After rescuing many of the women from their village and hiding them within the Safe Lands, Levi, Mason and Omar formulate a plan to rescue the children and return them to their families. As the plan begins to take shape, the boys learn that one of their allies may have an agenda all his own.
Mason still pursues research to develop a cure to the deadly disease plaguing residents of the Safe Lands. His relationship with his beautiful supervisor deepens, and Mason longs to ask her for help. But Ciddah keeps her own secrets, some of which may directly threaten Mason and his people.
Omar longs to make up for the betrayal which left many of his people dead and its survivors as captives in the Safe Lands. He’s got a plan, and it’s big enough to unravel the entire leadership of the Safe Lands and bring freedom to everyone. Or it might just get his family executed.
Outcasts brings all the excitement and intensity introduced by the first in this series. While the characters in the first book were intriguing, they emerge in a sharper, even more engaging way in this novel. Mason’s geeky struggles to pursue romance and Omar’s desperation for approval and retribution are fun and endearing. The web of political intrigue spins far and fast, pulling the reader deeper into the story page by page. The unexpected ending will leave readers panting for the next installment. This is a great series for boys or girls, and one that explores deep issues of addiction and forgiveness.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None
Sexual Content Omar realizes that when he feels bad, he seeks sexual encounters as a means to thwart loneliness and guilt. The encounters are implied, not explicitly shown. Mason wrestles with his feelings of affection for his supervisor. She invites him to sleep with her, but he refuses.
Spiritual Content Shaylinn wants to participate in opposing the Safe Lands rule, but as a pregnant fugitive, her options for how to do so are limited. She begins sending encouraging notes to people. The notes contain uplifting Bible verses and exhortations to stand fast and have faith. She prays over each note as she writes it.
Violence More than one character is shot during a risky rescue attempt. Others are beaten by Safe Lands Enforcers. Violence is brief and descriptions are not graphic.
Drug Content
Omar depends on regular drug use to manage his emotions. He realizes this is a problem and wants to change, but feels powerless to break the habit.
Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Omar, an unappreciated artist in a village of hunters, has a plan to make everyone realize his worth. Surely once they see the wonders of the Safe Lands, they’ll crowd in to thank Omar for bringing them. But when the envoy from Safe Lands arrives and shots are fired, Omar’s brilliant dream twists into a deadly nightmare. Eighteen people are dead, and everyone blames him.
Levi returns from an errand to find his village emptied and many dead. Filled with grief and fury, he vows to enter the Safe Lands to rescue the captives taken from his home. Nothing prepares him for the reality of life in the Safe Lands.
In a city bent on pleasure and fun, Safe Lands citizens mask the effects of a deadly plague with makeup, drugs and free love. Horrified, Levi and many others from the small village of Glenrock cling to the Christian morals and values of their homeland. Their convictions come with heavy prices. As Levi turns his mind to plans of rescue, his brother Mason pursues study of the terrible plague that infects the people of the Safe Lands. Finding a cure is the only way to save those he loves, but time is running out.
The first in a dystopian series, Captives explores the consequences of drug abuse and sexually transmitted disease and contrasts this against a Christian morality and way of life. The few scenes including drug use are brief and the message that experimentation can quickly give rise to addiction is crystal clear in Williamson’s text. Though the values of promiscuity and casual relationships are explained, no graphic sexual content appears in the story. The plot contains rapid-fire twists and unexpected turns, making it a quick read. References to lines from The Princess Bride will make it unforgettable to movie fans.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None
Sexual Content The women from Glenrock village will be forced to become pregnant through an embryo implant. The men are forced to donate sperm regularly. No details are given about how this occurs. Omar spends the night with a beautiful woman in the Safe Lands. Though no details are given, it’s understood that he has had sex with her. Characters visit various clubs and sometimes participate in dancing or watching sultry performers.
Spiritual Content The villagers from Glenrock find their Christian values challenged by the pleasure-seeking ways of Safe Lands. Safe Lands Nationals believe that they are given nine lives on earth before a tenth of eternal bliss.
Violence Enforcers from Safe Lands attack a village, killing several of its people. Few details are given. Omar beats his brother but later feels guilty. A woman is kissed against her will.
Drug Content
Nothing is illegal in the Safe Lands. Various medicines, alcohols and drugs are vaporized and inhaled for ease or pleasure. Omar’s experimentation with these substances quickly rockets out of control and earns him some nasty consequences.
Three brothers and a young girl fight for survival within the towering walls of the Safe Lands. Despite its name, the city is ravaged with disease and infested with corruption. Each brother follows a mission: to find a cure for the sick; to free the captives; to take down the Safe Lands in a rebellion.
The second in her Safe Lands series, Outcasts is quickly earning a reputation as an intense story set in a captivating world. As a fan of Williamson’s fantasy series, Blood of Kings, I’ve been eager to get lost in another story by this worthy author.
