Saturday, June 7, 2008

Two Classic book reviews

Cynthia Voigt is a name you might recognize - she's written many really fine YA novels. "Seventeen Against the Dealer" is the tale of Dicey Tillerman, a young woman raising her three younger siblings. She knows how hard life can be, as she struggles to take care of her family, run her boat-building business, worries about her sick gram, and tries to forget her boyfriend, now away at College. Then along comes Cisco - he seems so friendly, helps her when she can't pay him, and talks to her in ways she's never heard before. Can she trust him?

Dicey learns some hard lessons about trust, the importance of family, and loss. This is an excellent summer read - it will leave you sad and happy at the same time.

"Shade's Children" by Garth Nix is a totally different kind of story. It's dark, scary, and wild in the future. The city is abandoned, inhabited only by a few struggling children, hiding in the ruins, escaping from the Myrmidons. Four children, Gold-eye, Drum, Ninde and Ella hide and struggle to overthrow the inhuman Overlords and their servants. They are aided by Shade, the oldest living human (or close to human) they know. But can they trust him? Will they succeed in their daring plans to destroy the Great Projector?

What do you think of these novels? Do you have others you'd like to review?

No comments: