Everlost by Neal Shusterman

Title: Everlost

Author: Neal Shusterman

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

Pages: 384

Source: Barnes and Noble

Back of Book Summary

Nick and Allie don’t survive the car accident…but their souls don’t exactly get where they’re supposed to go either. Instead, they’re caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It’s a magical, yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth.
When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he’s found a home, but Allie isn’t satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the “Criminal Art” of haunting, and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost.
In this imaginative novel, Neal Shusterman explores questions of life, death, and what just might lie in between.

My Review:

Characters:

It took me a bit to warm up to each of the characters in this novel.  Shusterman does a nice job slowing developing the characters. It seemed like I, just like Allie, Nick , and Leaf, was getting a feel for my surroundings. Like I was with them trying to determine whom my friends and foes were. It was an interesting way to be introduced to characters in a novel. It was hard at first, because I like to fall instantly

Plot, Conflict, Theme:

I struggled with reading Everlost. It took me a long time to get into the story. Once I really set down and was able to devote a couple of hours to reading this novel, it drew me in. I became engrossed in the story, trying to figure out ways to solve Allie’s problem. Or figure out if Mary Queen of Snots was good or evil. I loved walking the line of decisions. It made me really think and evaluate the characters and their every move. Shusterman does an excellent job drawing his reader into the intricate world of Everlost. I also enjoyed the variety of conflicts Shusterman uses to develop all aspects of his story. Each conflict individually was interesting, but also joined together with the other conflicts to form a well-fit puzzle. I am looking forward to reading the next two books in this trilogy.

Quality of Writing:

Neal Shusterman is a story man. I would recommend each of his books that I’ve read because each one is very unique and fascinating in its own right. The dialogue is great- very realistic. There is also a great flow to the writing that makes this novel a easy, relaxed read. 

My Rating:

Cover: B for Basically Brillant

Book: B for Basically Brillant

Washington, D.C. Visit

I have been blessed to attend the Schools to Watch conference in Washington, D.C. this week. While I was here I've heard many great speakers and am able to take a whole slew of ideas back to my class for the coming school year. One perk to being In the nation's capital is all of the historic sites that are available to view.

The place that I was so very excited to visit was the Library of Congress. As a reading teacher and lover of all things related to reading, I was in heaven! The exhibit that I found to be the most powerful was Jefferson's Library. The collection and variety of books stored by Thomas Jefferson was astounding. I am thrilled to see that our country values knowledge in this manner and makes it available to us not only at the LOC but in an online digital database! In Jefferson's own words "I cannot live without books."

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Linger
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Pages: 362
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc
Source: Barnes and Noble





 





Back of Book Summary:
   
In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack.  And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

 My Review:
Characters:
   The characters in Linger are sculpted very well. I love the development of the characters in Linger. Grace bucking from her 'good girl' ways as her parents try and become more attentive parents. I felt myself rooting for her and encouraging her to tell her parents how badly they had raised her over the last years. That being said, I also rooted for the parents and hoped that they would pick up on the dangerous illness that was plaguing Grace's days and nights. That their new attentiveness would indeed become the help that Sam needed...that wasn't the case regardless of how hard I wished.

   The new werewolves were a great new development to the novel. They were well written and developed. I loved the personal conflicts that Cole brings to the mix.
  


    Plot/Conflict/Theme:
    Linger was very enjoyable, though I didn't enjoy it as much as Shiver because it was set up as a lead in to the third book. Shiver was impeccably written, and my expectations for Linger were set extremely high. Linger's plot kept my attention by creating and sustaining tension for the reader as the conflict for Grace develops. I did like the contrasting conflict between the two novels- Shiver and Linger. In Shiver- Grace struggles to keep Sam human. In Linger, Sam and Grace have seemingly conquered the Were disease, until Grace becomes mysteriously sick after finding a dead wolf in the woods. Sam's fight becomes keeping Grace alive and human- again furiously fighting the Were disease. There is additional tension added as Sam steps in as the leader of the pack and has to help the new werewolves adjust to their new lifestyle.
   
Quality of Writing:
     I very much enjoy Ms. Stiefvater's style of writing. She creates a delightful voice through her writing style. I am looking forward to reading the third installment in this series.

Rating:
Book: B for Basically Brilliant
Cover: B for Basically Brilliant