The Bookshelf

By Colin Meloy

How five crows managed to lift a twenty-five pound baby boy into the air was beyond Prue, but that was certainly the least of her worries.

On the side of every Portland, Oregon map is a forest labeled I.W. Everyone knows what that stands for: the Impassable Wilderness, the area of Portland that was never settled. Even though Prue had never thought of approaching the Impassbale Wilderness, she sees no other choice than to do just that when her brother is abducted by a murder of crows and taken to the woods. With a schoolmate following eagerly in her wake, Prue sets off on her rescue mission. Upon entering the woods, she finds a totally different world with talking animals, a coyote army, bandits, magic, and a society on the brink of war and reconstruction. All it takes it the appearance of two “Outsiders” to light the fire.

Opinion

This book turned me into a procrastinator. I pretty literally could not put the book down. The thing I really love about this book though, above the technical stuff and the illustrations, is the feeling of being a little kid. It’s that kind of adventure that kids often read about, those big, fantastic, impossible, adventures that feels so real and so close. That’s what I love. Apart from that, I the characters were fairly interesting. Honestly, they only truly developed in the last half of the book, but still. I really love the way that Mr. Meloy constructed the Woods in my mind and the way that I could actually understand the dynamics of each society, from the Avian Principality to North Wood, which is something that I don’t always have a grasp on in fantasy books.

Story aside, could I just talk about how fantastic the illustrations are? They are fantastic. I would skip ahead several pages so I could see the next illustration, leading to me figuring out the ending before reaching it. But ah well. There are six full color pictures and a billion little black and white pictures that only add to the fantasy and the wonder of the book. And no matter how I try, I can’t quite get the style down. Sigh. Now for a little factoid: Carson Ellis, the illustrator, also illustrated the Mysterious Benedict Society, another fantastic book.

Overall, I was mesmerized and now I have to go back and catch up on the studying I missed.

Favorite Quote

As she walked, she breathed a quick benediction to the patron saint of sleuthing.

“Nancy Drew,” she whispered, “be with me now.”

-

“There’s as much benefit to wishing the world away as there is in demanding a bud to bloom,” responded Iphigenia as she patted Prue’s hand gently. “It’s better to live presently. By living thus, perhaps we can learn to understand the nature of this fragile coexistence we share with the world around us.”

Something Cool About the Author

He’s the lead singer of the Decemberists, which is an amazing band. How many bands do you know have an author as the lead singer? Reciprocally, how many authors can you think of are also in awesome bands?

How Do You Like the Cover?
How do you think? It was the cover that made me pick it up and it is the cover that made me pause several times to stare at it. I love the cover. I love the intricacies and I love how it gathers meaning as the story progresses and I love it.

By Jonathan Maberry

Benny Imura couldn’t hold a job, so he took to killing.

Fourteen years after the zombie apocalypse, Benny has to find a job to prevent his rations being cut in half. It’s a different world though, with no electricity, no cars, no communications from far away and a zombie wasteland across the fence. With no jobs appealing to Benny, he finally agrees to join the “family business”: bounty hunter. His big brother, Tom, is one of the best bounty hunters out there, but Benny doesn’t see him that way. He sees his brother as the cowardly man who took Benny in his arms away from his mother in an attempt to save himself. Benny enters into the job unwillingly, but it’s his only option. Awaiting him beyond the fence is a life he would never foresee.

Opinion

Mr. Maberry warned me. He told me it was a rather emotional book and that a lot of people cried. He was right. Now, I didn’t cry, but my nose was pretty well glued to the book for a couple of days. This book is a zombie book like The Fault in Our Stars is a cancer book: the zombies are there, but it’s more a story about the people. The zombies set up the circumstances for the story and they affect how people act, but it’s a story about the people. You see a lot of things about humanity highlighted through the disaster across the fence, like dependence on religion, respect or lack thereof for human life and death, and people’s deliberate ignorance. The book was very interesting in these aspects and because I just got done writing a huge English paper, I will spare you and I the longwinded explanation. Overall, I think the characters were well-developed and there were times when I wanted to smack Benny right across the face. Hard. And I might have been heard chanting “KISS KISS KISS” a time or two through the course of the book. All of these are good signs though! I got really into the book, a rarity for me and any type of zombie/dystopian/apocalypse stories.

