Vivian, Siobhan. The Last Boy and Girl in the World.

Vivian, Siobhan.  The Last Boy and Girl in the World.  Simon & Schuster  2016  320p  $17.99  ISBN 978-1-4814-5229-8      ms/hs  Realistic fiction  VG-BN

Keeley, like her father, does not believe that Aberdeen must be sacrificed due to weather conditions that are threatening its citizens.  She forges ahead with a new relationship, unable to accept change in the midst of impending disaster.  Vivian is a wonderful storyteller.  She creates characters who are static and dynamic, and sometimes both!  That is no easy task, but in this novel, which concerns the demise of a town, the emotional changes necessary to cope with trauma, and the people who come and go in one’s life, the characters attempt to remain the same but cannot, thereby creating this unique combination of being both static and dynamic.  Throughout the book, until the end, protagonist Keeley is a static character, a jokester who seldom takes life seriously.  When her town is flooded by torrential spring rains, and the governor announces that the town will be sacrificed for the construction of a dam and a lake, she cannot even take that seriously.  More important is her budding relationship with Jesse, her day-to-day friendship with best friend Morgan, and the year-end prom and graduation, which have both been put in jeopardy by the flooding.  The flood and the reaction of the townspeople as they face the decision of whether to accept the government buyout or fight to remain, are creatively interwoven with the flood and its impact on the teens, who face the same struggles as their parents without actually experiencing the responsibility of decision-making.  Readers will love the setting of a town about to die, they will relate to Keeley’s friendship with Morgan, and they will be interested until the end to see if Keeley ends up with Jesse.  That is the drama of this book, primarily because readers know from the prologue that the town is going to drown. This book has small amounts of sexual innuendo, no drugs and no violence, making it an appropriate book for middle-school students.  The novel definitely deserves a spot in high-school libraries as well as public libraries.  Vivian creates believable conflicts and has a powerful message.   

Summary: Keeley, like her father, does not believe that Aberdeen must be sacrificed due to weather conditions that are threatening its citizens.  She forges ahead with a new relationship, unable to accept change in the midst of impending disaster. 

Natural disasters-Fiction                                   --Martha Squaresky

Reynolds, Jason, and Brendan Kiely. All American Boys.

Reynolds, Jason, and Brendan Kiely.  All American Boys.     Simon & Schuster/ Atheneum    2015  308p  ISBN 978-1-4814-6333-1  ms/hs  Conflict  E-BN  

In this excellent young-adult novel, Rashad, a black teenager, finds himself as the victim of unjust police brutality.  He ends up in the hospital with broken ribs and other injuries that the policeman, Paul, inflicted, but most of all, his sense of justice has been damaged.  At the same time, Quinn, a classmate who is white, has witnessed the event up close.  Quinn has a long-standing friendship with Paul and his family, and he is pressured by them to defend Paul’s actions.  To complicate matters further, Quinn plays on the same basketball team as Paul’s brother, and the coach wants the boys to focus only on basketball.  The narrative, which switches back and forth from Rashad to Quinn, is riveting, and poses some very important questions about individual responsibility, racism, friendship, and loyalty.  The language is quite strong and for that reason, middle-school collections may want to think twice about purchasing it.  However, it is an excellent read for high school, and the kids talk the way many kids really do talk.  For middle-school and high-school collections.       

Summary: A black teenage boy is brutally beaten by a police officer who misunderstands his actions, and an entire town is torn apart by opposing reactions to the situation.  Meanwhile, a white boy witnesses the beating and must decide how to respond. 

Police brutality-Fiction, Race relations-Fiction                  --Carol Kennedy

Paulsen, Gary. This Side of Wild.

Paulsen, Gary.  This Side of Wild.  Simon & Schuster  2015  120p  ISBN 978-1-4814-5794-1  ms/hs  Nonfiction  VG        

This is a memoir, a series of vignettes about Gary Paulsen’s relationships with animals.  The writing is terrific (as always), but the narrative is a bit choppy; for example, in Chapter 1, Gary seems to move from adventures in Wyoming to events that happened in Alaska in a very few pages, in a sort-of stream-of-consciousness manner, which this adult reader found a bit confusing.  It is not nearly as well-organized as My Life in Dog Years, but it will be enjoyable to people who love animal stories and fans of Gary Paulsen.  I believe it is geared more for older readers, because the concepts are more mature, with Gary ruminating on war, philosophical questions, and the nature of the relationship between man and beast.  The individual tales of animals are very interesting and will keep the reader’s attention, but there is an abruptness in the transitions between them that can be a bit confusing.  The last segment, on ravens, was different from the others, in that the ravens’ relationship with humans is adversarial rather than cooperative.  It didn’t fit with the theme of man’s kinship with other creatures, and yet it did demonstrate the intelligence of these birds.  Since this is an ARC, perhaps Paulsen is thinking of reworking the narrative to make it flow more easily and make his points clearer to younger readers.
                       

Summary: This is a memoir, a series of vignettes about Gary Paulsen’s relationships with animals he has known, like Corky the poodle, Gretchen the mutt, and Josh, the dog we have already met in other books.     

Wild animals, Memoir                                        --Carol Kennedy

Hautman, Pete. The Flinkwater Factor.

Hautman, Pete.  The Flinkwater Factor.  Simon & Schuster  2015  256p  $16.99  ISBN 978-1-4814-3251-1  ms    Science fiction  VG-BN      

It must be fun to produce a book with as much humor, techie geek “stuff” and convoluted intrigue as Hautman did in this book.  Flinkwater is a town much like Silicon Valley, with its famous ACPOD, a delightfully creative company that produces a wide assortment of the newest computer technology, robots, and other inventions of the contemporary technological world.  Ginger is the protagonist who faces obstacles that are uniquely creative and humorous, along with her wannabe boyfriend, Billy George, beginning with the bonking of their town.  With bonking, people who fix their gaze on their screen saver become drooling idiots.  The list of supporting characters includes Billy’s brother, the psychopath who is always in trouble, animal lover Myke, a very moley Professor Little, parents, inventors, and business owners, all of whom develop relationships and connections that become apparent in the resolution.  As the plot develops, the tech industry is at the center of all conflicts, and the teens must figure out how to help their town rid itself of an unscrupulous competitor to ACPOD that tries to control the robot market, and, unbelievably, the government itself!  Ginger’s humorous narration is the key to this book’s success, as is the introduction of new ideas in technology that will thrill any readers with even a remote interest in science.  In a wonderful post-script at the end, Hautman adds a section entitled “Science or Fantasy,” in which he clarifies all of the book’s concepts, both old and new.                   

This book is a very good choice for middle-school readers.  With much of its content relating to the computer industry, less sophisticated readers will not be able to follow the technology.  Nevertheless, it will be enjoyed by those who embrace humor, intrigue and fun in a book!

Summary: When Ginger discovers that many town citizens have been “bonked”, she quickly enlists the help of her friend Billy George.  Together they face the digital dog Sasquatch, Homeland Security officers, and other formidable characters with humor and intrigue.          

Technology-Fiction                                          --Martha Squaresky