Masterminds by Gordon Korman, 2015

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From bestselling author Gordon Korman comes a thrilling new middle grade trilogy about a group of kids living in a Pleasantville-type town who discover a dark secret that connects them to some of the greatest criminal masterminds of their time.
Eli Frieden lives in the most boring town in the world: Serenity, New Mexico. Only thirty kids live in the idyllic town, where every lawn is perfectly manicured and everyone has a pool and a basketball hoop. Honesty and kindness are the backbone of the community. There is no crime in this utopia.
Eli has never left town…. Why would he ever want to? But everything changes the day he and his friend Randy bike to the edge of the city limits. Eli is suddenly struck with a paralyzing headache and collapses. Almost instantly, a crew of security—or “Purple People Eaters,” as the kids call them—descend via helicopter. Eli awakens in the hospital, and the next day, Randy and his family are gone. As Eli convinces his friends Tori and Malik to help him investigate Randy’s disappearance, it becomes clear that nothing is as it seems in Serenity. As the clues mount to reveal a shocking discovery, the kids realize they can trust no one—least of all their own parents . . .

(336 pages)

I got all excited about Masterminds in January, when it came out, but somehow lost track of it before I ccould get my act together enough to find myself a copy. Four months after it came out, I was ambling around the library looking for good books to read on a road trip. I stopped by the Gordon Korman section for some old favorites, and snatched up Masterminds instead! I picked it up that evening and . . . well, let's just say Masterminds didn't make it to the roadtrip. There's a reason my blog is called "Read Till Dawn," okay?

The minute I first read the teaser for Masterminds, I had all sorts of predictions for what would happen. I drew an immediate parallel to Margaret Peterson Haddix's Running Out of Time, which also revolves around a secluded city that turns out to have many secrets - many of which the parents were keeping from their children. That comparison holds largely true after finishing the novel, but there are actually a few other books that Masterminds reminds me of: Margaret Peterson Haddix's Escape From Memory, plus another Margaret Peterson Haddix that I can't name for fear of spoiling the plot twist and several of Korman's other books. The plot is very reminiscent of some of my favorite Haddix books, which means both that I loved it and that I had seen almost all of it before. The characters felt like combinations of Korman's other characters, most especially Amber (a slightly less likeable version of Rachel from No More Dead Dogs - link goes to my review) and Tori (whose innate climbing skills harken back to Pitch from the Swindle series), though as a whole they are unique enough to feel separate from earlier characters.

If I had read this book five years ago I would have adored it to pieces. Reading it now, the whole thing felt like one big rehash of a bunch of other books (see paragraph #2!). It's a matter of exposure: I've already been exposed to almost all of the themes and twists that dominated Masterminds. If I had read it first before reading the other books, then those would have been the books that seemed a little repetitive. But I'll be completely honest: even with all of its predictability, I still kind of adored Masterminds. It's exciting, it's grabbing, it's got drama and mental gymnastics and deception and identity crises. There's a reason I've read so many books with themes that parallel Masterminds, and it's not because I didn't like them. 

To find a book that combines so many of my favorite plot points was pretty awesome, and to find one written by one of the best authors I know was just about perfect. I will be highly recommending Masterminds to anyone who seems like a good fit for it, plus a few who probably wouldn't be very good fits. I will also be keeping an eye out for the sequels - and this time, I won't wait four months to track down a copy!

Top Ten Books I'm Going to Read This Summer (Not Necessarily on a Beach)

I don't live very close to a beach, so I'm afraid I don't spend much time lying on the sand and working on my tan. Actually, I don't tan, so I would just turn bright red like a lobster after it's been boiled - and that doesn't really sound that appealing, anyway. So I decided to change my post slightly, and list ten books that I want to read this summer. Most of them are newer, but there are a few older releases that I missed the first time around.

1. Rebel McKenzie by Candice Ransom

2. The Arctic Code by Matthew J. Kirby

3. Notes from an Accidental Band Geek by Erin Dionne

4. Goblins by Philip Reeve

5. The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

6. Jinx by Sage Blackwood

7. Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

8. Greenglass House by Kate Milford

9. Uprooted by Naomi Novik

10. All the Answers by Kate Messner

And there we go! What books are you planning to read this summer? Post them in the comments section below, then go on over to The Broke and the Bookish to check out more Top Ten lists.

What Color is Your Parachute? For Teens (3rd edition) by Carol Christen, 2015

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No idea what you want to be? No worries! This fun, rewarding guide draws on the time-tested principles of the career classic What Color Is Your Parachute? to help you discover your passions, skills, and potential college majors and dream jobs.
Why now? Because when you identify your interests and passions early, you can make informed decisions on what additional schooling (and tuition debt) makes sense for your chosen field. With fresh updates on the specific challenges of today’s job-market, this new edition features activities and advice on information interviewing, social media, internships, and more. Most importantly, it’s packed with big-picture advice that will set you up to land the job that’s perfect for who you are—and who you want to be.

(192 pages)

I'm a high school junior-almost-senior. You know what that means: I'm big-time stressing about college. After years of deliberating I've gotten no closer to a definitive decision about what career I want to pursue in college. Computer science? Information Technologies? Accounting? Publishing? Who knows? So when I saw that I could get a review copy of What Color is Your Parachute, I jumped at the chance.

