Noggin by Beth Kephart

Reviewed by: Carey Gibbons, Reference Assistant

Genre: Young Adult Realistic Fiction (with a splash of sci-fi)

Suggested Age: Older teens and adults

What is the book about?: One day, Travis Coates is dead. And then he isn’t. Travis died of cancer when he was 16, but was also part of an experimental program that allowed him to cryogenically freeze his head and attach it to someone else’s healthy body. Doctors told him there would be decades between his “death” and new life, but science moves awfully fast. Travis wakes up five years later with a new body (but same head) that is far healthier and stronger than his old body ever was. Five years have passed for all of Travis’ friends and family – his best friend is in college, his girlfriend is engaged to someone else, and his parents seem a little… off. But for Travis, time has passed in the blink of an eye. He’s on a mission. He’s going to get back his best friend and win back his girlfriend (who never technically broke up with him in the first place, right?).  However, things don’t quite work out the way Travis has planned – missing out on five years of everyone else’s life turns out to be a lot harder than he had thought.

My review: I loved this book. I say the suggested age is for both teens and adults because anyone who has ever been a teen can relate to Travis. Don’t let the light science fiction angle scare you away either. The cryogenics aren’t the point of the story, but a vehicle to get Travis into the awkward situation he’s in. Whaley gives Travis an honest and solid voice. He’s not preternaturally wise or kind. He does some dumb things and some mean things. His obsession with his girlfriend Cate swings back and forth between heartbreaking and creepy. Part of why I loved this book was because I didn’t know how I wanted it to end. I’m not going to lie – I sobbed through the last 3-4 chapters for a variety of reasons.

But I laughed, too. Although Whaley gives us a few flashback chapters where Travis talks about his life before he died, this isn’t a book about a sad sick kid being sad and sick. Yeah, we feel for Travis and some of those flashback chapters are like a punch to the gut, but they serve to enrich the current narrative and illustrate the fact that for Travis, five years felt like overnight. He doesn’t have the same concept of time that everyone else has.

This book was pretty great. Everyone has a real and distinct voice and the plot moves along at a nice clip. This is one of my new favorite YA novels and I have no problem seeing why it’s a National Book Award finalist.

Rating: 5/5

Find it at the library!

About FDL Reads

Welcome to FDL Reads, weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.  Librarians (and possibly some other guest reviewers) review all types of books, from children’s picture books, young adult favorites, to the latest adult thriller, and share their thoughts each week at fondulaclibrary.org. If the book is owned by Fondulac District Library (or another local library), you’ll see a direct link to the catalog entry and whether or not it is available.  If it is checked out or at another local library, you will be able to place a hold as long as you have your library card and PIN numbers. As with any book review, these are our opinions…we disagree amongst ourselves about books frequently.  We all have different likes and dislikes, which is what makes the world an interesting place. Please enjoy, and keep on reading!

Going Over by Beth Kephart

Reviewed by: Genna Buhr, Public Services Manager

Genre: Historical Fiction

Suggested Age: Young Adult (although thoroughly enjoyed by this adult)

What is the book about?: In 1983, the city of Berlin was still divided by the Wall. 96 miles of concrete, barbed wire, mine fields, and other barriers encircled the city of West Berlin and made it an enclave in the socialist country of East Germany. Ada and Stefan, the main characters of the story, are in love, but also lead divided lives. West Berliner, rebel, and graffiti artist Ada only gets to visit Stefan, East Berliner and machinist, four times per year. She navigates her life, colored with an unstable home life, a job caring for the youngest members of an outcast immigrant community, and the desire to have Stefan as a permanent fixture in her days. Only a dangerous escape attempt would lead to the latter, but the courage and sacrifice to make it happen have to come from more than Stefan alone.

