YA Fantasy: Warm Bodies

Marion, I. (2011). Warm bodies: a novel. New York, NY: Atria Books.

Reading level: 830L

Interest level: Grades 9 -12

Fantasy

            R is a zombie, but he’s different. First, he’s always thinking deep thoughts like this:

“I am riding the escalators when M finds me. I ride the escalators several times a day, whenever they move. It’s become a ritual. The airport is derelict, but the power still flickers on sometimes, maybe flowing from emergency generators stuttering deep underground. Lights flash and screens blink, machines jolt into motion. I cherish these moments. The feeling of things coming to life. I stand on the steps and ascend like a soul into Heaven, that sugary dream of our childhoods, now a tasteless joke.”

            At first, his thoughtfulness really bothered me, but then I accepted that it wasn’t going to go all “Flowers for Algernon” and demonstrate the progression of intellect – although I think that would have added some believability to this work. My main issue with the otherwise adorable “Warm Bodies” was that it could seem to decide if it was a civil rights allegory (“She can’t possibly know the sensitive cultural connotations of the word ‘corpse.’”) or a treatise on the lifelessness of modern life/the living as the real zombies (“… everything that made him who he was – just started rotting. He gave up, basically. Quit his life.”). I do know that “Warm Bodies” used a lot of Romeo and Juliet themes, which sometimes was too obvious; I mean: R and Julie – kind of difficult not to pick up on the allusion. There’s even a balcony scene, where Julie waxes philosophical on what the name “zombie” means. “On the Road” is also a frequent reference, which Marion revisits several times, just in case we didn’t get it right away. There’s also some fat phobia, which I found annoying. With all its heavy handedness and plot holes and implausible-to-the-point-can’t-suspend-disbelief silliness, I still really enjoyed this book. Use as a companion text to any of the aforementioned novels.

Edited to add:

Originally I'd intended to knock this book further by mentioning how tacked-on R's first girlfriend felt. I didn't understand why we spent so much time with her and their two assigned children. It doesn't move along the plot at all. Then I realized "Romeo and Juliet" had a pointless, shoehorned in first girlfriend, too! 

YA Science Fiction Review: Robot Dreams by Sarah Varon

Varon, S. (2007). Robot dreams. New York, NY: First Second.

Reading Level: NA (wordless graphica)

Interest Level: Grades 5 – 7

This almost wordless story follows an anthropomorphic dog as he seeks out authentic friendship. One day, Dog buys a friend - a robot, who becomes his constant companion. That is, until he foolishly takes the bot swimming. Poor Robot immediately suffers sever damage, to Dog's surprise and dismay. Bizarrely, Dog cruelly abandons Robot at the beach, where Robot lays immobile. Throughout the book, the reader returns to Robot's lonely place on the beach, and we watch his dreams of reuniting with the only friend he has ever known. Meanwhile, Dog spends the seasons attempting other friendships, which all fail. 

The Robot is abused by passersby and eventually sold for scrap, but he is later purchased by a raccoon to use as part of a radio rebuild. Finally happy and secure with a friend who can always fix him, Robot glances out the window one day to see Dog walking alongside a new robot. Instead of reacting with sorrow, Robot cranks up his song so Dog and his friend can hear and enjoy it as they stroll away. Students could write the text to accompany this wordless story, or they could enjoy the bittersweet tale during a free read.

YA Science Fiction Review: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Card, O. S. (1985). Ender's game. New York, NY: Tor.

Reading Level: 780L

Interest Level: Grades 9 – 12

After rejecting both his siblings, the powers that be select Ender Wiggins to attend prestigious battle school. Ender's brother, evil Peter, is jealous; sweet sister Valentine concerned. We can assume his parents are simultaneously disappointed and relieved - there's a lot of social disapproval for having a Third. In Card's future world, zero population growth requires a maximum of two offspring. It was only because TPTB were desperate that they allowed Ender's parents a third child. After Ender arrives at battle school however, it's quickly made clear that evil as apparent as Peter's exists in some of the school's students, so why exclude Peter or Valentine? This is never addressed... apparently, only Ender's parents were required to deliver perfect offspring. Over the course of the novel, Ender is groomed to become the ultimate military asset, and, like a good soldier, he is not afraid to cut down those who threaten him. Ender is almost too perfect as a protagonist – his only flaws seem to be that he is too good, and this makes various one-dimensional jerks jealous. Multiple antagonists crowd this work, including the possibly-benevolent Sergeant Graff, the maybe-redeemable Peter, the reprehensible Bonzo (and other bullies), and the mysterious Buggers. As a reader, waiting for Ender’s fall from grace created the most suspense – but it never happens. He accidentally-on-purpose seriously injures three schoolmates (one fatally) and inadvertently commits genocide, but he never loses even one battle, so, success! The book won both the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award, but might be problematic in the classroom due to the total glorification of violence and the use of several racial epithets, including that really bad word which we do not say ever. There are also a lot of jovial school boy nudity, including some dancing genitals... which is sort of notable because of the whole Orson Scott Card homophobe thing. 

