Caden Bosch is caught between two worlds. In one, he is an ordinary teen who works on illustrations for a video game he and his friends develop. In the other, he is a passenger on a pirate ship en route to Challenger Deep, the lowest point of the Marianas Trench.
As his hold on reality slips, his friends and family begin to notice that something is wrong, but they are powerless to help him. Sometimes even Caden knows the impossibility of things he believes. But in the next moment, he may be powerless to doubt them.
Shusterman doesn’t disappoint in this complex, heartbreaking story of a boy with mental health issues. The scenes in which Caden interacts with the crew of the pirate ship morph into something entirely different, allowing readers to become engrossed in Caden’s departure from reality while still following a somewhat linear story. It’s brilliantly done.
As a reader, I kept so hoping there would be this magical moment in which Caden’s meds suddenly took effect and he suddenly emerged from the fog happy and whole. I can only imagine that the friends and family of anyone suffering from schizophrenia feel that pull, which just added to the story’s brilliance.
While there’ no quick-fix for Caden in this story, what Shusterman does provide is a profound sense of hope. Many things remain unknown. We end the story with the feeling that we are still very much at the beginning of Caden’s journey. We don’t know how things will go, but we are not without hope.
One criticism I hear about books dealing with mental health issues is that often the therapist is too goofy or has all the answers or just feels absolutely unreal. I think this book struck a good balance between making the therapist a presence in the story without his character overtaking or distracting. Caden’s therapist had his oddities, but they were a bit understated and didn’t seem weird for the sake of weird, if that makes sense. Over all I thought it was a great book, definitely a good read for anyone with friends or family members facing mental illness.
Language Content
No profanity.
Sexual Content Caden befriends a girl who crawls into his bed one night. They remain fully clothed. Caden’s medication reduces or eliminates sex drive, so it’s a pretty innocent situation.
Spiritual Content None.
Violence A man on the street grabs Robie, but she escapes. A violent storm causes her plane to crash. She and an injured man survive on a life raft. The crash doesn’t have a whole lot of scary details. It’s straightforward but pretty brief.
Drug Content
References to a drunk driving accident that killed a teenage girl.
Each year the schoolmaster collects two children from Sophie’s village. She longs to be chosen to attend the School for Good and grow up to be a fairy tale princess. Her best friend Agatha, hopes only to be left alone. When the schoolmaster comes to collect the children, Sophie is chosen, and all her dreams are about to come true.
Except the schoomaster’s servants deposit her in the School of Evil and send Agatha to the School of Good. Clearly there’s been a mistake, one Sophie will do anything to correct. Agatha agrees that something has gone horribly wrong. She is determined to find a way to escape the school with Sophie and return home to her village. But what if there is no escape? What if the schoolmaster hasn’t made a mistake, and in fact, Sophie and Agatha belong exactly where he’s sent them?
My Review
When I saw THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL sitting on the shelf in our local bookstore, my daughter and I were in the middle of the Ever After High series by Shannon Hale. While we both loved the upbeat story and its modern fairy tale feel, I liked that this series looked similar but perhaps more complex.
The story is a bit meatier than the Ever After High series, but it’s also a bit cruder. Agatha, surrounded by curious princes and princesses in the School for Good, passes gas at them to buy her time to escape. Later, she disguises herself as a roach. One of the students in the School for Evil turns rat poop into chocolate.
Over all, the message is a familiar important one. Sophie’s outward beauty isn’t what makes her good. Her shallowness and disdain for others much more heavily define her. Agatha doesn’t see herself as lovely, but her compassion and kindness mark her as a true princess.
I’m not sure that readers of Ever After High would necessarily gravitate toward THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL because the tone is so different, but definitely readers who enjoyed THE THICKETY: A PATH BEGINS by J. A. White should definitely give this one a go.
Content Notes
Profanity or Crude Language No profanity. Brief crude references to bodily functions.
Sexual Content In the tradition of modern fairy tales, it’s not the prince and true love’s kiss that break an evil spell. Instead, a kiss between Agatha and Sophie seals the pivotal moment. It’s less romantic and more symbolic.
Spiritual Content Children who attend the School for Evil will grow up to be villains (including witches) in fairy tale stories. Students learn to use magic spells to bring help or harm to others.
