Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Like Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery," Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins begins with all the young people between the ages of 12 and 18 joining together where two names will be called: one boy and one girl. These two names will designate who will represent the area in this year's Hunger Games. When Katniss's 12-year-old sister's name is read, Katniss immediately volunteers to go in her place. Thus she finds herself in the ultimate survival game: 24 young people thrown into an arena forced to fight to survive until only one remains. These games sponsored by the Capitol are televised so that all can see who will kill or who will be killed.

Katniss has many survival skills that help her in these games, and she is not afraid of hunger because her family never has enough to eat. But the idea of killing another human being sickens her. Plus one of the contestants is a neighbor Peeta. Katniss and Peeta went to school together and they train together. Soon she discovers that Peeta has been in love with her since they were small children. And Katniss credits him with saving her life when her family was starving. In order to win will she be able to kill Peeta? Is Peeta really trying to kill her?

The gruesome idea behind the Hunger Games adds a desperate component to the novel as you read to see who survives. Once the games begin, it is nonstop adventure and excitement. I couldn't put this book down. I had to know what would happen to Katniss, Peeta and the others in the Hunger Games.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

I love books with strong female characters. I am so tired of stories where the poor defenseless girl has to be saved by the big strong man--ick! It is really thrilling that so many authors today are writing books where the female protagonist learns to solve her own problems. Graceling by Kristin Cashore is a great example of this.

In this fantasy novel, some people are born with "Graces" that provide them talents in various things; for example, a person might be born with a talent in sword fighting or a talent in running. Others can tell that you are a Graceling because when your talent develops your eyes change colors so that you have two different colored eyes. Katsa is a Graceling. Her grace is in the area of killing. Called the Lady Killer, Katsa has been in service to her uncle the king since she was very young. Her job is to threaten, maim or kill anyone who does him wrong. She is feared wherever she travels.

Katsa doesn't want to spend her life killing for King Randa who does things she doesn't agree with, so she forms a Secret Council to help right the wrongs that are happening in the Seven Kingdoms. On one of her secret missions, Katsa meets another Graceling, Po, who challenges her to become her own person. Po is a talented fighter, but no match for Katsa. However, they become friends as Katsa deals with her identity, her womanhood, and who gets to control her life.

Besides having a great character in Katsa, Po is not afraid to admit that she is stronger than him and can beat him in a fight every time. He encourages her to find out who she really is. This discovery is really important when Po and Katsa set off to another part of the Kingdom to deal with a truly evil king who has his own Grace that is worse than anything they could ever imagine. This adventure is exciting and fast-moving as Po and Katsa try to save the Kingdom while running for their lives.

Graceling is a great adventure story, a wonderful love story and a fantastic story of finding one's true identity. It is definitely on my list of 10 top books of 2008.

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard

I am having lots of trouble getting back into the swing of school. It is 2:30 p.m. now and I am really struggling because I am missing my afternoon nap. I can't believe how easy it is to get into the afternoon nap habit in only 2 short weeks of vacation!

I didn't read too much over vacation, but I did enjoy The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard. This book is the 2009 Big Read book sponsored by the State Library of Kansas. And it is a great book for this purpose with lots of things to think about and discuss. It would be a good book club selection.

The Virgin of Small Plains is a book set in the Kansas Flint Hills written by a Kansas author. The book is about a Cold Case from 1987. It is a very cold case in fact: Rex and his brother and father are searching for calves during a blizzard when they find a dead bloody girl in the snow. They take the body to the town doctor who with the help of the town sheriff destroys the girl's face so she cannot be identified. She is buried in an unmarked grave and people claim that "the Virgin of Small Plains" can perform miracles. People come from all around to be healed by her.

Mitch is dating the doctor's daughter Abby. Sneaking out of her room in the middle of the night, he is hiding in the supply closet when the dead girl is brought in. He sees the seemingly respectable men covering up the crime and recognizes the girl. He hurries home and tells his father about what he has seen and his father quickly packs him off away from town instructing him to never talk about what he has witnessed.

The book takes place 17 years later. Mitch has never returned to Small Plains and Abby has never gotten over it. In another blizzard, Abby sees Mitch's mother running through the town cemetery and then finds her frozen to death. This brings back the death 17 years earlier and Abby decides that she must know what happened to the virgin and who she really was.

This book is told through a series of flashbacks and several different characters' points of view. It is a great mystery to find out who the virgin is and what happened to her on the snowy night years ago.