Tag: science fiction

Posted in Fiction, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Science Fiction

Star Wars: Jedi Academy, Return of the Padawan, is essential reading for all aspiring Jedi Masters

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

jedi academyStar Wars: Jedi Academy, Return of the Padawan (Book 2), by Jeffrey Brown (July 2014), $12.99, ISBN: 9780545621250

Recommended for ages 8+

With Star Wars Reads Day coming up in October, I’ve been boning up on my Star Wars reads for my patrons (and because I enjoy them). Yesterday, I read Jeffrey Brown’s latest chapter in his graphic Jedi Academy saga, Return of the Padawan. Jeffrey Brown has been all over the Star Wars Universe lately, with his Darth Vader parenting books, Darth Vader & Son and Vader’s Little Princess (and soon, Good Night, Darth Vader), and Jedi Academy, his graphic novel series for younger readers. The first book introduced us to Roan Novachez, an aspiring Jedi from Tatooine, who attends a Jedi Academy middle school, where he meets all sorts of new beings from across the galaxies, and gets to enjoy Head Master Yoda’s teachings.

Return of the Padawan pick up the story as Roan returns to Jedi Academy for a new school year. This time around, Roan has to deal with cyberbullying over Holobook, a teacher who seemingly has it in for him, shifting friendships, and a constant struggle against the insidious dark side, in the form of two classmates who make it a little too easy.

Roan feels awkward and out of place, and thinks his friends are drifting away from him. When the two class bullies show an interest in him, he thinks they’re the ones loosening up – until he realizes that maybe, he’s heading down a slippery path. The book is a great mix of all things middle school, including issues that kids have to deal with today, like online bullying and the confusion often present in middle school friendships. The story is told through sequential panels, but also through “Holobook” (the Jedi Academy version of Facebook) entries, report cards, and school newsletters.

This book is a no-brainer for anyone who loves Star Wars. It’s a great introduction to the Star Wars universe for younger readers, who will enjoy the cartoon art and depiction of day-to-day school life, with fun enhancements that link their lives to the Star Wars universe.

I can’t wait to get this one on my shelves at the library. It’s on sale tomorrow, so make sure you get your copy!

 

Posted in Graphic Novels, Horror, Science Fiction, Young Adult/New Adult

The Wrenchies – adolescence is terrifying.

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

wrenchiesThe Wrenchies, by Farel Dalrymple (:01 First Second, Sept. 2014). $19.99, ISBN: 9781596434219

Recommended for ages 14+

In a dystopian future, adolescence is terrifying. Only the kids are safe – adults live in fear of the Shadowsmen, a group of mindless monsters who hunt down teenagers and attack them with horrifying, tentacular fingers that penetrate their minds and leave them changed – walking nightmares. The Wrenchies, a gang of kids who band together against the Shadowmen, meet Hollis, a sad, lonely boy who has a charm of sorts that allows him access to the Wrenchies’ world, a parallel universe from his. The story also includes a subplot with a man named Sherwood, who is somehow tied to both of these universes and to the Shadowmen.

I didn’t love the Wrenchies – more often than not, I was lost as to what was going on. It took me a good part of the book to realize that there was a parallel universe, and I never really felt that I “got” the entire story. I just didn’t connect with it, nor did I connect with Dalrymple’s style of art. This would be a great read for a teen/YA post-apocalyptic fan who prefers a less linear storyline. There’s violence and language aplenty, which may give some parents pause – it wasn’t an issue for me, but my younger ones don’t usually seek these types of books out.

 

Posted in Fiction, Middle School, Science Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

Henry and the Incredibly Incorrigible, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human makes humans the invention.

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

henry and the humanHenry and the Incredibly Incorrigble, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human, by L.A. Messina. Tater Tot Books (2014), eBook: $3.99 ISBN: 9780984901838

Recommended for ages 10-14

Henry is a young teen robot in his 13th upgrade. He’s not the popular kid at school, and he has a faulty processor that comes from a virus that attacked his system when he was younger. When his father’s boss shows up at their home one night with a new human model to test for the market, Henry is thrilled – his own human! But this human isn’t a slack-jawed, drooling blank slate like most humans are. This one makes up words, can do things without extensively detailed commands, and doesn’t want to sleep in his box because it’s not comfortable. At first, Henry is worried – what if this human goes berserk like the one that went on a rampage in his mother’s business? – but he comes to realize that the HueManTech ETC-420- GX-2, or “E”, as Henry calls him, is a very special model.