It also helps that I met Mr. Maberry a month ago. Oh, and it’s being turned into a movie as we speak. Yay.

Favorite Quote

“Subtlety’s not your bag, is it, kid?”

“It’s not that,” said Benny. “It’s just that I’m fifteen, and I have this crazy idea I might actually have a life in front of me. I don’t see how it’s going to so me much good to believe that the world is over and this is just an epilogue.”

-

“One of us is the stupidest person in the whole wide world, Benny Imura,” she said.

Something Cool About the Author

He met Ray Bradbury without knowledge of any of his success and asked, “Are you published?”

By Eoin Colfer

Conor Broekhart was born to fly; or, more accurately, he was born flying.

On the island of Great Saltee when Conor was 14, life was at its best. King Nick was a generous and kind king, Victor Vigny was Conor’s private tutor on everything from fencing to flight, Princess Isabella and Conor were beginning to be more than friends, and Marshall Bonvilan’s cruelty was subdued. Until Bonvilan broke out of his hold and murdered the king and Victor. Conor was in the wrong place at the wrong time, witnessing the murder and attempting to stop it. But Bonvilan was ready for him with another string to add to his complicated web of conspiracy. That is how Conor found himself on Little Saltee Island, where life was not at its best. Little Saltee was a prison where the inmates mined diamonds below the water in deadly conditions. Imprisonment shatters Conor’s dreams of heavier than air flight. In its place is the simple hope to survive.

Opinion

Reading this book is a biannual thing with me. I have trouble scanning the library shelves and not grabbing this book. Eoin Colfer. What have you done to my brain. I feel like a lesser being in the presence of your great words.

Ok, trance over now. Seriously though, Airman is one of my all-time favorite books and for good reasons, too. The thing that really strikes me about this book is the character development. Conor’s character is brilliant, which I’ll talk on later, and then Bonvilan is absolutely horrific. Conor’s parents and Isabella, beautiful. King Nick and Victor? It keeps getting better. Colfer’s characters live on the page and really get inside your mind. I just- I have an inability to describe just how those characters affected me, but they really did. I put Airman down at night and dreamed of the characters. And let’s not forget the plot, that twisted, energetic, unsuspecting plot. If only I could come up with something like that.

But here’s the real thing about the book: it gets me every time. Sure, I know the plot and I know the characters, but every time I read the book, I just get sucked in. I am transported to the Saltee Islands off the coast of Ireland (which really exist, by the way) and I feel the story developing around me. Few books have this control over me and when I stumble across one that does, it’s gold. So here’s to 6 months from now when I pick this book up again and dive in. All I can say is, thank you Eoin Colfer. Thank you.

Favorite Character

*In order to fully discuss the characters, I’ll have to talk about events past the inciting incident so, well, spoiler alert.

I’ll give you one guess. It’s Conor Broekhart. From the moment you meet him, you just know he’s amazing. Absolutely brilliant in a sort of rambling genius sort of way with a hit of awkward and plenty of spirit and loyalty and determination, that’s him at 14. Then when we pick up the story again when he’s 16 and seemingly hardened to the prison life, Conor’s a different man. There’s still the old passions of flying and remnants of feelings for the people he loved, but he pushes much of this away. Then when he breaks out and finds Linus again, we find evidence of his attempts at stifling his old life to the extent that he abandons his parents and Isabella in the face of danger. A perfect hero would spring to his feet and go to help his old loved ones. But that’s the whole thing about Conor. He’s a human. Extraordinarily gifted, true, but human nonetheless. He doesn’t want to face the shame of his parents even at the point of their demise and he wants to shed all memories of his twisted life by abandoning the Saltee Islands in favor of America. Conor gives us a little bit of despair and suspense as Bonvilan’s plan slowly closes in. Conor is a brilliant character and I hope that what I said made sense because it’s challenging for me to explain things I feel strongly about, and this book is one of them.

Favorite Quote

Chapter 3: Isabella. All of it. That chapter is my favorite quote.

How many times have you read it?

Again, this is a kind of biannual thing for me so I would conservatively estimate that I’ve read this book… 6 times. Still hasn’t got old.

The prequel to The Lord of the Rings series.

