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Dystopian Divergence

GUEST BLOGGER: Logan Jones, Class of 2020
Divergent By Veronica Roth

Dystopian Divergence

I personally loved Divergent. It was an amazing book that was very hard to put down because you just always wanted to figure out what happens next. It was full of suspense and action and left you feeling like you wanted to know more about this world and the main character, Tris or other characters that might get cut from the faction.

Divergent is a dystopian future style book in which the people are split into five factions which live relatively peacefully together at the beginning of the book. The main character, Beatrice- which will later rename herself Tris- lives in the faction Abnegation which stands for selflessness and caring more for others than yourself. Later in the book, she was declared Divergent which had to be kept a secret and she switched to the Dauntless faction which stands for courage.The factions get into conflict and that makes up the main storyline for the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a suspenseful book. And, also anyone that likes an action book that makes you feel like you're actually there with the main character. And, also to anyone that liked the Hunger Games trilogy would probably like this book because they are both dystopian future style books.

Sending up love

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

Read this book.  At first glance, I thought this was just going to be another “pink” book aka problem novel. But, boy, was I wrong. Instead, I fell in love with A.S. King all over again.

When I try to summarize this book for potential readers, it sounds dull and kind of weird.  Astrid Jones spends a lot of time lying on her back on her picnic table “sending up love” to unknown passengers on planes that fly overhead.  That, and she’s trying to figure out whether she’s gay or not.  What that summary doesn’t give you is Astrid’s voice, the fullness of her personality. If you only paid attention to a summary, you’d miss how much Astrid loves:  loves her family, loves her girlfriend, loves her sister.  Her capacity for love is so great.

So, in the end, Astrid sends up love, kind of figures our her gayness, and accepts her family for what they are and what they can be.  She’s lucky; she can “do whatever [she] wants”.  Really.  Read it.  You'll love it. 

In search of truth

Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle

I really like Vivian Apple. Katie Coyle has created a character with a great, read: very realistic, voice who is true to herself and her friends in the face of immense challenges.

When we join the story, Vivian Apple’s parents have just been “taken” in “The Rapture” and have disappeared – to heaven, maybe…  They were part of the chosen group of Believers, a weird, scary cult, called the Church of America. And, yes, the irony is intentional.

Vivian Apple and the End of the World is an apocalyptic tale.  Vivian is an atheist.  Her vest friend, Harp whose parents were also taken, is all Vivian has left in the world.  Together they set off on a cross-country trip with Peter, a handsome boy with a mysterious past.

The world does not end, but the ending is not sugar coated.  The story lines are pulled to their ends, and those endings are sometimes sad. The post-Rapture world is a scary one, but those in search of the truth are not easily deterred.

I think, I hope, you will fall in love Vivian Apple (I just love to say her name) like I did. Her adventures continue in the next installment, Vivian Apple Needs a Miracle.

Stop the train. I want to get off.

I’m usually too overstimulated by life in general to enjoy thrillers. I can’t turn them off.  So, with a wee bit of trepidation, I started The Girl on the Train on a sunny Saturday afternoon. I settled in my comfy chair under the umbrella on my deck with a cold, bubbly… seltzer in my hand.

The bare bones summary is this: a woman, Megan, a self-identified drunkard, rides the train to and from London city center every day.  The train always pauses at the same row of houses.  Megan creates a narrative about the people she sees from the train. But it turns out, this row of houses was Megan’s prior address, before her massive drinking problem, before her divorce. She is obsessed with these people.  One of them disappears and Megan decides to interfere in the situation, with increasingly alarming results.

The story jumps from narrator to narrator and past to present, but Megan is the primary storyteller and the story generally unfolds in the present, although at first it’s all a bit confusing - purposely so, I believe.  The story grows increasingly compelling and dangerous, but Megan is obsessed and can’t let it go.

The ending ultimately “solves” the intrigue in a very tidy manner, perhaps a bit too tidy?  The Girl on the Train is a stimulating tale of suspense. If you like a messier ending, you won’t be happy with this one.

It's time to pay attention to Vera Dietz

Please Ignor Vera Dietz by A. S. King

2011 Printz Honor book

Multiple points of view: (Vera, her father (Ken), the pagoda, dead Charlie). Well-written, dark, but with a human touch.

Tightly written.  Strong relationship between Vera and her father.  Character and plot driven. Characters are believable – story line is well-developed and pulls you in.

Vera is, of course, wise beyond her years and her father, though distant, is caring and looking out for  her at every turn. Charlie is wise, too, but in a school of hard knocks kind of way.

Plot line:

Vera’s best friend Charlie is dead.  We don’t know the circumstances, but we come to understand we will by the story’s end. Vera was in love with Charlie, but Charlie’s life spiraled out of control, he ditched Vera over another girl.  Things went very south for Charlie and his life wasn’t idyllic to begin with.  

Vera is being raised by her father, her mother abandoned them years before in favor of a podiatrist.  A bit crazy book, a bit poignant, a bit sad, and a bit hopeful. 

I really like the characters in this book, and I really liked this book. If you like realistic stories about mostly realistic characters dealing with whatever life throws at you, you’ll like this book, too.

Haunting

The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick

The cover of the U.S. edition doesn’t do this book justice. The cover of the British edition has beautiful spirals all over it. They are the theme of the story and play a hugely important part in understanding it. The double helix spiral stair on the US edition is not nearly as beautiful.

Anyway, I loved this book.  It’s a compelling story, so compelling I had a tough time putting it down – even at work.

The book consists of four sections, each with a different protagonist but a similar plot line.  They are tightly written and at times uncomfortably compelling. Hence, the “I couldn’t put it down” part of my day. Author Marcus Sedgwick says you can read the four sections in any order. I read them as they were printed, in chronological order.  When I got to the “end”, I could see what he meant, but you do have to read the whole book first to understand that reading them in any order works.

In the largest sense, this book explains the meaning of life. It examines what motivates us and our emotions and what binds us all together. I found it masterful and I highly commend the student who was so excited after he finished that he barged into the library and said to me, “I just finished this book, and I have to talk to somebody about it. I think it’s changed my life.”  I immediately took the book and started reading so he and I could have a conversation, but also because I love a book that changes anybody’s life.

Thank you, Marcus Sedgwick.