This week’s topic is about which authors I’ve read most. I’m breaking my top authors into two categories: books I read as a child and books I read as an adult/reviewer. Obviously authors with big series that I followed have a huge advantage here, but there were a few that surprised me.
Top Authors I Read as a Child
1. Ann M Martin.
Okay, you guessed it. I was a total baby-sitter’s-clubber. I must have read over thirty of those books in my tween years. Mary Anne was my favorite, but Stacey and Claudia were close seconds. I did some babysitting myself and I think I always wished I’d had friends to share the stories and experiences with.
That beloved series isn’t all I’ve read by Martin. More recently I enjoyed Rain Reign by Martin. You can check out my review here.
2. C. S . Lewis
Well, you knew that was coming. This one really belongs on both lists. I’ve read the Narnia series more than once. The first time as a child, then again while my family was in North Carolina avoiding a fierce hurricane in Florida, and again aloud to my daughter.
I think each time I read the series a different book is my favorite. My current fav is The Horse and His Boy. Beyond the Narnia series, I’ve loved Lewis’s Mere Christianity, A Grief Observed,The Screwtape Letters, and Till We Have Faces. I have not read his sci-fi series, though I’ve heard it’s great.
3. Laura Ingalls Wilder
My sister gets the credit for introducing me to this series. She had a box set that was maybe a Christmas gift? After she’d read the books and talked about how much she liked them, I had to read them, too.
Today, my daughter has her own box set of these books. Though she’s only read the first one, it’s really sweet seeing the series peeking out from her bookshelf. I hope she reads the whole series someday.
Fans of this series might enjoy the Birchbark House series by Louise Erdrich. I haven’t read them yet, but friends have recommended them. It’s the story of an Ojibwa girl, which makes a neat comparison to Wilder’s familiar frontier settler stories.
4. Robin McKinley
I discovered my first book by Robin McKinley in a used books stall at a flea market. Beauty, an amazing retelling of Beauty and the Beast captured me right away. It became one of the books my mom gave for Christmas gifts one year.
Since that first taste, I went on to read other great re-imagined fairy tales as well as her fantasy novels The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword. You can read my review of The Hero and the Crownhere.
5. James Herriot
I had forgotten all about these charming books until my mom recently gave me one I hadn’t seen before. After losing both our cats this year to old age and health problems, my mom (who is incredible and so very thoughtful) put together a little package that included James Herriot’s Cat Stories. I’m excited to read it.
My journey with Herriot’s books began with the audiobooks, which we listened to as a family on long car trips. The books are basically short stories about his adventures as a vet in the English countryside. Some are laugh-out-loud funny while others are really tender and sweet. Definitely good stuff for any animal lover.
Top YA Authors I’ve Read as an Adult (ahem) Reviewer
1. Anne Elisabeth Stengl
This is another name that probably comes as no surprise to my faithful blog followers! (Because I’ve reviewed much of the series here.) I stumbled onto the first book in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series and have been eagerly awaiting each subsequent book since.
One of my favorite things about this series is that the books aren’t all following the same characters, and the story doesn’t continue chronologically through all the books. It’s more like a collection of stories from within the same awesome story world. I. Love. It. Which is my favorite? Probably this one.
2. Rick Riordan
This one I blame on my cousin. She devoured the Percy Jackson series, which I hadn’t gotten around to reading. She offered to lend me the books and then it was my turn to plow through them. Since then I’ve read the first three books in the Heroes of Olympus series (I liked what he did with bringing Roman mythology into things.)
I think my favorite thing about the series as a whole is that as you read, you learn who’s who in Greek mythology (and Roman mythology, if you read Heroes of Olympus) kind of without even meaning to. Is it something you have to know about in order to graduate or become a functioning adult? No, but I love that the story is so entertaining that you don’t even realize you’re learning stuff. I want more books like this.
I haven’t reviewed any of the books in the series (not sure how this happened) but they’re fairly clean. I don’t think there’s any profanity. There’s some mild violence from battle scenes involving monsters. There is one boy/boy unrequieted crush that’s briefly discussed, but I don’t think it really goes anywhere or is very consequential to the story.
3. J K Rowling
I feel like this is almost a cop-out answer. There are seven books in the Harry Potter series, and I’ve read them all. I didn’t read them until I was an adult. My ten year-old daughter hasn’t read them at this point. We agreed that she could start reading them and do one book per year (I can’t take credit for that idea. Laura L. Smith suggests this in a post on her web site) but she hasn’t started reading them yet.