My review: This book takes a great look at the divided Berlin landscape that existed just six short years before the Wall came down in late 1989 . At the time of the story, the realistic possibility of it coming down wasn’t even a thought for those who lived in its shadow, and the young adults of the era had never known life without it. (Alternately, today’s young adult readers at which the story is aimed, have never known life with it.) While technically Ada is the “free” one, she, too, lives bound by the constraints of the Wall, the limitations of her circumstances, and the taboos of meshed societies. Stefan, while encompassed by the Wall, leads a more structured life and has to decide if he is willing to break the expectations made of him by others and by himself in order to achieve freedom and love.

I was drawn to this story mostly because of its setting. I lived for six months in Berlin in the late 1990s, occupying a flat in the former East. I shared the apartment with two women who grew up with the Wall and would have been just slightly older than Ada at the time in which Going Over is set. Having explored both sides of the city, I was really engaged with this story as I read it, recognizing places and situations as the author described them. That being said, first-hand experience of the city is not required to enjoy this book.

Rating: 4/5

Find it at the library!

About FDL Reads

Welcome to FDL Reads, weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.  Librarians (and possibly some other guest reviewers) review all types of books, from children’s picture books, young adult favorites, to the latest adult thriller, and share their thoughts each week at fondulaclibrary.org. If the book is owned by Fondulac District Library (or another local library), you’ll see a direct link to the catalog entry and whether or not it is available.  If it is checked out or at another local library, you will be able to place a hold as long as you have your library card and PIN numbers. As with any book review, these are our opinions…we disagree amongst ourselves about books frequently.  We all have different likes and dislikes, which is what makes the world an interesting place. Please enjoy, and keep on reading!

Quarantine: Book One – The Loners by Lex Thomas

Reviewed by: Joan Herron, Reference Assistant

Genre: Survival Fiction

Suggested Age: Mature Young Adult or Adult

What is the book about?: A normal day at McKinley High is literally blown apart by an explosion in the school. Loner David Thorpe is as confused as the other students when they are thrown headlong into a nightmare. Think Lord of the Flies on steroids. All the students are infected with a virus that is deadly to adults, causing the outside world to physically quarantine the school and all the students inside by blowing up part of the school and erecting elaborate physical barricades. David and his younger brother, Will, band together against the gangs that form as time passes. Every clique in a typical school is represented: the jocks, the cheerleaders, the geeks…each with their own unique form of leadership and method of control.

My review: I think the scariest part of this series is the comparison to today’s headlines. The paranoia and fear of being infected with the virus easily translates to our current world problems. Thinking of the school environment like a small community, which it actually is, all the fears and emotions that exist in the outside world exist in this “artificial world” as well. I was unprepared for the level of viciousness and violence that would breed in this environment, but also surprised at the level of ingenuity of the students faced with fighting for food at regular supply drops, maintaining the clothing on their backs for months and months, and keeping control of those citizens with all their personal problems. What would a school be like if every child on Ritalin ran out of medicine?  Think of the resources in a school. Then think of dividing and controlling those resources in a hostile society. It isn’t that big a stretch of the imagination to envision the chaos. This series is along the lines of many “end of the world as we know it” series, but the situations are not as unbelievable as they used to seem. The second and third books, The Saints and The Burnouts, follow the evolution of the virus and the status of the outside world. There is intense language, sexual situations, and extreme violence. I recommend this series for those who like a fast-paced read that can get your heart pumping. Even though classed as a Young Adult book, I’d suggest it for mature readers only. Much food for thought and discussion.

Rating: 5/5

Find it at the library!

About FDL Reads

Welcome to FDL Reads, weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.  Librarians (and possibly some other guest reviewers) review all types of books, from children’s picture books, young adult favorites, to the latest adult thriller, and share their thoughts each Tuesday at fondulaclibrary.org. If the book is owned by Fondulac District Library (or another local library), you’ll see a direct link to the catalog entry and whether or not it is available.  If it is checked out or at another local library, you will be able to place a hold as long as you have your library card and PIN numbers. As with any book review, these are our opinions…we disagree amongst ourselves about books frequently.  We all have different likes and dislikes, which is what makes the world an interesting place. Please enjoy, and keep on reading!