Book Club Pick: The Atomic Weight of Love

The Atomic Weight of Love
by Elizabeth J. Church
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
2016
333 pages
ISBN: 9781616204846
NOW available

#1 Indie Next Pick, May 2016

Reviews:


“Church's debut novel explores the relationship between sacrifice and love...Church's commentary on the American nuclear family, particularly the expectations placed on women, showcases iterations ranging from doting housewives and mothers who are content in their roles to the rebellious. Each sentence drives the plot further, exploring love's limits and its spoils. But it's Church's exploration of Meridian's role in her relationships that is the most gracefully executed feat of the novel. Meridian's voice is poignant, a mixture of poetry and observation...An elegant glimpse into the evolution of love and womanhood.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Oh, what a incandescent debut! From the atomic bomb tests at Los Alamos to the Vietnam War protests to the fascinating lives of crows, Church follows one extraordinary woman, who is brave to enough to challenge the times, take defiant wing, and chart her own extraordinary flight path. So engrossing, I couldn’t wait to read another page, and so alive, I never wanted the story to end.” —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You

My Review:

A  sweeping epic, The Atomic Weight of Love,  has everything a book needs: a strong woman who challenges herself and her times, the promise of passionate lifetime love, a trip across America, a husband (who is much older)  and  has top secret clearance during WWII, an intelligence and passion for living and work, and all the unanswered questions of life.

Meridian follows her scientist husband to Albuquerque where she will stay while he works on a secret government project in Los Alamos. Alden and his team are working on  a way to defeat the enemy: the atomic bomb. He cannot tell Meri what he's working on but he says, "It has the power to end the war...It also has the power to end life as we know it. It will change the world." Meri herself is a scientist, and as spouses, Alden and she have lengthy scientific discussions.  She is a brilliant student of ornithology and  just beginning  her labor of love: the study of crow behavior.

Putting her graduate studies on hold, Meri follows Alden back to Los Alamos after the war and feels defeated herself. She longs to finish her degree and do real work in her field and questions whether her work is less important than Alden's simply because she's a wife. She doesn't want to be like the other wives of Alden's colleagues and she refers to them as "fungible" (great word: look it up).

Meridian becomes a housewife and tries to fit in--throwing dinner parties, making special meals, trying to make friends with fungible women, but it's all not enough. She feels lost and trapped. She continues to observe crows in the canyon and one day is surprised to meet a young man, a soldier back from Viet Nam. Suddenly, everything changes for her.  Mari experiences true freedom for the first time in her life and it's exhilarating and it's frightening.

The Atomic Weight of Love is full of promises, those kept and those let go. Circumstances can change in a fleeting second and the weight of life's decisions and those we love influences the decisions we make. Meridian looks back not with remorse but with knowledge and love.

Recommended for adult readers and book clubs. This is not a feel good book. This is a book about real life and it's not uplifting but nonetheless an important read. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of women, like Meridian,  have encountered ties that bind, ties that choke, ties that kill.

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

Dystopian Pick: The Big Dark

The Big Dark
by Rodman Philbrick
Blue Sky Press
2016
178 pages
ISBN: 9780545789752


Set in a small town in New Hampshire, The Big Dark tells the story of an electromagnetic pulse so strong that it knocked out all  power, including batteries. How will humans react when suddenly faced with a world that seems so different? A world without heat? A world without wi-fi?

Facing the remaining  months of winter, the town must cut enough wood to keep the fires going.  Conspiracy theorist and local loudmouth U.S. government hating  compound owner  Webster Bragg has his own ideas how to handle the outage. He feels like survival of the fittest. Why waste good food and good fire wood for  old or sick people? He plans to take care of his compound and hoard weapons and goods. He's sure the government caused the black out and he says he knows for a fact that there is no more government  left.

School janitor and part time volunteer police officer Reggie Kingman takes his duties seriously. He is able to calm the crowds and helps to silence Bragg. When their only grocery store burns down, the townspeople are distraught. All this hardship and now no groceries?

A medical emergency forces Charlie Cobb to risk his own life by heading to a nearby town to find medical supplies.

Philbrick makes dystopian fiction approachable for middle grades in The Big Dark. Similar to Bick's Ashes and Stephen King's The Dome, the townspeople drive the plot. There is a good versus evil fight and issues are  raised for book clubs to debate.

The Big Dark is likely to earn Philbrick many state recognition lists  and possibly another coveted Newbery Honor. Clever cover design helps market this title.

