Five Faves #3

Okay, so as usual, I'm behind on my book reviews this month.  BUT, for this round, I chose five spectacular books!  In case you missed them, here they are:



1.) Mr. Was by Pete Hautman
2.) Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
3.) Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
4.) Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
5.) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

So, what's so great about my Five Faves?  Here we go...

1.) Mr. Was by Pete Hautman

Okay, so arguably, this is a book you've probably never heard of...which is a shame, because I thought it was completely genius.  It's a time travel story, about a boy who finds a door in his grandfather's home that send him 50 years into the past.  When he comes back, he witnesses a murder--a murder that he becomes hell-bent on stopping--so he disappears through the 50-year-door again...this time for good.  I guess my favorite thing about this story is that you MUST read every single page before you truly get it.  Then you have to read the whole book again, just to appreciate it.  With a historical bent and mystery to boot, this novel is fab.  (Oh, and for your teachers out there, I taught this book to my high schoolers for years and they loved it.)

2.) Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

So this was my stand-out for August...  I loved this book soooo much!!!  The gist is that a meteor slams into the moon (no, it doesn't crush the earth, which might have been better) sending it into a new orbit...far too close to the earth.  The result is nothing short of apocalyptic (volcanoes, freezing winters, no food, no water, people dying of the stupid flu...) and all the while our MC is keeping it in her journal.  After two chapters, you don't even realize your reading journal entries anymore because you've been sucked into the plot.  Part of the reason why I chose this book as my stand-out is because I'm still thinking about it.  I can't STOP thinking about it.  But, at the same time, I can't bring myself to read the sequels just yet either, because I was emotionally drained by this story.  So, in the meantime, I'm reading the Percy Jackson series to make myself feel better.



3.) Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Yeah, what CAN'T I say about this book (and series!) that hasn't been said by thousands of readers already? Heck, I don't know, but I'm gonna give it a go anyway...  I read this book around the time I was sick to death of paranormal romance, but Shiver was so much more than your typical werewolf story.  First off, the transformation is into wolves, like, REAL wolves.  Not scary creatures that go around stalking humans for blood, or whatever.  So, immediately, I was in.  Also, the take on going wolf for the winter set up a great internal conflict and the fact that the catalyst was cold weather, well, that was pretty cool.  I'm a sucker for romance, so that didn't hurt either.  All in all, fab fave for August.  If you haven't read it yet, what planet are you living on?

4.) Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Again, another book I love to teach in my high school classroom.  Our MC is new to high school and a total outcast, but not because she's dorky, or ugly, or anything else like that.  It's because she called 9-1-1 in the middle of a raging party the summer before school started.  Oh, she had a good reason--a darn good reason--but you don't find out what that reason is until the end of the book.  I loved the connection between her and her art teacher and hey, the movie version with K-Stew wasn't bad either.  I definite must-read for any YA fan and a great classroom-read, as well.

5.) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Wow.  Just. W-O-W.  This book is INSANE!!!  Seriously.  The take on a bunch of kids being forced to murder each other on live television is just...so...IDK, crazy.  Of course, Collins does a great job with setup, allowing the reader to suspend disbelief just enough to buy into this post-war craziness.  We immediately love our MC from the get because she sacrificed herself to save her younger sibling.  Who couldn't love a girl like that?  But the underdog is a bit more fierce than her opponents realize and her coach is a little less dumb than she realizes.  All in all, it's survival of the fittest and you'll be surprised who makes it down to the end.  This is another series I haven't finished yet, but the other two books are sitting neatly on my bookshelf, ready to be devoured. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my Five Faves of August!  Have you read these books?  What were your reactions?

~L