Zeroes

I was pretty excited when I picked up this book. Zeroes is by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti. I had read some of Westerfeld's books before, and I had liked them, so I was happy to find another book of his. I had actually picked this book randomly from my library. At my library, around February, in celebration of Valentine's day, they have a "blind date with a book" thing. This is where they wrap books in gift paper, and only write a few clues to the story's plot on the front (that way, if you hate horror books, you won't pick one up, ect. ) I loved doing that last year so I did it again this year with Zeroes. In Zeroes, it's your basic superhero book... except SO much better! The first thing I really like with this book was that all of the powers were so unique! Here is the list. (Also - WARNING! This isn't necessarily a spoiler, but if you would rather have the powers revealed to you throughout the book, then don't read the next section!)

1. Scam - His was pretty interesting. Every since he was younger, "the voice" could talk. Even before he could. The voice is basically this other form of consciousness completely separate from Scam (Ethan). Scam just thinks of what he wants, and the voice will try to convince the people to do it. The voice also knows things it shouldn't. Plus, Ethan thinks the voice is helpful, because it makes him sound less like his stuttering self. It was kind of frustrating, but definitely interesting for the plot to see what Ethan's voice would say next.

2. Crash - Her real name is Chizara. She has hispanic heritage, and she can crash any technology she can sense. Chizara loves doing this (as long as she doesn't harm anyone in the process). All of the technology hurts her. She can feel it stinging and poking at her all day long. When she crashes things, she reaches into the interworking of the devices and she completely melds them or fries them. She's even crashed her own phone before many times. The change in her personality was very evident in the story.

3. Flicker - She prefers to be called Flicker, but her real name is Riley. Riley was born blind. She started to learn braille, until she learned she could see through her sister's eyes and read for herself. She can look through anyone's eyes, except for Anonymous. She uses this too see what is happening inside buildings during missions, and she can hop around the area to look for people. I thought her power was pretty creative.

4. Anonymous - Who? Oh, that's right, Thibault. They always forget about him. Thibault is the one who can go in, and no one would know he was there. Literally. They would forget about him. It does backfire for him, however (insert a sad, lovely back story that you'll have to read the book for!). Sometimes, even his own team forgets him. His power is kind of complicated, and it's kind of fun to figure out how it works as the story goes on.

5. Bellwether - He is also known as "Glorious Leader" or Nate. During meetings or missions he can direct the minds of people or of the team towards the same goal, and it helps keep the people encouraged and gets things done. The team doesn't always appreciate it when he does this, but at some points, it's a nice thing to have around. 

I would recommend the book. Now that I think back, I can clearly see how each of the Zeroes has changed in some way, and I love that I can see an individual difference in each of the characters. The ending is a nice finish as well. It's a good read and you should pick it up! :)

Paper Towns

Paper Towns by John Green. Believe it or not, this is the first John Green book I have read. *gasp!* Yes, I know, I'm not normal. I didn't fall for The Fault in Our Stars like everyone else did. I didn't even finish the Divergent series *another gasp!* See, sometimes, I feel like the way a book is portrayed in the media makes it seem to cheesy and overdone. However, I recommended a book to a friend, and in return, they recommended Paper Towns to me. So, I agreed to read it, and as soon as I started, I actually ended up liking it. Basically, it's about Quentin and Margo. They were friends when they were younger, and one day, they were walking around near the park, and they saw a dead man slumped against a tree. Margo was intrigued, but Quentin was repulsed. This is when their friendship started to drift away. Years later, in high school, Margo shows up at Quentin's window. Quentin has always liked Margo (maybe loved?) so he was welcoming. Margo convinces Quentin to go on this revenge trip with her, and they go around pranking everyone they dislike in the city, and so on... It was interesting to see how each prank came into play, and Quentin and his friends become pretty entertaining (especially in an event that comes across later in the book). John Green is not the ridiculously cheesy writer I thought he was, and in fact, I may consider reading more of his books. I did start reading the first chapter of The Fault in Our Stars and I actually liked it from the beginning. He is a very funny author, and I like books that can make me laugh. Perhaps I'll read it soon in the future. I also liked that the theme of the "paper town" was strong and noticeable throughout the story. It was a good message about growing up and moving on from your childhood. Good job to the author! :)

All These Things I've Done

WARNING: contains a few spoilers (but I tried not to give away that much).