The Captive Maiden by Melanie Dickerson
Release date: 11/9/13
Lonely Gisela spends her days serving her stepmother and grasping at memories of a happier childhood. When a handsome Duke throw a grand ball, Gisela is determined to attend and to have one last glimpse of the beauty of her past.
Dickerson won my heart as a reader with her debut novel The Healer’s Apprentice, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The beautiful simplicity of the story and the lovely characters she creates are difficult to resist. I am eager to get my eyes on her latest happily ever after story, inspired by the familiar tale of Cinderella in The Captive Maiden.
Cress (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer
Expected release date: 2/4/14
The third novel in the Lunar Chronicles series, Cress follows the story of a girl briefly mentioned in the series’ acclaimed story, Cinder. The story features unforgettable cast members, including Cinder, Captain Thorne, Scarlet, Wolf and the dreadful Queen Levana.
With Meyer’s gift for a perfect meld of sci-fi and fairy tales retold, this series is one not to miss. Cinder was a fabulous story and very clean content-wise. I’m very hopeful to find Cress to be another gem.
Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Expected release date: 2/25/14
The day of Lady Daylily’s wedding draws near. Unlike the princesses of fairy tales, she will wed not her true love, but his awkward and foolish cousin. Daylily has always been the dutiful daughter. This time, however, she rebels, disappearing into the legendary Wilderlands and the land of Faerie. Though not her true love, her betrothed pursues her into peril, determined to rescue her.
If you’ve followed my blog long, you’ll be familiar with this name. Stengl continually amazes me with her brilliant characters and sharp dialogue. She possesses an elusive ability to seamlessly draw symbolism into her stories without distracting from the tales. Shadow Hand revisits a fascinating character from an earlier novel in the Tales of Goldstone Wood called Veiled Rose. I can hardly wait until this one hits the shelves.
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
Release date: 2/1/11
A young Japanese boy dreams of one day being a Samurai warrior It seems impossible, since he is the son of a fisherman. When he is stranded and then rescued by sailors on an American vessel, Manjiro begins a grand journey that will take him across the globe.
I stumbled upon this inspired-by-history novel on a rack of books for sale at the public library last summer and was immediately intrigued. My mother recently added it to her library, and has raved about the craftsmanship of the story and the power in its telling. I may have to snag this one as soon as she finishes the last page.
Stay Where You Are and Then Leave by John Boyne
Release date: 3/25/14
From the author who penned The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, an unforgettable tale of two boys who become unlikely friends during World War II comes an intriguing story about the son of a World War I soldier. His father promises not to go away, but then he leaves on a secret mission. Four years later, the boy discovers that his father is being treated in a local hospital. He vows to find his father and bring him home. I’m hopeful to find this novel every bit as engrossing and moving as Boyne’s WW II story.
Interrupted by Rachel Coker
Release date: 3/27/12
In the midst of the Great Depression, Allie’s whole life implodes. Her mother succumbs to illness and Allie is sent to a new family far away. Still lost in her grief, Allie isolates herself from the new family faces around her. The last person she hopes to see is the one she blames for her mother’s death, but her former best friend isn’t going to let Allie off so easily. Interrupted landed on my reading list when it was nominated as a finalist for the 2013 Christy Award.
The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
Release date: 9/17/13
Henkes captured my household with his delightful children’s stories about two charming mice in Chrysanthemum and Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse. The quirky characters and layers of humor meant for adult and child alike made these oft-repeated bed-time tales. I was thrilled to see this book announced and can’t wait to see what glories he brings to middle grade fiction.
The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson
Expected release date: 3/25/14
Piper scrapes out a meager existence by finding and selling scraps on Meteor Fields. When she finds a strange girl amidst the flotsam, she immediately recognizes the mark that changes everything. The girl’s arm bears the Mark of the Dragonfly, an emblem which means her return home will mean a payday to trump paydays for Piper, if she can just get there. Thus begins a grand adventure.
Something about the description of this book reminds me of the magical world created by Marissa Meyer in the Lunar Chronicles. Without having read the book, it’s difficult to say whether this is an accurate hunch. But two girls on a dangerous journey, one returning to the past and the other grasping at the only hope for her future… what’s not to like? I’m intrigued.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Release date: 5/20/09
This book may well turn out to be one of those good ones that somehow slipped past unnoticed. I’ve heard some buzz about it lately, and since it was first recommended to me by a friend, I’m more curious than ever to get into this story set in a world in which parents of a child who reaches the age of thirteen have the ability to choose whether to keep the child or to have them “unwound,” and essentially destroyed.
Eleven-year-old Ophelia’s father brings her and her older sister Alice to a magical museum in a city in which it always snows. When science-loving Ophelia wanders off to explore the museum in search of dinosaurs and fossils, she finds a boy locked in a small room. He tells an impossible story and asks for her help. Ophelia, who only believes things that can be scientifically proven, is torn about helping the boy, who says he must find a magical sword, and the One Other, who can kill the evil Snow Queen before the queen’s clock chimes and the world ends. Deciding to at least free the boy, Ophelia embarks on a strange journey filled with mysterious creatures.
