Update on “A Crack in the Line”

Hi everyone!

Yesterday I posted a review on the book “A Crack in the Line,” the first book of the Aldous Lexicon series.  I was pleased to have an email conversation with the author, Michael Lawrence.  He said that these books are very personal to him since The Withern Rise house in the series is not only the two main characters’ home but it is also the house that Mr. Lawrence was born in.  He informed me that Naia Underwood, one of the main characters, recently launched her own Facebook and Twitter pages and that the Aldous Lexicon series is now available on eBook.  (See Mr. Lawrence’s eBook site http://www.nakedebook.com/ML2/CoverPage.html)

A Crack in the Line by Michael Lawrence

  

	Reading Hammock’s Rating:	5 out of 5
	Category:	Fiction
	Fiction Genre:	SciFi/Fantasy
	Title:	A Crack in the Line
	Author:	Michael Lawrence
	Author Website:	wordybug.com
	ISBN-10:	0060724773
	ISBN-13:	9780060724771
	Publication Date:	July, 2004
	Publisher:	HarperTeen (HarperCollins)
	Format:	Hardcover | Paperback | Digital
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	Indiebound

Author’s Synopsis:

 Boy

Alaric's life has unraveled in the two years since he lost his mother in a terrible train crash. He and his father are barely speaking, and their home, Withern Rise, is in shambles.

A Girl

Naia tries not to dwell on the accident that nearly killed her mother two years ago, now that life with her parents at Withern Rise has returned to normal.

One and the Same

Alaric and Naia do not know each other, or that they are living nearly identical lives. But when they meet, their resemblance to each other is unmistakable. As their lives entwine, they uncover a truth that has the power to rearrange, or even erase, their very existence.

My review:

         This is the type of book that I can reread thousands of times and still never tire of.  As soon as I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down.  The beginning was slightly confusing because the author shifts between the two major characters and their respective realities.  However, my initial confusion soon turned into a deeper interest in the story and my discovery of its true originality.  At the end of the first book, I was glad to see that this is part of a trilogy.  The author cleverly continues this story and keeps the reader’s attention.  The world of Lawrence’s trilogy contains an everlasting number of realities, containing the same people with different fates.  This idea was brought to a whole new level in the sequels of this novel.  I highly recommend this story to anyone looking for an interesting read. 

Everlost by Neal Shusterman

Reading Hammock’s Rating:	5 out of 5
Category:	Fiction
Fiction Genre:	SciFi
Title:	Everlost
Author:	Neal Shusterman
Author Website:	http://www.storyman.com
ISBN:	0689872372
ISBN-13:	9780689872372
Publication Date:	August 2006
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Format:	Hardcover | Paperback | Digital | Audio
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Author’s Synopsis:

            Nick and Allie don’t survive the car accident…but their souls don’t exactly get where they’re supposed to go either. Instead, they’re caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It’s a magical, yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth.

        When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he’s found a home, but Allie isn’t satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the “Criminal Art” of haunting, and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost.

        In this imaginative novel, Neal Shusterman explores questions of life, death, and what just might lie in between.

My review:

            This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.  I found this novel intriguing because of Shusterman’s ability to describe his vision of afterlife—something that everyone contemplates.  After I read the first few pages, Shusterman’s plot immediately caught my attention.  The perfect balance between dialogue and explanation brought me even further into the world of Everlost and the minds of the main characters, Nick and Allie.  I could easily relate to Nick and Allie because Shusterman also describes their feelings as they become more accustomed to this new world.  I would recommend this novel to everyone, even if you are not usually drawn towards the science fiction or fantasy genres.  

Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer

Reading Hammock’s Rating:	3 out of 5
Category:	Fiction
Fiction Genre:	SciFi
Title:	Life as We Knew It
Author:	Susan Pfeffer
Author Website:	http://www.hmhbooks.com/lifeasweknewit/index.html
ISBN:	0152058265
ISBN-13:	9780152058265
Publication Date:	October 2006
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade
Format:	Hardcover | Paperback | Digital | Audio
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Author’s Synopsis:

            Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

    

            Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

My review:

            I did not find this book as engaging as the people who recommended it to me.  First of all, there was not much action throughout the story.  Most of the pages were wasted on the overriding question of food and starvation.  The problem is that I quickly figured out that the main character would not die of starvation because this novel is part of a series.  That simple fact reduced a great deal of tension is plot.  Not even the main idea of the novel captured my attention because I could not relate to the main character and her struggles.  Because of this, I did not have much emotional connection to the main character and her family which made it painful to read on.  I would not recommend this book because I found it hard to connect to the characters and feel tension in the plot line of this novel.

The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Reading Hammock’s Rating:	4 ½ out of 5
Category:	Fiction
Fiction Genre:	SciFi
Title:	The Uglies
Author:	Scott Westerfeld
Author Website:	http://scottwesterfeld.com/
ISBN:	1416971203
ISBN-13:	9781416971207
Publication Date:	May, 2011
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Format:	Hardcover | Paperback | Digital | Audio
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Author’s Synopsis:

               Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

              But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

My review:

I enjoyed this novel because Westerfeld crafted a peculiar future world that, given our society’s focus on external beauty, I believe could somehow become true.  Although the beginning did not capture my attention, as soon as the plot unraveled, I was hooked.  Westerfeld’s plot was hard to predict, and it was easy to feel the emotions of the main character, Tally.  I only have one complaint about this novel – it is part of a series.  I think that this novel would have been better as a standalone rather than in a series because it is hard to maintain the reader’s attention throughout an entire series.  I feel that it is particularly hard for the author to write a series of science fiction novels because the reader is already familiar with the world in which the character lives.  Overall I liked Westerfeld’s story and I would only recommend it to people who like science fiction.  

Coffeehouse Angel By Suzanne Selfors

Reading Hammock’s Rating:	3 ½ out of 5
Category:	Fiction
Fiction Genre:	Realistic
Title:	Coffeehouse Angel
Author:	Suzanne Selfors
Author Website:	http://www.suzanneselfors.com/index_flash.php
ISBN:	0802798128
ISBN-13:	9780802798121
Publication Date:	July, 2009
Publisher:	Walker & Company
Format:	Hardcover | Paperback | Digital
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Author’s Synopsis:

            The first time Katrina saw Malcolm, he was lying in the alley behind her grandmother’s coffeehouse.  She didn’t think that giving him a cup of coffee and yesterday’s pastries was such a big deal.  But now he’s following her everywhere, claiming to be an angel who must repay her kindness by granting her deepest wish. 

            Although Malcolm happens to be pretty adorable, Katrina is also convinced he’s a little bit crazy.  Whether she believes in him or not, Malcolm is determined to fulfill her wish for true happiness.  So what happens when you lie to an angel about what you most desire?

My review:

            I did not enjoy the beginning of this novel because it was too slow and Selfors spent too much time explaining the life of the main character, Katrina.  Therefore, the major conflict was only introduced during the middle of the story.  After the major conflict was introduced, the events thereafter did not significantly affect the conflict.  I also felt that the ending of the story was abrupt and predictable.  It lacked a sense of reality that is necessary in this type of novel, that combines fantasy and reality.  I think that Selfors should have created a twisted ending so that people, like me, who enjoy thrillers, could find a greater appreciation for her story.  Although my review sounds negative, there is one aspect of the story that made me read on.  Selfors’ had a great overall idea of adding fantasy into a realistic novel.  I wouldn’t say that one has to run to the bookstore to get this book but if you like realistic fiction I suggest that you try this one out.