Allow me to begin by saying that I went on a wild rollercoaster that randomly sped up, slowed down, spun, confused me, scared me, and finally made me cry. That is to say, the books I read had no particular relationship to each other in terms of genres. Of course, the Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow series obviously shared the sci-fi genre with each other as well as with the Lunar Chronicles and The Testing. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and The Old Man and the Sea are both classic realistic fiction books with hints of historical fiction, especially in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Will Grayson Will Grayson and The Fault in our Stars are realistic fiction. A Long Walk to Water was a work of fiction based on a true story. The variety of genres touched me and moved me in different ways- telling me to move on, be strong.
Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, tells of a futuristic world in which Aliens have attacked and nearly destroyed the Earth. The Earth is preparing for the next alien- or formic invasion by training precocious young children the strategies behind warfare in “Battle School”. One main student, Ender, advances quickly through the school to lead his own mock army- but all the while he questions the very morals behind destroying the formics when so little is known about them. Ender’s Shadow, also by Orson Scott Card is a “brother novel”. It tells the same story from the point of view of Bean, a soldier in Ender’s mock army. I loved both of these because the author left a lot to connect to. Is what you’re told really all that matters? What if what you must do is different from justice? Who gets to decide how severe the consequences are allowed to be?
The Testing, a new book by Joelle Charbonneau I
reluctantly approached, I was afraid it would be another rip-off of the Hunger
Games. Instead, I found a fairly original piece of writing I had never heard of
before. Cia lives in the futuristic united commonwealth where you fought for
high grades and the prodigies were selected to take the test in Tosu City. Cia is selected for the testing. Cia
is thrilled, until her father confronts her with his own stories about the
testing. She begins to wonder what the real consequence is for failing the
test. How far do the powers of government stretch? More importantly, how far
should they be allowed to stretch?
The Lunar Chronicles, by Marissa Meyer, are about a
cyborg named Cinder. It is a twist on fairytales as we know them. The evil
stepmother not being even the worst of this Cinderella’s problems. Her problem
is the lunar queen-the queen from the moon- who seeks to destroy her prince.
The series continues with Scarlet- a not-so-helpless little red riding
hood and I anticipate the next addition to the series- Cress who will be the twist on
Rapunzel. This twist earns independence for the characters because they are
hated world-wide rather than loved world-wide. They must earn their respect. I
loved the strength the characters learned to hold on to because it taught me to
hold on.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was especially meaningful to
me because it tells the story of a young girl growing up in Brooklyn, and
although I am not poor, I recognize may places in the story. From birth, love,
feeling neglected, Betty Smith has replicated the true essence of life. It is
hard to live, it is harder to grow up, and it is harder to hold on to what you
must do rather than what you should be able to. We inherit what we are allowed
to do, where we are allowed to go. Before this book I never really understood
how the other half lived.
The Old Man and the Sea is a true story of perseverance,
well-written and heartfelt. An old man exhausted from days of defeat, having
not had a good catch in ages, sets out determined to bring home a fish. He
finally catches one at the end of the day, but it is a giant and the fish
steers him as much as he steers the fish. It is a beautiful fish and it makes
one respect perseverance, the beauty of nature, and “respect” itself.
A Long Walk to Water was a shorter book. It addressed
the need for water and uniting over this common goal no matter the differences
of the people/tribes. It tells the story of one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, and a young girl who can't get an education because every day she hikes to get water. It is an important issue to discuss because while we
worry about what we should order, make, or basically eat for dinner tonight-
while we argue about book characters and even as we read books and find books
others aren’t supplied with so basic a need as water.
Up-and-coming author John Green owns two of the titles on my
list. The Fault in our Stars is such a real story full of metaphors and
nothing is sugar coated or exaggeratedly bad. It shows life as it really is. Hazel and Gus are both victims of cancer. Gus loves Hazel but she is too afraid that she will be a grenade to make connections. She doesn't want her death to hurt anybody. It
was easy to connect to because it uses local color, tone, and even language. Will
Grayson Will Grayson is a collaborated book between John Green and David
Levithan. Two boys, both named Will Grayson travel two separate paths that
intertwine in the most unexpected of ways. It teaches about love and what it
really means- about learning how to hold on because that’s what it takes to be
able to let go. “Maybe
there's something you're afraid to say, or someone you're afraid to love, or
somewhere you're afraid to go. It's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt because it
matters.”
What I can finally state about what I've learned as a result of my 2013 reading is that we have a lot to ask ourselves as a human race about what is right and what we need to let go.
