YA Classic Retelling: Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook

Guest Review by Oscar Porras, Library Media Specialist, Ysleta Middle School in El Paso, Texas.
Follow Oscar on Twitter @oporras_LMS

Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook
by Christina Henry
Berkley
2017
304 pages
ISBN:  9780399584022 

From the beloved story from childhood, readers have learned that there is a fierce rivalry between Peter Pan and Hook; however, the author never expounded on how this rivalry began. One story is that Hook was once a Lost Boy who  ran away when he realized that he was too old to be a part of the group. Another story goes that Hook was always a pirate and always Peter's nemesis (think Batman vs. The Joker).

Christina Henry's YA novel is a unique twist on the relationship between the two. Jamie, aka future Captain Hook, is the first boy Peter chooses to join him in Neverland for adventures. They will stay young and be irresponsible forever. This new world holds terrible secrets: there are pirates and beasts of many kinds. Through Jamie's eyes, the reader realizes that the title Lost Boy carries a terrible price. Jamie  has had to bury his fellow Lost Boys when they have died or when they've gone to battle with pirates on the island. Jamie's aging has also started to weigh heavily on him. Although he doesn't physically age, the years are catching up to him. Peter Pan, on the other hand, stays young and reckless often sending his Lost Boys on dangerous adventures without regard for their safety and they are lost on the island.

The book's trajectory follows the path of a falling out between the two boys. Hook realizes that Pan is anything but his best friend and the Lost Boys are mere playthings for Peter discarded in the name of fun. The traditional story features Peter as a jovial child playing tricks on friends and flying children to Neverland to have epic adventures. Henry's Peter is much darker. He is a sociopath with no regard for human life and wholly predictable. This line encompasses the book, "This isn't a wonderful place for boys to play and have adventures and stay young for always. It's a killing place, and we're all just soldiers in Peter's war."

Recommended grade 9 and up. Violence and gore.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I (Pamela Thompson) received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review nor did reviewer Oscar Porras.

Sci-Fi Pick: Scythe (Guest Reviewer Gloria James-Avalos)

This review is by guest reviewer Gloria James-Avalos, YA librarian, William Slider Middle School, El Paso, Texas. Follow Gloria on Twitter @GJAvalos_WDSMS

Scythe
Book 1
by Neal Shusterman
Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
2017
448 pages
ISBN: 9781442472426



First in a planned series, Scythe is set in a world that is not really dystopian, but nearly Utopian. Scythe is where everyone lives. No one dies: every illness, accident and even death can be remedied. Through technology, humanity can now go on forever. While this future world sounds wonderful, the biggest problem is overpopulation. To control the population, some young people are apprenticed to Scythes, legal assassins. Citra and Rowan are two teens who are apprenticed. Neither of them wants to be a Scythe, and only one will be chosen. One will face a lifetime of gleaning, or killing, and the other will face immediate death.

Scythe is a bold and thoughtful work, precise and fantastical, and not too far-fetched from what can be accomplished by science. Questions of what makes us human, our humanity, and who can pick and choose who lives and who dies will bother readers. A Printz Honor Book, Scythe delivers a sweeping tale that is sure to stick with readers long after they've turned the last page.

Highly recommended grade 7 and up. Fine for middle school but not for the faint of heart.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the book from the publisher. Neither I nor the guest reviewer received monetary compensation for this review.

YA Pick: All Fall Down

All Fall Down
An Embassy Row Novel (Book 1)
by Ally Carter
Scholastic Press
320 pages
2015
ISBN: 9780545654746

Available January 20, 2015

Another exciting series by Ally Carter hits shelves in January. All Fall Down (Book 1) will likely find new fans of Carter as she begins the saga of Embassy Row in the make believe country of Adria.

Grace Blakely remembers the day her mother died because she was there. Everyone, including her grandfather, a powerful ambassador from the United States, tries to convince Grace that her mother died in an accident. It was a fire, they say. Grace knows differently. She saw the man who killed her mother as he fled the scene. A bald man with a scar on his face. It's a face she'll never forget.

Grace is forced to move back to her mother's childhood home on Embassy Row in Adria, a Mediterranean country; she must follow the rules and play nicely or face international shame and incident. Her country is counting on her. Her grandfather is, too. Alexei, her new next door neighbor, is watching over Grace. But he's not the only one. There are others who are keeping track of her for their own reasons.

When a few of the Embassy Row kids get involved in solving "The Case of the Man With the Scar," Grace is afraid to include them but does so, grudgingly and against her better judgment. The kids explore the underground passages that connect all the embassies, and Grace comes face to face with Dominic, the bald man with the scar.

When the American President shows up for a summit at the U.S. Embassy, the group of kids knows that they must protect him above all people. Grace is getting closer to answers about her mother's death but she's putting herself in grave (literally) danger. Grace's circle of friends is about the expand, and she's not going to believe who the good guys are.

Book 1 sets up for the second book nicely. Grace uncovers  more grisly details of her mother's death, forms a new alliance, and discovers more than one secret.

Highly, highly recommended for Ally Carter fans and fans of spy and espionage. Suitable for grade 7-up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)