Science Fiction: Cinder - The Lunar Chronicles

Check out this 2013 interview with the author, Marissa Meyer.

Meyer, Marissa. Cinder: The Lunar Chronicles. New York, Square Fish, 2012. Print. ISBN: 978-1-250-00720-9; paperback. $9.99

Annotation: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Book Awards

• YALSA Teens' Top Ten (2013)

Book Talk: In a futuristic Earth, Cinder lives in New Beijing with her adopted mother and two wicked stepsisters. Loosely based on Cinderella, Cinder is a cyborg, part human part machine, who must help Earth fight a deadly plague that she is immune too. A futuristic fairy tale, Cinder encounters the charming and handsome Prince Kai and the evil Lunar Queen Levana who schemes to marry the Prince. Cinder must user her talents to save the Earth from being wiped out by plague and the lunar people who watch from afar. As the fate of Earth hangs in the balance, the mysterious path of the one person who can save Earth slowly becomes revealed in Cinder. 

Science Fiction: Divergent

Check out the Trailer to the 2014 movie.

Roth, Veronica. Divergent. New York: HarperCollins, 2011. Print. ISBN: 978-0-06-202402-2; hardcover. $17.99.

Annotation: In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

Book Awards

• Goodreads Choice Award - Favorite Book (2011)
• YALSA Top 10 - Number 1 (2012) 

Book Talk: After sixteen-year-old Beatrice takes an aptitude test that classifies her as Divergent, she goes against her family’s wishes and joins the Dauntless faction, all the while carrying a deadly and powerful secret that can change the course of her world and those that struggle to survive.

Science Fiction: A Wrinkle in Time

Check out the trailer to the 2003 movie by Disney.

L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. New York: Square Fish, 2007. Print. ISBN: 978-0-312-36754-1; paperback. $6.99

Annotation: It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

Book Awards

• Newbery Award Winner (1963)
• Sequoyah Award (1965)

Book Talk: On a dark and stormy night, Meg and her family are paid a visit by a neighbor who explains the existence of a tesseract. Longing for their Father who has not been around in quite some time, Meg and her siblings are sent on a journey that requires them to travel through time and space to find their Father. In their quest, Meg must battle evil and travel through the 5th dimension to save their Father before he and his family become simply A Wrinkle in Time.

Science Fiction: Life as We Knew It.

Check out my book talk on the novel!

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Pfeffer, Susan Beth. Life as We Knew It. Orlando: Harcourt, 2006. Print. ISBN: 978-0-15-205826-5; paperback. $7.99

Annotation: Through journal entries, sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family’s struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

Book Awards

• ALA Best Book for Young Adults

Book Talk: Is this the end of life as we know it? What was supposed to be just another asteroid hitting the moon becomes a nightmare for Miranda and the rest of Earth as the asteroid knocks the moon closer to Earth.  As natural disasters began to occur regularly around the world, Miranda and her family prepare for the worst as schools begin to close, stores run out of food and volcanic eruptions spew grey ash clouds that block the sun and its warmth. Will Miranda and her family be able to survive the apocalyptic conditions caused by the Moon or will it become impossible to continue living on Earth? Surely this is the end of Life as We Knew It.   

Science Fiction: The Maze Runner

Check out the first trailer to the movie, which will be in theaters on September 18

Dashner, James. The Maze Runner. New York: Delacorte Press, 2009. Print. ISBN: 978-0-385-73795-1; paperback. $8.99.

Annotation: When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Book Awards

Book Talk: Thomas wakes up to find himself in a pitch black room unable to remember where he came from, his parents, how he got in the room in the first place, or even his last name. After being pulled out by several teenage boys, Thomas finds himself in a place called the Glade, which is surrounded by a gigantic Maze. After learning more about the maze, Thomas becomes a Runner, one who explores and tries to solve the Maze. Every night, the doors of the maze close, protected those from the Griever’s inside. One night, Thomas makes a fearless decision.

“A loud boom exploded the air, making Thomas jump. It was followed by a horrible crunching, grinding sound. He stumbled backward, fell to the ground. He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it for himself. The enormous stone wall to the right of them seemed to defy every known law of physics as it slid along the ground, throwing sparks and dust as it moved, rock against rock. The crunching sound rattled his bones. He looked around at the other openings. On all four sides of the Glade, the right walls were moving toward the left, closing the gap of the Doors. Then one final boom rumbled across the Glade as all four Doors sealed shut for the night.”

Find out if Thomas and the other Glader’s will be able to survive and solve the mysteries that surround them in The Maze Runner.

Science Fiction: Ender's Game

Check out the trailer for the 2013 movie starring Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford 

Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 1991. Print. ISBN: 970-0-7653-6233-9; paperback. $7.99.

