Divergent by Veronica Roth

Why should you read Divergent?
When deciding whether I would read Divergent, I watched this trailer. After watching this trailer, I purchased the book immediately. I feel Veronica Roth says it all, and I look forward to the rest of the series.  

How does this text fit this book series? 
Imagine you are sixteen-years-old again. Now imagine that you must pick what you will spend the rest of your life doing, decision made at sixteen.
Beatrice Prior's five options include honesty, bravery, peaceful, selflessness, and intelligence. Which one would you pick?
Could you leave your family?
Could you rise above what you've known yourself to be?
Have you ever felt trapped by training regimens or studies?
If you are pondering these questions, then you need to read Divergent. Through discovering Beatrice's/Tris's path, you may discover something about yourself.
Similar to the traps in Hunger Games, Divergent runs a similar path with a more realistic vibe that will keep you turning the pages to see what happens next.


Memorable Quotes: 

• "I wonder if Tobias will sit in [the empty chair beside me]; if he'll grin at me over breakfast; if he'll look at me in that secret, stolen way that I imagine myself looking at him. I grab a piece of toast from the plate in the middle of the table and start to butter it with a little too much enthusiasm. I feel myself acting like a lunatic, but I can't stop. It would be like refusing to breathe. The he walks in. His hair is shorter, and it looks darker this way, almost black. It's Abnegation short, I realize. I smile at him and lift my hand to wave him over, but he sits down next to Zeke without even glancing in my direction, so I let my hand drop. I stare at my toast. It is easy not to smile now." (p. 340). 

Cherry on Top: 
Tris's narration is so open and translucent, you will not realize the time flying by when you end up reading this novel in one sitting!

Connecting with the Text:


First I have to share with you Veronica Roth's blog. Visit one of my favorite posts by Roth HERE.

Book Trailer 

Here's the link to the Divergent fan site. 

Witch & Wizard by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

Why should you read this text? 
I wanted to include one middle grade YA text in this book set. If you have middle grade children, siblings, cousins, neighbors, you should invite them to join you on your journey of Young Adult literature reading. In reading this text with a middle grade person, you will be impacting their life in a most positive way.  This is an easy text, has short chapters, includes a brother and sister main character set, and to top the list it includes a talking weasel and evil men turned into roaches.

Whit (brother) and Wisty (sister) Allgood have magical powers that they don't realize they have until they are arrested by prison keepers/guard of the New Order. While I feel that much of this text resembles The Hunger Games (First District vs. New Order), I do know that it is a trend following book, and it comes at an easier level for those middle grade readers. I'd say this book is a beginners dystopia novel, which makes this a great tool for a teacher first rung of a dystopia reading ladder.

Much of novel takes place while Whit and Wisty are imprisoned. Wisty realizes she can burst into flame, and Whit serves as a strong leader in going against the New Order.

How does this novel fit this book series? 
Besides the literal imprisonment of Whit and Whisty trapped due to their powers. They are also trapped in their lack of knowledge of their skills. How do people become trapped with lack of knowledge?
Do you ever get angry when your parents or supervisors seem to know more about yourself than you do?
Whit and Whisty have to work beyond that frustration in an effort to escape the New Order.
As this text is a dystopic novel, there is the social commentary of, for instance the prison being a bombed-out department store. What are we to think about this? It may be symbolic of commercial desires and wants trapping today's youth, and that the need for material goods traps young adults from realizing their own creative and physical potential. That's a leap, but it does make sense.

Memorable Quotes: 

• "Well, they clearly were at least a little afraid of a furious fifteen-year-old firebrand flying toward them with her arms spread wide, screeching like a total maniac, ' Fire really, really hurts!' and 'I'm a bad, scary witch.'"

Cherry on Top: 
Short chapters of 2-3 pages! This bandwagon text serves a great function in drawing a middle grade female audience to dystopic fantasy, as well as being a perfect "inviting" text for fifth graders to jump into a longer chapter book.

Connecting with the Text: 

Four Minutes of the Audio book ~ Fabulous Quality

Because of the author... check out these professionally made book trailers.

While James Patterson jumped on the YA trend-novel set of mixture of dystopia and wizardry, many middle school students will enjoy this text. I specifically included this book in this series, because I know many of the people who follow my other blog are teachers. This is an exciting read for those reluctant readers in your classroom. While I found it exceptionally easy to read, I did enjoy myself, and found the characters entertaining. 

I have to be honest, the following book trailer really makes me want to read James Patterson's The Gift. Book marketers at their best.

Visit James Patterson's Web Page Here.