Uglies Discussion

I thought that this book was pretty interesting and very well thought out. One thing that always kept me reading was that the author didn't just come out and tell you everything right up front. I would find myself asking, "wait, where are their parents" or "why would the government really care what people looked like?", etc. but then I would read on and figure out the answer to my questions.

There were still some unanswered questions for me, though. I don't know if they will be answered in the last 3 books, but I still keep wondering why Tally didn't care to ever see her family ever again. I noticed when they visited her, they were pretty odd, but still, they ARE her parents. She didn't even really mention them much the rest of the book. And she talked so much about Peris at the beginning, but then after she met David, it's like he never existed. I think that she would have at least missed him a little! Also, I am still curious about David and Shay's relationship. Was there really a relationship, or was Shay just wishing there was? David never really even broke up with her if there was actually a relationship.

Other than that, I loved the book! It really made me think about self image and our society. What will our great, great grandchildren think about the way we live our lives?

I liked how Natalie asked some questions for discussion for her review, so I have found a few to pose to you. I'm excited to hear your answers to question #2. I did hope that Tally would get the operation and I kind of still think, "man, life would sure be easy if I got that operation!".

1. Have you ever had a friend like Peris, who abandoned your friendship after they moved away?
2. At first, did you hope Tally would get the operation? When did you change your mind? (Or did you?)
3. Have you ever found yourself trusting someone more or paying more attention to what they said not because they deserved it, but just because of their looks?
4. Would you give up your ability to think independently in exchange for being happy, beautiful, perpetually healthy, and rich?
5. If Shay could have gone back in time and never have met Tally, do you think she would?

Austenland

Our next book will be Austenland, by Shannon Hale. This book is about a girl named Jane, who is obsessed with the character of Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Jane is struggling to find a man who matches up to her dream guy. Can she change her expectations? Or will she eventually find her own Mr. Darcy?

Our end date for this book will be November 13th. Enjoy the book!

Uglies

The next book that we will be reading is Uglies, by Scott Westerfield. This book is a trilogy and can be found at your local library. It is about a future world in which a compulsory operation at sixteen wipes out physical differences and makes everyone pretty by conforming to an ideal standard of beauty. I've heard really good things about this book, so I hope that everyone enjoys it!

Our discussion on this book will be October 30th.

Among the Hidden Discussion

I have read this book before, and I enjoyed reading it again. With short books though, I always want more. Luckily, there are about 5 more books in the series! So, if you liked the books, you can continue to read and see what happens to Luke! I still need to read the last 2 books.

I think Luke was as lucky as a shadow child could be until the new housing developments went in. He was able to go outside to work and play and contribute to his family's well-being. I felt that once he was forced to stay inside AND upstairs, he almost disappeared as a person. His father and brothers barely acknowleded him. I think seeing your lack of relationship with your family would be even harder than being alone all day. Luke had NOTHING to look forward to until he met Jen.

Jen and Luke were sooooo different! I wonder how much was their parents doing and how they were raised, and how much was their personalities. Would Luke have been braver if he had been raised in Jen's family? Or would he still have been afraid everytime he was taken out of the house?

This book exhibited the classic Haves and Have Nots scenario. Being with Luke at his farm led me to believe that this took place in the past. The only technology they had was a radio. So when we finally saw Jen's house, and she had the internet, it was quite a shock! The differences between Luke's family and the Barons are unbelievable. It made me think about a common debate...are celebrities given leeway when it comes to the law? I think that in some cases they are, and in some cases they are treated even harsher in order to prove a point. Unfortunately, Jen was not saved due to her family's Baron status.

The most touching part of the book for me was at the very end when Luke's mom spent the last few days at home with him:
They'd played board games and cards, but she'd interrupted every move with, "Do you remember..." or, "I remember..." ... She was filling him up with memories, he knew, for the times when he'd have no one to talk to about his childhood.
What a wonderful mother! Letting Luke start a new life must have been hard, but she knew it was the best path for him. I hope that he will be able to reunite with his family someday.

Here are some more questions for you to think about and/or post a comment about!
*What number child are you? Would you have been a shadow child?
*What would you do all day as a hidden child?
*Would you have risked your life as Jen did, for the good of others?
*Can you think of a solution for the food shortage problem in the book? Do you think there really was a food shortage?

Suggestions for Next Book

We hope you've enjoyed all the books that have been selected so far! It's time again for us to make another selection for our next read, so please make a suggestion for what you would like to read next! If your book is selected, you will moderate the next read on October 26th (about 2 1/2 weeks from now).