I LOVE the audiobook versions read by Jim Dale. Like, I could listen to them over and over. So. Good.
Which is my favorite? Maybe the fourth one? I’m not sure.
4. Jill Williamson
I’ve read two series by Williamson – a fantasy series and a dystopian series – and enjoyed both for different reasons. The fantasy series (Blood of Kings series) was a great sort of classic fantasy story – kings and magic and dark powers and stuff like that. It’s a Christian series, so there’s a parallel religion through the story and some great spiritual themes. Great for tween or early teen readers.
The dystopian series (Safe Lands series) is a lot darker and more mature. Williamson stays true to Christian values and principles and incorporates them into her story, but characters wrestle with issues like drug addiction and the emotional consequences of an unexpected pregnancy.
5. Maggie Stiefvater
Okay, so I cheated because I’ve read five books by Stiefvater and five books by several other amazing authors (including Stephanie Morrill and Laura L. Smith.) I chose Stiefvater because I’m anxiously pining for the next book in her Raven Boys series. Though the spiritual content is totally not Christian-themed (there’s a lot of new age-y, psychic stuff happening, so it’s definitely not for everyone) the characters are so captivating. I really need to know what happens next.
Outside this series, I read the first book in the Mercy Falls series and did not care for it at all. There was a lot of repetitive phrasing, and I just really didn’t buy into the story.
However. The Scorpio Races. Wow. Amazing. Seriously, go read it now. It’s SO good. Here’s my review.
So those are my top ten. How about yours? Have you read books by these guys? Did it make you want to check out something new? Who are your top favorite authors?
Eighteen year old Rose Justice volunteers as a civilian pilot in England during World War II. She works alongside Maddie and other young female pilots transporting planes and personnel to assist military forces. When an enemy aircraft draws Rose off course during one of her transport flights, Rose finds herself captured in enemy territory. Her troubles have only begun. Soon after German forces arrest her, she is sent to Ravensbruck, a German concentration camp. Rose faces brutal treatment at the hands of her captors. Her love for poetry and bonds with other prisoners challenge her to survive.
Readers of Wein’s novel Code Name Verity will recognize Maddie and Jamie. Their story continues in Rose Under Fire, though neither are main characters. The use of poetry and song quoted throughout the story add even more beauty to what is already a poignant, rich tale. The poetry Rose shares as a prisoner of Ravensbruck offers an intense contrast: the beauty of the words and the stark horror of the concentration camp.
Wein’s cast of characters evoke both wonder and grief. Yet again readers will find themselves wrapped up in a moving tale that educates about a lesser known group of people during World War II. This time Wein introduces characters representing young Polish girls whom the Nazis used for medical experiments. Through this story, we are again reminded of the value and beauty of each human life. I loved that Rose wasn’t perfect, and neither were the other prisoners. Each character bore deep complexities.
I kept hoping for more connection between Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire, particularly through some other minor characters appearing in both stories. It’s been so long since I read Code Name Verity that there really could be more overlap than I noticed. I’d be interested to know if other readers have made additional connections between the two stories. Over all, I really enjoyed this story. I’d like to learn more about the Polish girls imprisoned at Ravensbruck, and I look forward to more fiction from Elizabeth Wein.
Language Content
The first half-ish of the book is pretty clean, profanity-wise. Then Rose meets a saucy young Polish girl who has quite a foul mouth. Extreme profanity with mild frequency through the second half of the story.
Sexual Content Brief reference to Maddie’s wedding night. Not at all explicit.
Spiritual Content None.
Violence Rose is captured by German soldiers and transferred to Ravensbruck where she and other prisoners are brutally mistreated. Brief descriptions of violent treatment and humiliation appear throughout this portion of the story.
The walls of her tiny prison cell and the soothing voice of the boy in the cell next to hers make up Em’s world. She waits, dreading the moment the doctor will come again, because she knows he’ll use whatever means necessary to force her to reveal the location of coveted documents. When Em finds a message hidden in the cell’s drain, she knows following the instructions are the only way she can be free. She must find a way to kill the doctor and prevent the creation of the time machine that will destroy the world as she knows it.
