Gone

Gone by Micheal Grant

One of my favorite dystopian books. Which is about equal to one of my favorite books.

Imagine you are in class. And then your teacher disappears.

That is about the pace that the start of this book follows. Most of the character development is how they react to the situation and the action that is taking place. And I like that. It makes the characters seem more real, and less of a standard "tough guy" or "leader" or "smart person" character role. The events are gripping and quite often do not end up badly, and half of the people in the book are insane. And not just "crazy", but clinically insane.

Oh, and they have superpowers. The story explains this slowly throughout the overarching plot line that is carried out through all of the many books. If you didn't catch on, the basic back story is that everyone over 15 dissapears, and so the remaining kids have to take care of their small portion of the world. This includes dealing with differences between the older kids, babies requiring care, 10 year olds going around and looting all of the good food, which happens to be the stuff that goes bad last, and dealing with the fact that there is a group of cutthroat super powered teenagers set lose on the city.

The Testing

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

This is another one of the dystopian books that I just can't seem to get enough of. I hope you like those.

The Testing follows the adventures of Cia, who just graduated high school in the dystopian world of post-vague tragedy-centrally ruled-technologically setback in most places- struggling to survive America, called the United Commonwealth. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read The Hunger Games. Graduation is a big time in the colonies, because at that point, the best and brightest of that gradating class is chosen to go through the Commonwealth run Testing, which selects the best and brightest from the best and brightest. Those who pass go on to University,  become some of the leading minds of the nation, accomplishing high level tasks such as running the government and regrowing the scourged land that they live in. Those who fail, well, they surely just work in the capital where the tests take place. Surely. Right?

Spoiler: They don't.

After graduating, Cia goes on to do what is quite obvious because this is a book with a plot. She - surprise surprise - doesn't get into the testing. When I first read that, I was very confused. Was this book leading up to something new and different? Nope, just a train delay :). After the train arrives, she is selected for the Testing, and she quickly goes to the capital with some of her friends who have also been selected, expecting a paper test and maybe some projects or something.

Spoiler: That's not what happens.

From that point on, it gets interesting, but you'll have to read it for yourself. I really enjoyed this book, like I enjoy most dystopian fiction. It isn't the best book I have ever read, but it is a good book. It has an interesting plot and some points where it shows how people react in terrible situations, which I think is why I enjoy dystopian literature so much. Overall, a good book.

Hatchet

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Happy New Year! This is a little late, and I haven't been posting in forever, and I'm sorry. But this will NOT be one of those blogs that is just an endless row of sorry posts! NO! I will be sorry, and then I will POST something! So here it is.

Brian is a thirteen year old who is flying in a bush plane (for those who don't know what a bush plane is, I can tell you that it is not a plane made of leaves. That's about it. Sorry) to see his father up in Canada. He has an uneventful flight, but when he arrives at his father's house, tragedy strikes. There is no pudding. No, it is nothing anywhere near as dramatic as that. Actually, most of the story happens on that plane flight. He is just cruising along, looking out the window, and the pilot's having a heart attack, you know, nothing much. So the pilot dies, and he crash lands in a lake.

From that point on, Brian must find food and shelter, before the cold of winter sets in. Also, before the moose comes home. He faces a number of challenges throughout the book, including one moose on his way home. It is a very good book, really makes you realize how lucky we are to be able to go down to the grocery store, grab a sandwich, and not be harassed by meese on the way there. Anyways, I recommend this book to you all, and all that stuff.

Oh, and apparently there are sequels! I will have to read those. If you want to read them, the second one is either The River  or The Return or Brian's Winter or Hatchet: Winter. Tell me which you read first, and I might not be as confused about it.