Among the Hidden

Our next book that we will be reading is Among the Hidden, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This is the first book in a series of 6 books. The plot takes place in a country that has initiated a population law due to overpopulation and food shortages. It is illegal to have more than 2 children. Among the Hidden introduces us to a "shadow child" named Luke.

This book should be available at your local libraries. Let's try to read it by October 6th. That gives us about 2 1/2 weeks. Let us know if you have a book in mind that you would like to suggest for next time!

Happy Reading!

"Fairest", Discussion

I hope that you all loved this book as much as I did. It was a light hearted, fun, easy read, and sometimes those are my favorite types of books. I think I will follow Diane's lead and just post some of my thoughts and then I am really excited to hear your thoughts about the book as well.

• I know that not everyone picked up on this, and that they probably don't care much about this, but one of my favorite things about this book was that Aza was adopted and that Levine talked about adoption in a positive way. She used correct adotion terms (birth parents, etc.) and I loved that Aza loved her adoptive family so much. I think I only picked up on this because we are an adotive family.
• I enjoyed the relationship that Aza had with her family. They loved her and believed in her. She was beautiful to them. Wasn't it cute in the end that they showed up to suprise her and that Ijori suprised her with their wedding?
• I liked the parallel with Snow White. Isn't it interesting that Snow White had the same features, black hair, red lips, etc., but she was considered beautiful? It made me think about beauty and how we all have different opinions of what beautiful is. I love that Prince Ijori thought she was beautiful and fell in love with her as she was!
• Did anyone else besides me feel like they were in a musical? I laughed a few times at myself when I found myself singing the words in my head with my own made up "beat". I can guarantee that my voice sounded NOTHING like Aza's (even in my head!!).
• I was so proud of Aza for standing up for herself to the tailor. I loved how she said, "I strode away, feeling a thousand feet tall, and glad to be for the first time in my life. Kisses were better than potions."
• We can't ignore Skulni in this story. When I read the chapter where he was explaining to Aza how he got Ivi to do what he wanted (and other owners of the mirror as well) I started thinking about how weak Ivi was, but then I realized that she just wanted as badly to be beautiful as Aza did, and I didn't think Aza was weak at all! Would there be anything in our lives that we wanted bad enough that we could fall under Skulni's powers?

Well, those are just a few things that were stuck in my head after I finished reading the book. I'm excited to hear what you thought!!!

"My Brother's Voice", Discussion

Overall, I liked reading the book. It was selected by a friend of mine in my hometown book club. When I heard about it, I wasn't sure if I would appreciate and yet another Holocaust book. Dare I admit that! I almost dared the book to draw me into its story. It didn't take long for me to feel interested and keep reading until I was done. I liked that it was a short easy read but also that it stimulated thinking about survivors of any tragedy. I have a lot of thoughts and will post many of them here. I am sure I will miss something because I lent my book out and lost my notes from the first half of the book. So, please add your thoughts and fill in anything I don't address. Some of my ideas I may just throw out there and some I will discuss with more thought. There may or may not be some organization!

