Trapped

mandy — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:00:00 +0000

School is let out early because of a massive blizzard. Everyone is supposed to get home before the weather gets worse. But Scotty Weems and his friends decide to stay after for a couple hours to work on a shop project, figuring that one of their parents will be able to pick them up on the way home from work. This turns out to be a really bad (and really deadly) decision. Along with several other students and one teacher, they are trapped in the school by the snow. And it keeps coming. And coming.

It doesn’t take long before this becomes a survival story. The students must grow increasingly resourceful after their teacher leaves for help and never returns. They lose power, meaning no light or heat, and the food is locked away behind the cafeteria doors. As the snow continues piling up outside, the teens are forced to question whether they’ll ever make it out, and what will be left for them if they do.

Trapped has been compared to The Breakfast Club because the characters, like those in the classic movie, come from diverse backgrounds, initially knowing little about each other. They form snap judgments based on reputations and rumors. However, they must learn a little more about each other and work together if they ever want to make it out alive.

Michael Northrop’s Trapped is a chilling thriller that makes a perfect winter read so long as you enjoy being terrified. I read it while the snow was coming down outside, and my paranoia made the book all the better. At least while the school’s roof was shuddering from the weight of the snow, I could be curled up on my couch under several blankets drinking hot chocolate.

I would like to give a huge thumbs up to the design team for an amazing cover, and awesome images throughout the book that show the snow getting higher and higher at the start of each chapter. I assume that the final text will resemble the ARC and keep these visual elements intact.

Beyond that, Scotty Weems is an engaging, conversational narrator who I think even reluctant readers will find appealing. His simple and up-front language makes this book easy to breeze through in an evening. He comes across as a realistic teen guy. (I keep wanting to say “he’s a real boy” in Pinocchio’s voice.) This also means that he is often immature, and his language is sprinkled with “likes” and “uhs,” which didn’t bother me, but may annoy some readers.

I loved every page of Trapped, except for the very last one. I didn’t want it to end and I would have preferred more resolution and closure. I’m a needy reader; I want answers!! In all seriousness, though, this was an excellent book that surprised me by just how dark it got. I’ve heard that Northrop’s other book, Gentlemen, is similarly dark and gritty, so I’m looking forward to reading that as well.

Cross-posted at Reclusive Bibliophile

Written by: Melanie Goodman, February 17th 2011

Mockingjay

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:31:00 +0000

By Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Press

Mockingjay has finally arrived to conclude the breathtaking trilogy that began in 2006 with the conclusively-titled The Hunger Games. And this time, things have changed. In global effect, for better or worse, the main characters are bringing the furious fight to the enemy’s doorstep, in an act of rousing rebellion. But do they prevail? Well, I can’t answer that.

In Mockingjay, Collins holds her own under external pressure to show the blunted faces of the worst brought out in humanity, but also the best of what makes us human, compatible life forces willing to love, to teach, and to learn in the shadows of dark times. What was merely a sadistic game of cat-and-mouse is now a battleground, a fledgling place where heroes are born and lives are lost. Every punch is pulled, which is not to say the first and second books didn't contain conflict, but things are now broadened on the horizon. The characters realize they have entered an alien place, a wildfire atmosphere only done justice by a single word: war.

What really propels this book is its characters, particularly Katniss, who fight for what they believe in and stand alongside those they love. Each play pivotal roles in supporting each other, and adds a unique back story, just when you thought everything was already revealed. Loyalties are tested and occasional twists paint a very thin line between good and evil, relishing in the fact that, as human beings, we are collections of both.

Any age can enjoy this book; however, the content is some of the most unwaveringly brutal and violent written work on the young adult market. Accusing The Hunger Games of glorifying violence is putting a very narrow perspective on things. The violence is there because it is necessary, willing to achieve a point by demonstrating the calculating monstrosities of war, warning readers about the implications of certain decisions, and feeling powerless to stop others of a higher social status.

The inclusion of a strong female heroine give a sense of feminism to the book. At times, Katniss remained stricken, almost too conflicted, but it is a foreplay, a buildup to the explosive climax. She learns things about herself, growing as a person. It is the emotion, what we feel in our heart, not the misguided actions that make us for who we are. Everyone has a flaw, whether it be acid, spiders, or fear itself.

All the while, Collins maintains the pacing she keeps in the previous two. I was floored from the first page all to the way to the spectacular last. Small things are left unanswered, forcing the reader to come away from the experience to visualize, decoding what they think and understand.

By the time I finished, Mockingjay left me conflicted but satisfied, ruminating on the implications of what I read. Thankfully, it was a virtuoso performance I will not forget in a hurry. And not many books can do that. In a sense, young adult literature has some startlingly powerful messages to deliver, even branded for a younger generation. Older readers, and even fully-fledged adults, would find much to enjoy here.

Mockingjay delivers a stark limelight of the gratuitous impact of war on life, and examines the most powerful force on the planet through post-trauma, blood, tears, and the unbreakable substance of love. It is a masterful conclusion to an already groundbreaking series in young adult literature. If you haven’t experienced the raw potential for what The Hunger Games is all about, then I highly recommend doing so.

Excerpted from Literary Musings

Written by: Dan Goodman, August 26th 2010