Wake of Echoes

Summer is the perfect time for catching up on all those wonderful books your friends keep raving about. Whether you're going to the beach, traveling abroad, visiting Grandma, or stuck babysitting your little brother, this collection of young adult dystopian novels will carry you away to darker worlds of the future, where young people fight to be heard ... and sometimes to save the world! Like any good collection, these twelve books are a mixture of new releases and classic favorites, but everyone of them is a MUST READ for true fans of the YA dystopian genre. Here they are, in no particular order: 1.  Stealing Liberty  by Jennifer Froelich When Reed Paine is sent to a secret detention school for teens whose parents are branded enemies of the state, he doesn’t expect to find friendship – especially after coming face to face with Riley Paca, a girl who has every reason to hate him.  But when Reed, Riley and a few others start reading the old books...

D id you see Jimmy Kimmel’s Book Club/Fight Club skit with Oprah Winfrey?  It aired after the Oscars on February 29.  It was funny, I’ll admit.  But when Jimmy said “reading is BORING,” I couldn’t help cringing. It feels like I hear this sentiment a lot, but it’s hard to quantify.  How many people read for pleasure anymore?  How many actually find it boring?  I tried to find some relevant statistics, but the results were highly suspect.  Some were incomplete, others were contradictory.  It depends on how the question is asked.  Some focused on books purchased, but not read -- or whether books were started, but not finished.  Some focused on how many people visit book stores.  Recent studies take in the growth of e-books and how that has influenced reading, but it’s too early for real analysis in that arena.   I’ve included some of these statistics at the bottom of this post, if you are truly interested.  But even if stat...

[ Rant / r ă nt/ : to speak or declaim extravagantly or violently; talk in a wild or vehement way; to rave.]   T here’s a new magic word. It’s nothing like the one your mother taught you. In fact, mothers everywhere will be horrified that I’m calling it magic. I’m horrified myself.  But the word frustrates me. It mystifies me.  I can’t get past it – it’s everywhere I turn. It’s thrown into modern literature without profit, adding nothing. It clutters movies, like the intake of breath.  And it seems to have power – like magic. My mother’s magic word was a good word. Simple and useful – a word that got me second helpings at dinner or juice.  This new magic word can get you things too, I’m afraid. An R rating, if it’s used twice. A nice write up in Rolling Stone if you use it in your song lyrics. Critical acclaim for novelists – maybe even an award. In fact, I can hardly find a novel to read anymore without running into the magic word. Doesn’t th...