By J.R.R. Tolkien

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

Bilbo Baggins, like other hobbits, stayed well away from adventure in his life, keeping to his house and garden. But then Gandalf shows up with an offer: come on an adventure! In his wake follow 13 dwarves, all expecting Bilbo to be their burglar and 14^th member to the company. In the whirlwind of so much talk and actions, Bilbo agrees and finds himself on the back of a pony without a handkerchief, setting off to reclaim the dwarves’ home from Smaug the dragon and reinstate Thorin, the leader of the group, to his rightful place as King under the Mountain. Bilbo quickly begins to miss his hobbit hole, believing that he is not made for this life, but perhaps Gandalf was right and there is more to the hobbit than everyone, including the hobbit himself, could have expected.

Opinion

Yes, I read the book in preparation for the new movie and, yes, I thought the book was fantastic. I will be perfectly honest: it was a lot more fun than I expected. Tolkien really engaged me. I wasn’t really prepared for the liveliness in his writing, nor did I expect the number of tricky situations that the company got themselves into. One thing I really liked was Tolkien didn’t waste his breath on the unimportant events like many days trekking through forests and sitting in captivity.

A long and strenuous journey isn’t something modern readers are often used to. Writers these days try and get events over with as quick as they can, preferring to use a large amount of the book describing the climax. But the journey is the reward, right? Tolkien did something many writers should consider doing: give the characters a journey and build up the character along the way. Every event that Tolkien mentioned, he mentioned for a reason: to build the characters and make the band of dwarves and hobbit into a team. That’s something I am glad he did because that way, you really get into the book and feel it. I don’t often go in for fantasy books like this, with the made up creatures and the different world that is somehow made up of one continent and a few little islands, if that, but I really enjoyed The Hobbit and I think it’s something I will revisit.

Favorite Quote

“That obviously depends entirely on some new turn of luck and the getting rid of Smaug. Getting rid of dragons is not at all in my line, but I will do my best to think about it. Personally I have no hopes at all, and I wish I was safe back at home.”

-

“We are sent from Dain son of Nain,” they said when questioned. “We are hastening to our kinsmen in the Mountain, since we learn that the kingdom of old is renewed. But who are you that sit in the plain as foes before defended walls?” This, of course, in the polite and rather old-fashioned language of such occasions, meant simply: “You have no business here. We are going on, so make way or we shall fight you!”

-

When the tale of their journeyings was told, there were other tales, and yet more tales, tales of long ago, and tales of new things, and tales of no time at all, till Bilbo’s head fell forward on his chest, and he snored comfortably in a corner.

What Actors Should Take The Roles Of The Characters In A Movie Rendition?

Well, since the movie has already been made, I can talk about that. In answer to the question, I thought Martin Freeman was fantastic as Bilbo. He was able to convey Bilbo’s lost and confused feeling really well. I can’t wait to see Benedict Cumberbatch as the Necromancer, although that whole storyline wasn’t mentioned until the last 10 pages of the book and very briefly. I also can’t wait to hear him as Smaug. I think the dwarves were very well rendered, with Thorin really looking and acting the part of the leader of the pack. Gandalf, of course, was very good, and the sets and costumes were just amazing. Although many people didn’t like the CG rendering of many of the creatures, namely the orcs, I thought it was a good thing because if people had been playing the role, they wouldn’t have been able to plague the dwarves as effectively as they were. Overall, I thought Peter Jackson did a great job of putting the movie together and my only complaint is that I have to wait to see the next two movies.

The seventh book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series (needless to say, this review contains spoilers from the previous books)

By Derek Landy

It was a beautiful spring day and they were standing on the roof.

One year after the threat of the Death Bringer, Val and Skul-man are confronted with a nice little mystery: why are random mortals suddenly turning into werewolves and flying around like butterflies? It seems like a calm case, the biggest threat being the general public becoming aware of the existence of magic. But then four powerful teenagers turn up and start wielding their magic rashly. And then Skulduggery and Valkyrie find out who’s behind it and their calm little case becomes a lot more complicated and dangerous.

Opinion

I – I can’t put into words the feelings I had when I put the book down. Don’t get me wrong, they were good, oh yes they were, but in a bittersweet way. I do not want to wait another year for the next book. Thought The Faceless Ones ended with a cliff hanger? It wasn’t, not compared to KOTW. Derek really outdid himself. Seriously. It was funny, suspenseful, epic, and funny, and awesome with a capitol AWESOME. I don’t know what to say. I will say that I felt like Darquesse’s fight at the end was a bit redundant from last time, but it was still good. But that’s about the only thing I can say against the book.

