens taken from their homes after the dead begin to rise during the Battle of Gettysburg. Like other children of their race, they are deemed inferior – and therefore expendable – and sent to boarding schools that train them to protect rich whites from the undead. (These boarding schools resembled the facilities that Native Americans were sent to in the 1800s, when the U.S. government stole their land and forced their assimilation) The girls excel in their training, but before they can be assigned to protect society ladies, they uncover a sinister plot to build a “utopia” to replace the Eastern cities falling to the zombie plague. This new community is founded on the principles of Jim Crow, the discriminatory laws that rose to continue the oppression of Blacks after slavery was abolished. This means Blacks have no rights and are assigned the most dangerous jobs and the worst living conditions. Tough-hearted and quick to temper, Jane resolves not just to survive, but to find an escape. Light-skinned and able to pass as White, Katherine plays along with the cruel society in order to help Jane’s plan to secure their freedom. There are tense battles, sorrowful deaths, cruel betrayals, heart-wrenching romances and epic friendships. And that’s just in book one. In the second book, the main characters venture west. Alive but forever changed, one seeks safety and peace while the other pursues vengeance. The books are a unique way to explore the issues of American history including slavery and Reconstruction, the government’s treatment of Native Americans, the cultural clashes that came with waves of immigration, expansion of the western frontier, and the search for the “American dream.” But if you aren’t really interested in the history, the books aren’t slowed down by it. The series provides enough action and adventure for any reader. When schools shut down last March due to COVID-19, after I stockpiled canned goods and toilet paper, one of the first things I did was watch Contagion. This 2011 movie, starring Matt Damon and Kate Winslet, is about a deadly pandemic that scientists are desperate to track to its source in hopes of finding a way to fight it. And then I watched Outbreak, a 1995 movie with a similar plot.
Why would I choose these, when they so closely mirrored what was happening in real life? I’d like to think I was trying to process the scary and ever-changing news. This has happened before; a virus emerges, a cure is found, life goes on. Maybe I was looking for reassurance. Or maybe I was just crazy. Neither answer explains why, as the quarantine dragged on, I found myself picking up books about pandemics and plagues. There’s definitely no shortage of them, as I found when researching this article. I’ve always been drawn to dystopian fiction, stories about life after a cataclysmic event, how people go on. Often the plagues create zombies or other monsters that the remaining humans must fight. Sometimes, the true horrors come from other people. It’s the stories of resilience and endurance that draw me in. While I struggled to work from home, cut off from friends and family, afraid that a trip to the grocery store could make me sick with an illness that had terrible consequences, I guess I needed those. Below are quick recaps of some of the books I read during the pandemic that were about a pandemic. Farther down, I list books I either read in the past or I’ve just heard good things about. If you’re like me, and looking for a story you can relate to in this crazy world, check one out. Hopefully, someday soon, these books will be the escape from reality they were meant to be. My Pandemic Reads The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks – This story is about the OG pandemic, the Black Plague that hit England in the 17th century. With primitive medicine and backward ideas, villages hit by the plague would be sealed from the outside world in hopes of containing the spread of death. The main character, Anna, is a housemaid when the plague hits. But as the village reels, she discovers her talent for healing. She doesn’t just survive, she grows. Based on a true story. Afterland by Lauren Beukes – When a mysterious virus kills most of the men in the world, a woman struggles to keep her and her son alive, and out of the clutches of a government that wants to experiment on survivors in hopes of finding a cure. Meanwhile, her sister tries to capitalize on her nephew’s potential to bring her profit. Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay – Set in Stoughton and the surrounding area, this story takes place over the span of a few hours in one terrible day. A new virus has emerged, similar to rabies and spread by saliva – but with a much shorter incubation period. That means hours after being bitten, victims turn rabid and vicious to others. Hospitals are overrun, fights erupt at grocery stores and the military is trying to restore calm. When pregnant Natalie is bitten, she enlists her doctor friend on a longshot quest to get one of the few available vaccinations. If she can’t save herself, maybe she can save her baby. Other Recommendations Contaminated by Em Garner – Two years after a trendy diet drink spread a mysterious illness that turned victims into zombies, the government is trying to restore society. They’ve placed shock collars on the infected “connies” that will either control them or kill them. Teenaged Velvet tries to keep her and her 10-year-old sister alive. When she learns that her mother is among the infected who are set to be put to death, Velvet risks everything to save her. Quarantined by Lex Thomas – This four-book series explores a virus that makes children deadly to adults. When the students at McKinley School are infected, the building is quarantined under military rule. When gangs form and battle to survive, misfit David tries to keep him and his brother alive. The Wall by Marlene Haushofer – An ordinary woman awakes one day to find there is a wall at the end of her property and everyone else has vanished. In extraordinary times, she must live by her wits – and anything she can find on her land – to survive. Blindness by Jose Saramago – When an epidemic of blindness hits a city, the residents show the best – and worst – of mankind. