Tag Archives: michael grant

Character Talk: Characters to Look Out For

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There are so many books in this world. So many endless possibilities. However, there are also endless possibilities for characters. Because every good book needs strong characters that readers can get behind, right? Here are some of these characters–characters to look out for.

Some characters just resonate with you. There are ones that I remember years after finishing their book. One of which being Edilio Escobar from the Gone series by Michael Grant. In my opinion, he’s the best character that’s ever been created. I get the question “what do you look for in a friend?” a lot. My answer to that question lies in this character. He’s brave, kindhearted, and selfless. He is the guy who is always there to back you up, even when everyone else has deserted you. He will always be by your side, no matter what.

Another character I love is Finnick Odair from the Hunger Games trilogy. I am no longer a huge Hunger Games fan, but Finnick is one character that has stuck with me. He is not someone that attracts fans in the beginning, but what is so remarkable about him is how much he is able to change throughout the course of the series. He starts as this arrogant, obnoxious puppet, but later evolves into a sweet, kind, approachable human being. I love characters that experience great changes–look out for Finnick Odair.

Julian the Shadow Man of the Forbidden Game. Another character that will stay with you long after finishing the book he comes from. He is not by any means a protagonist, but he is a character with a wonderful backstory and compelling motive. He seems evil and controlling in the beginning of the book, but it turns out that, in the end, all he wanted was love. He is another character that grows and changes over the course of the book, which is one of the many things I love about him.

Are long stories better than short ones? That is what I used to think, prior to reading “Kiss the Boy,” a short story by Adib Khorram from Eternally Yours. It is only thirty pages long, but in those pages, I fell in love with all the characters involved in the story. Most notable, Samir Borhani, a young, sweet Iranian boy who is the love interest of the main character. He is very trusting and kind, and is definitely someone I would like to have on my side. He is loving and equally lovable–yet another character to look out for.

Those are just a few of the many notable characters out there. If you would like to see them for yourselves, check out their books! Please tell me in the comments who your favorite book characters are!

Gone by Michael Grant is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Gone: An Awesome Book That Doesn’t Get Enough Fame

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In a post-apocalyptic world called the FAYZ, kids battle each other and a rising threat called the gaiaphage to try and stay alive.

This is the basic concept of Gone written by Michael Grant. Gone is the first book of a six-book-long series in which a bunch of kids have to cope with extreme hunger, looming danger, and confronting their greatest fears.

Gone starts off with the coming of an impenetrable barrier, called the FAYZ (or Fallout Alley Youth Zone) by its occupants. This barrier traps all kids under the age of fifteen in a certain area in southern California, cutting them off from the rest of the world. Their parents, teachers, older siblings, and even the police officers and firefighters that keep them safe have disappeared mysteriously, leaving the children to fend for themselves. A few brave youngsters–Sam Temple, Edilio Escobar, Caine Soren, and Diana Ladris–step up to try and keep the conditions inside the FAYZ under control, but their methods differ in drastic and dangerous ways. Groups begin to form within the barrier, causing tensions to spring up and fights to break out. The once-peaceful world of southern California turns savage and corrupt as every FAYZ occupant tries to find the best method of survival for his or herself.

The main issue of the first book (and the one I’m reviewing) is the possible disappearance of two of the main characters. In the FAYZ, once you turn fifteen, you disappear, and no one knows where you go. Maybe you go to the outside world, maybe you die. The two boys–Caine and Sam–try to find a way to fight the disappearance, to say no to the temptation of a possible way out of their new, war-torn world. In the meantime, however, each boy has to deal with other problems–fighting fires, trying to keep the FAYZ kids under control, stopping battles from ending in deaths. And of course, the other characters inject their own issues into the mix. Drake Merwin, a troubled and sadistic kid of fourteen, keeps trying to gain power within the FAYZ–doing anything to achieve his goal . . . including killing anyone who stands in his way. Conspiracies develop, causing seemingly loyal kids to turn evil.

The reason why I love this book so much is that it has great, lovable characters (such as Edilio Escobar) and a compelling plot. It draws me in because the characters are kids, everyday kids. The story shows that something this horrible could happen to people like me. This is what makes the characters so relatable. This book is up there with my favorites, and I’d recommend it to any lover of science fiction. It keeps readers asking the same question over and over: Which side will prevail in the end? What sacrifices will the characters make to keep their loved ones alive? Want to know the answers to these questions? Read the book to find out!

Gone by Michael Grant is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Front Lines by Michael Grant

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Image result for Front linesI don’t normally enjoy history. It’s my worst subject in school, and I can never focus on memorizing facts for tests. Before Front Lines, I have only enjoyed the Dear America series and The Only Thing To Fear by Caroline Richmond. Usually whenever I read one, it feels like I’m in school.