"All These Things I've Done" by Gabrielle Zevin is brilliant. Here is one quote that stood out to me (maybe because it's on the last page). "For one moment, I was a person without a last name and so was he. We did not have fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, uncles, or cousins to remind of us what we owed or were owed..." I feel like it summarizes one of the main things Anya Balanchine had been searching for throughout the whole novel, and she finally found the pathway to reaching that. Anya Balanchine is a sixteen year old orphan in the year 2083. Her family is part of an illegal chocolate business. In the future, laws are made so quickly it's hard to keep track. Crime is very existent in the country. Chocolate and coffee are banned. Anya's father is in charge of the family business. Well, he was in charge. Until he was murdered. When Anya was still very young, her mother died in a car accident when someone shot her through the window. They had been going for her father but they missed. Her older brother, Leonyd, or Leo, the oldest child of the family, suffered an injury from the accident and has never been the same since. Even though he is eighteen now, he has the mind of an eight year old. Anya's sister, Natty, doesn't remember her parents much, because she was even younger than Anya at the time. Anya's grandmother lives with them now, but she is very old and must be on a life support machine at all times. This being said, Anya is basically in charge of their small family, and Imogen, the nurse who stays with their grandmother, helps out a bit. Others keep pressuring Anya to follow in her father's footsteps with the chocolate business. Anya is going through so many problems at home, and it doesn't help that she seems to always be getting in trouble at school and with the government. Her problems get worse and better when she meets a boy. She wants to enjoy her self and have a boyfriend. However, it doesn't help that she has a name like Balanchine and is associated with her unsafe, illegal, and criminal family. Anya just wants to enjoy her life, get through high school, pursue her future career, and have a boyfriend, like any teen girl might be going for. However, Anya goes from one awful event to the other. It's a fast paced novel and it's nice to see Anya improve her life and the lives of those around her as the story goes on. I would recommend it.

Now that I have the summary and such out of the way, I just want to say that I loved the characters in this book.

Imogen: She was helpful throughout everything.
Leo: He was just a really lovable character.
Natty: A fun, flirty girl who is positive most of the time, but shows her worries later on.
Scarlet: Such a kind, loyal friend.
Anya: A great, complex character.
Win: One of the best boyfriends in a book that I have read about (I would say it's up there with the husband of Eadlyn from the selection series - I didn't want to mention his name because it would spoil everything).
Gallina (the grandmother): Someone who wants to see the children have a good life but is wearing away mentally. Another kind of complex character.

There is so much packed into this novel and overall I just think it was great.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

I love this book and this title! I feel like this title relates to the book, but it is also creative to use as a title (also, it is derived from a stage direction in one of Shakespeare's books) and I haven't heard of another book similar to this name.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston was a great story. I went threw it in a couple of days. It starts off where this girl, Hermione Winters, is at a competing cheerleading camp. She is the co-captain of her cheerleading team along with her best friend Polly. She was enjoying herself and trying to savor her last year of camp (as she is a senior and would not be attending next year). And then she was raped. As the story goes on, I feel that E.K. Johnston did an excellent job of showing readers how the attacked person may feel. She shows us how our behavior to the attacked people may look to them, and what kinds of things a teenager who has been attacked may go through. As Hermione tries to find her way in this new situation, her relationships with others become weaker and stronger. Hermione represents a strong young woman who refuses to let this attack bring her down. I enjoyed reading this from start to finish and I would definitely recommend it.