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – This story explores what it means to survive. After a mysterious flu decimates the population, a traveling band of artists, actors and musicians strives to keep humanity alive. Others, however, see the breakdown in civilization as a chance to wield brutal power. The Stand by Stephen King – A military experiment wipes out 99 percent of the world, and the handful of survivors must choose sides. Will they follow the kind but frail Mother Abigail or the powerful and cruel Randall Flagg? Considered to be one of King’s finest books. Severance by Ling Ma – Candace, a millennial living in New York, practically sleepwalks through life. So she doesn’t initially notice when a plague sweeps through the city, killing everyone who doesn’t flee. When she meets a group of survivors, who promise salvation in a destination called the Facility, she must decide whether it’s safer to join them or stay on her own. This satirical novel is part science fiction, part quirky coming-of-age story. If you enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy of books and movies, check out The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Set during the 10th games, long before Katniss and Peeta were born, readers learn more about the war that divided Panem and led to the brutal oppression of the districts. We also get a taste of how the games evolved into the made-for-television spectacle we saw in the original books. The story focuses on President Snow when he is a teenage student, chosen to serve along with classmates as the first-ever mentors to tributes chosen for the games. If you remember Snow as president, he was a ruthless leader, rumored to have poisoned his enemies to get to the top. The Snow we see in the prequel is humbler, both in circumstances and attitude, trying to secure a bright future to support himself, his sister and grandmother. As he connects with his assigned tribute, he struggles to balance his ambition with moral questions about the games. Personally, I felt the ending was a bit rushed, but perhaps that was just a result of my feelings for the characters being turned upside down by their ultimate decisions. You may already know the story behind The Martian, the Oscar-nominated movie starring Matt Damon. But if you've only seen the movie, you're missing the great look into the psyche of the stranded astronaut that is contained in the book. And if you haven't seen the movie yet, I highly recommend that you read the book first. I started with the book, written in 2011 by self-proclaimed science nerd Andy Weir. From friends who have seen the movie, I have heard that the stories are very similar. When Mark Watney and his team of astronauts are caught in a terrible sandstorm while exploring Mars, Watney is presumed dead and left behind. Facing a distant, and very slim, chance of rescue with supplies only meant to last a short time, Watney must invent ways to grow food, expand water and air supplies and restore communications with NASA. Eventually, a rescue plan is put into place, but it requires a dangerous trek across Martian terrain where survival depends on stretching Watney's equipment, abilities and determination beyond their limits. The main difference between the movie and the book is that much of the book is told through Watney's journals. Instead of just watching him devise a system to grow potatoes using his own waste, as you do in the movie, you read what he is thinking (and smelling) as he mixes bags of poo with soil samples from Earth in the hope of growing enough food to survive. In the scene where Watney loses his recently regained ability to talk to NASA, the book reveals his shift from confusion to terror to anger when he realizes it's a result of his own mistake. These glimpses into his mindset make the reality of his situation -- the hopelessness, fear, ingenuity and bravery-- all the more pressing. It turns a story of survival into an exploration of the rollercoaster emotions a person experiences when faced with danger. At times, the scientific explanations in the book went over my head, but that didn't limit my enjoyment. Even without understanding every detail, I was riveted by Watney's plight and cheering for a happy ending. The story of survival against all odds -- whether it occurs on Mars, the oceans of Earth or in a dysfunctional family -- is something most of us can relate to. The Martian was a great read, and now I can't wait to see the movie. Aron Ralston always prided himself on doing things other people would only dream about. But one day, he found himself in a situation that, for anyone, would only be the stuff of nightmares. Ralston was hiking alone in a remote canyon in Utah when he clambered over an 800 pound boulder. The boulder came loose, he and the rock fell, and when they both came to a rest, the stone had pinned Ralston’s right arm against the canyon wall. Trapped, in excruciating pain with little food and water and no warm clothing, Ralston knew that his hopes of rescue were slim since he hadn’t left a detailed plan of his trip with anyone. After six hellish days, or 127 hours, Ralston resorted to a desperate act to save his own life. It’s not a spoiler once you see the book cover or if you’ve ever seen the James Franco movie: Ralston cut off his own arm. Ralston, who was 27 at the time of the 2003 accident, details the entire grueling experience in his book Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Before reading the book, I could only imagine the anguish and despair Ralston went through in his ordeal — the mental and physical struggles as the days went on without rescue. After reading the book, I was amazed at his endurance, his fortitude, his ability to survive. As Ralston recounts his days of entrapment, he also talks of his many outdoor adventures, from climbing 14,000 foot mountains, in winter, alone, to hiking miles to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up in record time. It’s clear he thrived on thrill seeking and pushing limits, and had more than his share of brushes with death. Because I don’t share that “need for speed” and am not exactly an adrenaline junkie (I write, as I sit here eating a candy bar), I had trouble relating to his adventures and struggled with judging him as careless — an accident waiting to happen. Still, many other readers may not be bothered by this and may be inspired or thrilled themselves by his adventures. The chapters on his adventures do contain a lot of technical language about mountain climbing and equipment, which slowed me down; the library’s version of the book includes a glossary. Regardless of what I thought of Ralston’s risk-taking, my curiosity in how he survived pushed me to keep reading and the last few chapters move at breakneck speed. I couldn’t put the book down until he was safe and sound. |
AuthorMrs. McHugh is a librarian and instructional technology specialist. She loves talking books and pop culture with her students at Hanover High School. Archives
February 2024
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