The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater (October 2011)

It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.

Life on Thisby Island, population 4,000 is quiet, except in November.  The closer it gets to November, the more capaill uisce - water horses - the sea spits out. 

These are not ordinary horses.  Drape them with charms, hide them from the sea, but today, on the beach: Do not turn your back.

During the month of October, until the first of November, the island becomes a map of safe areas and unsafe areas. 

Puck Connolly understands too well what the capaill uisce ("copple ooshka") are capable of.  Her parents were killed at sea.  Puck lives with her older brother, Gabe, and younger brother, Finn.  Gabe works at the hotel to keep the family together, and Puck and Finn work odd jobs to earn some money.

Suddenly Gabe tells Puck that he's leaving the island.  To make him change his mind, Puck tells him she's going to enter in the annual Scorpio Races - races with the unpredictable capaill uisce.  Gabe finally admits that he'll stay on the island until after the races.  To enter the races, though, Puck needs to find a capall uisce.  Forced to make a choice, she decides to ride her beloved horse, Dove.

Sean Kendrick has worked in Malvern Yard since he was 10 years old.  He has a way with the capaill uisce, he understands their magic.  The capaill uisce can play tricks on the rider, coaxing him to trust and to join the beast in the sea.  Sean knows how to tie knots in the horse's mane, use threes in sevens, track iron counterclockwise on the horse's withers, and make circles in the sand and spit in the center.  Sean and his favorite capall uisce, Corr, have won the Scorpio Races four times.  But Corr belongs to Mr. Malvern, and more than anything, Sean wants to own Corr.

Mr. Malvern is a powerful man on Thisby.  He owns most everything on the island, including Puck's house.  Equally as cold, his son, Mutt, hates Sean and will do anything to hurt him.

Both Sean and Puck must win the races to save what they love the most.  But can they survive?

Even if you don't know anything about horses, The Scorpio Races is an exciting read, full of lovely imagery and strong characters.  And there's even some romance in unexpected places.

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*mild language, some crude British humor, mild violence

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

The Dark and Hollow Places, by Carrie Ryan (2011)

The city used to be something once.  I've seen pictures of the way it gleamed - sun so bright off windows it could burn your eyes.

Winter.  Dark City, once known as New York City, is dying. 

Annah lives in Dark City, waiting for Elias' return.  He's been gone for three long years with the Recruiters.  Annah is a survivor in a dangerous place.  Annah is covered with physical and emotional scars.

It's haunted me.  Tormented me.  It's who I am:  the girl who left her sister behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

Catcher finds Annah in Dark City. 

"Because I promised Elias I'd find you," he finally says.

He has brought Gabry with him.

When Gabry and Catcher travelled to Dark City, they passed a horde, awakening thousands and thousands of Mudo.  Unconsecrated.  Plague rats.  Catcher and Gabry hurried to Dark City to save Annah from the horde.  Millions of plague rats are about to overtake the city.

Catcher is Immune, and the Recruiters need him for their survival.  Catcher can gather supplies and food for the inhabitants on Sanctuary.

"Remember this:  Catcher is what matters.  You're just ancillary to that end."

Annah finds the map room, what's left of the world.  Black push pins mean there's nothing; overrun by the dead. 

I stare at the wall, eyes traveling from pin to pin.  Almost all of them are black.  "That can't be right," I say.  The entire country - the entire world - is covered with black pins.

Annah is filled with questions.  What makes us alive?  What is the difference between the living and the Unconsecrated? 

"That's the question, isn't it?  What's life and what's existence?"

Carrie Ryan's third book in the Forest of Hands and Teeth series is equally as exciting as the others.  The relationships the characters have, the morals they follow will resonate with most young adults.  The imagery is, as always, absolutely delicious.  The scene where Annah is in the subway tunnels at the end of the book is gripping.

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*violence, religion

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan (2009)

My mother used to tell me about the ocean.  She said there was a place where there was nothing but water as far as you could see and that it was always moving, rushing toward you and then away.

Maria's father is missing and her mom is now dead.  They live in a small village that is surrounded by a deadly forest, the Forest of Hands and Teeth.  The village is surrounded by fence, protecting the inhabitants from the Forest, which is filled with Unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once dead.  The Unconsecrated are driven by the desire for human flesh, spreading the infection.  Maria's village is an enclave of hundreds of survivors in the middle of the vast Forest.  Lost to them is who they are and why they're here.  Life before the Return is a mystery.

The Sisterhood governs the village, the Guardians protect the village, and the Unconsecrated are insatiable.  The secrets the Sisters hold abound.