I picked Front Lines off the New Shelf at the Mission Viejo Library because I saw that it was a new Michael Grant book, and I completely freaked out. I didn’t even read the inside cover to see what the book was about until I got home. I originally thought that it was going to be something along the lines of his Gone series, which is still one of my favorite book series. Out of the books I checked out that day, I left this one until the end because I still wasn’t sure that I wanted to read a historical fiction novel.

Front Lines is about an alternate World War II. What if women could fight in the war? The book is told through the perspectives of Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr, and Rainy Schulterman. I think that this book really makes you wonder about how World War II could have been fought differently if women were fighting on the front lines. I’m hoping that a sequel comes out soon. Even though the book is over 500 pages, you still want to know what would happen next.

For people who have fallen in love with the Gone series, I encourage  you to read this book. It’s good for all teens.

-Rebecca V., 8th grade

Front Lines by Michael Grant is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. 

Gone Series Review

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gone_coverOn a seemingly normal day, the town of San Perdido is suddenly hit with a phenomenon that results in everyone over the age of fifteen disappearing…all adults are just simply gone! To the confusion of the remaining children, a giant force-field now surrounds the entire area of Perdido Beach, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.

Abandoned and frightened, the children are exposed to the threat of conflict, danger and death, and life with no adults or form of authority. With no electricity and phones and televisions no longer working, the town becomes a prison for the “surviving” children who must find a way to maintain order amidst the chaos. To top it off, the children start developing strange powers, some even deadly, that causes extreme manipulation and sides to be chosen. The ensuing fight becomes a catastrophic battle for survival, while the thought of time running out looms over everyone—because the day you turn fifteen is the fateful day you disappear, just like everyone else.

Written by Michael Grant, the Gone series is breathtaking young-adult series that’s packed to the brim with mystery, action, suspense, and (of course) romance! The books are titled: Gone, Hunger, Lies, Plague, Fear, and Light. In my opinion, the series is fast-paced and frighteningly gripping, for Grant is able to successfully write a dark, brutal account of a world of children with no authority that describes the death and moral dilemmas they must face.

The characters are all complex yet relatable, because they are all kids, just like you and I, who are struggling with the reality of the world they are thrown into. Even though there is some mature content, especially in the last three books of the series, I would certainly recommend the Gone series, which can be considered a modern-day Lord of the Flies, to those over thirteen years who are fans of The Hunger Games and hard-core dystopian-science fiction admirers!

-Kayle W., 10th grade

Book Review: Hunger by Michael Grant

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hungerThree months after all the adults disappeared in the blink of an eye, 15 year old Sam Temple is holding together what remains of the city, but as food starts to become scarce, the problems start to pile up.  From children developing superhuman abilities to a powerful entity hungry in the dark, what’s left of society is starting to crumble.

Sequel to the best selling novel Gone, Hunger is an emotional and deep story that deals with the stress of leadership and overall guilt.  The first book ended in major suspense and this book has followed its lead.  I originally picked up Gone because it seemed very similar to a book I loved called The Young World by Chris Weitz who had come to speak to us bloggers at the Mission Viejo Library/City Hall last year.

Hunger has been a fascinating sequel. It takes the reader away from everyday drama and stress by wrapping them up in this malicious world. This helps the reader to appreciate their own life so much more after they put this book down.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a temporary distraction from their own life as it is riveting, interesting and easy to get stuck in. I enjoyed this book and am already starting the next one in the series, Lies.

-Evan G., 6th grade

Book Review: Gone and Divergent

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I recently have discovered multiple new series that I have enjoyed, as well as great books that stand alone on the bookshelves. I have been trying to read all 100 books on NPR’s list of top teen books.

Some of my recently discovered favorite series are Gone by Michael Grant and Divergent by Veronica Roth.  I have only read the first book in the Gone series, coincidentally also called Gone, because some other library-goer is taking forever to read the only copy of the next book and is, rudely interrupting my reading schedule.  Ranting aside, this book is seriously ah-mazing.  I have grown to love the end of the world, apocalyptic type books like The Hunger Games and this is at the top of my list.

gone_coverIn the blink of an eye,  everyone disappears.  Gone.  Everyone except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not a single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Gone, too, are the phones, internet, and television. There is no way to get help.  Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.  It’s a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen and war is imminent.  The first in a breathtaking saga about teens battling each other and their darkest selves, Gone is a page-turning thriller that will make you look at the world in a whole new way.

I repeat; AH-MAZING.  Makes me want to re-read it.

divergent_coverAnother post-apocalyptic book, as mentioned above, is Divergent by Veronica Roth.  In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives.

For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.  During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Both of these series are must-reads.  And, if you have a lot of time on your hands, go through the 100 book list from NPR and pick out what sounds good.  I promise, all of these are worth reading.

– Kaelyn L., 10th grade