Crewel (Gennifer Albin)

Title: Crewel

Author: Gennifer Albin

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux

Length: 360

Rating: 4.5/5

Sixteen year old Adelice is caught in a tangled web of the world, literally. Her parents tried to hide her secret talent for weaving the physical fabric of reality, but she is discovered and taken to join the elite, beautiful women who control everything in the world. Adelice is soon caught in a web of lies, political intrigue and forbidden romance and must decide if it is worth controlling the world when you’re not allowed to control your own destiny.

This science fiction/dystopia mix was a incredible fast read because the pace of the book just goes and goes and there is no stopping! I found it a little hard to picture the world as a series of intertwined strings that can be moved and rewoven, but really liked the concept overall.

Other things I liked: the names in the book were all so creative! Also, author Gennifer Albin lives in Kansas City, and I saw her at another author event the back in November. It was pretty great. Finally, what an awesome title.

As with most dystopias, Adelice struggles with control, trust, and the pressure to do her duty. How frustrating to have the power to control the world, but with someone always controlling you! I was a little disappointed that Adelice’s hardest decisions always forced her to her breaking point, almost cheapening the decision, really giving her only one viable option. It’s hard to explain without giving away the plot, so let me know if you’ve read this one and agree or disagree!

Hourglass (Myra McEntire)

Title: Hourglass

Author: Myra McEntire

Publisher: Egmont

Length: 390 pages

Rating: 4/5

Emerson Coles keeps seeing things that no one else sees. A girl in a Civil War era outfit, a piano trio, a horse-drawn carriage- none seem to really exist, because when Emerson touches these images, they disappear. People think she’s crazy. Emerson thinks she’s crazy. Her brother is determined to find a way to help her, but they’ve tried everything. In one final desperate attempt, he brings in consultant Michael Weaver from the mysterious Hourglass society.

Michael is the first person to fully believe in everything Emerson sees, and every time he and Emerson touch, it’s electric. But the Hourglass is in trouble, and Michael needs Emerson to help prevent a death that never should have happened. Can Emerson trust in Michael and herself enough to change the past? And at what price?

There was a lot in this book that I didn’t expect. I liked that. Physics, time travel, romance, bending the laws of nature. Pretty cool stuff, but I was never overwhelmed by the depth of it all.

Emerson Cole, our seventeen year old narrator: I have a lot to say about her, since we spend most the book in her slightly-messed-up head. I wasn’t completely sold on Emerson until about two thirds of the way through the book. I’m finding that one of my biggest pet peeves is when one of the crucial conflicts in a novel is that main character can’t accept the premise of the book. Emerson was far less willing to accept the idea of time travel than I was, and harped on it unnecessarily. Just accept it! I grew to like Emerson though- she’s head-strong, knows her own strengths and weaknesses, and is adorable awkward, especially when it came to Michael and then the later introduction of the equally gorgeous Kaleb.

Overall, a good balance of sci-fi, romance, and paranormal, and a book unlike any others I’ve read.

When You Reach Me (Rebecca Stead)

Title: When You Reach Me

Author: Rebecca Stead

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (Random House)

Length: 197 pages

Rating: 4/5

Sixth graders Miranda and Sal are inseparable until Sal gets randomly punched one day as they walk home from school together on the New York City streets. Sal shuts Miranda out of his life, and Miranda must deal with the crazy guy on the corner, a stolen house key, and new lunchtime friendships all on her own. Then Miranda starts finding mysterious notes, the first of which says “I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.” At first, she doesn’t take these letters and the requests they make seriously, until she realizes that the author somehow knows things that no one else knows, things that haven’t happened yet.

I’m leaping into slightly new territory here by reviewing this Newbury winner because it’s more J than YA. “Middle grade” might be the proper publishing term for it. What this means for you: it’s a short read, less than two hundred pages (and very short chapters-I just kept reading!) and its narrator is younger.

Despite these differences, I really connected with the book. Maybe because it takes place in the late 1970’s, a throwback to the books I read as a kid. Miranda’s favorite book, which she reads throughout the novel is A Wrinkle in Time, a favorite of mine as a kid and still today. I also loved this book for its original story, which is wrapped in the mysterious, a harkening back to books like A Wrinkle in Time, where science fiction blurs with the real world.

And like any good book, this one is about figuring things out, which I was all about in 6^th grade, and might still be all about today. Miranda has to cope with the loss of her best friend, a mom who is practicing to be on a TV game show, and the possibility of time travel, just to name a few.

Definitely worth the quick read.