Book Review--Numbers 2: The Chaos

     What can I say? After the brilliance of Rachel Ward's Numbers, I was thoroughly disappointed by its successor, The Chaos. It's a typical sequel of the Iron Man 2 sort--at best, a snooze, and and it's worst, a complete let-down. I was apprehensive when I heard a Numbers 2 was in the works, and unfortunately my suspicions have been confirmed.
     In The Chaos, Ward decides to stray from its predescessor and use dual-first-person in which the narrative is split between the two protagonists. Not only is this inconsistent with the first Numbers, but it creates a host of other problems throughout the novel. The character's voices are hardly distinguishable from each other, a detriment to their personalities as a whole. The dual narrative also creates a rut in the plot in which the characters are continually meeting up, sharing an experience from their own perspectives, splitting of to recount their own tale, then rejoining again to share another experience. She is still a good writer, but had Ward decide to stick to one vantage point, many of these problems could have been avoided.
     It would have been better for Ward to have stuck to the characters from the first installment rather than draw new blood. The protagonists Adam and Sarah aren't much more than black-and-white photocopies of the original characters in Numbers. They are stilted and mechanical--their responses to the conflicts around them don't feel human. The relationship between the two is prescribed rather than developed throughout the book. There is no chemistry between them, for they are in love simply because they are destined to fall in love, a fate they share with characters myriads of mediocre literature throughout the ages.
     The plot of The Chaos is truly chaotic, I might even say shizophrenic. Ward skips the plot across a lake of conflicts, touching on an overwhelming number of issues without ever breaking the surface tension on any one of them. Topics such as incest, teen pregnancy, and deformity--all subjects meritting volumes of books on their own--become hat tricks in a desperate attempt to dramatize the story. In the end, a series of plot devices were all that held the book together. Even with another sequel promised to come, there were so many unresolved conflicts and unexplicable events that I can't even begin to settle the story in my mind.
     Maybe I'm being particularly harsh because I expected more out of a book with such a great first installment. Numbers was raw and real. The problem with The Chaos is that it is so shallow, so sensationalized, and so scatter-brained, that it is simply not believable. It disintegrates into science fiction of the blandest sort, and gives us little to hope for in the final book of the series, Infinity.

Update on the Book Blog

     I've just done my third book review, and I believe I'm getting the hang of it, at least when it comes to form. I want to cover all the essentials--plot, character, writing style--along with a general reccomendation ("If you like romance novels, than this is the book for you!"), and of course my personal opinion. When I actually get the other blog up and running, I'll also include the summary that comes on the back of the book (quoted and credited, of course), and maybe even a picture of the cover art. It all depends on how I want to format the blog.
     In addition, I've decided to partner up with my good friend Pen&Ink (authorofeternity.blogspot.com) to make this site happen. She's pretty good with computers (eons beyond my skill, anyways), and she's probably read more books since last Thursday than I have in my entire life. She's a great writer and a deep thinker. I know she'll be great at writing reviews.
     That's all for now. I hope to start working on a spiffy layout soon (I'm letting Pen&Ink experiment on my own blog, so we'll see how that goes), and hopefully we can launch the site as soon as the summer starts.
Until then.

Book Review--The Body of Christopher Creed

     With What Happened to Lani Garver being my all-time favorite book, I expected greatness from Carol Plum-Ucci's award-winning The Body of Christopher Creed. I wasn't disappointed. Though it just can't beat Lani in my eyes, it was still a powerful, convicting, edge-of-your-seat read.
     Plum-Ucci's writing style is consistent with what I read in Lani. That is, the words disappear, leaving just the plot and the characters to guide you. I admire this transparent style--after a while, you forget that you're reading. You're feeling, experiencing the story as it's happening. It's one of the highest compliments I can give to an author.
     Although he is not the protagonist, all the happenings of the novel revolve around the character Chris Creed. However, he never enters a single scene. Through flashbacks, a diary, and descriptions from other characters, Plum-Ucci creates an ever-present being holding the story together. I've never seen it done before, for such an extended period of time, and boy did it work. I know just as much about Creed, if not more, than I do about any of the other characters. Not that the others weren't just as deep and endearing as Creed himself. Ali McDermott now ranks as one of my favorite YA Lit female characters. The protagonist and narrator, Torey Adams, serves as a lens through which to view the story, giving the reader a vicarious experience while also showing a solid personality of his own.
     Of course, the best part of Plum-Ucci's books are the stories. I hesitate to call them plots, because there's so much more to them. There's a theme, a message, a passion that bleeds straight from Plum-Ucci's soul and onto the paper. True, Chris Creed and Lani share many similair elements--a small town shaken up by a strange, out-of-the-box sort of kid, and one seemingly-perfect teenager willing to risk everything for truth and fairness. But each time, the message is a little bit different, and tugs at a different piece of your soul. Once again, Plum-Ucci's story was so convictingthat it initiated a change in my life, and I'm sure in the lives of many others. That's a rare gem in the YA Lit world. And I just have to say--Plum-Ucci is the queen of twist endings!
     Great, great read, if you're willing to be uncomfortable at first. Everybody's got a Chris Creed in their life--I do. If you want to read this book, prepare to face him. If you like deep stuff, this is definately for you. But even if you don't, I dare you to give it a try.

