The Power of Six

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore is the second book in the Lorien Legacies series.  The first series introduced us to John Smith who is Number Four, an alien who is being hunted by another set of aliens, the Mongodorians.  The good aliens can only be killed in order and John is next in line.  At the end of the first book we are introduced to Number Six who joins John and his friend Sam as they run from the Mongodorians.

This book continues the story of John, Sam and Six on the run.  They run into many obstacles and learn more about their history and try to figure out how to reunite the rest of their kind.   It also follows Marina who has grown up in a convent in Spain as she learns of her legacies and prepares to leave and find the others.

The dual stories in this book were a major flaw that made it very frustrating to read and it would have been a much easier read if it was cut into two books.  The two stories while related in topic did not interact at all even at the end.  I would get into reading a very exciting part and then it would switch to something dull in the other story which completely ruined the pacing of the book and almost made it unreadable.

Appropriateness:  There is no adult content aside from some comic book style fantasy violence.  I would recommend this book to readers 12+

Glow

Glow by Amy Ryan follows Waverly and Kieran whose lives are turned into disarray when their spaceship is hijacked.  Waverly is taken aboard another ship by a group of settlers who need girls because their fertility was compromised.  She must find a way to escape and save the rest of the girls.  Kieran on the other hand is thrust into a leadership role and then is faced with mutiny after a series of decisions he made put the ship in danger.

While I greatly enjoyed this book it was seriously flawed.  The book followed two characters who spent the majority of time on seperate ships.  So we would have eight chapters (or so) following one character and then it would switch to the other.  It almost like reading two seperate books in a series with the two characters only interacting together for a short time at the beginning and end.

I did however find the two stories very interesting.  There were enough big questions to make all the situations fall into shades of grey as opposed to being plain black and white to make the reader think.  I thought the author gave us a large cast of characters that were interesting and distinct.  The girls being stolen for their ovaries angle worried me at first but it was handled in a way that was completely appropriate for the audience, there is no rape in this book.  I finished the book very quickly and was engrossed in the story.

Appropriateness:  This is a fantastic science fiction novel that will be enjoyed by middle and high school audiences.  It has a bit of romance and a strong female character to appeal to girls but also has a crazy element and a male narrator for much of the book to appeal to male readers.  There is one sex scene that is not detailed and the romance is at a distance for most of the book.  There is a bit of talk about alcohol, a bit of mild torture and violence.  The main characters are sixteen.  I would recommend this book to fans of science fiction and dystopian books aged 12+.

Review copy provided by Amazon Vine

Aliens on Vacation

Aliens on Vacation stars Scrub a boy sent to stay for the summer with his eccentric grandmother who runs the Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast.  Scrub soon notices that the guests in this hotel look and act a little strange.  He soon learns that this is not an ordinary hotel but one with guests from across the galaxy.  His grandmother gives him many responsibilities around the hotel which he enjoys.  However, the local sheriff has his eye on the hotel and has made it his mission to get it shut down.

I loved this book.  It read like a Disney TV Movie (and Disney has apparently optioned the movie rights) making it a quick, funny and fast read.  Scrub grows as a person throughout the book and really enjoys the responsibility that his grandmother gives him and that he is really needed for once in his life.  The different descriptions of the alien guests are very funny and there are plenty of scenes that will make readers laugh out loud.

Appropriateness:  I would recommend this book to readers from 10-14 (and younger advanced readers).  The main character is around 14 and has problems that boys will be able to relate to.  There is a little bit of a romance in the book (which could encourage some female readership) but not enough to alienate a male readership.  There is no adult content. 

Review copy obtained from publisher through netgalley.  Book to be released on May 1st.

The Clone Codes

The Clone Codes is a science fiction novel which uses historical events as a framework to tell the story. Leanna has grown up in a world where clones are slaves and cyborgs are segregated from society. Leanna's mother is arrested for belonging to a group that has helped those who are not treated equally throughout history. Leanna then learns (through her super cool virtual tools) that she is a clone and spends the rest of the book hiding from those who are hunting her.

This is a nice dystopian for intermediate readers and the historical framework should tie in nicely to their history studies.  The book ends abruptly with no real conclusion so I'm assuming that it's the first in a series. This would be understandable (because kids and teens love series) except that the novel was so short that there was no reason to cut the story off.

Appropriateness:  The suggested age for this novel (per the ARC) was 12 and up. After reading the novel I'd put 12 as the top age that would enjoy the book. The book is very short and the font is large (I finished the book in about two hours) and the story is very unsophisticated. It is interesting enough to keep one interested, however the story isn't exciting or complicated enough for teens and if the author had made the main character a few years younger it would have been more appropriate. The lexile is 680 putting it at a fourth grade level.

