Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin

Mutiny!  Discrimination!  Explosives!

All of these words are at the heart of this powerful book by Steve Sheinkin.  During World War II, sailors were working on the Navy base at Port Chicago, California.  The men were not supposed to be segregated, but in fact the only men required to work on the munitions were black men.  The goal for the work they were doing was to safely load munitions onto the Naval ships to prepare for battle.  This was dangerous work, but there was tremendous pressure to go faster and get the work done more quickly.  Eventually, this became an unsafe situation.  The men warned the commanders that the encouragement to be faster led to safety issues.  This was ignored and there was a huge explosion.  Over 300 men were killed and dozens more were injured. 

You would think this tragedy would result in changes so things would be safer, but the black sailors were told to report back to the dock and resume the munitions work.  They knew this was too dangerous and so they refused to go back.  The problem was that they didn’t have the right to refuse to go back because they were sailors in the Navy.  This meant that they could be (and were) charged with mutiny.  This could mean serious results- many years in prison.  The sailors knew there was no real choice in the matter- they could lose their lives if they had to go back to the munitions work without any changes made to ensure safety.  This is the story of what the men did and how they were treated as a result of their decisions.  

Steve Sheinkin did an excellent job of making the reader aware of how dangerous this work was and the consequences for the men.  There is a sense of imminent danger and the despair because of the men's lack of choice.  They asked questions like if this work wasn't dangerous why were only black men doing it?  The danger and civil rights rights violations were at the heart of the issue.  

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Fairest
Marissa Meyer


This fourth installment in the Lunar Chronicles was a short novel, almost more of a novella.  Though the book was 150 pages long, the story is only 113 pages, with a excerpt from the next novel, Winter, at the end.  Obviously disappointing!  For this novel, we are thrown back in time to when Queen Levana was Princess Levana.  The novel opens to her parents dying and her sister being crowned as Queen.  It was a great look at the background of a queen that we know as an evil dictator.  She wasn't always the person that we have come to know in the first two books of the Lunar Chronicles.  Though it was a letdown that we didn't hear more of the story of Cinder and her crew of misfits, it was fascinating to see how a villain becomes the person we all hate.  This prequel could even be read before the other three books without it giving away too many important details from Cinder, Scarlet, or Cress To hear the final installment of Cinders story, we have to wait until the fall.  This is a good novella to tide fans over, but definitely leaves the reader wanting more.

Unwind series

Unwind Series- Neil Shusterman

Dystopian Series

1.       Unwind

2.       Inwholly

3.       Unsouled

4.       Undivided

In a post Heartland War society, unwinding is now legal.  This means, if you are an unruly teenager between the ages of 13 and 17, you can be sent to a facility where they will give every part of your body to a person who needs it.  You will not technically be dead, because all your parts will be alive in someone else’s body, but you will no longer be yourself- “a divided state”.  This is what is supposed to happen to Conner and a group that he unwillingly thrown in with.  This four book series will lead you through an adventure of survival and a grassroots uprising of change.

The first book in the series, Unwind, was a fantastic ride.  The three hundred page book flies by, giving you twists and turns.  You can read the first book as a standalone book and feel as if you got a complete story.  The second and third books, Unwholly and Unsouled respectively, while interesting, do not hold the allure of the first.  They are more labored and not as quick to get through.  The final book, Undivided, does offer you the answers and drama that the middle books lack, and it brings back the excitement of the first.  Readers will be satisfied with the ending and give you a glimpse into what the future holds for the main characters you have come to love so much. This is being made into a movie that will be out in 2016!

An amazing Youtube video

 

The Caged Graves by Dianne Salerni

Verity Boone is returning to her hometown to meet her fiance and get married.  It's 1867 so travel is a little difficult.  She hasn't met her future husband but feels like she knows him through his letters and gifts he has been sending her.  She is upset when she learns that her fiance had help writing his letters to her and selecting her gifts.  Now she's questioning- does she really know him?  He seems stiff and distant.  Not at all who she imagined. 