• I liked the opening on the train. It got my attention and I didn't mind knowing how he got out of the camp before I knew how he got into the camp. I found it incredible how Pista survived all of the bullets and I found it so sad that it was friendly fire with the exception of the Nazi's in the woods. At first, I didn't understand what he was talking about when he was pulling his arm hair. Finally, I understood that he was pinching himself to see if he was still alive. I also liked the presence of his brother when he hears him in his thoughts. That is the point of the entire book and thus the title. His brother keeps him alive with his voice.
• Later in the picture section of the book he states that he is 99% sure that a head/body is his in a picture of a train car. Considering his illnesses I do question how he can be sure; maybe the soldier looks familiar; maybe there weren't too many cars found with survivors on them? Oh! And I was glad to see the pictures. I didn't look ahead and was pleasantly surprised to see them. I thought it gave his story some credibility. To be honest there were times when I thought it was just too incredible to believe. For instance, the way his baby cousin is killed and the first time he as beaten. I think sometimes readers don't like bad things to happen to the main characters. I was thinking, "no, not him. Don't beat him."
• I liked the foreshadowing (if I can call it that) of the prisoner that gives them advice when they first arrived at the camp on how to survive. I believe it was eating and ______? And then they were eating sawdust! Icky.
• I liked how his conversation with the nurse brought about his story and he started with his happy times. It was important for readers to understand the contrast of lifestyles. I also thought it was sad that they experienced discrimination at school. The Holocaust was beginning, but I am sure they had no idea of how bad it would become.
• I remembered thinking it was a day to day survival. One day they would be fortunate enough to go to the work camp and eat better. Another day they were starving. I understood that any day they could get extra food or supplements, was another day that they were alive. I read for an understanding of critical events that would keep them alive or would contribute to their demise. For example, the work camps were arduous. But, was it better than being at Auschwitz? Would they have been dead already. Pista was doing so well at getting extra food with his carvings, but then he lost the use of his had for a piece of bacon fat. He was fortunate to work in the kitchen for a while but then he received a message from his brother. Was the meat loaf he was stealing for his brother worth receiving a beating when he got caught? The beating had to contribute to his ill health along with the poor camp conditions and winter's temperatures. I believe his thinking processes had to have been impaired. While I understand he was driven to help his brother, he did receive his message to let him go. Of course I wasn't in his shoes!
• I did wonder how they got away with hiding potatoes in their bunk and how he kept his knife from being stolen.
• I appreciated Pista's ability to see the beauty in things even when he was barely walking to the job site, he would notice how beautiful the trees looked. Or when he was looking out of the train and appreciated the countryside. It demonstrated an inner strength that helped to keep him alive.
• Later, he refuses to die in the "Dying Room". On a day to day basis he wills himself to live. I liked how the guard sent him back to work if he wasn't going to die.
• I thought to myself that only a year had transpired and he was barely alive. He wasn't even sure how old he was. Who could survive a year or longer and under what conditions? Was it a string of coincidences that kept him alive or his will or both?
• Thank goodness for the soldiers that searched the entire train for survivors. I loved how he would stash his food under his mattress at the recovery center.
• One of my favorite specials is Band of Brothers, and I was reminded of the scene where the soldiers find the concentration camps and don't know what to do with the prisoners. They report to headquarters and finally are told to leave them there and not give them chocolate or too much food. Too much too fast could make them sick. So, it made sense in the book when they gave him chicken broth at first in the hospital.
• I also loved how they converted a German training camp into a recovery center. It once trained German boys and now it housed Jewish refugees. One day you're in and the nest day you're out, not to diminish the many years the allies endured to win the war.
• I was intrigued with his visit with the General who offered him a passport to America but not to Hungary. But, I understood his need for closure. I was so scared for him when he took off on his own to travel to Hungary without papers and what he went through to get there. More luck when he hid in the bathroom?
• I did not expect that he would find his mother alive. The odds seemed too low. Kudos to all of the survivors.
• I liked his friends that he met along the way and they gave each other moral support.
• I was intrigued with his description of the Ipoly river and the only legal across it. And, then he swam into Hungary. I liked how he told people he was a Jewish orphan and they would help him.
• I enjoyed reading about Aunt Manci and Uncle Karloy. I was unclear about why they didn't go into the concentration camps. Something about being in a Swiss community. Why couldn't they all go there? Again, did the extra time the boys spent at the ammunition's factory, reduce the time they spent in the concentration camps and thus saved at least one life.
• I thought about the contrast again in his life style. He had found remaining family members and was eating wonderful meals, and sleeping in a bed. Only a few short months ago he was dying.
• I was not surprised that he was having nightmares and that was part of his recovery.
• I understood why he didn't tell his story for so long. He probably waited for his family members to die so he would not have to tell the story of his baby cousin.
• I am sure he received help in writing his book from the second writer listed on the book. How could he have remembered such detail?
• It was sad that he had to leave Vera. I am glad he found a productive life in the United States. I was sad that he didn't stay one year longer and finish his education. But maybe the opportunity would have been gone and he could not have predicted when the communism would prevent him from leaving the country as it did for Vera. I think his career would have been different with his graduation. But, he seemed o.k. with it.
• I was touched by the letter from Vera's mother thanking him for releasing her daughter of their commitment to each other. That must have been difficult.
• Do you think we could experience loss of freedom in our country? Check out this web page that I stumbled on the other day. I am not endorsing it, just wondering if it is true.http://www.infowars.com/ouwmar9901.html
• Here is another link about genocide and its occurrences after WWII.http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/war/overview/crimes_2.shtml
• Isn't it incredible that one crazy man (Hitler) could convince so many of his organization to take over other countries and try to eliminate a race. What would we believe?

These are some of my thoughts, I anticipate hearing your ideas. Disclaimers, Disclaimers, if I have a name wrong or misspellings. Whatever!!!!

Diane

I look forward to reading your books.