So here’s the census: read the book. If you haven’t read the series yet, read it. (To my Americans out there, I don’t think book 4 has been released in the US yet, so you’ll have to contact some foreign people to get it, but trust me, it’s worth it.) If you like magic, fantasy, epicness, fighting, adventures, mysteries, and/or laughing, this is the book for you.

Favorite Character

It’s a tie between Ghastly, Tanith, and Fletch. They’re all so awesome. And I swear, if I don’t get Ganith (Ghastly and Tanith) and Fletcherie (Fletch and Val) by the end of the series, I will be mad.

Favorite Quote

He could wear hats. He could wear an assortment of hats of different shapes and styles. Boater hats, cowboy hats, bowler hats. The list went on. Pork-pie hats, bucket hats, trilbies and panamas. Top hats, straw hats, trapper hats. Wide brim, Narrow brim, stingy brim. He could wear a fez. Fezzes were cool. Hadn’t someone once said that fezzes were cool? He was pretty sure they had. And they were. They were cool. And he could wear them. He could wear them all.

The book is seriously funny, so I can’t pick a specific quote really, but this is for my Whovians.

Something Cool About the Author

(Not to swell his ego any more but…) Derek Landy is awesome. He’s my favorite author, so this review may be slightly biased, but whatever. Something specifically cool though? He writes ridiculous dedications and biographies for each book and they’re never the same. Unfortunately the paperback versions don’t include the bio, and because I have books 5, 6, and 7 in paperback, I don’t know what they say.

Example:

For the first few years of his life, Derek Landy was raised by foxes. It’s not as impressive as being raised by wolves, he admits, but it’s a darn sight better than being raised by badgers.

And:

Derek lives in Dublin, Ireland, and is a figment of your imagination. Just like you are a figment of his.

And:

This book is dedicated to my family - because otherwise I would never hear the end of it.
Nadine: warm and considerate I am all of those things
Audrey: the greatest thrill of your life is probably that I am your brother
Ivan: meaningless words such as ‘brilliant’, ‘amazing’ and ‘inspirational’ have been used to describe me but not nearly enough.
If any of you thought there would be anything sincere or heartfelt in your dedications, allow me a moment to quietly laugh at you.
Because the heartfelt sincerity in restricted for my nana.
Chic this is also dedicated to you, for all the love and support you’ve shown me over the years. I love you much more than any of your other grandchildren do, I swear.

By George Orwell

It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking 13.

Winston Smith can’t recall much of his life before the Party took over. All the books say that it was terrible and the world was owned and ruled by a few rich capitalists. But then Big Brother took over and improved life for everyone. Winston was never able to swallow that lie though. How could life be worse than now? Everyone was under constant surveillance all the time, children handed their parents over to the thought police, no one ever had enough to wear or eat, and still, quality of life continued to grow exponentially. But his doubt is dangerous. If anyone ever caught the slightest hint of disloyalty to the Party, Winston would find himself in the Ministry of Love the next day, and no one ever emerged from the Ministry of Love the same.

Opinion

Well, I usually don’t like dystopian future books, and, really, this was no exception. 1984 was just a depressing exaggeration of Communist Russia. Of course, there were all the technological advances of a Science Fiction novel, but it was still just a wildly out of control USSR. But to really understand the novel, you have to consider where George Orwell was coming from: the book was written in 1949 when WWII had just ended, the USSR was hitting the headlines, and technology was advancing rapidly. 1984 was his view of the future with these factors taken into consideration: communism, weapons of mass destruction, and rapid technological growth. So when you consider his view, the book begins to make a lot more sense.

 As an entertaining book, I would not suggest you read 1984. But when you consider George Orwell’s message about oppression and government, 1984 becomes an important book to read. In some ways, his predictions have become true. Look at North Korea, a close replica to Oceania. Look at the Middle East where heresy is a crime punishable by death. Look at the technology today where companies can look into your home through the webcams in your devices. Read 1984 and consider what Orwell is trying to say. No, I did not particularly enjoy reading the book, but I understand why my teacher assigned it to us.

Note: I honestly didn’t know people back in 1949 could be so… vulgar. Prepare yourself.

Favorite Quote

The past is whatever the records and the memories agree upon.

Are There Any Big Ideas That Struck You?

