Nevery Fall Down- May 10

Grade: A

Another solid historical fiction (but not so fictional) novel from Patricia McCormick.

When soldiers arrive at his hometown in Cambodia, Arn is just a kid, dancing to rock 'n' roll, hustling for spare change, and selling ice cream with his brother. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever. Arn is separated from his family and assigned to a labor camp: working in the rice paddies under a blazing sun, he sees the other children, weak from hunger, malaria, or sheer exhaustion, dying before his eyes. He sees prisoners marched to a nearby mango grove, never to return. And he learns to be invisible to the sadistic Khmer Rouge, who can give or take away life on a whim. -summary provided by Amazon

You'd have to have a heart of stone to not be thinking about this one long after the last page. Like all of her books, McCormick takes the brutality of the world and turns it into a triumph of the human spirit. Highly recommended!

Next up: Spirit and Dust by Rosemary Clement-Moore, May 17
 

Beta- May 3

Grade: B

Continuing on with the dystopian craze, Beta tries to bring something new to the table with their cloned teens.

16 year old Elysia was created in a laboratory. A replicant of a human girl who once lived, Elysia is an experimental model designed to serve the people of Demesne. This island paradise has had everything bio engineered for it's perfection and only the wealthiest of humans can live there. Of course not everything is as perfect as it seems. Elysia notices that the humans still yearn for things and the clones are not happy. This is a very dangerous observation because she is supposed to be a soulless drone who should not be affected by such emotions. If her feelings are discovered, the consequences will be terrible and swift.

There are a few twists, a required romance, and a promised sequel. The writing is fine, the story is fairly engaging... we just didn't really see anything new here. If you've read all of the popular titles in the dystopian line and you still need more, give Beta a try.

Next up: Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick- May 11