But of course, I mentioned I'm a junior planning to go to college. And you may not have noticed, but it's May - otherwise known to high school students worldwide as "AP testing month." I got through about half of the first chapter and then completely dropped it because my brain was too tired to do anything in my free time but watch I Love Lucy.

I'm back, though, and I spent the last week slowly working my way through the rest of the book. I can't say I enjoyed reading it, because it's not that kind of book, but I do think it was very thought-provoking. The parachute idea is genius, it really is. It took me weeks to finish filling it out, mainly because there's quite a bit of work that goes into completing each section and I didn't have the time to do it (which goes back to the whole "AP testing" thing). I honestly probably didn't put as much thought into my answers as I should have, so I think if you really let everything simmer the way Christen wants you to, it would take a month or so. The second half of the book focuses on tips for conducting interviews, applying for jobs, etc. It was a little less interesting for me, because I'm not there yet, but it could be a very helpful resource in the future. There's also a chapter about managing your online presence. I didn't really like that one very much, because I don't use my real name online for safety reasons. It might be more useful for other people, though.

Now it's time for my biggest complaint with this book: its physical format. The parachute is just a tad too small, so you have to cram everything in with barely-legible small font. The text next to the parachute literally says "To make it easier to use, photocopy this page and enlarge it." Then the introduction to part one has this helpful tip: "Take your book to a print shop and have it spiral bound. Removing the spine makes the book lie flat so it's easier to read and photocopy." Do you see a problem here? Why do I have to get the book spiral bound, and then enlarge the parachute? Surely it would be much more convenient if they did that in the first place? It's not exactly a huge turn-on to open the book and be faced with "go spend your money and time doing something we could have done, but didn't want to!"

Physical logistics aside, What Color is Your Parachute? a great resource that I highly recommend for anyone who's still deciding what to do after high school. When you're ready to do some soul-searching, start filling out your parachute. When you're looking for some good career-search resources, flip through What Color is Your Parachute? - you'll find everything you could ever need, though it's unfortunately scattered throughout the text instead of gathered in one place. When you're looking for a one-stop quick-guide to planning for your future, give What Color is Your Parachute? a try. I will definitely be referring back to it in the future.

I received a copy of this book through the Blogging for Books programs in exchange for an honest review.

The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, 2015

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Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.
So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?This masterful work of historical fiction is equal parts adventure and a moving tale of family and identity—a classic in the making.

(316 pages)

The War That Saved My Life is a great book for several reasons - several separate reasons. That's because so much is going on, emotionally and physically, that a couple books could have been made off of each separate theme.

One book could provide a fascinating look at what life was like for the uneducated kids from London slums, sent to live with (relatively) rich families in the countryside. Chapters could have been written focusing on the struggles those city kids faced, missing their families and living with complete strangers in a world completely foreign to their own. Many children were actually summoned back to London by parents who missed their kids, and thought that since the Germans hadn't bombed London yet, they never would. This description of events is so different from those in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that right there I would have been fascinated!

But that's not all Bradley did. There was also Susan's story, a story of rejection and loss and solitude. Susan's best friend (or maybe more, but I prefer to ignore the signs) Becky died a few years earlier, leaving Susan the house they had shared and remembrances everywhere of what Susan had lost. At the beginning of the book Susan is sad and lonely, and doesn't believe that anything can change that. She is forced to step forward by Ada and Jamie's arrival, and it is great to watch her begin to move on from her own troubles as she helps the kids move on from theirs. From the teaser I was afraid it would be one of those "she initially hates them but gradually comes to love them, then admits it in the end" kind of book. On the contrary, Susan only refuses to take the kids because she fears she's not emotionally fit to care for anyone other than herself. It's soon obvious to the reader that she, while struggling to adapt to their presence, quickly comes to love them. It's far from obvious to the affection-starved children, however, and Ada struggles through much of the book to reconcile Susan's kindness with the actions of someone who by her own admission didn't want kids.

And then of course there's the story of Ada and Jamie. The other stories weave themselves into a background tapestry, combining with a thousand smaller story bits to form a gigantic backing for the central figures - or really, figure. Sorry Jamie, but Ada is the star of this story! It's Ada who tells the tale, her limited understanding of the world painting a harsher picture than any master needle could stitch. She doesn't know what grass is. She doesn't know how to work a flush toilet. She has never heard of crutches. The word "clubfoot" has literally never entered her vocabulary, even though it is the condition that defines her entire life. She thinks that Susan will hit her. And as all the imperfections of Ada's past come to light, it is easy to see that the war does, indeed, save Ada's life. She is just so damaged it takes her a while to understand this.

It's funny, I didn't love The War That Saved My Life when I started writing this review - I only really, really liked it. But the only negatives I can think of are so minor when compared to the positives that they don't really feel worth mentioning - so I guess that means I do love The War That Saved My Life! I'm not going to run out and buy my own copy any time soon, but I will definitely be re-reading it in the future. And I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who's old enough to appreciate it.

Because the more I think about it, the more I love this book.

Teaser Tuesdays: The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, 2015 (May 19)

Okay, so for those of you who are new to this meme, here's how it works:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My current read is The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.
So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?
This masterful work of historical fiction is equal parts adventure and a moving tale of family and identity—a classic in the making.

(316 pages)

This week's quote comes from page 184:

She [Susan] squared her shoulders and stalked into the night, and I watched her go, and wanted Mam.

I wanted Mam to be like Susan.

I didn't really trust Susan not to be like Mam.

Does this interest you? Check back on Friday for my review!