I hope there were. Otherwise I’m going to have a lot of trouble on the test over it next week.

Well, one of the things that really interested me about the book was the fictional language they spoke, Newspeak. Here’s a quote of someone explaining the process of making the newest edition of the Newspeak dictionary:

“You think, I dare say, that our chief job is inventing new words. But not a bit of it! We’re destroying words – scores of them, hundreds of them, every day. We’re cutting the language down to the bone. The Eleventh Edition won’t contain a single word that will become obsolete before the year 2050…

“If you have a word like ‘good,’ what need is there for a word like ‘bad’? ‘Ungood’ will do just as well – better, because it’s an exact opposite, which the other is not. Or again, if you want a stronger version of ‘good,’ what sense is there in having a whole string of vague useless words like ‘excellent’ and ‘splendid’ and all the rest of them? ‘Plusgood’ covers the meaning, or ‘doubleplusgood’ if you want something stronger still. Of course we use those forms already, but in the final version of Newspeak there’ll be nothing else. In the end the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words – in reality, only one word.”

Imagine that, one word to represent the whole complicated idea of good and bad. Newspeak is designed completely with efficiency in mind. Unimaginable. Essentially, through the creation of Newspeak, the Party is able to control people’s lives and range of thought even further. Do you think there will be a word for love? How about hate? No. Nothing.

And to me, that’s scary. The Party is taking away people’s ability to express themselves. As a writer, that is scary. Really. Shakespeare would be reduced to a pile of meaningless words. In fact, Shakespeare would likely be erased because it expresses the idea of love and the act of rebellion. Almost all the books we like today would disappear because they would be deemed “opposition to the Party”. That’s right, even Dr. Seuss. Your bookshelf? Empty. It frightens me, really.

But that’s what 1984 is supposed to do. It’s supposed to make you frightened of the prospect of the future proposed. It’s supposed to scare you into action. Make it stop. George Orwell succeeded in what he set out to do.

A Hamish Macbeth Mystery

By M.C. Beaton

Priscilla Halburton-Smyth’s engagement to the newly famous playwright Henry Withering was going rather well: her parents approved and all the people at the engagement celebration simply adored the man. But then someone turns up dead. Captain Bartlett was a guest for the celebration, but everyone hated him, epically the way he insulted everyone when he got drunk and kept romancing the ladies. The police and the guests are content to claim the death as unintentional suicide, but leave it to PC Hamish Macbeth to round up evidence that proves the death a murder. So now the celebration is ruined, along with Hamish’s chances of getting closer to Pricilla. Can he keep his love for Pricilla and distaste for Henry out of his head and find the murder before they strike again, or will he be pushed out of the picture again by his superior Blair before the investigation begins?

Opinion

I can always rely on Hamish for a good time. His character is just so likeable, no matter what. I’ve read almost every book in the series and I’ve never put one down feeling disappointed. I just love the lighthearted nature of the book. You can always count on a despicable soon-to-be-dead person, the horrible Blair, the sweet Pricilla, the regular cast of village characters (though because this is an early book, many of the characters in the later books do not appear), and, of course, Hamish the unambitious village bobby. I mean, it’s just so great to pick up a book and know that you will most definitely enjoy every minute, but still not know exactly what to expect.

And not only that, but the characters and setting are real. The dialogue is spelled like real Scottish people would pronounce words (is = iss, didn’t = disne, old = auld, etc.). The villagers are reminiscent of the personalities you’d meet in a real Scottish village. The curse words are really words you shouldn’t call other Scotsmen. The weather changes instantly and the town is up in the highlands. You get the feel for a real Scottish village without leaving your seat. Absolutely great.

Warning: There are some mature subjects and, again, if you don’t recognize a word and it seems to be an insult, don’t use it. Likelihood is, it’s a horrible terrible Scottish curse word and you don’t know who will recognize it and get really offended.

Favorite Quote

“Then he said, ‘I want to see you the morn’s morn with that dog o’ yours, Angus. I’ve a bit o’ work for you.’

‘And what iss a man to get paid?’

‘A man gets nothing. A man does not get his fat head punched. Be at the police station at six, or I’ll come looking for you.’”

