Although recommended for 8 – 12 year olds, as an adult reader I was taken by the rhythm of the writing, the depth of feeling of the old southern woods and the way I was drawn to each of the
characters. It takes places in an ancient piney wood forest on the Sabine River where an abandoned,
pregnant calico cat finds refuge under a porch where Ranger the bloodhound who has been miserably mistreated, is chained. The two develop a very close friendship and take care of the kittens almost as mother and father.

The porch is owned by Gar-Face, a
disheveled, angry, disfigured man who was as mistreated by his father as Ranger is by him. When he discovers the cats living under the porch with his dog, he plans to use them as bait to kill the Alligator King who lives in the
swamp. This sets in motion, a tale of adventure so intricate, one can’t stop reading for fear of losing the continuity.

Within this deep Southern Bayou are two intersecting groups of beings. There is the main story involving the horrible man, the abused dog, the calico cat and her kittens all trying to reconnect. Then there is the other group. The magical, mystical one: Grandmother Moccasin, a huge snake who once took human form for the love of a human man. When betrayed, she resumed her snake form for all eternity. She had a daughter, Night Song, who she loved fiercely, but who left her for the love of a human man, thus betraying Grandmother Moccasin again. Within this mystical group, there is the Alligator King, sentient trees and shapeshifting creatures. Somehow, Kathi Appelt weaves the two stories
around each other, mixing the past and the present, the real with the surreal until the threads connect in a satisfying ending.

This is a wonderfully written work which has been compared to The Mouse and His Child or The Tale of Despereaux or even, The Jungle Book. However, where there are elements of humour in the others, The Underneath is very serious, with a powerful storyline driven by the emotions of love and hate and the importance of keeping one’s word.

Naomi Porter is seventeen years old. After falling down the school steps and hitting her head, she has developed amnesia involving the last four years
of her life. She has forgotten her parents’ divorce and the fact that she hasn’t spoken to her mother for most of that time. She’s forgotten her boyfriend Ace and her best friend William. She’s forgotten how to drive, her favourite subjects, her total commitment to the school yearbook, who she likes and who she doesn’t. She’s forgotten her father is engaged to someone she’s been horrible to before her accident.

This novel is about Naomi’s struggle to find herself…new or old. She becomes unsure of her opinions. Are they really hers or are they what everyone tells her they used to be? She discovers she doesn’t want to commit to the yearbook and would rather be in a play. Is that the new her or is that what the old Naomi was repressing in order to keep her friends? Why hasn’t she spoken to her mother for four years? How could she have been Aces girlfriend? It just doesn’t feel right.

Written for the teen market, this girl struggling to understand herself in the face of possible permanent memory loss, is not so different from the everyday struggle that most girls this age go through, trying to become the person they will be for the rest of their lives. Funny, poignant, intriguing, this is a must-read novel for girls 13 and up.

Genesis is a dystopian novel best compared with Brave New World. Unlike Brave New World it packs its wallop into a mere 150 pages (like Animal Farm, by George Orwell), which makes it a great contemplative read for teens as well as adults.

The story of this dystopian world set not too far off in the future is told via an oral test being taken by Anaximander, a young philosopher who wants to become a member of the elite Academy. The Academy is the group that controls (very tightly, I might add) the society living on this secluded island.

Through the first part of Anaximander’s oral exam, we learn that this island has been protecting its borders from a deadly plague that has infected the rest of the world. No outsiders are allowed in. They are to be shot on sight. The Republic was formed as a response to an oil-based economy on the verge of collapse, a politically-troubled Middle East, a United States in an unwinnable war with a culture it did not understand, European riots, the Chinese rise to power and the dust storms of 2041. The Academy’s solution was to develop a society where breeding is restricted, males and females are segregated and newborns are immediately divided into four classes: Labourers, Soldiers, Technicians and Philosophers. They are trained to hold those positions for life and live solely for the good of The Republic.

Anax is a young historian who has specialized in the life of Adam Ford, an essential figure in their history. She is to tell the examiners everything she knows about Adam and his contribution to society as well as defend her opinions about the events she describes.

Adam Ford was born a philosopher, trained as a soldier and always showed signs of dissent. It was said that his mother taught him to think for himself before he was “indoctrinated” in the ways of The Republic. The turning point for him occurred when, as a young guard at the lighthouse, he refused to kill a young girl from the “outside” drifting into Republic waters. “Adam saw her eyes. That’s the way he explained it to the court. Huge and frightened, staring uncomprehendingly at the great metal barrier rearing up out of the ocean.” ... “And so again he looked into her eyes, and this time couldn’t look away. She was sixteen years old, only a year younger than he was, but aged by three months at sea; out of food and water, thin and close to death.” He couldn’t bring himself to kill her and in saving her was caught and imprisoned. As part of his punishment, he was forced to live in a cubicle with an android (Art) that needed to learn to be more human in order to reach its full potential. The result is a wonderful series of challenging philosophical discussions on what it is to be human, alive, sentient, whether it is better to be man or machine, etc.”

As part of her testing, Anax is shown holographic images of these discussions and is instructed to give her interpretation of these scenes. It is this interpretation that is the basis of the Examiners’ judgment.

To tell you more would spoil the ending, which, surprisingly teaches us each something about ourselves and our prejudices. It’s a wonderful, fast-paced read especially if you like rgument, conjecture, wit and philosophical discussion. It would be great way to introduce philosophical discussion in the classroom environment. The book is short and the writing tight enough to keep teens interested and theconcepts compelling enough for adults.