Extra! Extra...

As promised, a review of Extras by Scott Westerfeld.

I don't know if I can gush enough about this one.

Set in Japan, many eons into the future, Aya Fuse just wants to get noticed. After the mind-rain wiped out all the brain damage forced on citizens of Earth at the age of 16, Aya's city turned to an economy based on fame and merit. In order to make "money" a person either has to do good for society or become famous. Aya definitely prefers the latter, finding the adventure of kicking the latest story a necessity of life. In her quest to do so, she infiltrates the Sly Girls clique--a clique so secret the members change their nicknames periodically to keep off the feeds. Their latest derring-do is surfing on top of ultra fast meg-lev trains. It doesn't take them long to figure out that Aya is not really one of them, but the story they have stumbled on is too city-damaging to keep under cover. More adventure follows, so make sure to check it out!

This book is great for ages 12 and up. I recommend it to anyone who likes a good story. It is fast paced--everything happens in less than 2 weeks--and we get a return performance from Tally Youngblood, the protagonist from Westerfeld's other books in the series. Although Uglies, Pretties and Specials sets up this book well, I don't feel that you have to have read them to enjoy Extras.

Have I mentioned that it has hit #1 on the New York Times Children's Chapter Books best sellers? Oh yes, yes it has! :)

Yay! Ursula K. Le Guin in ... 2 hours!

Three for the Price of One

It is interesting how similar the promo for Bionic Woman is to the cover of Scott Westerfeld's new book, Extras. Scott talks about it a bit here. In his series, this is called "surg" (short for surgery) and is cosmetic--mostly. Unless you are a Special. Then it may have some bionic type use. I am looking forward to reading Extras to find out what the significance of the eye surg on the cover has. It comes out October 2nd--although I have heard that some lucky folks have already received theirs.

I watched the Bionic Woman with the B-man last night. It was pretty good, although I hope it gets better. The special effects were fun and I love Katee Sackoff from BSG. She will only be in the first couple of episodes though. Michelle Ryan seems so soft though, so unlikely to be a hard, tough bionic woman. I suppose this is part of the plot and we will see her character become harder and more remote as the season wears on. No Painkiller Jane here (um, thank goodness...). The show is getting terrible reviews on IMDB. I don't think it was bad--I would watch it again--but I also can't really remember the original series very well.

I had my interview on Monday and it went well. From what I hear the competition on this one is stiff, so maybe I will get my wish and get a chance to interview for the job I hold now. I don't know what to hope for in that catagory. Just have to wait and see.

Review: Uglies, Pretties and Specials

I love this series. I have not been this enthusiastic about a YA series since I read Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Scott Westerfeld is a magician with the written word. No description is wasted; everything in the story is pertinent, beautiful and ugly and well captured in words. There is no awkwardness of text.

Uglies begins the story of Tally and Shay, two teenaged girls who are almost old enough to turn Pretty. For the residents of Ugly town, the ultimate dream is to turn pretty. Everyone does it at the age of 16--just like getting a license. However, fate will take that dream away and turn it into a dark reality for Tally and Shay.

In Pretties, the operation has happened but Tally knows there is something wrong. She and her boyfriend Zane take a cure together, but Zane gets sick and the two of them have to go to further and further extremes to stay bubbly.

Tally and Shay are Cutters in the newest book Specials. Cutters are an extreme arm of the Special Circumstances--an elite secret police. They are charged with finding New Smoke--where all the excaped Uglies and Pretties go after they get the cure for their bubleheadedness. Things get out of hand and suddenly a war has broken out. What will Tally and Shay do to set things right?

This series is a good read for teens of all ages. Specials claims to be the last book in the series, but we now know that there will be a fourth called Extras. I am excited to get my hands on it!

More Reviews!

It has been snowing in Seattle, so what else is there to do but read?

Patricia McCormick is the author of several books that depict the lives of normal, yet troubled teens. In Cut you find Callie in Sick Minds--what the kids interned at Sea Pines call the in patient treatment center that deals with eating disorders, substance abuse and behavior issues. Callie will not talk, cannot talk about why she is there or what is bothering her. Soon, through a series of memories and life changing events, Callie finds that she can no longer remain silent, either. Slowly and haltingly her feelings and worries come out and Callie finally finds herself on the path to wellness.

This is the quickest read in the YA section yet. Short does not mean bad, though. This book is well written and perfect for younger teen girls. It incites understanding in some and empathy in others. Callie is a 13 year old that started cutting herself to relieve the stress and anxiety in her life. Another girl in treatment seems to be doing the same, but to garner attention. There are many other girls with a miriad of problems, with quite a few of the signs spelled out in the book to help identify those problems.

On a completely different note, Peeps by Scott Westerfeld was quite charming. This scientific explanation for vampires was a lot of fun and very educational. Every other chapter had an explanation of different parasites. It was scary and interesting at the same time because although vampires are not real, parasites are and their descriptions here will make you think twice about eating rare meat or swimming in tropical rivers (both of which I have done! Eek!).

The story didn't flow particularly well at times, but the plot had quite a few twists and turns and vampirism as an STD was an interesting idea. This book definitely kept me interested, as do most of Westerfeld's books. Unlike his well known futuristic series that includes the books Uglies, Pretties and Specials, Peeps is set in our time in New York city. It is exciting and a little scary, and I recommend this book for older teens 16-20.