ARC received from Amazon Vine

Outside In

Outside in by Maria V Snyder is a continuation of Trella's story that began in Inside Out.  The revolution is over and work has begun expanding the inside to higher levels so the population of the Inside can spread out.  Unfortunately, things have not turned out as well as hoped since the revolution.  Scrubs are bitter about having to work while they feel the uppers are living in luxury, the newly formed committee is not getting anything done and someone has been sabotaging important systems putting the Inside at risk for destruction.

Outside In is an exciting science fiction thriller.  The world building is excellent, the reader can feel the tension in the different sections of the ship and the smallness of the tunnels that Trella uses to get around the ship.  The romance is not overpowering or overwritten but still provides Trella with a much needed social connection.  I was continually on my seat as to what was going to happen next and the ending had a nice finality that is rarely seen in the young adult genre of endless sequels.  I enjoyed this novel even more than the original.

Appropriateness:  This is a book that can be appreciated by the entire young adult audience.  There is a bit of sexual content (which is not descriptive) but no sex or alcohol.  Trella is a strong girl who doesn't think twice about putting herself at risk to save others or to fight for what she believes in.  This is a very exciting book with a lot of action that will be enjoyed by readers of dystopian as well as science fiction.

Inside Out

Inside out follows Trella.  Trella's world is one of monotony and isolation.  She's a scrub, someone who lives trapped and for the sole reason to work to support the uppers.  She has one friend and spends most of her time alone in the huge pipe system of the inside.

Inside Out is a book that explores friendship and trust in a society that values and encourages isolationism.  How does one trust when the rewards for ratting someone out are so high?

The book starts slowly but becomes more engaging as it moves on.  There wasn't much romance in the story which surprised me with this being a Harlequin novel.  It is more sci-fi than most dystopian novels but it's ultimately a book about trust.

Appropriateness:  There's not anything in this novel that would irritate parents.  The violence is minimal, there's one scene that involves drinking and there is no sex.

Across the Universe

Across the Universe by Beth Revis follows Amy a young girl unexpectedly awakened from her cryogenic chamber aboard a space ship and Elder, a boy who is destined to lead the next generation aboard the ship.  Elder is slowly learning the truth about their mission when he stumbles upon a room full of small doors.  He opens one and sees Amy.  He rushes away and hears an alarm and finds Amy waking up.  When Amy wakes up she is disturbed to still be on the ship.  Others on the ship find her hair and skin color strange and she is disturbed by all the changes that have happened while she has been sleeping.  As Amy and Elder start to find out the truth in the secrets of the ships operations and why everyone else acts so strangely they also must solve the mystery of who awoke Amy and who tried to kill others in the cryo-chambers.  

This book fits into lots of categories.  It's a dystopian, science fiction, murder mystery with a hint of romance.  The society that Revis has created is creepy and she provides good explanations as to why the leaders have insisted on using such extreme means of maintaining control and having one of the main characters be a leader who is willing and able to make changes to society is refreshing.  The book is short on action but perfect for readers who enjoy science fiction or dystopia.  I found it to be a quick read and I was very interested in what would happen next as we learned the secrets of what was really going on behind the scenes.

Appropriateness:  This one is difficult.  Starting with the easy part, there are no drugs or alcohol or graphic violence.  However, not unlike other recent books in this genre such as Dark Parties, XVI, Matched and Birthmarked government control over sex and procreation is a major theme in the book.  The workers on the ship are all born at certain times and procreate by having a season in which members of that generation have sex everywhere.  These giant orgies (which are described as bodies thumping and groups of people writhing on the stairs and in fields) make Amy very uncomfortable.  At one point she is seconds from being gang raped by a group of men (to which a girl next to them shouts "don't worry, it only hurts the first time).  While I wasn't bothered by the orgies (much because Amy finds them gross) the near gang rape was disturbing and there was little emotional consequence to the near rape and Amy is able to go around trying to figure out what the problems are on the ship like she'd just gotten in a little tussle.  Because of that section alone I'm not sure that I would give this book to a middle school aged reader.  However, there is nothing erotic in the public sex descriptions and the near rape wasn't horrific to read which does make it readable for mature readers in that age group and a parental discussion of the entire subject would certainly make the whole situation sit easier with young readers.  I would put an interest level of 13+ on this novel and I feel that boys would find it equally enjoyable as girls would.