She also finds that there are secrets.  She left when she was a baby and her mother died.  She doesn't know why her father sent her away and he just says it was for the best.  She had a happy childhood but loves her father and doesn't understand his reason for sending her to Massachusetts.

What is more disturbing is the discovery of two graves completely enclosed in iron.  Her mother's and her aunt's graves!  Who did this?  Why?  Some people imply that there was black magic involved.  Others talk about treasure.  When Verity is attacked, she realizes that she can't trust anyone.  Everyone is hiding things from her.  Including her father.

The Caged Graves has it all- romance, mystery, a strong setting and believable characters.  Highly recommended. 

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Read Dianne Salerni's blog about the real caged graves that inspired the story

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys                      

Josie has a hard life in New Orleans.  Other people may enjoy the drinking, partying and brothels, but she has to clean up after all of that.   As the daughter of a prostitute, she is discriminated against by everyone.  Kids make fun of her and call her names.  Even adults are mean to her and make

assumptions that she will never amount to anything.  If that isn't enough, Josie's mother is a mess.  She has lousy choice in men- usually scary men that are in and out of jail, so Josie lives on her own.

In spite of all this, Josie has a plan to get out of New Orleans.  She is saving up money from her work at the brothel and her other job at the bookstore.  Then she meets a nice man who makes different assumptions about Josie.  That she must be smart.  She must be going to college.  She is educated.  Josie likes this man at the bookstore and is appalled when he is found dead just a few hours later.  Other bad things start happening and Josie's future begins to crumble before her eyes.

This is a great mystery.  I really enjoyed the historical setting- the seamy side of the French Quarter in 1950.  Josie is an unusual character- a sad childhood but some unusual and loyal friends.

A video about the novel with an introduction by the author

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Visit Ruta Sepetys's blog

Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards

Chloe fell asleep in study hall.  She does this sometimes (yes, she should be doing her schoolwork, but a quick nap never hurt anybody).  Next thing she knows, she wakes up and it's dark outside.  No one is in her classroom, not even her teacher.  In fact, the building is silent and dark.  Where is everyone?  Then school bad boy Adam shows up and says that she called him.  She can't imagine that.  Why would she have done that?  Why is there snow on the ground? 

Other weird things are happening too.  She has turned into a brain- big time!  She may become valedictorian.  Her grades are excellent and good colleges are recruiting her.  She has always liked Blake- he's cute, nice and an athlete and now he's her boyfriend!!

Of course, there are lots of bad changes too.  Her best friend Maggie isn't speaking to her. They've been inseparable forever. Chloe tried to explain the loss of memory to her parents but they think she is a headcase and take her to see a psychologist.  Chloe has been a little defiant in the past so the changes in her are thrilling them.  Six months have gone by and she doesn't remember a thing.

This book is excellent!  A good mystery with plenty of twists.  Chloe, Maggie, Blake and Adam are all strong characters that I really cared about- I wanted Maggie to tell Chloe what happened to their friendship.  And what's up with the "study" group?  Something is strange about it too.  Who can Chloe trust?

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury

Chris decides to go for an epic bike ride across the country with his friend Win.  They have been best friends forever and this will be their graduation gift from their parents.  Their goal?  All the way to Seattle.

Chris learns things about himself and Win along the way.  They argue a lot (sometimes even physically).  They can be self-sufficient- sleeping in their tent on fields in the middle of nowhere or a picnic table at a park.  Their muscles develop quicker than they could have believed.  At the same time, there are secrets between them.  Why does Win always claim to be broke so Chris has to pay for groceries when in reality Win is carrying around a large amount of cash?  Why doesn't he call home very often?  Why isn't he calling his uncle in Seattle about their arrival?  When the two young men have an argument and split up, Chris can't find Win in Seattle and comes home alone.

College is starting out well for Chris.  Girls seem to be impressed by his bike ride and independence.  But Win's powerful and controlling father keeps calling and asking where his son is because he never returned.  Then an FBI agent starts coming around and issuing vague (and some not so vague) threats. Did Chris do something to Win?   Everyone has questions.  Chris doesn't have any answers...

Jennifer Bradbury's website

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