YA Science Fiction Review: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Bacigalupi, P. (2010). Ship breaker. New York, NY: Little, Brown, and Co.

Reading Level: HL690L

Interest Level: Grades 9 – 12

This 2011 Printz winner (also a National Book Award for Young People finalist in 2010) imagines a future of great social and wealth stratification, where the opportunity to do menial, dangerous labor is considered a boon. Nailer and his friends dream of a "lucky strike" - finding oil or other wealth inside one of the giant ships they pick apart for trade. “We waste all our money throwing dice, trying to get close to Luck, trying to get the big win... To help us find something we can keep for ourselves.” 
At the start of the novel, Nailer works light crew stripping copper in the most constricting, claustrophobic of spaces - the mazes of the ship's duct work. During a particularly grueling search for extra copper, Nailer makes a deadly mistake and falls through the duct into a giant vat of oil. But this isn't a lucky strike - with no way out, Nailer can't possibly profit; in fact, he's dangerously close to drowning in the oil. Nailer narrowly avoids death by escaping the oil through a submerged door, and he earns the nickname "Lucky Boy." After the night's celebrations, during which his friends give him gifts in an effort to secure some of his luck by proxy, a brutal storm blows onto the beach. Nailer survives the hurricane and saves his father, who was too drunk to save himself. The next day, while exploring the beach he discovers a wrecked clipper ship full of treasures – including a wealthy, beautiful girl named Lita. Nailer has a choice: he can kill the "swank," who wears enough gold to keep Nailer set for life, or he can let her live, hoping she'll reward him. SPOILERS AHEAD The duo eventually join a dog/man creature on a trip to Orleans to reclaim her corporate throne, and Nita, who Nailer nicknames "Lucky Girl" is pursued and captured by enemies of Nita's father. Nita's pursuers also include Nailer's own father, who seeks to profit from her capture and punish his son for stealing Lucky Girl away. Nailer’s loyalty is ultimately rewarded after he bests his drug addicted father in a metaphor-rich final battle.

My 2 cents:  At first I found it difficult to connect with Nailer, who wasn't terribly compelling to me for some reason. The best character in this book is dystopian America. I found the depiction of a future sharply stratified U.S. both refreshingly realistic and delightfully grim.This is the reality of the romanticized apocalypse. Commerce would continue for the very rich, and the rest of us would end up scrambling for the scraps.
Other points:

• The "half men" were an interesting element. They were one of the overly science fiction-y things about Ship Breaker. Apparently they were crafted as slave/obligate companions from human, dog, tiger and other animal DNA. As plot devices, they ask that all important sci-fi question: what makes a human, human? 
• There's also a minor romantic element here, and who doesn't love the classic bad boy/nice girl pairing? But I did feel like it was really forced and blah. I liked Nita as a friend for Nailer, as her equal. I loved that she got into the grit with Nailer and everything. They didn't need to get sexy together. I wanted Nailer to save her because it was the right thing to do, not because he wanted to possess her himself.
• I felt like the conclusion of the ship battle was a little too convenient, but the storm created enough interest to keep it from being totally contrived. The storm also mimicked the action in the story, adding a lot of urgency to the tone and to what would have otherwise been a somewhat boring "final battle." When Nailer killed his father by tripping the gears that he feared getting caught in himself, the novel came together for me. The story is about Nailer's journey away from his own darkness, his primitive, selfish leanings. Nailer wasn't altogether different from his father: he really considered killing Nita for her gold. In fact, he repeatedly regretted not doing so. It was that part of himself that he needed to destroy; that aspect of his father in himself that he needed to snuff out. So when Nailer kills his father and escapes the sinking ship, he defeats his own darkness. Nailer was lucky to come across Nita, but while saving her, he saves himself. 

YA Science Fiction Review: Feed by M.T. Anderson

Anderson, M. T. (2002). Feed. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

Reading Level: 770L

Interest Level: Grades 9 – 12 

This award-winning cyberpunk dystopian novel sarcastically deconstructs the manic-pixie-dream girl trope while also challenging our need for constant entertainment and the “next big thing.” Anderson exaggerates current trends to create a believably vacuous youth culture: lesions are “totally meg” and even the adults drift in and out of face to face conversations to engage in “mchats.” Privileged Titus meets Violet, a weird but intriguing girl from the bottom layer of the suburbs. As their romance progresses, SPOILERS AHEAD Titus learns her feed is malfunctioning. Violet’s feed, installed in late childhood, needs expensive repair; however, corporations won’t sponsor the work because she’s not a good investment. Horrified at her deterioration, Titus pulls away and eventually abandons Violet. I was pleased that Titus and Violet’s relationship failed, because it was a much more authentic ending. In a classroom setting, the students could explore how the use of first person narrative affects the reader’s experience, or whether/why the society depicted is possible. As a writing prompt, students could come up with their own bizarre trends or continue the story with a sequel.