-

“‘I rang the bell to ask for a drink,’ said Anderson, his sharp blie eyes roaming about the kitchen as if searching for a whisky bottle, ‘and that berk, Jenkins, answered. ‘Police are not to ring bells for the servants,’ he says. ‘I’ll remember that, mac,’ says I. ‘Just fetch me a drink.’ ‘Colonel Halburton-Smythe’s instructions,’ says he, ‘but the officers of the law are not to imbibe intoxicating liquor while on duty and will take their meals  in the servant’s hall.’ I told thon old ponce where he could put his servants’ meals and he told the colonel, who told Blair, and Blair’s gone all creepy and he told me I’d better take a walk until he calmed the colonel down.’”

*Just so you know:

Cad: an ill-bred man, especially one who behaves in a dishonorable or irresponsible way toward women.

By Peter Abrahams

Times were bad.

Wyatt never thought about his dad, what was there to think about? He was serving life for this horrible crime and there’s nothing anyone could do about it. But then the baseball program gets canceled at Wyatt’s school and he’s left with nothing to do and a picture of his dad in a high school baseball uniform. The picture strikes up Wyatt’s curiosity, which is only heightened when he moves to a different town with a baseball program… and the prison housing Wyatt’s father. On top of that, Wyatt runs into Greer, a 19 year old girl with a criminal dad, serving time right alongside Wyatt’s dad. Coincidence? Maybe. Greer has a theory about Sunny, Wyatt’s dad: he’s innocent. Will Wyatt be able to prove his father’s innocence, and if he does, will that get him out of prison and where he belongs? What if he isn’t innocent?

Opinion

Bullet Point starts out pretty good, I will admit that. I liked it well enough at the start, even though I didn’t particularly approve of Wyatt and Greer’s choice of date activities. So yeah, it started out good, totally not gritty and thrilling like the reviews on the cover suggest. But then spoilers happen and the book just takes a dive off a cliff for the worst. The last 50 or so pages fulfill the review’s expectations quite well, though not in a good way. It just ended… Blech. It pulled a Macbeth, if you know what I’m saying. I put it down grimacing. So the verdict is: read the first 250 pages, then put the book down and make up your own ending. So there.

Warning: it gets a bit mature in places. Not recommended for those who can’t handle that.

Favorite Quote

“You believe in astrology?”

Wyatt had never really thought about that; did now, real fast. “No,” he said.

“Me neither,” said Greer. “It’s complete bull——. For example, suppose we were living on another planet.”

“Then, um, uh…”

“The angles wouldn’t line up the same way. The constellations would be gone. No Gemini, no Aquarius, no Taurus the bull. No constellations, no astrology.”

By Susane Colasanti

“So.”

Sara has been working her whole school life for her senior year and now that it’s finally here, she has two goals: get into NYU and find The One. Tobey never really cared about school, so senior year’s just the same as the rest of his life, but he still has the two goals of winning Battle of the Bands and date Sara. Unfortunately, Tobey hits a wall when he tries to fulfill his goal of asking Sara out: Sara’s already dating her dream man, Dave. Somewhere in there things have to work though, right? I mean, Dave’s a jerk, according to Tobey, so that relationship can’t last. And his band is great, so he’s sure to win the Battle of the Bands. It’ll work. Hopefully.

Opinion

Ok, I hate to be mean, but I was groaning by the second chapter because the book is so… stereotyped. Stereotyped incorrectly, I might add. I didn’t really enjoy the book that much, especially the way that they couldn’t go five pages without mentioning reproduction. I just… no, it didn’t do it for me. Sorry.

Warning: This is not a book for people who haven’t had The Talk.

Favorite Quote

“Let me get this straight,” Mike says. “You’re going to make up all the work you missed? And do all the work from now on? And do all the application stuff? And practice?”

“Well… yeah.”

“Congratulations.” Mike comes over and shakes my hand. “Welcome to the real world.”

The parallel novel to Ender’s Game

By Orson Scott Card

“You think you’ve found somebody, so suddenly my program gets the ax?”

Bean didn’t even have a name before joining a crew on the streets of Rotterdam. Who’d take the time to name a tiny little kid about to die from starvation? What little kid about to die from starvation would approach a crew leader with a strategy for survival? Bean would. Although his body is in ruins, his mind still works, getting him into a Poke’s crew and helping to adopt a big kid, Achilles, as a protector. Unfortunately, his plan comes with detrimental consequences. Achilles takes over from Poke and sets out for revenge on both Poke and Bean. The only place Bean knows where to go is into the arms of a nun. From there, it seems that his life begins to pick up when he’s selected for battle school, but he could never expect what was lying in wait outside of Earth’s gravity. With the threat of the Buggers at large, Bean might be the person to save everyone, but only if he can escape Ender Wiggin’s shadow.

