Book Bag: July 2011
Young Adult Fiction – Reinventing teen lives and reversing stereotypes, a glimpse into a post-apocalyptic, dystopian future, and a fictional spin on a classic. This month, Blood Red Road by Moira Young, Wither (The Chemical Garden Trilogy; Book One) by Lauren Destefano, and Cleopatra Confesses by Carolyn Meyer.
Blood Red Road
Written by Moira Young
Reviewed by Sharon L. Shervington
At a time when the pendulum appears to be swinging backward for young women through a relentless media campaign glorifying marriage, weddings, and motherhood, quite a few current books are reinventing the lives of young adults and reversing stereotypes, as authors like Tamora Pierce and Jane Yolen did twenty years ago. Among their still-popular classic series are Pierce’s Protector of the Small and Yolen’s Sister Light, Sister Dark saga.
Blood Red Road is reminiscent of these early offerings, which were written as young-adult fantasy was just beginning to explode. It is the first in a series that introduces a trio of memorable siblings, dark twin Saba, bright twin Lugh, and their younger sister Emily, who follows Saba when she takes off to rescue Lugh in the wake of his kidnapping, the destruction of their home, and the loss of their father. Their mother had died years earlier during Emily’s birth.
The book is set in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian future in which much of humanity has been wiped out. But the story is also a coming-of-age road-warrior story in which Saba learns many truths about herself, including hidden strengths and weaknesses. Having been reared with her father and siblings in virtual isolation, Saba also has a lot to learn about the world.
Peopled with unctuous and clever villains and a group of woman warriors who always have her back, Saba becomes the woman and fighter she is meant to be. On the road she encounters many kinds of community, falls in love, and becomes, surprisingly, a kind of modern-day gladiator. Fans of The Hunger Games will find much to admire here.
Blood Red Road by Moira Young; Mcelderry Books, 459 pages; $17.99. Reviewed by Sharon L. Shervington
Wither (The Chemical Garden Trilogy; Book One)
Written by Lauren Destefano
Reviewed by Sharon L. Shervington
Dystopian futures are ever so popular these days, especially in the world of young adult fiction. In Wither the future is bleak indeed as bizarre genetic mutations have shortened men’s lifespans to twenty-five years, women’s to twenty. As a result, organized gangs of kidnappers called “Gatherers” round up nubile young women and then sell them as brides in polygamous marriages among wealthy families.
That is what happens to 16-year-old Rhine Ellery, who is separated from her twin brother (twins are also big these days) and transported from New York City to Florida, where she, along with two other girls, is forced to marry Linden. Linden, who genuinely has feelings for Rhine, is in the thrall of his father, a creepy scientist who says he is determined to find a cure for the deadly genetic mutations that have wiped out so much of humanity. This he does at the family’s sprawling and luxurious estate while keeping a close, yet evil, eye on Rhine, making sure she toes the line. Subdued for a while, Rhine’s courage eventually returns in the face of her co-wives’ tribulations and she contemplates escape. But will she survive?
The ever-expanding genre-within-a-genre of young-adult science fiction/fantasy with a twist is steadily coming into its own; at the same time kudos must be paid not only to writers like Yolen and Pierce but also to those like André Norton and Margaret Atwood, who paved the way and, expecially in the case of Ms. Atwood, continue to illuminate it.
Wither (The Chemical Garden Trilogy; Book One) by Lauren Destefano; Simon & Schuster; 358 pages; $17.99.
Cleopatra Confesses
Written by Carolyn Meyer
Reviewed by Morgan Thomas
In her new book, Cleopatra Confesses, Carolyn Meyer introduces us to another strong female character as she has done with previous volumes about young, royal women such as Marie Antoinette. Her latest young adult novel explores the life of one of the most famous queens in history, Cleopatra, about whom a number of books have appeared in recent months. Meyers paints a picture of the young queen’s early life, focusing on the years from age 11 to 22, a period detailing her rise to the throne.
Cleopatra Confesses is the ideal book for anyone who wants a good fictional spin on the classic Cleopatra story. Meyer doesn’t disappoint as she leads us through the world of Egyptian politics. Even from a young age we see that Cleopatra, the most talented and intelligent of her young royal circle of siblings, is forced to play a role in her kingdom. Her father goes into exile when she is eleven, and she realizes that her own life could be in danger when her two older sisters take the throne. The book is well researched as it paints the image of a young woman who must find a way to stay alive and come into her own—in hopes that one day she will rule Egypt and bring it back to the prosperous kingdom it once was.
Cleopatra Confesses by Carolyn Meyer; Simon and Schuster; 289 pages; $16.99.
