STATION ELEVEN is a Nat'l Bk Winner that Scores a 10

Canadian author Emily Mandel's literary, apocalyptic sic-fi novel is an extraordinary depiction of the not too distant apocalyptic future.  Mankind nearly becomes extinct from a contagious, deadly virus.  Wait, there's so much more to this well crafted doomsday tale of survival with civilization razed as we know it.  Much of the story is told in flashbacks to the time before "ground zero" when 99% of the population becomes annihilated.  The motley cast of characters are all craftily connected to Athur, a famous actor.  Arthur dies of a stroke on stage performing King Lear, hours before the grim reaper waves it's scythe worldwide and just moments after reconciling with people he cherishes.  Mandel yarns an artistic story with characters we're invested in knowing.  Her novel is a credible consideration of what life might become for the few survivors.   This is an interesting, philosophical ponderance of what would become valued by the individual & society. What is lost in the collapse and what remains of great beauty from the sweetness of earth?  I was reminded of the many miracles taken for granted that persist all around and of companionships that make life bearable.  This brilliant novel pays homage to art, music, Shakespeare and Star Trek; "Survival is insufficient."

MONSTERS-Award Winning Y/A Novel by Walter Dean Myers-a Teen on Trial for Murder

Walter Dean Myers is a highly recognized writer of Y/A novels that have earned him numerous awards.  MONSTERS received the 1st the Michael L Printz Award.  He is also a Nat'l Book Finalist.  Steve Harmon is a frightened, young teen imprisioned, on trial as an accessory to murder.  The reader, along with Steve tries to come to grips with what's happening. How did he wind up in prison on trial for murder?  How does he cope with his hellish imprisonment? What will his life become if found guilty?  Myers portrays Steve as an impressionable, likable teen who is facing serious time behind bars, "Here I am, maybe on the verge of losing my life or the life I used to have."  The reader empathizes deeply for Steve,"I'm a human being.  I want a life too!" Still, there remains reasonable doubt as to his culpability.  That doubt depicts the beastiality within all of us to form biases & tp prejudge. "The jury believed you were guilty the momet they laid eyes on you. You're young, you're Black, and you're on trial. What else do they need to know?" MONSTERS is a compelling court room drama told with great poignancy. Steve narrates in film script format as a coping mechanism.  This tecnique distances the reader permitting Steve's nightmare be viewed as entertainment.  MONSTERS is a deeply stirring novel illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Christopher Myers.  I am left with powerful conflicitng emotions of relief & guilt.  

The novel LANDLINE-Not a novel ideal; Sappy Crappy Back to the Future

LANDLINE is a time travel time, chick lit dimwit novel.  The premise of speaking to your husband of 15 years at the time you 1st met & fell in love over a magical phone is phoney sentimental drip.  I'm beomg harsh because I fell for the gimmick and for the likable main character.  Georgie is a comedy sketch writer who partners with her handsome college buddy, Seth.  They met in college writing for the campus paper.  Neal also worked on the paper as their cartoonist.  Georgie & Neal fall in love, get married, have 2 girls and move to LA.   The LA sun shines down on Georgie & Seth with their  comedy-sketch writing team.  Neal doesn't care for the deal; stay at home dad & playing 2nd fiddle to Georgie's career.  Things come to a breaking point at Christmas when Georgie cancels on the trip back to Neal's family and their marriage may or may not be over. Georgia finds an old fashioned rotary phone & outlet that not only still functions, it's magic contacts the Neal she knew before they married.  Author Rainbow Rowell (really?) calls herself out for lifting on "It's a Wonderful Life.  Rowell has won the Goodreads Choice Award for Y/A.  This novel is lost somewhere in a time tunnel.  The story doesn't appeal to youths or adults.  "Peggy Sue Got Married," with Nicholas Cage already did a good job with this back to the future soul searching.  LANDLINE rings an annoying busy signal.  

INDIAN LEAP by S Kanor- Parenting in Today's Chaos is Hurdling into the Abyss

INDIAN LEAP is a keen social account of today's erupting issues in America causing widening crevices in our social stratas.  Author Seth Kanor has put a magnifying glass over issues of class, mental health and governmental control.  "The govt. is afraid of the guns people have because they have to control the people at all times." Surprisingly INDIAN LEAP is Kanor's 1st novel yet he deftly elucidates our nation's chaotic social problems while focusing on the trials & tribulations of taking on the responsibilities of caring for an orphaned teen.  The (nameless) narrator is only recently extracted from a loveless marriage.  He is living a hapless existence in a squalid aptmt.  His estranged wife contacts him, grief stricken, seeking his help caring for her orphaned nephew.  Our protagonist steps up to the demanding challenges of raising this troubled teen.  Despite being he's his own worst enemy, he rises to the challenge providing unqualified love & support.  "The world is coming to an end. There will be war and chaos."  Still, it's reassuring to find an adult who acts heroically & compassionately as a guardian for a child who becomes his ward.    

Get in Trouble, Short Stories by Kelly Link, Fantasy & Emotional Truths

Get in Trouble is the latest short story collection by Kelly Link.  Link is a highly regarded writer of short stories having won the O'Henry Prize and the Hugo Award for best Novella.  Link's imaginative creations are interwoven with magic, mysticism, super heroes and poignant human emotions.  Costumes,  be they superheroes or villains appear often in the stores.  Some caped crusaders possess super powers or falsely perceive their own strengths.  The use of parrallel universes borrows from the Land of Oz  in several of these stories.  The best stories are placed up front & at the finish.  An isolated teenager left to care for mischievous, magical beings ("The Summer People") seizes her opportunity to escape and does a disappearing act; leaving another teen to bear the burden.  The most compelling character is a young girl fleeing to meet an on-line infatuation at a costumed comic convention.  She posed as her older, beautiful sister to deceive her potential predator into an illicit rendezvous.  The calamitous results entangle her with a cast of quirky individuals & zany misadventures.  A lovely homage is paid to Peter Pan in the story "Light" where some of the characters have duo shadows that wreck havoc on their human forms.  What got to be troubling, were the repetitive themes.  Taken as individual short stories, Link's writing is crafty & intriguing, but as a collection they became bothersome.  

GIRL on a TRAIN-Fast Read on a plane, train or automobile

GIRL on a TRAIN is a fast paced murder mystery.  The central character, Rachel, is a woman struggling with sobriety and her sanity.  This easy read is beguiling despite its pathetic, love-sick heroine.  Rachel's ex left her for another woman & their child.  She's lost her marriage, job, home & her ability to function without the help of alcohol.  Rachel tells you what a loser she has become; living in a small bedroom in an old friend's home.  After being fired, Rachel continues to take the train into London M-F under the pretense of working for fear of being tossed from her rental.  While riding the train to & from London, Rachel peers out her window & observes both her where he ex lives with his new family and the young couple just a few doors down.  Rachel draws a fantasty of marital bliss around this young couple.  This comes to a screeching halt when she spots the woman in the arms of another man.  Shortly after, the woman is reported missing.  Deemed a stalker, a drunk, an unreliable witness and a scorned woman, Rachel inserts herself into the midst of the police investigation.  She wants to be of help & to live vicariously through the tumult of others lives.  The body of the missing woman is recovered but Rachel's memory of her whereabouts remain a disturbing mystery while in a  drunken stupor.  Author Paula Hawkins (b. Zimbabwe) working as a journalist in London, has written a gripping mystery with her 1st novel.  The GIRL on a TRAIN is a beach book and a guilty pleasure.  It is also an insightful look at an individual grappling with addiction.  Once you start this novel, hold on for a swift ride.