The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

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scored by lauren mclaughlin

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A fresh and thought-provoking dystopian young adult novel set in the not-so-distant future where the scored are watched and rated 24/7. Scored masterfully addresses the rapidly disappearing middle class in America, the quiet evaporation of privacy, and what it means when we're always 'on.' Cory Doctorow eloquently sums it up in his Boing Boing review , "This book is the antidote to the pointless hand-wringing about Facebook, reality TV, and the PATRIOT Act, a chance to get out of the trite cul-de-sac where these conversations always end up, and to move into green pastures." Give this to fans of The Hunger Games and Marie Lu's Legend . The easy reading level makes it a superb EAL/ESL alternative to 1984 or Brave New World. Grade 7+
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the throwback special by chris bachelder

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I'm not a team sports enthusiast. Truly, I'm vehemently anti-athletics of the team variety, since, among more virtuous geopolitical reasons, they remind me of being tortured by jocks as a new wave teen. Still, I relished Bachelder's book, because it isn't really about organized sport. Rather, it's a near-scientific observation of twenty-two men in the throes of middle life who have gathered annually for the last sixteen years to reenact Joe Theismann's 1985 leg-shattering play, known as "The Throwback Special," laced with heavy doses of bittersweet humor - a favorite flavor of mine. Those of you who miss the pleasure of eavesdropping on humans conversing in public spaces* will appreciate the low- and high-brow overheard philosophical gems sprinkled throughout the work as the men, largely begrudgingly, prepare for a ritual many of them are no longer emotionally invested in. Reading it felt like the best kind of being invisible: reader as witness to a c...
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saint valentine's picks

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Looking for love in unusual places? I've assembled a group of picks that aren't your standard romance fare - although if it is cheesy romance that you need, I'll gladly be your supplier. In the historical fiction category are three unforgettable love stories, all of which happened to win the Booker prize: Richard Flanagan's heartwrenching The Narrow Road to the Deep North, A.S. Byatt's sumptuous and suspenseful Possession; and Peter Carey's unforgettable tale of misfit love, Oscar and Lucinda. In the YA lit arena, three sad love stand-outs all evolve around mixed race romance; Ashley Hope Perez's Out of Darkness, Jodi Lynn Anderson's Tigerlily, and Martha Brockenbrough's The Game of Love and Death will make your heart hurt just the right way. Only have time for a little love? Check out David Levithan's love lexicon, The Lover's Dictionary, Junot Diaz's smart and funny This is How You Lose Her, or Carlos Fuentes' thinly-veiled trib...
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