Siobhan Dowd and Patrick Ness

Solace of the Road is a story about a girl who is running away from something. Page by page, more is revealed about her life, or lack of it really. She is a sad girl, trying to find herself, but knowing that she is leaving the world. I am not sure if I liked it, but Dowd provides us with a tender story, inciteful, good character development, well written for teens. Siobhan died of cancer in 2007. She was working on a children's story which was finished by Patrick Ness and published after her death. It is really good; part graphic novel, all dark and mysterious and sad and compelling; it's the very tender story of her son's difficulty coming to terms with her sickness. The title is "A Monster Calls" and much like "I Kill Giants" it involves a monster/giant that the kid has to kill, which of course they can't because it's cancer. The boy finally is released from the monster when he admits to himself that he is in emotional pain.

How to Steal a Car

Peter Hautman, www.peterhautman.com has written a nice easy reading short (170 pgs) book/novella that should appeal to teens. The title is true to the plot; a girl steals cars for fun, but is otherwise a model child, who doesn't smoke, toke, drink, or talk back to adults. It is interesting because she doesn't trash the cars, and doesn't use them for other crimes, she just happens to see a man drop his keys one day and off she goes. Hautman crafts a believable story with believable characters in a contemporary setting.

There is not too much to this book but I still enjoyed it for what it was.

The Postmortal

This is the first thing I've read by Drew Magary, who has a big online profile, is into sports wrting and a lot of stuff it seems. It is a good read, -provocative speculative fiction. The story takes place in the future and is about the 'cure' for aging. The lead character John writes diary style, and copies articles from the cyber world including random cure related news from around the world. The book is like a found journal, and documents John's thoughts and feelings as he ages in time but not body. This style works well; Magary is able to tell us a story of a certain era in a new way, -a kind of twitter/facebook/tumblr journalism. A lot of issues come up such as what happens when humans have just had enough and are tired of living, even though they may be healthy. John becomes an 'end specialist' which is a job where he goes to meet people who want to end their life. He interviews them for the official records, and his co-worker gives them a fatal injection. Magary's ideas are novel and creative, and the vocabulary is easy, so that it would be a good book for high school students studying dystopias, and for fun. There is a sex scene that is a little disturbing; John is bored one night so he calls a hooker. When she finds out what his job is, she decides she wants to have him sex her while he injects her with the lethal dose, so she goes and comes at the same time. The disturbing part is that it is a very convincing bit of writing. The part I didn't like is that the cure was accidently found when a Portland doctor was working on altering the gene that gave people red hair.

Nothing to Envy

I have been interested in North Korea since Rachel moved to Seoul some years ago. Jill and I visited her there and took a side trip to the DMZ. We learned some of the politics and history of the country and through Rachel we began to understand the nature of the relationship between the people of the 2 Koreas. I read some books, saw some videos and learned more about North and South Korea. We enjoyed Seoul, -an immaculately clean city, one of the biggest in the world with so much to offer for visitors and locals. Certainly Seoul is one of the great cities of the world. Why then, is North Korea so messed up, and is it really or is that just the western view? Barbara Demick is an American journalist and a good writer. She does not sway into a 'report speak' type documentation as some journalists do, but her writing manages to flow nicely and is worth reading at length, although after about 3/4 of the book I found that the the story had been told. I enjoyed it. She interviews North Koreans living in South Korea and focusses on a few of the more interesting stories. It seems that there are people in NK who are not satisfied with the regime, and even see its limitations and its inequities. They plan to escape, make their way to China, and then sometimes to SK. Their new lives are compared to their old ones and it makes for an interesting read, far more thoughtful than "Camp 14" but to be fair, Camp 14 is not meant to be a wholistic view on life in NK, not that "Nothing to Envy' aspires to that, but it does more to explain the conundrum that is North Korea.

Camp 14

This book is the shocking account of a man who was born into a concentration camp in North Korea, his life there from birth, his escape, and his new life in South Korea and the USA. It is a difficult story to continue to read because of the oppression people had to endure in the camp, -the devasting lack of compassion for others as perpetuated by the regime, and the culture of the North Koreans in general. What a horrible country. The people know little of what's going on is other countries, that they are the joke of the world for believing in their leaders, and even if they know the truth, that North Korea has nothing and will continue to be impoverished for no other reason than they are forced into oppression by misguided leaders, there is nothing they can do about it but follow the cult so as not to be osteracized or imprisoned for their thoughts or actions. The thing is that the leaders are not much better off. They are living better than the people, but it is all based on an ideal that never was. I am a socialist, and often wrestle with my ideals in a capitalist society that I benefit greatly from. North Korea cliams to be communist but nothing is given back to the people. I find it extremely difficult to see any redeeming factors in the way that the government treats its people. They starve, they hurt for medical treatment, they have nothing for entertainment or diversions, and many of them don't get paid even though they are working hard, because the companies they work for are broke. Government policy ensures this. There is no reason for it to be this way and no matter what your beliefs are politically none of it makes sense on any level. Camp 14 is an easy book to read as far the writing style and content goes, -dialogue not too tough, and the concepts are easy to understand, which is to say -painful. I am not sure what the outcome is except to make westerners aware if they are not already, that North Korea is indeed a hermit kingdom, a cult of personality, and all fucked up even worse than what we knew. The sensational aspect and the compelling story of human triumph are enough to recommend this book. It also serves as a warning against absolute belief in anything.

Seeker

Seeker (2005) is the first book in the Noble Warriors trilogy, written by William Nicholson. I read it in 2011. I did not read this set farther than the first book, -I thought it was not going to get better, not that it was bad, just not very compelling. There is some weird plot about the sun and sacrifices and a kid saving a bunch of people, his rise to glory etc. I don't recall a lot but I liked it fine.

Carrie Mac, Unity

Carrie Mac lives on the Sunshine Coast, and Mary bought her truck, with the pink 'unity' sticker on the back, from her. She is a wonderful author. The trilogy called the Droughtlanders is a very good read. As with the Foon set, I read them quickly and couldn't wait to get the next book since we only had the first one in the library until I bought them all. I recommend them to all the students. Again, it is set in a post-apocalyptal land, -the 'droughtland' where water is like gold. The Keylanders have all the stuff and continuously screw over the have-nots using violence to keep the water for themselves. It is the story of a Keyland kid who has a meany for a brother and a creep for a dad. The boy learns that his mom is secretly a Droughtlander infiltrator and soon he follows her out into the badlands where he learns the truth. He finds out he has a sister and more adventure and intrigue ensues. I deeply enjoyed this set, and advertise it to the students as a fun read.