The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1 - PJ Haarsma,

Description:

A human boy with an uncanny link to computers finds danger and discovery on the rings of Orbis in this riveting sci-fi adventure.

Thirteen-year-old Johnny Turnbull has always known there was something different about him, even before he and two hundred other kids landed on the first ring of Orbis. But once their spaceship lands, he is identified as the first-ever "softwire" -- a human with the ability to enter and communicate with computers through his mind -- and becomes the focus of intergalactic intrigue. Johnny and the rest of the refugee orphans are put to work in alien factories, and very quickly things go very wrong. When the all-knowing, all-controlling, and technologically "perfect" central computer starts malfunctioning, suspicious eyes turn to Johnny. Is he the one responsible? This action-packed, fast-paced sci-fi novel will keep kids on the edge of their seats.

Something in this made me think of Orson Scott Card and "Ender's Game." Certainly not as complex and much warmer, still struck the same nerve that made me love "Ender's Game." It felt unfinished (gee, maybe because it is the first of a trilogy), but I didn't find that off-putting, I simply ordered the next book.

Definitely worth reading.

This was waiting for me

when I returned home yesterday from vacation:


Can you say Squeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!?

Unwind - Neal Shusterman

UNWIND - Neal Shusterman

Description:
In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them. Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.In Unwind,Boston Globe/Horn BookAward winner Neal Shusterman challenges readers' ideas about life -- not just where life begins, and where it ends, but what it truly means to be alive.

The first question is why Unwinding? Maybe what is Unwinding? In some alternate future the war (which became an actual war) betwen Pro-Choice and Pro-Life was settle with a abolition of abortion. You could "stork" a baby by leaving it on someone's doorstep, as long as you didn't get caught. But other than that, every pregnancy had to attempt to succeed as a live birth and the parents were responsible for that child until they were at least 13. At that time a parent could choose to unwind a child.

The unwound child was harvested for body parts, and this compromise between pro-life and pro-choice was agreed on because if the parts lived on, then the child never really died. I guess the soul doesn't count. The book touches on whether "the parts" retained some memories of the original owner. Society had figured out a way to use nearly 100% of the body in transplants. Things like the appendix didn't seem to count.

The book description above gives reasons for the three chldren's unwinding. Every life is precious doesn't seem to apply.

The book was very interesting, even though it seemed slow in the beginning. That could be because I was reading it so slowly. It is hard to really get into a book when you can only read a couple of pages at a time. But I found myself really vested in the outcome of Connor and Risa. I seem to remember feeling the same way about "Everlost", so perhaps it is simply Mr. Shusterman's style.

Read it.

Unwind is available in both paperback and hardback.

My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter. ~Thomas Helm

Radiant Darkness - Emily Whitman

Let's get this out of the way. I prefer my fantasy urban and gritty. I am definintely more of a Buffy girl.

(Borders) Description: Persephone, a young goddess, leaves home to find romance and independence--and finds herself along the way.

(Barnes & Noble) Synopsis:

He smiles. "Hello."

It's a deep voice. I can feel it reverberate in my chest and echo all the way down to my toes.

I know I should leave, but I don't want to. I want to keep my senses like this forever. I'm all eye, all ear, all skin.

Persephone lives in the most gorgeous place in the world. But her mother's a goddess, as overprotective as she is powerful. Paradise has become a trap. Just when Persephone feels there's no chance of escaping the life that's been planned for her, a mysterious stranger arrives. A stranger who promises something more—something dangerous and exciting—something that spurs Persephone to make a daring choice. A choice that could destroy all she's come to love, even the earth itself.

In a land where a singing river can make you forget your very name, Persephone is forced to discover who—and what—she really is.

Radiant Darkness is, to my taste, fluffy. But if you like your fantasy fae, alternate worlds, myths, legends, fables and etherial, you may really like this book. The writing is good. I just prefer things that are a little more gritty and kick-ass.

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.
~Author Unknown

New York Times Bestsellers

Books from the New York Times Best Seller List today. Anything not 12 & up, is not included. (Yep, it's a double negative done correctly.)

CHAPTER BOOKS

1 TWILIGHT: DIRECTOR’S NOTEBOOK, by Catherine Hardwicke. (Little, Brown, $17.99.)
2 THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, by Neil Gaiman. Illustrated by Dave McKean. (HarperCollins, $17.99.)
3 THE HUNGER GAMES, by Suzanne Collins. (Scholastic, $17.99.)
4 THIRTEEN REASONS WHY, by Jay Asher. (Razorbill, $16.99.)
5 WINGS, by Aprilynne Pike. (HarperCollins, $16.99.)
6 THE AWAKENING, by Kelley Armstrong. (HarperCollins, $17.99.)
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8 HUNGER, by Michael Grant. (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, $17.99.)
9 ONCE DEAD, TWICE SHY, by Kim Harrison. (HarperCollins, $16.99.)
10 SCAT, by Carl Hiaasen. (Random House, $16.99.)

PAPERBACK BOOKS

1 THE BOOK THIEF, by Markus Zusak. (Knopf, $11.99.)
2 LOCK AND KEY, by Sarah Dessen. (Speak, $8.99.)
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4 THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS, by John Boyne. (Random House, $8.99.)
5 EVERMORE, by Alyson Noël. (St. Martin’s Griffin, $9.95.)
6 TWEAK, by Nic Sheff. (Atheneum, $9.99.)
7 THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN, by Sherman Alexie. Illustrated by Ellen Forney. (Little, Brown, $8.99.)
8 BEAUTIFUL DISASTER, by Kate Brian. (Simon & Schuster, $9.99.)
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10

SERIES BOOKS

1 THE TWILIGHT SAGA, by Stephenie Meyer.
2 PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS, by Rick Riordan.
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5 HOUSE OF NIGHT, by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.
6 THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS, by Cassandra Clare.
7 NIGHT WORLD, by L. J. Smith.
8 THE SECRETS OF THE IMMORTAL NICHOLAS FLAMEL, by Michael Scott.
9 PENDRAGON, by D. J. MacHale.
10 MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES, by Rachel Caine.

Lots of Fantasy on the lists!!