As Marina prepares to attend a prestigious political dinner with her best friend James, all she can think about is finding a moment alone with him to reveal her feelings for him. Before she has a chance, an assassin’s attack throws the evening into chaos and threatens the life of the person James holds most dear. Determined to protect James, Marina and James’s best friend Finn launch their own investigation into the identity of the assassin. What she uncovers forces her to reevaluate everything she knows about the one she loves most. Marina’s investigation and Em’s mission collide in a desperate struggle that could destroy everything.
Because it’s a story about time travel, many characters appear more than once as different versions of themselves. Terrill handles this really well, allowing the readers to experience through these different character versions the effects of disillusionment, torture and desperation on once innocent, ordinary teens. Finn is probably my favorite character. I loved the banter between him and Marina, and the way that his relationships with other characters unfolded.
In this story, Time is sentient and can take action to keep the universe from totally unraveling as a result of changes made during various trips back and forth through time. While I loved this concept of Time being almost a character in its own right, I wanted more. I kind of wanted Time itself to play a role in the resolution of the story, so I was a little disappointed when the concept wasn’t developed to play a more important role. Still, this was one plot that kept me guessing. I kept making predictions about what the characters were going to do to restore some kind of order to their future lives, and often I was wrong about how that was going to come about.
The ending was a little bit jarring – there’s kind of a disconnect at one point where things sort of jolt forward or reset and I felt like it was a little bit of a weak transition. I think we’re meant to assume that Time has taken action to protect itself, but that seemed like a bit of a stretch to me in this instance. I’d have liked to see that transition more smoothly and would have liked some of the gaps to have better explanations. Overall, though, I still really enjoyed the story and totally fell in love with the characters.
At one time this book was intended to have a sequel. Since then the author has issued a statement saying that All Our Yesterdays will remain a stand-alone novel. While I am curious what happened next for the characters, I think that was probably a smart move. All Our Yesterdays is a stronger story on its own. Fans will be pleased to know that Terrill has released a short story taking place several months after the end of the story on her web site.
Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.
Sexual Content During some pretty intense kissing, Marina removes her shirt. Things break up and go no further. Em and Finn have a romantic relationship and share kisses and sleep together. No details.
Spiritual Content In this story, Time is sentient and capable of self-preservation.
Violence Em and Finn are tortured for information regarding missing papers. An assassin tries to kill James and his brother. Torture scenes are brief but intense. The assassin uses a gun.
Nym’s power saved her people, but it wasn’t enough to save those she loved most. While there’s still hope, she vows rescue and revenge. But to have even a chance, she’ll have to risk harnessing herself to a darkness that may destroy rather than save. As Draewulf rallies his armies to march into surrounding kingdoms, Nym and her friends scramble to keep ahead of his plot. To understand Draewulf’s plan, Nym must uncover truths about who she really is, facts she may not be ready to face. She and her friends must face an even more terrifying question: what if every move they make simply brings the dark wolf one step closer to his ultimate victory?
My Review
Weber’s second novel begins with the same intensity with which its predecessor ended. It’s a wild ride from page one all the way to the ending. I thought the plot had good layering. I’d start thinking I had things figured out only to discover that there was another layer I hadn’t accounted for which altered everything.
As with the first book, the characters really make this novel shine. I loved the development of relationship between Nym and Rasha. Even some minor characters, like Kel, the boy Nym meets on the airship, really added to the story. I found myself wishing he’d been more of a part in the tale’s resolution, but that was a small disappointment.
Honestly, I do recommend beginning this series with the first book. I started reading this one first and quickly found myself so intrigued I had to go back and read the first one. If you do start with book two, it’s not impossible to piece together the important bits of what you missed in book one. I did find myself scrambling to figure out what was going on several times before I went back for Storm Siren.
Some of the questions readers had about the relationships between kingdoms and politics will be answered in this novel. Still, many things are just hinted at as important clues preparing readers for the final installment of the trilogy.
Content Notes
Language Content No profanity.
Sexual Content Brief kissing. When Nym goes to Myles’s room in the middle of the night, she reluctantly allows guards to think she’s visiting him as a lover.
Spiritual Content Nym’s people (Elementals) possess powers, things like controlling water, wind, earth, etc. One very powerful man can shape shift and take over someone else’s body. A woman uses her ability to kill men by internal injuries and control an army of dead. They’re pretty creepy. A witch offers powers to the right buyer.
Violence Nym and her allies fight an advancing army from behind the lines. Descriptions are brief and not gory.
