"Hunger" by Michael Grant

590 pages

It's been three months since everyone over the age of 14 in Perdido Beach disappeared in the blink of an eye and the kids who were left became trapped in a impenetrable bubble that came to be called the FAYZ: Fallout Alley Youth Zone. Sam Temple has been elected mayor of the place, for good reason: in the early days of the FAYZ, he stopped his malicious twin brother Caine's attack on the city and he figured out how people can avoid "the poof" when they turn 15. Now Sam's just trying to hold things together as the food is running out and everyone is getting desperate for something to eat. More and more kids are developing special powers and the "normals" are becoming more and more hostile toward the "freaks." On top of all that, the Darkness in the mine shaft is starting to communicate with kids in their minds and Sam discovers that Caine and his gang are plotting another assault. Sam and his friends don't know if they can handle it all--he's just a kid, after all--but they have no choice but to try.

"If Stephen King had written 'Lord of the Flies', it might have been a little like this." That's how Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA) describes this book, and I completely agree with the assessment. There's tons of King-like freaky stuff going on: funky mutations, voices in kids' heads, a radioactive monster in a dark cave, nightmares becoming reality, etc. Meanwhile, the kids are turning on each other and getting more savage by the minute. I think that this book is too long (as is "Gone," the first book in the series) and a lot of details could have been cut out. That said, this story kept me on the edge of my seat. I can't imagine how all of the crazy stuff is going to be explained, but I can't wait to read the rest of the books and find out.

"The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things" by Carolyn Mackler

246 pages

Fifteen-year-old Virginia just doesn't fit in with her family. They're all thin and good-looking while she's increasingly overweight and insecure about her looks. Her 24-year-old sister Anais and 19-year-old brother Byron are athletic, suave, and popular; Virginia puts herself somewhere between "regular" and "dork." Although her mother is a hot-shot adolescent psychologist, she can't seem to understand or accept Virginia as she is. On top of all this, Virginia's best friend has recently moved across the country and she's developing romantic feelings for her secret makeout buddy, Froggy Welsh the 4th, but he doesn't seem to want to acknowledge her in public. Then, out of nowhere, Virginia's so-called perfect family is shaken when Byron is accused of an awful crime.

The plot surprised me, in a good way. When I started reading, enjoyed Virginia's funky narration but I thought it would be a typical teen book about boys, friends, parent troubles, etc. Then Byron's incident came out of nowhere and added a lot of depth to the story. It got me thinking on a lot of different levels.

As I was reading this, I was reminded of my 15-year-old self so many times. Although I didn't experience many of Virginia's specific issues, I totally related to her general self-consciousness and her struggle to identify herself as an individual instead of a member of her family or peers. She's trying to figure out how to be herself instead of conforming to the roles that she's always filled with her family and at school, and that's something that teens and adults alike can connect with.

Tegami Bachi: Volume 5: The Man Who Could Not Become Spirit

by Hiroyuki Asada, 182 pages

Lag and friends fight a heart-devouring gaichuu in addition to the embittered, frightened townsfolk of Honey Waters. In the process, they discover that the real "man who could not become spirit" is somehow connected to Reverse, an anti-government organization whose marauders have recently been waylaying Letter Bees and stealing their heart-filled letters for mysterious purposes. When Lag himself encounters a cold, emotionless marauder who looks like someone close to Lag's heart but who calls himself Noir, the pint-sized Bee finds his own heart tied in knots.

Oh, Gauche, what has happened to you? Don't make little Lag cry more than he has already. With a heavy heart and new friends Hunt and Sarah in tow, Lag returns to the Hive, uncertain of how to face Sylvette with the news about her brother. But considering his own personality, he shouldn't underestimate the capacity for hope and optimism in others. While Niche learns more about what it means to be a proper dingo to her Bee, they both gain friends who can help them in Lag's mission to recover his friend and bring sunshine to the hearts of everyone around him.

X/1999: Volume 9: Requiem

by CLAMP, 178 pages

Kamui is saved from Kotori's fate by the intervention of another dream seer--but Fuma has seen the newcomer, too, and goes off to track him down and make use of him. Traumatized, Kamui slips into a catatonic state and the only one who has a chance of saving his mind and soul is one who has been in his shoes. Subaru Sumeragi must revisit his own pain by travelling into the depths of Kamui's tortured soul to lead him out of the darkness and back to reality, back to life.