Unfortunately, Henry’s not the only one who thinks “E” is special, which leads to a taut race to unravel the truth about E, especially when the government begins showing an interest in E and Henry’s family.

The book starts out slow as Ms. Messina establishes the drudgery of Henry’s young teen life – mocked at school, boring job at his mother’s spa, Henry is the lonely kid who takes comfort in his comic books and video games, until something exciting – E’s arrival – sparks up his life. Even then, the narrative moves at a slower pace as Henry discovers how special E really is. But once the plot kicks into motion, involving the government and the origins for both E and Henry, the story moves at a great pace that kept me turning pages and wanting to know more.

The book, available via e-book format, is a good read for tweens and young teens. It provides a wealth of opportunities to discuss what would happen in a society where robots were on the top of things and humans were the creation; it also offers chances to discuss morality and the government. It would be a good discussion group story for educators to encourage among their students and patrons.

Lynn Messina’s website offers a book trailer for Henry, along with fun extras for readers.

Posted in Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Tween Reads

Legends of Zita the Spacegirl is out of this world!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

legends of zitaLegends of Zita the Spacegirl, by Ben Hatke. :01 First Second (2012), $18.99, ISBN: 978-1-59643-806-4

Recommended for ages 8-14

I just realized that while I’d reviewed both Zita the Spacegirl and the upcoming Return of Zita the Spacegirl, I never wrote a review for the second book in this great series – so I re-read it in order to remedy the situation.

When we rejoin Zita in the second book in her series, she has found intergalactic fame as The Girl Who Saved Scriptorious. Creatures from all over the galaxy are clamoring to meet her, and fame has become a bit overwhelming for Zita. When she encounters a robot that looks just like her, she decides to let the robot handle fame while she and Mouse take off to relax and be anonymous for a while. The only problem is, the robot is an Imprint-o-Tron, which eventually tries to replace their targets – and when two aliens seek “Zita”‘s help in saving their planet from the interstellar scavengers, the Star Hearts, Zita-bot is all too happy to lend a hand, stirring up trouble for Zita and her friends.

I am a big Zita fan, and this second book has every bit of the spirit of fun and adventure that the first book (and the upcoming third) do. We see a slightly different Zita here -she’s overwhelmed by fame, she wants to go home, and she ultimately learns about the power of sacrifice – she’s a more mature Zita who is still, at heart, a kid. The Imprint-o-Tron reminds me of Pinocchio, who wanted to be a real boy. The Imprint-o-Tron, or as I started calling her, the Zita-bot, isn’t bad – she’s following her programming, and she really seems to want to be Zita, to face the exciting adventures that Zita does. There are some great messages to be found in this second book.

There are some great resources on the Web for using Zita materials in the classroom. Comics Are Great has a downloadable lesson plan, along with an hour-long podcast dedicated to the book, where teachers, librarians, and cartoonists discussing the book.

The Zita trilogy is a great middle-grade graphic novel series. She stands as a good role model for any girl or boy who seizes the power of imagination and inner courage.

Posted in Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Humor, Science Fiction, Tween Reads

The Return of Zita the Spacegirl – A WhatchaReading Review!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Great sagas come to an end – maybe. But we’ll get to that. For anyone who hasn’t heard of Ben Hatke’s Zita the Spacegirl, I urge you to get to a library, a bookstore, or a friend with an enviable graphic novel collection and check her out, because she is fantastic. I first met her when Chuck, our editor monkey, handed me a copy of the first book and said, “You have to read this. It’s all you.” And it was. I quickly read Legends of Zita the Spacegirl, and was delighted when a review copy of Return of Zita the Spacegirl showed up on my doorstep a couple of weeks ago.

Check out my review on WhatchaReading!