Self-Evaluation

     I'm too hard on myself. I have this idea that I have to look perfect in front of strangers. Literally. I make sure I'm dressed my best, that my makeup is just right. I sit up a little straighter, and my tone gets more pleasant and formal. i watch my "like"s and try to remember my "mam"s and "sir"s. If anything, I sit quietly and pay close attention to whatever the adults are talking about. If I get put on the spot, i try to sound as intelligent and responsible as possible. I try to sound like the demure, ever-patient eldest sister. I try to sound perfect.
     The problem is, I'm trying to present a standard that I could never hope to meet. I screw up, spill something, say the wrong thing, get angry. And then, I send myself through hours of torturous mental punishment by telling myself what an idiot I am, and how stupid I looked in front of everyone, and how silly and insignificant I am compared to the rest of the universe. Even now, I'm thinking about how selfish I am because I'm talking about myself and not the tsunamis in Japan or the starving children in Africa. But somewhere in this world of sorrows I know I have to deal with my own problems.
     This isn't a sob story, or at least it's not supposed to be. This is a chance to show myself how rediculous I am when I get in this rut. When I cry over a game of Scrabble (yes, that's what happened to spur this post), or spend hours prepping and wringing my hands when guests are coming over. The bottom line is, I'm scared of other people's judgement. I'm scared they're going to go home and whisper aabout me, and tell all their friends, and soon everybody on earth is going to know what a clumsy, geeky, awkward loser I am.
     That in itself sounds rediculous, and I'm glad I can read over it and see that. It means I'm making some progress. Hopefully, I'll be able to move forward with this self-esteem thing, and finally learn to be comfortable around other people, even if I don't know them.

Observation/Flying

                I saw something pretty sad today. My dad, my sister, and I were at the airport on the way to Florida to see our grandmother, and we were waiting in line to go through security. I noticed a young man, probably in his early- to mid-thirties carrying an eight- to ten- month-old (or at least old enough to sit up but not to walk on her own just yet, if that gives you an idea) in line in front of us. They registered briefly in my mind as “Aw, sweet—a little girl and her daddy,” before dropping off my radar. We continued in line, and they were a good bit ahead of us. I noticed them again when I heard the little girl start to cry.

                She was sitting on the airport floor, crying and reaching up to her father as he placed his several bags and pair of shoes in two bins. It took him a good two or three minutes to do this and get his jacket off and get everything moving on the conveyer belt. All the while, this tiny, vulnerable baby sat on the floor and begged to be picked up. People shuffled by her without even looking, their legs like wrecking balls coming as they came too close, and I worried someone might step on her or knock her over. A part of me wanted to walk over and offer to hold her, but I hadn’t gotten past the ticket lady yet. All I could do was watch this distressed child as the father smiled down at her and assured her he was almost ready to pick her up again.  The only thing I could think was, That poor kid. Where’s her mother?

                I’m not going to assume that the guy was a single dad. I know nothing about him, and I’m not saying he’s a horrible parent for putting his baby on the floor (after all, he didn’t have many other options). If he wasn’t, then he was symbolic of a single parent. It made me sad for those in the same condition as the little girl—with only one set of arms to hold her, with only half a net to catch her when she falls. It also made me thankful that even after all the stuff that’s come up in my family since the summer, my parents are still together for our sakes.