The seven Seals, the Dragons of Heaven, have finally come together. But what do they do now? As the Harbingers, the Dragons of the Earth, assemble below one of Tokyo's landmarks, the distinction between good and evil is as indefinite as ever, despite the violence perpetrated on the latter's behalf. Fate declares that only one can survive--either mankind or the Earth--but how could any future without one or the other be worth all the suffering and sacrifice? Kamui will likely be the one to ask that question--and to bear the burdens that come with answering it.

Send Me

by Patrick Ryan, 310 pages

Once upon a time, Theresa married Dermott and gave him two children, Matt and Katherine. And then he left them. Then Theresa married Roy and gave him two children, Joe and Frankie. And then he left them. These seven lives intersect, part, and ricochet off each other in random yet believable patterns as they each try to make their way, sometimes relying on one another, sometimes hurting one another, over the next forty-odd years. The one thing that will never change, however much they may or may not appreciate it at any given time, is that they are forever a family, and one with Theresa as their anchoring link.

Told in the form of non-chronological, short-story-like chapters, this novel draws the reader into the emotional life of each family member, revealing clues about what they've done in one chapter and hints as to why they've done it in another, letting the reader piece it all together little by little. From the first page to the last, I was invested in the mystery of who these people were and what kept them together and what tore them apart. Art, NASA, the mafia, in-laws, the economy, hurricanes, high school, college, love, death, jealousy, drugs, sex, gossip, Star Wars, Slip 'n' Slides, aging dogs, AIDS, and a million other things all come crashing down on their heads or lift them out of the miasma that is the dysfunctional American family.

And I want more. Ryan has said in recent interviews that he's working on another novel about these characters, and I can't wait to read it. While Theresa is the keystone, and while utterly sympathetic Joe is very loosely based on the author, Frankie is by far my favorite and the one I most want to protect. He is both the most resilient and the most vulnerable. His precocious, adorable childhood obsession with all things science fiction resurfacing as a psychological buoy later in his troubled life just breaks my heart...and comforts me at the same time. At turns funny and sad, surreal and familiar, this touching debut novel promises good things to come (and having read and enjoyed Ryan's three subsequently published YA novels, I speak from experience). It'll make you cry, too, but somehow that's ok.

Vagabond: Volume 16

by Takehiko Inoue, based on the novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, 186 pages

"I won't teach you, Kojirô." So Kanemaki says every time he comes home to his silently beseeching son...right before the boy launches himself at his father and absorbs every lesson the old man unconsciously teaches him. Years pass and Kojirô grows into a deceptively powerful young man as the world outside their tiny village stirs with political upheaval and the tension of impending war. When Kanemaki's former top pupil Ittôsai resurfaces, the gruff swordsman instantly recognizes Kojirô's sleeping strength and barely-held-in-check desire to fight. Afraid he may lose his already fragile grip on his son's elemental nature, the old man tries to protect Kojirô from the other's influence. But although the young man cannot hear, the sword's soul-deep call to battle has been echoing in every fiber of his being since before he can remember. And Ittôsai's push may be all it takes to snap him awake.

I love this series. I love Inoue. *sigh* He makes you feel two or more conflicting emotions at the same time. You want to protect Kojirô, but you want to free him. You love him, but you're afraid of him. It's like you're seeing the world through Kanemaki's soul, then through Kojirô's, and cannot help but sympathize with both. They love and respect one another, but their desires are diametrically opposed. What will happen to them when Kojirô's wild-child inner self finally breaks free? What will happen to Japan...?

I wish Inoue would come and paint murals on my walls. I would never move.

Gakuen Alice: Volume 16

by Tachibana Higuchi, 191 pages

A prank gets a little out of hand as everyone's souls trade bodies randomly and truths inadvertently get revealed to the wrong (or the right) people. In the confusion, Mikan resorts to using her secret "stealing" Alice to save a loved one as background conspiracies continue to stew.

It's still hard to keep all these similar-looking characters straight, but when it tries, the story is engaging and its mysteries deep and dark. It'd be nice to have a little less fluffy filler and a little more plot progress, but oh well.