Annotation: In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, may be the brightest of them all.

Andrew C. "Ender’s Game was a very complex book. I liked that the characters were all young and very smart people. You think one thing is going to happen but something else happens along the way. There is violence and leadership and a cool game with lasers. Ender is a good character and I think he’s a good person even if he does violent and bad things. The adults around Ender don’t tell him what’s going on and that makes him choose things that he wouldn’t have chosen otherwise, like sacrificing a lot of people to blow up the
Bugger’s planet. Ender’s Game was a really good book and made me think a lot about how we make choices."

Book Awards

• 1985 Nebula Award - Best Novel
• 1986 Hugo Award - Best Novel

Book Talk: After a fight in school, Ender earns a place in Battle School located in outer space. Ender and other cadets are trained in preparation of a future battle with an alien species known as the Buggers. After several military training exercises in zero gravity, Ender demonstrates superior ability and leadership qualities that others look up to while others are resentful of his ability and youth.

As the battle between the Buggers and Earth continues, Ender must cope with the pressure of his training and his feelings for his sister Valentine. As the battle gets closer, Ender must make difficult choices as he learns more and more about the truth behind this war. Find out if he has it in him win Ender’s Game.

Science Fiction: I Am Number Four

Check out the trailer for the 2011 movie

Lore, Pittacus. I Am Number Four. New York: HarperCollins, 2010. Print. ISBN: 978-0-06-196955-3; hardcover, $17.99.

Annotation: The Mogadorian caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. All of them were killed. John Smith, of Paradise, Ohio, is Number Four. He knows that he is next.

Book Awards

Book Talk: Number Four and eight others became scattered on Earth, leaving their planet after it was attached by The Mogadorians. All nine aliens possess powers and skills yet look and live the lives of ordinary teenagers. After the death of Number Three, Number Four, aka John, and his guardian Henri move to Ohio where he meets friend Sam and Sarah.

Knowing that the Mogadorians kill in order, Number Four knows that he is the next target. While trying to live the life of a normal teenager, John becomes more attracted to Sarah while finding it harder to hide his legacies and identity as an alien. Will John be able to avoid the Mogadorians and continue to live the life of a normal teenager or will his secret be too much of a burden to him and those he is trying to protect? Find out the future of John and the other numbers in I am Number Four.

Science Fiction: Imitation

Check out this interview with the author

Check out the author's blog here: http://heatherhildenbrand.blogspot.com/

Hildenbrand, Heather. Imitation. Virginia: Accendo Press, 2012. Print. ISBN: 978-1482761283; paperback. $6.99

Annotation: A clone must enter the real world as the surrogate of a wealthy eighteen-year old. 

Book Awards

Book Talk: Ven is the clone of Raven, a wealthy eighteen-year-old girl. Never meeting the girl she is cloned after, Ven spends time watching Raven from a lab, only being allowed to leave if harm is done to her authentic. Everything changes after an attack is made on Raven’s life.

“She casts a quick look toward the door. Her words are rushed. “I can’t explain. You have to trust me. Whatever you do, you can’t let them send you to Relocation. Okay?”

When Ven must fend for herself in the real world, she uncovers many truths to the world that are kept hidden from those deemed not to be real. Find out if Ven can change the course of those clones like her in Imitation.

Science Fiction: The Age of Miracles

Check out a video preview of the book from Random House Publishing Group

Walker, Karen Thompson. The Age of Miracles. New York: Random House, 2012. Print. ISBN: 978-0-8129-9297-7; hardcover, $26.00.

Annotation: In a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, 11-year-old Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow

Gracie B. “This book was a really quick read.  I read it on vacation with my family and couldn’t put it down.  After finishing, I couldn’t help but think about the world and the fragility of the environmental a little differently.  I saw on IMDB and several blogs I follow that a movie is in development with the same director as Twilight.  I hope they do a good job of adapting the supernatural and normal teenage life elements of the story to the big screen.”

Book Awards

• New York Times Best Seller

Book Talk: On October 6, the news became official. A day on Earth had grown 56 minutes longer as the Earth had begun to slow. For 11-year-old Julia and her parents, the consequences of this slowing were not clear at first but would eventually began to show.

"Later, I would come to think of those first days as the time when we learned as a species that we had worried over the wrong things: the hole in the ozone layer, the melting of the ice caps, West Nile and swine flu and killer bees. But I guess it never is what you worry over that comes to pass in the end. The real catastrophes are always different - unimagined, unprepared for, unknown."

In The Age of Miracles, find out exactly how the slowing of the Earth will impact the lives of all those who live on it.