                I’ve also made a personal vow never to put my baby on the floor in the middle of airport security. But that’s just personal preference.

                Anyways, that’s my spiel. We were on one of those tiny, claustrophobic planes that you feel more likely to die in. And we have this curse where we always end up sitting over the wings and the engine. Still, it’s worth it to see the sky become three dimensional, to soar among the rolling seas and thunderous mountains of clouds, to be at eye level with the sunset, and to see the web of sparkling lights amidst the black earth below. I love flying.

Ciao

At Long Last!

My books came in today!

I came home hoping there’d be a package waiting for me, and expecting to be disappointed. After all, I’d been waiting since Friday, and I was mentally wrestling myself into sucking it up and finishing Sunshine, which is just one of those books that you need to take a long break from.

Right before I dashed upstairs, I asked if there'd been any packages that came in during the day.

"Yep," my sister said, and I thought she was joking. "No, it really did come in today. Look over there."

Sure enough, on the corner of my dining room table, hidden by the wall, was a huge brown package from Barnes&Noble. I grabbed it, ran up the stairs, and ripped the tape open with a pen. I was too excited to look for the scissors. While my sister turned on the TV, I lay all my books out on the floor and just admired them--nine fresh, thick, shiny books, just for me. Then, I stacked them up in alphabetical order, and after the show was over I hurried to my room and placed them all on my bookshelf, which I am proud to say is now full (and after having it for only three months)!

I don't know why I'm telling you this, or why you'd be interested, other than the fact that I hyped it up so much in my other posts, and that I'm so excited. I'm going to be on a plane Thursday and Sunday, so I should have plenty of good reading time. First up is Carol Plum-Ucci's The Body of Christopher Creed, because it's one of the shortest and I only have a week to read it if I want to stick with my schedule. Plus, Plum-Ucci's the BOMB, and I can't wait to read her award-winning novel.

My review should be up by next weekend then, so look for it!

Books Again

     With the birthday money I received from friends and family, I ordered the first nine books from Barnes&Noble's website last Friday. Unfortunately, they haven't arrived yet. In the meantime, I've set a personal reading goal to prepare. I want to read and review one book every two weeks. Lately, my weekends have been hectic, but they should settle down soon. This gives me two homework-less Saturdays, two procrastinating Sundays, and ten homeroom/post-quiz/lax class days to get through a 200-400 page novel. The longer ones should be more difficult, like the Ellen Hopkins novels, but others like Neal Shusterman's books should be a breeze.
     Lately I've had this sudden passion for reading, and now I want to combat against the crowding nature of school and actually get through some good YA lit. If I stick to the plan, I should be able to get through six books by the end of the year, and then I want to ramp up the reading speed over the summer (ideally one book a week, but I'm aware that that's ambitious), and that means I'll have plenty of reviews in stock to launch the book blog I want to do.
     In addition, I found a thirty-day book questionare on Tumblr that I want to do once I've finished all these books. I'll post there and here. If there's one thing I love more than reading, it's talking about what I've read and thinking and processing through the stories and characters. So that's one more thing to keep me busy over the summer. I'll post the questions below.
     God willing, my books will be here soon. I ordered them four days ago, but I'm not sure if Barnes&Noble ships over weekends. I'll let you know when they get her. Until then.

30 Days of Literary Questions:

• Favourite male protagonist?
• Least favourite male protagonist?
• Favourite female protagonist?
• Least favourite female protagonist?
• Favourite villain?
• Least favourite villain?
• Favourite quote said by a literary character?
• If you could bring back any character from the dead, who would it be?
• If you could kill off any character, who would it be?
• Character you would bring to real life?
• Favourite pairing (non-/romantic)?
• Favourite “companion”/”sidekick” character?
• The character that relates most to you?
• The most tragic hero?
• An underrated character?
• An overrated character?
• A favourite flaw of a character?
• An irritating flaw of a character?
• A particularly fascinating character?
• The very first remembered literary character you were introduced to?
• A character of your choosing who could be played by any actor?
• A favourite scene of a literary character?
• Something learned from a character?
• Most original character?
• Least original character?
• A character you wish you could be like?
• Most mysterious character?
• Most fleshed out character?
• A character you used to love but not anymore?
• A character you didn’t think you would not like, but end up loving?