Front Lines by Michael Grant

My copy of Front Lines by Michael Grant was a very lucky find. I had already put it on my wish list when I happened across an ARC on a cart at my old library.

Front Lines is an Young Adult alternate history of WWII in which women are not only able to join the service, they're also eligible for the draft. The book follows 4 girls who enlist: Rio and her best friend Jenou, Frangie, and Rainy. Each has a different reason for joining up and the first half of Front Lines (Part 1: Volunteers and Draftees) is devoted to their decision to enlist and their training. The second half of the book (Part 2: War) follows the main characters as they are sent to the African front.

I thought Front Lines got off to a slow start and -- maybe this is a bit weird -- I was almost relieved because I had planned to send the book to my friend Tammy, thinking it would be a good choice to entertain her during medical treatment. We shared a mutual love of novels (and nonfiction) set during WWII. I don't know if she ever read alternate history; I've resisted alternate history, myself, but this particular historical tweak appealed to me. Fortunately, the pace improved and I got over my desire for it to be a book worth abandoning. By the end of Part 1, the characters had already grown a great deal and I was looking forward to seeing what would happen when they were shipped out.

The characters' stories eventually converge near the end of the book; and, there is some occasional narration from after the war. I don't recall whether the narrator's identity was ever made clear but I'm pretty sure it wasn't. That is, in fact, the only way in which the story could possibly be considered incomplete. Front Lines is the first in a series but it stands alone fine. I'm picky about series books; if they end on a cliffhanger, I don't read on. Front Lines has a satisfying ending and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

Recommended - A slow beginning nicely sets the stage before the pace picks up. Excellent character development and some pretty exciting action make Front Lines a winner. I thought the author also did a very good job of imagining what kind of challenges women might have faced if they'd been in the military during WWII.

My only issues with Front Lines involved the heavy repetition of two words: "wry" and "fug" or "fugging". There were way too many wry smiles. "Fug" in its forms was used as a replacement for the more offensive f-word and occasionally it just felt wrong. For example, there's a time that someone shouts, "Ren, get the fug out." During that time period, "Get the hell out," would have been considered much stronger language than it is, now, and it just sounds better. There's a pretty extensive bibliography, so I was surprised and irritated by the author's decision to use a watered-down version of one curse word and overlook the fact that there were other swear words that were equally offensive in the 1940s but now are considered so mild that their use in YA would be considered comparatively clean, today.

Yeah, picky, picky. Sometimes little things get under your skin and those two word choices and their overuse really did get on my nerves. But, the book is a good one; a few annoying words were not enough to put me off. I especially appreciated the fact that one of the characters was a black girl from Tulsa, so there are references to Tulsa's race riot, a historical event that has not gotten the attention it should.


©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Gone by Michael Grant

Gone by Michael Grant

Copyright 2008

Harper Teen - YA/Sci-Fi

558 pages

In a split second, everyone aged 15 and over disappears from Perdido Beach, a small town in California. Everyone. Teachers, parents, older siblings -- all gone. Along with their disappearance go the phones, internet and television. The electricity remains. But, where should the youngsters go and how will they survive? As it becomes plain that there's a barricade blocking them from the world outside, food begins to dwindle, dangerous mutated creatures appear and bullies arrive from the private school up the hill.

In addition to all these strange occurrences, some of the remaining youngsters have developed powers--and they're growing stronger. But, the bullies know about these unusual new powers and they're determined not to let anyone overcome their stranglehold on the town. What will become of the young survivors in Perdido Beach? What is the FAYZ and how might it be related to the local nuclear power plant? And, what is that strange, dome-like barricade over their town?

Thoughts:

There are a few things I consider spoilers in Gone, so my review may be a tiny bit vague. What I really loved about Gone the most was that it's pure escapist reading and I was in need of a mental break, so a little escapist sci-fi was perfect for the moment.

Sam, the protagonist, is a natural-born hero. Some of his peers and a lot of the younger children look up to him because he's known to have saved a bus full of students when the driver had a heart attack. But, on a daily basis, he's really rather timid and unsure of himself. He doesn't desire to be their leader and he's worried about the dangerous power he developed in the months leading up to the disappearance of the adults. As the situation degenerates, though, Sam finds that he really needs to step up to the plate.

Astrid, who is nicknamed "Astrid the Genius" because of her intelligence, becomes Sam's closest companion and greatest encouragement. But, she has problems of her own. Her young brother is autistic and it takes a lot of energy to deal with his needs.

Caine is the leader of the bullies from the private school. He has a power complex and is determined to take over the town. But, what is his goal and who is he willing to sacrifice to get what he wants?

The bottom line:

An exciting, adventurous, scary novel that combines a Stephen King-like world of fresh horror with the animalistic infighting of Lord of the Flies, definitely recommended but not for the faint of heart.

Technically, I am the faint of heart. There were times I was unsure I really wanted to continue reading. Having experienced the horror of post-Katrina Mississippi and the fighting over limited resources (which really wasn't necessary, especially early on, but still occurred because people naturally panic in times of crisis), I know how real that type of behavior can be. It's disturbing! But, I kept going because the story is a good one. The author kept flinging out new surprises and I never really quite knew how Sam was going to react. I have the second book in this series, Hunger, and I've been restraining myself from reading it because I tend to like series books better if I stretch them out. But, I might give in, soon.

I particularly thought the character development was excellent. Sam and Astrid are likable, as are most of the people who end up working with them to protect the innocent from the dangerous bullies. Caine and his sociopathic sidekick are easy to hate. It's classic good-versus-evil, and yet there is more to the story than just the interaction between the good and bad groups. There are monsters and strange powers to deal with. The plot is pretty amazing.

I'm pretty sure I've just talked myself into reading Hunger a bit sooner.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.