Ready Player One  
by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One is a dystopian novel about a teenage boy trying to find a hidden treasure somewhere in the Oasis, a virtual reality where much of society now functions. The Oasis employs, educates, entertains and controls many people’s lives. Ever since the Oasis had come out, the physical society had been in ruins.

The narrator of the story is Wade Watts. He lives in a tall block of stacked mobile homes and escapes to an abandoned van to enter the Oasis. He goes to school inside of the Oasis and his only friends are virtual friends he has met in the Oasis, who he hangs out with when not at school.

James Halliday was the inventor of the Oasis, and when he died every user in the Oasis received a video message invitation to James Halliday’s last will and testament. Halliday had no family to leave his fortune to, so he left the money, or as Halliday called it “the Easter Egg,” hidden somewhere inside of the Oasis. A great many egg hunters, known as “gunters” for short, do nothing but try to find Halliday’s eggs. They spend all their free time dedicated to the search for Halliday's fortune. Wade Watts, along with a couple of other hardcore gamers, goes on a fierce and dangerous quest to find Halliday's fortune. 

 Ernest Cline captures and holds your attention the entire time with his amusing jokes about 1980’s culture and classic video games. Ready Player One is a great book and I recommend it to anyone looking for a new favorite book.  

Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo

 Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo spans over six volumes and follows Kaneda Shotaro and Tetsuo Shima, members of a delinquent motorcycle gang who tear through the post-apocalyptic city of Neo-Tokyo. During a violent chase with a rival motorcycle gang, Tetsuo is injured when a young boy with psychic abilities blocks his path causing him to crash. The accident awakens Tetsuo’s psychic abilities and he is then taken in by the government for testing. The graphic novel is reminiscent of Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow and Tekkon Kinkreet: Black and White by Taiyo Matsumoto.

Akira throws us into a world of industrial capitalism, represented through the neon-soaked streets, and mega-corporations scattered all over the city.  It is a manga that will resonate with you long after it’s shocking conclusion. It is a frenetic, horrific and at times grotesque look at a very vivid and brutal future. Akira is a gritty, gloomy, cyberpunk masterpiece.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Balram Halwai grew up as just a poor boy living in a rural Indian village with his large family but he soon grows tired of the poverty, tradition, and disease of his hometown and relocates to New Delhi where he finds work as a chauffeur for a wealthy businessman.  In his new job he experiences classism and corruption as never before and after his master forces Balram to take responsibility for a death he didn’t cause, he quickly turns bitter and disillusioned.  Balram commits a horrible crime and flees to Bangalore, where he creates a new life for himself.

The novel provides an honest and realistic view of the brutalities of the class struggle in modern-day India.  The author’s dark humor, frankness, and vivid descriptions of Balram’s adventures make this book an entertaining and enlightening read that taught me more about everyday life in India than anything else.  Though it did take a little while for the storyline to get going, once it did I quite literally could not put it down.  The White Tiger is playful and sarcastic with serious topics but overall informative and eye-opening: a must-read for anyone interested in learning about India’s role as a nation steeped in the traditional caste system while trying to find its place in a globalized world.

If you are interested about learning more about life in the poorest parts of Southeast Asia, check out Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo and Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Imagine waking up in a world you don’t remember;  people call themselves your ‘family’ but you have no idea who they are. Who is Jenna Fox? She has only been told that that is her name and this is her life. Experience Jenna unravel clues and uncover disturbing information about the circumstances surrounding an accident. After waking up from a coma, her family shows her old home movies and tells her about her life. Things just don’t seem to add up; memories that come back in flashes seem unconnected to her present life. And the accident? Jenna’s parents aren’t too keen to discuss the details. “Car crash,” is all she knows. Logic tells her she shouldn’t have survived, so how is she standing here today?

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson is a riveting novel following Jenna’s recovery. The first book in a series titled The Jenna Fox Chronicles talks about what it’s like to completely lose your memory, trust a family who you know is keeping things from you, and regain a normal life after a devastating accident.

On the Fence by Kasie West

In On the Fence, Sixteen year old Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, is being raised by a single dad and three older brothers, which has its perks. She can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows - including her longtime neighbor and fourth brother Braden. When it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn’t know the first thing about anything feminine, so when she starts working at a boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange world. Around the same time and under false pretences, she meets Evan, who thinks she is a girly girl and who has never seen her tear it up in a football game. Charlotte really likes Evan so she is willing to go along with being another person in order to be with him.