Since her mother’s death three months ago, Ophelia, her father, and sister have been isolated from one another. The quest to save the strange boy proves to be a journey toward healing for Ophelia and her family as well.
My Review
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy is a whimsical tale full of fascinating creatures and loveable characters. Though Ophelia herself is the real hero, her father finds his strength and stands with her in a demonstration of protection and solidarity. Middle grade readers will enjoy Ophelia’s tale, and the emotional journey she faces is sure to encourage readers dealing with losses of their own.
Profanity/ Crude Language Content No profanity.
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Ophelia faces a horde of ghosts who were once young girls captured by the Snow Queen. Later Ophelia feels herself guided by an inner voice she believes is her mother speaking to her from beyond the grave.
Violence When the queen’s clock chimes, the Snow Queen will destroy the Marvelous Boy unless he and Ophelia can find the One Other, who can use an enchanted sword to kill her. This culminates in a battle scene, but very little blood is shed.
Drug Content None.
Note: I received an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Two years ago, Tessa’s best friend Noelle disappeared, leaving behind only her red bicycle and shattered memories. Tessa forces herself to accept the likelihood that her friend is dead. Then, in a shocking revelation from Noelle’s brother, Tessa learns that her friend is alive. That she’s been rescued from her captor. That she’ll be coming home.
Desperate to revive the kinship she once shared with Noelle, Tessa calls and visits, trying again and again to see her friend, only to be told Noelle isn’t ready. When she’s finally able to confront her, Tessa finds Noelle – who now insists on being called Elle – to be a stranger, aloof and hateful. Tessa won’t be deterred, nor will she sit idly by while Elle follows her new destructive path.
Tessa focuses so much on saving Elle that she pushes away everyone else around her, including the handsome new guy and his romantic hopes. Max challenges Tessa to reach beyond her comfort zones, to make her own needs a priority and to have confidence in her talent as a budding photographer.
While not overly graphic in its rehashing of Elle’s abduction, this isn’t a neat and tidy story, with a clear A-to-B plotline. Just as the reality of returning from horror would be twisted and messy, Elle’s re-acclimation into her family and school is raw and difficult. Her decisions reflect her turmoil. Tessa’s choices reflect her feelings of guilt and helplessness. The deep drama sucks the reader in and doesn’t let go until the last page is read. McBride strikes a good balance between darkness and hope.
Language Content
Moderate profanity, mild frequency.
Sexual Content Brief references to what happened to Noelle after her kidnapping. No graphic details. Kissing between Tessa and her boyfriend. Elle talks frankly about planning to have sex with a boy she knows is only seeing her for the attention.
Spiritual Content None.
Violence No graphic descriptions of violence. Very brief references to things which occurred during Noelle’s captivity.
Drug Content
Teens attend parties and drink beer. Some smoke pot. Main character is seen as a “goody-goody,” though she does drink a beer at one of the parties.
Thirteen year-old Edna is out of control, and her wealthy, indulged parents are out of ideas for how to handle her. As a last-ditch effort to reform their daughter, Edna’s parents drop her off at an isolated cabin in the desert with only her stoic grandmother and Vietnam veteran grandfather for company. Furious, Edna pulls out all her most manipulative, most challenging behaviors, but this time they have no effect. She is left with no choice but to survive the next two months with her grandparents, zero technology and a never-ending chore list. Her feelings about the desert change when she meets handsome seventeen year-old Johnny Bishop. When Edna stumbles onto the idea to throw a birthday party for grandpa, who hasn’t spoken in years, what begins as a ploy to gain more time with Johnny evolves into a deeper compassion and understanding for her grandparents and their difficult lives.
Lederman creates a memorable cast of characters, each unique and fascinating. As a parent, it’s frightening to witness Edna’s cool confidence and mastery at manipulation. One wants to slap them all the way to parenting classes. Edna’s grandmother is probably the most complex and interesting character of the cast. The narrative is peppered with truly insightful moments, though frequent ricochets from one character’s deep point-of-view to another’s sometimes interrupt the flow of the story. The deepening of Edna’s character and values and the closeness she develops with her grandparents make this a sweet, moving story.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
A couple references but no explicit words used. A crude sexual comment from an inebriated adult to a teenager.
Sexual Content Thirteen year-old Edna and a much older teenaged boy engage in some pretty frantic kissing, but the exchange stops before clothes come off. Edna references the fascination her friends have with kissing and kissing games. She thinks the games are gross, but she recounts her friends’ participation briefly.
Spiritual Content Edna and her grandparents attend church listen to a sermon about Jesus refusing bread from the Devil after forty days without food in the desert. Edna thinks about her own life and in what ways she might be experiencing temptation she needs to resist. She spends some time each day practicing something she thinks of as a Tibetan monk way of life, in which she tries not to force time to pass but exists in the present.
Violence A boy punches a man in the face after he says something crude about a girl.
Drug Content
At a hotel, two couples who’ve been drinking heavily invite Edna and her friend to play volleyball with them. No teenage drinking.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