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Posted in Post-apocalyptic/Dystopian, Science Fiction, Teen

Ann Brashares The Here and Now gives us time travel and dystopia.

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

cover35542-mediumThere Here and Now, by Ann Brashares. Random House Children’s (2014), $18.99, ISBN: 9780385736800

Recommended for ages 14+

Ann Brashares, author of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, gives us a well-constructed story with dypstopian elements, time travel, and a race through the past, present and future to stop a terrifying future.

Prenna is a 17 year-old Traveler – she, her mother, and a group of her people came to our present time to escape a future where a blood plague ravaged the population. The Travelers live under a restrictive list of rules that appear to exist more for their power-hungry leaders rather than the actual good of the people (or the Natives – people in the right timeline – that the rules are supposed to protect). When Prenna finds herself growing closer to her friend Ethan, she starts questioning not only the rules, but the entire structure their society was built on – and she and Ethan find themselves drawn into a race against time to put a stop to the dismal future from which Prenna came, all the while pursued by the leaders who want to silence Prenna, possibly for good.

The Here and Now has elements of The Giver – the post-apocalyptic society governed by rules really spoke to me – and is one of those books that I couldn’t put down. I needed to know what was going to happen next; Ms. Brashares constructed a compelling narrative with enough mystery to keep me going for that famous “one page more”. Within the overall story structure, there are mini-mysteries that the two teens have to unravel to get the next piece of the puzzle; add to that the internal conflict Prenna feels at duty to her family and the love she and Ethan feel for one another, and you have a great read for teens that can spawn interesting conversations about the implications of time travel: what would happen if you went back in time and changed things, even if they were for the better? What kind of society would develop if a blood-borne plague spiraled out of control? More than a teen romance, The Here and Now offers the opportunity to draw teens into complex conversations about the world around them.

Posted in Fantasy, Post-apocalyptic/Dystopian, Science Fiction, Tween Reads

Book Review: A Boy and His Bot, by Daniel H.Wilson (Bloomsbury, 2011)

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 9-12

On a class trip to a Mek Mound, an ancient Oklahoman Indian land mound reminiscent of the Egyptian pyramids, sixth grader Code Lightfall discovers Mekhos, a manufactured, experimental world inhabited by robots and long forgotten by humans. The world is under the grip of the evil tyrant Immortalis, bent on the world’s destruction; it falls to Code and Gary, an atomic slaughterbot brought to life by Code’s imagination and Mekhos technology, to find the Robonomicon and save the day.

A Boy and His Bot is a journey to Oz tale for a more modern age, complete with beautiful and deadly surroundings like the Toparian Wyldes, the beautiful forest maintained by a race of robots who trim and sculpt anything in their way, their upkeep programming overriding any other directive. Where Oz has a benevolent wizard, Boy  has Immortalis, the evil overlord who pushes all robots to the day of The Great Disassembly, when all of Mekhos will be undone. Code’s main objective, beyond stopping The Great Disassembly from taking place, is to get back home.

I have noticed that heroes in “boy books” often come from dysfunctional families, and Code is no exception. A shy boy, picked on by some classmates, ignored by others, Code is grieving the disappearance of his grandfather John a year prior. His parents are not in the picture. The only positive female force in the book is Peep, the little robotic probe that befriends him and leads him to the world of Mekhos. Gary the Slaughterbot plays the part of the all brawn, no brains protector with the heart of gold.

I wonder why it is that young male characters’ families are so flawed in YA literature. Is this an accurate reflection of the state of families today, or is this the newest hook to keep young boys reading? Is it a way to reach out to young boys that may be in crisis and refuse to speak?  The combination of robotic creatures, a manmade world on the brink of destruction, and an invention like the slaughterbot alone is enough to grab a boy’s attention on the surface, but Code’s background gives him a depth that should help boys and girls alike be interested enough in his journey to travel along with him.
Daniel H. Wilson, Ph.D. is the author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising, Where’s My Jetpack, and How to Build a Robot Army. A Boy and His Bot is his first YA novel, but he has also written Bro-Jitsu: The Martial Art of Sibling Smackdown, and his Robot books are popular with older tweens and teens. He maintains an author website.