Opinion

In the interest of pure entertainment, Ender’s Shadow  is a fairly good book with complicated characters and a round-about plot that makes you really think about what’s really going on. My summary above doesn’t even cover half of the things going on in Rotterdam and Battle School. I really like the way that Mr. Card talks through Bean’s thought process and explains everything from Bean’s point of view as if you were inside his head. The beginning was my least favorite part though. Rotterdam and Bean’s life on the street was absolutely horrific; it wasn’t very satisfying or entertaining to read about the big kids destroying the little kids to stay alive. I also didn’t like the way that Bean was so emotionless. The little four year old – Bean is only four – standing over Achilles, telling Poke to kill him. That kind of emotionless decision scared me to think that a four year old could be capable of deciding who should live and who should not, then implementing the decision. And then, much to my unhappiness, I felt that Sister Carlotta mainly existed to mock Christianity, Catholicism specifically. That upset me. But, in the end, the book was ok and had a (surprisingly) happy ending. So there.

Favorite Quote

After breakfast, as they headed for practice, Nikolai asked him, “Why do you call him Wiggin?”

“Cause we’re not friends,” said Bean.

“Oh, so it’s Mr. Wiggin and Mr. Bean, is that it?”

“No. Bean is my first name.”

“Oh. So it’s Mr. Wiggin and Who The Hell Are You.”

“Got it.”

Are there any big ideas that struck you?

Because my English teacher commanded me to read the book, Ender’s Shadow, invariably, is chock full of symbolism and themes and lessons about our humanity. There was a lot of religious symbolism and metaphors. Most used was the biblical figure of Judas. Both in Achilles’ and Petra’s case, they played the role of Judas, endangering the ones that Bean loved. Ender was occasionally referred to as God, Moses, and Jesus.

One big issue raised in the book was when do people cease to be human? (Spoiler alert) Bean is genetically altered so that his mind has a greater capacity for thought, analysis, and memory than the average person, but at the same time, his growth pattern was changed so that he was born very small, but will continue to grow until he is a giant and, eventually, an organ gives out because it cannot support such rapid growth. When Graff and other staff members at the battle school learn of this, they begin to question whether Bean is actually human, or if the genetic variation is such that he’s a completely different species from known mankind. No definite conclusion is reached and people, Graff in particular, seem to be consistently indecisive about his opinion of Bean’s humanity. Based on the situation, Graff decides if Bean is human or not. Genetic engineering is reaching a point where we might have to define what makes something human. When that time comes, we need to reach a definite conclusion and not jump sides to make the facts bend for our use.

Another thing we’ve got to worry about is poverty and what that does to people. The kids who live on the streets of Rotterdam in the book literally go for days without food. When they get food, the bullies (big kids) often times come along and beat up the kids, taking their food for themselves. So, to earn some money to maybe buy food or clothes, children turn to gangs and prostitution. Imagine a twelve year old prostitute. These images horrify me. The worst part is, the adults look on as the children starve and fight as if it’s all the kids’ own fault that they ended up without a home. What can be done about all the people and children living that life today? It’s hard to say. Right now, I believe the most important thing that can be done is making others aware of that possible lifestyle. Then, try opening more schools for the children, orphanages, charity houses, soup kitchens, make the police have the initiative to stop the fighting and the stealing from little kids. Solutions will come with awareness.

The biggest thing that caught my attention in the book is the age of the children. At the end of the book, none of them are more than ten years old, yet, (spoiler) they command squadrons into battle and end up destroying a whole alien race. I read the book, all the time regarding the children as adults, or at least teenagers. But, when I remembered how young they were every now and then, I was stunned. We need to ask ourselves if we really want to put the burden of war on children beginning at the age of four, in Bean’s case, even in desperate times. If you say yes, consider the fact that Ender went through psychological torture and exhaustion throughout the course of the book and, in the end, wasn’t even allowed back to Earth. Is it worth it now, knowing the possible consequences?

One last thing: Orson Scott Card did not specify a year when writing this book, or Ender’s Game, for that matter. The reality he portrays could happen at any time and is, in part, happening right now.