Unmarried women don't have a lot of freedoms in the village.  They can live with their family.  A man may speak for her, court her, and marry her in the spring ceremonies.  Or she can join the Sisterhood.  But the village is about survival, and all healthy young adults are encouraged to marry.  After their mother dies, her older brother rejects her and Maria is forced to live with the Sisters in the Cathedral. 

"I hear you are to join the Sisterhood," he says.  His words hit me like a slap.  I don't know what I was expecting - anger, pain, regret, but not for him to turn me away.  Not for him to cast me out and leave me to the Sisters before I've even had a chance to speak with him.

While Maria lives in the Cathedral, she notices a gate that leads to a path stretching into the Forest, forbidden by the Sisters and the Guardians.  She notices a set of footprints. 

Someone from Outside has come to our village. 
     Which means that there is an Outside - something beyond the Forest.

Maria begins to ask questions, to wonder about what else is out there.  Her mother always told her stories of life before the Return, especially about the ocean.  Maria's curiosity turns into a desire to know the truth.

There is a breach in the village and Maria is forced to use the forbidden gate to leave the village.  Unconsecrated are everywhere, infecting hundreds of friends and family members.  Can Maria find the truth?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a fascinating read, but I was disappointed with the ending.  There is a lot about religion and Maria rejects God.  The premise of the book is interesting, but I was dissatisfied with the resolution of the story.  The imagery, however, is gorgeous.

Rating:  6 out of 10 stars
*Mild language, sexual references, violence, religion

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

The companion to this book:

Epitaph Road, David Patneaude (2010)

Charlie frowned as muted sunlight leaked through the ragged umbrella of evergreen boughs overhead.  Someone had discarded a red plastic Coke pouch in the middle of the trail.  Under his breath, he gave that someone a name: 'Pig.'  He stomped the pouch flat and stuffed it in his backpack.  Two days into the hike and already one big compartment was crammed with trash.

Monday, August 8, 2067 - 1 billion dead

Tuesday, August 9, 2067 - 2 billion dead

Thursday, August 11, 2067 - 3 billion dead

Ten days later, more than 4 billion people are dead.  Ninety-seven percent of the male population.

A terrible virus runs its deadly course in less than 24-hours.

Charlie, his sister, Paige, and his mom were hiking deep in the wilderness on the Olympic Peninsula when the virus hit.  They were waiting for Charlie and Paige's dad to join them, but he never did.  Instead Elisha's Bear took him, and 4 billion males, away.

Thirty years later, fourteen-year old Kellen lives in Seattle with his mom and Aunt Paige.   Kellen's dad, Charlie, is a loner, a fisherman near Afterlight, formerly Port Angeles.  His mom, Dr. Heather Dent, works for PAC, Population Apportionment Council.  PAC controls society by restricting male births: no more than five percent of the population should be male.

Kellen and his classmates are about to take the trials which will determine what they were able to do as an adult - if they'd have an education, career, and citizenship opportunities. 

According to everyone I'd talked to, the main thing to do when I underwent my trials - the oral parts anyway - was to impress the examiners with my knowledge and sensitivity, to look sincere when I was doing it, and to exhibit my awareness of how EVERYTHING (almost) HAD IMPROVED SINCE WOMEN TOOK OVER THE WORLD. 

Males don't do as well as females on the trials.  On average 87% of females pass, whereas 72% of males pass.  Males have very limited choices, even if they do pass. 

After Elisha's Bear, women quickly realized the world and its inhabitants were much better off without men.  Wars, crimes, illegal-drug demand, gangs, prostitution, pornography disappeared.  The United Nations gained power and countries merged.  Laws were created to prohibit men from holding positions of power or influence in the public or private sector.

This is the world Kellen is forced to live in.

Epitaph Road is an entrance to a park in Seattle.  It was created after Elisha's Bear.  Millions are buried there.

epitaph

1. an inscription on a monument, as on a gravestone.

2. a short piece of prose or verse written in honor of a dead person.

Kellen and his two new housemates, Tia and Sunday, uncover a theory about Elisha's Bear.  In an effort to save Kellen's dad, the teens discover a dark and terrifying secret.

You're a skeptic.
If you've heard certain things - conjecture, conspiracy theories, wild-eyed accusations - over the years, you've mostly snickered at them and hurried back to the comforts of what passes for reality.  But maybe one rumor - that die-hard, far-fetched, alternate-universe one about the origin of Elisha's Bear, about someone purposefully unleashing it - haunts you.  Maybe you're skeptical instead about the so-called truth you've been spoon-fed from an early age - the idea that the Bear just showed up on its own and targeted only males.
You should be.

Epitaph Road is an exciting read if you like action, adventure, suspense, and stories that take place in Seattle and on the Olympic Peninsula.

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

Rating:  8 out 10 stars
*Mild language (about 6 swear words)