My Selection for Waiting on Wednesday: Partials by Dan Wells

Waiting on Wednesday is one of the best ways to learn about new books coming out. It was started by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. This week, I'm going dystopian. There is something about the stark, crisp design of the cover image that draws me in. I'm looking forward to reading this story. Check out what it's about...

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials - engineered organic beings identical to humans - has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them - connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

Dan Wells, acclaimed author of I Am Not a Serial Killer, takes readers on a pulsepounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question - one where our humanity is both our greatest liability and our only hope for survival.
 

From what I understand, romance doesn't factor into this story in anything close to significant. I admit, I was kind of put off by this, 'cause I'm a total romance junkie, but I'm willing to stretch myself and try something different. The premise sounds really good and like I said, I love that cover. Anybody else going to take a chance on it? We won't have to wait long.

Partials releases February 28, 2012.

Toodles!

A New Dystopian Novel for Your Pleasure: All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zavin: A Book Giveaway

All These Things I've Done is an interesting mix of dystopian and romance set in the future that was just released. Check out the finer details as to what it's about...

In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family. 

The publisher is giving away a copy to one lucky winner. To have a chance to receive it,  answer this: name something you love so much, it should be declared illegal. Don't forget to include your email. That is all.

Learn more about the author at these locations:

Macmillan page for the book & author:

http://us.macmillan.com/allthesethingsivedone

Become a fan and see Gabrielle on tour this Fall: http://www.facebook.com/gabriellezevinfanpage

Website:

http://www.memoirsofa.com/

All These Things I've Done released 9/06/11 by Farrar Straus and Giroux

Giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada only at publisher's request. It ends Wednesday, September 14.

Toodles!

Release Day! Book Review: THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE by Jeff Hirsch

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Pages: 304

ISBN-10: 0545290147

ISBN-13: 978-0545290142

Genre: young adult

Subgenre: dystopian

Release date: 09/01/11

 

The Eleventh Plague is the debut novel of Jeff Hirsh. It’s a dystopian story that follows the saga of fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn. He’s growing up in a new America—what the country has become after a devastating war with China. A virulent stain of the flu—the eleventh plague, wipes out two thirds of the country. Now, the survivors have to forge a new path and make their way in the new world, a world that can be desolate, cold and brutal. Stephen, his father and grandfather scrap by as salvagers, but when the grandfather dies, Stephen’s dad decides to free himself from granddad’s iron-clad influence. It’s a risk he’s willing to take and the consequences change his life and Stephens’s beyond anything they could have imagined.

We’ve all heard the old cliché “don’t judge a book by its cover”, but the cover of The Eleventh Plague immediately captures one’s attention. It’s atmospheric and connotes a world gone wrong, bad. It begs to be opened and the contents within, explored. In the opening pages, the writing is stark and direct, sparse. There is a blunt sensibility to the characters that made me question if they were likable. Would these be characters one could relate to? The answer is a resounding yes.

The author draws one in to take the journey along side Stephen. You are there sharing the emptiness, fear, dread, surprise, the new discoveries and yes, the hope.  It is a fact that many boys are reluctant readers. The Eleventh Plague may be one of the answers to that problem. It’s a young adult novel, but it also has a middle grade sensibility that is sure to captivate younger readers as well.

This is a stand-alone novel, but the premise and ending certainly leave room for a continuation if the author wished to pursue it. His next work—whatever that may be—is eagerly awaited.

Toodles!