To cope with the stress of faking her way through this new reality, Charlie seeks late-night refuge in her backyard, talking out her problems with Braden by the fence that separates them. But their fence talks can’t solve Charlie’s biggest problems. I won’t say anymore, because you should read the book and find out whether or not Charlotte is true to herself in life and love.

Kasie West illustrates this story in a way that makes you keep on reading to find out what happens on the next page. She shows the life of a teen learning to grow up and seek responsibility. This book would fall under an adolescent love story with a mystery theme. If you liked Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty series then you will like this mysterious story much more. This book will make you wish you were Charlie and part of all the action. So grab this book in the library and figure out what Charlie’s biggest secret is.

1984 by George Orwell

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

In George Orwell’s classic dystopian and political-commentary novel, 1984, thought is controlled and “Big Brother is watching you,” resulting in the dichotomous mottos “war is peace,” “freedom is slavery,” and “ ignorance is strength.”  The Party continually puts out propaganda to support their efforts, claiming a state of perpetual war is peace, and that being controlled is better than freedom, and accepting a false reality while ignoring the actual truth in “Doublethink” is fortitude.  In this drowning society of overzealous nationalism, we find ourselves with an unlikely hero, Winston Smith, a frail, nonthreatening member of the Outer Party attempting to break through the ideological strife and blockage of free thought.  What will become of this “thoughtcrime” perpetrator in this dramatic, but at times heart pounding and heartbreaking novel?  Will Winston succeed in this oppressive climate, or will he merely succumb to the overwhelming power of “Big Brother”?  This is a must-read.

George Orwell was one of the premier novelists, political satirists, and commentators of the 20th century, and his work continues to influence popular and political culture nearly 60 years after his death.  Even the term “Orwellian,” to describe Orwell’s work opposing totalitarian and unjust social practices, remains ubiquitous in the literary, and perhaps real, world.  I was quite familiar with Orwell before reading 1984, as I read another Orwellian classic, Animal Farm, in 10th grade, which is allegorical for the Russian Revolution and mocks Stalin, who Orwell believed turned Russia (then the Soviet Union) into a dictatorship.  Orwell’s writing mastery of political satire and commentary, and dystopian societies, is no exception in 1984, where he brilliantly constructs a future society that is beginning to resemble our own.  I found Animal Farm great, but I think 1984 elevates the meaning of “Orwellian” to a whole new level.  Orwell’s fantastic works have paved the way for other great dystopian novels, like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, and as stated before, 1984 is a must-read.

Also discover: Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, and Lord of the Flies

 The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum

In The Poisoner's Handbook,  Deborah Blum guides her readers through the seething underworld, as well as the blooming forensic science team, of 1920s New York City. Each chapter contains a set of murder cases related to deadly poisons such as the famous poison cyanide and obscure (but mortally effective) chemicals like ethyl and methyl alcohol. Without turning to dry description or overly academic language, Blum digs into the science behind each poison elaborates on how Charles Norris and Alexander Gettler, heads of the New York forensic science team (then called the toxicology unit), solved each case by creating tests for each poison completely from scratch. Deborah weaves in important bits of 1920s history, further bringing the book to life as she highlights connections between the toxicology department and big historical events like Prohibition.

Deborah Blum joins the ranks of captivating forensic science writers such as Mary Roach (Packing for Mars, Stiff, and other titles) in The Poisoner's Handbook. Her vivid language brings each poison to life as the chemical's role in 1920's life unfolds. I particularly enjoyed the chapter about Radium, a (you guessed it) radioactive element that constantly decays, emitting a dim but visible light. She delved into the lives of the Radium Girls, factory workers who painted clock dials with glowing radium and frequently pointed the tips of their brushes with their mouths. They ingested tiny amounts of radium every day they worked in the clock factory and often, they would be covered in radium dust that hung in the air of the workspace. Radium decays quickly and destabilizes materials surrounding it, and it wasn't long before the radium had worked itself into the employee's bones. Their teeth glowed and by the end, they were exhaling radon gas. Blum brings these girls to life, writing of their battle against the company they worked for who refused to admit that radium was, in fact, a poison. This is just one of the fascinating chapters in  Blum's book.

For a relatively science-minded person like me, this book was a breath of fresh air compared with some of the drier types of academic nonfiction. However, anyone who can deal with morbidity and has an interest in poisons or the '20s would love this book! I also highly recommend it to kids who are looking for an interesting research topic for their chemistry classes. Blum truly brings justice to the fascinating era of the 1920s and the poisons that lay just underneath the surface.