Breaking Point

Title: Breaking Point (Book 2 to Article 5)
Author: Kristen Simmons
Pages: 384
Content: PG13
Language: PG
Level: Upper Middle/High School
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: After faking their deaths to escape from prison in Article 5, Ember Miller and Chase Jennings have only one goal: to lay low until the Federal Bureau of Reformation forgets they ever existed.  Near-celebrities now for the increasingly sensationalized tales of their struggles with the government, Ember and Chase are recognized and taken in by the Resistance—an underground organization working to systematically take down the government. At headquarters, all eyes are on the sniper, an anonymous assassin taking out FBR soldiers one by one. Rumors are flying about the sniper's true identity, and Ember and Chase welcome the diversion….Until the government posts its most-wanted list, and their number one suspect is Ember herself.

Review:  Following Article 5, Breaking Point follows Ember and Chase as they continue to try to find safety and security in a dystopian society.  New characters cross their path, and they must deal with characters from their past. For kids who love dystopian, this book will keep them intrigued, and waiting for the third installment.

Breathe

Title: Breathe
Author: Sarah Crossan
Pages: 384
Language: PG
Content: PG
Level: Upper Middle/High School
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: Inhale. Exhale.  Breathe. Breathe. Breathe . . . The world is dead.  The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen–rich air.

Alina has been stealing for a long time. She's a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she's never been caught before. If she's careful, it'll be easy. If she's careful. Quinn should be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it's also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn't every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her. Bea wants to tell him that none of this is fair; they'd planned a trip together, the two of them, and she'd hoped he'd discover her out here, not another girl. And as they walk into the Outlands with two days' worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

Review: Another take on the dystopian genre - based on the precept that all vegetation as been killed out, and without BREATHE and their oxygen under the "dome" - there is no air to breathe.  Told from 3 different viewpoints, I had a hard time connecting with each character.    The action packed first chapter was great, but I had a hard time staying interested when the action died down.  Boys and girls who are fans of the dystopian genre will like this book.

Altered

Title: Altered
Author: Jennifer Rush
Pages: 323
Language: PG13/R (15+ swears, 8 "f")
Content: PG13/R (violence)
Level: High School
Recommendation: Good read, but optional

Summary: They were made to forget. But they'll never forgive.Everything about Anna's life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch, at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There's Nick, solemn and brooding; Cas, light-hearted and playful; Trev, smart and caring; and Sam . . . who's stolen Anna's heart. On the run, with her father's warning in her head, Anna begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about herself. She soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they're both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.

Review:  Although told from Anna's point of view, this story has enough action, adventure, mystery, and violence for a male audience.  The story captivated me from the beginning, and I had to finish the book!  The plot kept twisting and turning, and I found myself hoping to find out more information about the characters and their past.  I would love to recommend this book to readers galore, if only there weren't so much violence (shooting) and swearing.

Can't Get There From Here

Title: Can't Get There From Here
Author: Todd Strasser
Pages: 198
Level: High School
Language: PG13 (0 "f")
Content: PG13
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: Tired of being hungry, cold, and dirty from living on the streets of New York City with a tribe of other homeless teenagers who are dying, one by one, a girl named Maybe ponders her future and longs for someone to care about her.

                        

Review: Very realistic, but dark and somewhat depressing, the book follows a group of runaways living on the streets of New York City. A quote by one of the characters, OG. "Here is where you are. There is where you want to be. But you can't get there from here."
Although there was not a lot of foul language, but it does touch upon mature themes, such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, alcohol poisoning, suicide, drug use and prostitution.  Any teen or grown up who has ever contemplated running away from home should read this book.