A quick read (178 pages) for reluctant readers. This book is available on Scholastic Book Fairs and at Scholastic warehouses. Recommended grade 4-up.

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

Sci Fi Pick: Burn Out

Burn Out
by Kristi Helvig
Egmont
2014
253 pages
ISBN: 9781606844793

Lone survivor Tora Reynolds lives in a bunker designed by her scientist/inventor father. Having lost her entire family, Tora has never felt more alone. The last human she saw was Markus, a gun runner and general no-goodnik who promised to come back for her if he found a habitable planet. Earth has become a giant desert with little water or oxygen. Tora hopes for someone to post a comment to her GlobalNet post but she waits in vain to see if anyone else is alive out there.

Markus comes back, but the problem is that he is not alone. He brought some well-armed soldiers to storm Tora's bunker and take her father's weapons by force. They are not the only enemy. The Consulate sends its forces to take the guns for themselves. This makes Markus's team and Tora now one against the bigger brute--the government or what's left of it.

Kale, James, Britta, Markus and Tora go on a space chase trying to outrun the Consulate's ships and get their weapons safely to Caelia. Tora knows that Kale is the enemy but should she trust Markus who says he's "got her back?" And who is James and what is his angle? He seems like a good guy and Tora secretly crushes on him, but what is he doing as Kale's second in command? What does the Consulate hope to accomplice with Tora's guns?

Shifting loyalties and cloak and dagger rat and mouse games keep the reader guessing until the very end. The plot races along with just the right amount of shoot 'em up action. Tora will appeal to both girls and boys; her tenacity and toughness speak volumes of her character.

Recommended for any fan of sci-fi and space travel books. Grade 9-up. Profanity, violence.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book 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)

Action Pick: Michael Vey: Rise of the Elgen

Michael Vey: Rise of the Elgen (book 2)
by Richard Paul Evans
Mercury Ink (Simon Pulse, Simon & Schuster)
2012
335 pages

Creepy, compelling, and chilling, the second book in this series will have teens frantically racing through the pages to find out what horrific plans Dr. Hatch has in store for Michael Vey and his friends—the electric kids.

There’s McKenna who can create light and heat, Ian -–although blind--can see through electrolocation—which means he can even see through solid objects—very handy when trying to see which apartment the bad guys are staying in or trying to locate Michael’s kidnapped mother in a giant complex, Abigal can take other’s pain away, Zeus, well, you know about Zeus, like the Greek god—he can throw lightning bolts, Grace can download information from any computer and keep it stored in her brain, Taylor can reboot people’s thoughts and memories, and Michael is electric! The teens are on the lam and escaping back to Idaho—far away from evil Dr. Hatch and his minions.

Michael is going to need his friends’ help and his buddy Ostin’s—who isn’t an electric kid, but has a superpower of his own—his near genius intelligence helps out when things get bleak. The Elgen want the kids back and will do anything to control the situation. They have already kidnapped Michael’s mother; next, they take Ostin’s parents and burn down Jack’s house. The kids have no place to hide but they decide to go to Jack’s sister’s tanning salon. While there, a stranger hands Michael a cell phone and the key to a tanning room. He takes them and waits for a phone call as instructed. A voice on the phone convinces Michael to dump the stolen vans—which have GPS devices that the Elgen are using to track them—and change vehicles. The voice directs the kids to a safe house.

Every time the group begins to feel safe, something bad happens. They are on the run throughout the novel. The mysterious voice gets them to the Amazon jungle; they are going to find Michael’s mother and rescue her. Taking down Dr. Hatch and the Elgen will be a nice little bonus.

The macabre secrets they uncover in the jungle are disturbing, yet provocative and are bound to change the course of human history if Dr. Hatch and his army are not stopped. Hatch has created a super-army through brainwashing and mind conditioning. His army will not question an order; they believe him to be a supreme being and their master. If Hatch can unleash his latest invention, it will have ruinous effects throughout the world. He will control governments and kingdoms; no one will be untouched by his evil.

The conclusion seamlessly sets up for book 3. I was happily surprised by the conclusion and some interesting new friends Michael meets.

Michael is an unforgettable hero with a heart. Rise of the Elgen is thrilling, action-packed, and entertaining. This book will have fans eagerly anticipating book 3.

Highly, highly recommended for fans of action and adventure. If you haven’t read book 1, drop everything and go out and buy both Michael Vey books. Once you start reading this series, you won’t want to stop.

Grades 7-up. Some violence. No sex. No language.

FTC Required disclaimer: I received this book 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)