Alabama Moon and The Selection

     How important is friendship?  Can we do without it?    In the video above we get to hear the point of view of the main characters from two different books.  Moon is the main character in the book, Alabama Moon by Watt Key.  Moon and his dad have lived in a cabin in the back woods of Alabama for Moon's whole life.  Moon has been taught to rely on himself and not to trust others.  After his dad dies, Moon follows his dad's instructions to travel from Alabama to Alaska where Moon's dad claims there are more people like them.  Such begins Moon's adventure and a journey to figure out what he himself believes.
     America, from The Selection by Kiera Cass, has always had friendship.  After growing up poor in the colony, she has found that friendship is something she cherishes and it doesn't cost anything.  She finds herself in the castle as part of The Selection process in which Prince Maxon has to choose his future bride.  America has agreed to be in The Selection because it is a way for her family to have more food and money.  She has no interest in Maxon, but wants to stay in the castle as long as possible to benefit her family.  She feels very alone at first, but quickly makes friends and finds her support.
    Both books are page turners, but for different reasons.  Alabama Moon has adventure and danger while The Selection has adventure and romance.  

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

In The Adoration of Jenna Fox, author Mary Pearson calls into question what truly makes a human. Is it our inteligence? Our personalities and emotions? Our organs, skin, hair, and physical features?

Main character Jenna wakes up from a coma after an accident with no memories of who she is, where she is from, or what happened to her.  Jenna begins her path to recovery in a secluded house with her mother and grandmother, and occasional visits from her father.  She is aided by home videos, one for every year of her life.  Set in the near future, Jenna's world is extremely similar to ours except for several advances in technology and medicine that enable life-saving procedures, although with ethical concerns and consequences.  As Jenna learns more about herself through the home videos, and her memories start resurfacing, she also makes several startling discoveries about her accident and who she is today because of it.  

One theme of this book is to believe and trust in your instincts.  Even as Jenna struggles to find herself and remember herself, she is driven by her intuition in her actions and interactions with others.  When she meets Ethan, she instinctually knows that he is a good person despite his past actions.  When she finds somethings hidden in locked closet, she follows her gut feelings to discover the truth about her accident.

I really enjoyed reading this book because many of the components that make it sci-fi aren't completely unbelievable or far from what is available in medicine today.  The author raises so many deep thinking questions about the human race, and how far we would go to save and protect the ones we love.

The Red Pencil

    

      I was drawn into the life of a young girl in Sudan while reading The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney.  Amira lives in Sudan and it is her twelfth birthday.  She is thrilled with her gifts:  a song sung to her by her younger sister, and a sharpened stick given to her by her father.  With the stick she is able to draw pictures in the sand.  She dreams of learning to read and write and wants desperately to go to school.  Although her father is open to her attending school, her mother tells her that her destiny is to be married, have children, and keep house. One night Amira’s village is attacked by the Janjaweed, a group of men that ravage the village and kill many people.  Amira, her mother and her sister travel to a refugee camp with some of the surviving villagers.  There Amira learns to heal from the horrors she has witnessed while secretly learning to read, keeping alive her dream of attending school.   
     Throughout this book Andrea Davis Pinkney points out that material items are not nearly as valuable as things we can not touch.  The things most valuable to Amira are safety, family, and education.  She lives in a war torn society where it is not uncommon to lose loved ones.  I can't imagine living in a place where I have to teach my children how to run and hide because there is a real chance that a group of men will terrorize my home and threaten the lives of my family.   Amira places so much value on simple gifts for her birthday, because they are given with such love.  Few of us in Yarmouth would be thrilled with a simple song and a stick as the only presents for our birthday, and yet maybe we should be.  Amira dreams of someday being able to attend school, something that I take for granted. Amira reminds us what a privilege education is.  This book made me realize how fortunate I am. 
     The Red Pencil is beautifully written in verse.  The author balances the innocence and strength of a young girl with the horrors of what is happening in some parts of Africa.   This is done while keeping the focus on Amira and her story.