Chris Wooding is a British author who, according to his website, specializes in adult and YA science fiction and fantasy.  Scholastic has republished this 2006 work in the US and I’m thinking it was added to the collection at my junior high via the Scholastic bookfair this past fall.  Hooray for summer – I’m catching up on those novels!

Storm Thief is an interesting blend of Sci Fi/fantasy set in the dystopian community of Orokos.  I like the author’s description of his own work so much I’ll quote it here to give you a better idea of the plot:

“Storm Thief is another light romp through daisy-filled pastures with… wait, wait, no it’s not. It’s a grim dystopia where our heroes cling to life by their fingernails. It’s about order versus chaos, about the storms of adolescence, about hope and hopelessness. And it’s also about love and dreams and hope and sacrifice, and how even in the darkest places you can find a light.”

A rather difficult read, this one will appeal only to dedicated Sci Fi/fantasy and gifted readers.  Imaginative and different, neverless the plot is cumbersome and somehow not completely satisfying.  Storm Thief seems open to a sequel but I could find no mention of one on Wooding’s website. 

If you find this one in your summer reading stack, unless you are a HUGE fan of Sci Fi/fantasy, put it on the bottom.  There are sure to be more rewarding reads in the pile.  Sci Fi/fantasy lovers – put it on the top!

“In a small town on the coast of California, everyone over the age of fourteen suddenly disappears, setting up a battle between the remaining town residents and the students from a local private school, as well as those who have “The Power” and are able to perform supernatural feats and those who do not.”

The above CIP summary statement for this novel truly covers this narrative’s straightforward plot.  But it doesn’t hint at the many subplots that weave through the lives of the main characters.  This book reminds me of “Twilight” and I think it will appeal to the same readers.  (Note: This is appropriate for more younger readers than is Myer’s novel.)  The elements of supernatural and a budding love story are both reminiscent of “Twilight” in my estimation, but it is the pace of the plot which truly makes me think it will appeal to the same readers.  And, like “Twilight”, it isn’t great literature – but it is compelling.  You just can’t put this one down.  Introduce it to one student and I guarantee it will be GONE from your shelves week after week…  No fooling!

Rebecca Stead has crafted an incredible first novel with First Light.  This completely unique and tightly woven narrative is compelling – I could not put it down!  Two uniquely separate narratives weave through the book; Peter of New York City and Thea of Gracehope.  Never is this novel predictable.  Stead so skillfully incorporates foreshadowing that the reader only recognizes it when the narrative is complete.  I hesitate to discuss it further, for I want you to read this for yourself!

First Light will satisfy readers of science fiction, fantasy, OR adventure.  It also has pure science incorporated – Peter’s parents are scientists studying global warming.  At 328 pages of fairly large font, it is an accessible science fiction offering for older challenged readers.  I will be recommending this one to many, many of my students!

I keep losing Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix.  I brought my library’s partially cataloged copy home this summer and kept misplacing it.  I finally began reading it only to lay it aside unfinished for a lovely week reading Meyer’s Twilight novels.  Two months later I found it, unfinished, in the stack.  I read it and after another month am finally commenting on it. 

Found pales in comparison to the other readings I have done recently, which probably explains why I keep losing track of Found.  My middle school readers (both the proficient and the reluctant) have loved Haddix’ Shadow Children series.  (In our library we fondly refer to them as the “Among the…” books rather than by their correct series title.)  My readers will probably like this first in the new “The Missing” series, but it is not as rich as Among the Hidden and has a trite and sometimes confusing plot.  But it is a fun read and is right on target for the audience; not every book has to be great.  And the cliffhanger ending will have the students pestering me for the next one.  The second book, Sent, according to Haddix’ website, will be out in 2009.

Regardless, Found just loses it somehow.