Brave New Girl

by Rachel Vincent

Vincent, R. (2017). Brave new girl. New York: Delacorte Press.

Dahlia 16 is happy to be a hydroponics gardener. She works for the greater good of the city and loves her job. She's just like the other 4999 girls created from a single genome for this purpose...or is she? She desires to be the best at what she does and takes pride in her work; but that is not allowed according to society rules. She speaks to Trigger 17 when trapped with him during an elevator malfunction; but that is not allowed either. Dahlia 16 is different than the other girls. 

Different is not good in this society. Different is considered a flaw. Flawed clones indicate that the entire genome is also flawed and, therefore, needs to be destroyed.

What is Dahlia to do?

Strange New World is an interesting young adult science fiction novel. Rachel Vincent's writing takes a different twist on the dystopian society. I enjoyed reading the book, although it moves a little too slowly for my taste at times. Once the pace quickened and a twist began to hold my attention, the book ended in a cliffhanger. I've begun to note this trend in more and more YA books, which I personally find frustrating. It does make me want to read the next book in the series, though!

I have to mention the cover art on this book as well as its sequel, Strange New World. It is just beautiful. It caught my eye and made me want to read the book the first time I saw it. It really supports the story as well. Bravo!

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Book 2 in the series:

Projekt 1065

by Alan Gratz

Gratz, A. (2016). Projekt 1065: A novel of World War II. New York: Scholastic Press.

Michael O'Shaunessey and his family are Irish spies for the British Secret Service living in Nazi Germany during World War II. They pretend to be part of the Nazi party in order to gather information that will help the Allies win the war. While searching for a fallen airman with his Hitler Youth Group, who wants to take him prisoner, Michael finds and rescues him. Through Simon, Michael learns of Projekt 1065. During his quest to collect the details from Fritz, a fellow Hitler Youth, Michael conquers his fear of heights to join the brutal SRD so he can try to halt an assassination plot of an important scientist. The obstacles Michael encounters along-the-way keep the reader on the edge of their seat!

Gratz scores again with this historical fiction novel told from the perspective of a thirteen-year-old boy who is forced into the adult world by the volatile times in which he lives. This book prompts pondering about what is important and whether or not you would make the same decisions as Michael if you were placed in parallel circumstances.

Reading Level: 5.0
Interest Level: 5-8

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Book trailer:

Refugee

by Alan Gratz

Gratz, A. (2017). Refugee. New York: Scholastic Press.

Alan Gratz expertly knits together the stories of three refugee children from different time periods in history. Josef lives in 1938 Berlin, Isabel in 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud in 2015 Syria. The families of all three embark on dangerous journeys to escape their circumstances in a quest to protect the ones they love and to better their situation.

Each chapter is told from the perspective of Josef, Isabel, or Mahmoud. The chapters alternate between their stories. I started out reading one chapter per day, so the layout was a bit confusing and the details of the individual stories were hard to remember by the time I cycled back through. If you are going to read the book in this manner, I recommend jotting down some brief notes to help you keep the characters straight. However, once I sat down for multiple hours and read through numerous chapters, it was easy to retain the details.

Refugee is a historical fiction novel and Gratz does a fantastic job including details of rea-life events in the stories. Of Gratz's novels, this is currently my favorite. All three stories are gripping and will pull you in. As a bonus, Gratz brings the tales together at the end in an unexpected way. This book helped me to better understand the plight of the refugee and to question my beliefs regarding related national policies. I'm sure it will pull at your heart strings as well!

Reading Level: 6.1
Interest Level: 5-8

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Book trailer: