Between Shades of Gray

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Although this book had overtones of many other books of this time period, I still felt it a compelling story.  It is the story of Lina, a fifteen-year-old girl, living a full and normal life in Lithuania 1941.  One night the Soviet Secret Police break into her home.  Her father has already been taken, and now she, her mother and her brother are being deported.  They have just a few minutes to gather some belongings. Then they are brought to a train and crammed into a boxcar bound for Siberia. The train is crowded and miserable, but that is just the beginning of their troubles.  After traveling for a long time in deplorable conditions, they finally arrive at a work camp in Siberia.  In these trying circumstances, Sepetys portrays the many facets of human nature. Lina's mother tries to see the best in others as well as their situation, but the bald man refuses to see good in anything. Sepetys, however, is able to round out the characters so they become more than stereotypes. As the years pass, they face even more dire circumstances and struggle with starvation,scurvy, typhus, and lice.  Lina is able to record the events with her drawings, which she passes along, hoping they will be sent to her father.  I truly was drawn into this story, which captures an often forgotten chapter of history. 



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The Last Dragonslayer

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This first book in the series was a pleasant surprise.  Jennifer Strange, a foundling, has been indentured to Kazam Mystical Arts, and has recently taken over as manager with the disappearance of the former manager, the Great Zambini.  Smart and competent, Jennifer is doing a good job managing the magicians, even though their business is declining as their powers are seeming to wane.  Then the magicians begin having visions of the death of the last dragon, and part of their vision is that Jennifer is the last dragonslayer.  Jennifer adopts her new role with a serious desire to do the right thing by the dragon.  The dialogue and characters in this book are entertaining, especially the Quarkbeast, Jennifer's strange pet. Middle school students and above should enjoy Fforde's first venture into YA novels.



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Kill Order

The Kill Order by James Dashner

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Although I quite enjoyed Maze Runner, this book billed as a prequel to the the story, did not really answer many questions except how the "flare," got started.  It also left much to be desired as far as character development.  The author spent so much time creating one disastrous episode after another for the characters to work their way through, that we didn't feel much about the characters except a little sympathy for Mark who never got a break from the horrendous action from beginning to end.  There have been a couple of middle school boys who told me they absolutely loved this book, and, I'm sure for lovers of high-action video games would be the perfect book. It was one long video game, contrived escapes and all.  But, there is definitely a point where enough is enough, and the reader (at least this reader)wants to have something more than high action. There needs to be some softness or comic relief to contrast with the action. It wasn't to be found in this book.



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The Skull in the Rock

The Skull in the Rock: How a Scientist, a Boy, and Google Earth Opened a New Window on Human Origins by Marc Aronson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Because of the new Common Core, I feel I need to read more non-fiction.  This actually could be a good way to learn about a variety of subjects because YA non-fiction is usually short and written so it is easy to understand.  This book was perfect for this purpose and actually got me excited about the possibility of finding fossils.  It is about a scientist, Professor Lee Berger and his 9-year-old son, Matthew, who discovered two two-million-year-old fossils.  One was of an adult female and the other a young male.  Matthew had trained his eye to spot such things because of work with his father.  What a great experience for a young child.  There is a website www.scimania.org where scientists will be posting any new research on some aspect of the sediba, which is what this discovery of fossils is called.  I think this might be an interesting site to watch. 



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