Young Adult | Book Chatter

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
By John Boyne
Random House Children’s Books
October 2007
240pp

The Short of It:

A short, powerful book that leaves you speechless.

The Rest of It:

If you’ve ever come across a copy of this book, then you know from the book’s jacket, that nothing is shared about the story. No blurb. No comment, other than you need to experience this for yourself.

Since I agree with this statement, I am not going to give you any of the story here, which makes for a very strange book review, but what I will say is that what started off as innocent enough, ended with such a punch to my gut that it actually left me speechless. I spent several moments sitting in the same position, letting the ending sink in. I could not move.

This is a children’s book and could easily be read by a child between the ages of 10-12 but the themes are very mature and although there is nothing graphic within its pages, the reader can read between the lines and get the gist of it.

Although this is a very unconventional review, this is an important book and should be read by as many people as possible.

Source: This copy was checked out from the library.

Catching Fire
By Suzanne Collins
Scholastic, Inc.
September 2009
400pp

The Short of It:

Catching Fire packs more action than book one and includes all of the characters you love plus a few others. A worthy follow-up.

The Rest of It:

I can’t talk about plot at all because doing so would give away the story but as far as series go, this one is pretty exciting. I liked The Hunger Games quite a bit, but felt that it was a bit familiar. I didn’t feel that so much with Catching Fire. Maybe because I was already familiar with the characters and in this book, the rules of the game and how it works is not as heavily emphasized as book one. In my opinion, this allowed the reader to focus more on the action and not so much the logistics of how it all works.

I plopped down to read this and pretty much read it in one day. I had hoped to drag it out a bit but I couldn’t put it down. It’s the kind of book that you cart around the house. I read it in between cooking, in between the Olympics and misplaced it several times throughout the day since I took it everywhere I went. That said, you must read it, but make sure you read The Hunger Games first. Catching Fire could stand alone but you’ll want to read book one to get the full experience.

Oh, and for those of you that are worried about its Young Adult classification, don’t worry. This series may be geared towards young adults but there’s a lot for an adult to enjoy here. As for young adults, there is some violence, since they are fighting to the death but it’s “survival type” violence which to me is a bit easier to digest than just killing for fun.

If you’ve been in a bit of a reading rut, pick up book one and then book two and you’ll remember what it feels like to read books for fun.