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After being at the Front for so long, nurse Bess Crawford should welcome an easy week's journey aboard the hospital ship Britannica.  With no wounded soldiers on board, she's free to rest, enjoy the fresh sea air and catch up on her letter writing.  All of which equal a very boring journey, indeed.  As the ship steams toward Greece, Bess is lounging on deck, searching for something—anything—interesting to write home about, when an explosion knocks her off her feet.  Britannic plunges into the sea and Bess, who has just narrowly escaped her death, is sent home to England to recover from her injuries.

Unable to sit still for long, especially not knowing when next she'll have leave, Bess decides to make efficient use of her time at home.  She's waited long enough to fulfill Arthur Graham's dying wish; it's high time she kept her promise to deliver a message to his family.  Bess can't make heads or tails of the cryptic lines—Tell Jonathan I lied.  I did it for Mother's sake.  But it has to be set right.—she's only hoping it means something to the Graham Family.

And it does.  At least Bess thinks it does.  The more time she spends with the Grahams, the less she understands them.  It's obvious, though, that they're hiding something, a family secret so devastating that it haunted Arthur until his dying day.  Bess knows she shouldn't stick her nose in someone else's tragedy, but she can't help herself.  Before she knows it, she's so entangled in the doings of the Graham Family that she can't break away.  Even though a murderer is on the loose.  Even though she's next on his/her list.  The no-nonsense Bess Crawford will not fail to do her duty to the dead, even if it kills her.  And it just might.  

A Duty to the Dead is the first book in the Bess Crawford mystery series by mother-son writing team, Charles Todd.  I don't read a lot of historical mysteries, but this one intrigued me with its compelling characters, atmospheric setting, and absorbing plot.  It didn't have the most original of premises, true, and yet, the story sucked me right in.  Bess' forthright personality does get a little annoying—besides that, though, I enjoyed this one a great deal.  It's clean, it's interesting and, most of all, it kept me entertained.  You can't go wrong with a series that does that, now can you?  

(Readalikes:  Other books in the Bess Crawford series, including An Impartial Witness; A Bitter Truth; and An Unmarked Grave; Also reminds me of the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear)

Grade:  B

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG for mild language (no F-bombs) and violence

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find 

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In the not-so-distant future, a crippled U.S. fights for survival.  

In desperation, American scientists create an army of "engineered organic beings" to battle the country's enemies.  

These "Partials" look like humans, but are, in fact, super soldiers.  Super fast.  Super strong.  They don't love, don't hate, don't reproduce.  They are nearly indestructible.

When the Partials turn on their creators, a bloody war ensues.  

Only 40,000 humans survive.

Crammed together on Long Island, the people who remain live in fear of the next Partial attack.   

The super soldiers have not been seen in 11 years, but everyone knows they're out there.  Just waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

That moment is now.  

The human world is already in chaos.  Women are being forced to bear children at ever younger ages.  Not that it matters.  Babies don't survive in this new world.  Every one of them is born with RM, the deadly virus the Partials unleashed during their war with the humans over a decade ago.  And yet, the so-called "Hope Act" demands that women do their civic duty, birthing as many children as possible in the hope that a healthy new generation will emerge.

As the Voice—a group of rebels fighting for their right to procreate only when and if they want—sows discontent among the law-abiding citizens of East Meadow, the threat of civil war looms. 

Between the Partial menace, the dying babies and the in-fighting, extinction is only a matter of time for what's left of the human race.  

A very short amount of time.  

Kira Walker, a 16-year-old medic-in-training, can't let her people die.  She must find a solution.  But how?  How can she possibly succeed when so many others have failed?  Only by trying something that's never been tried before.  Something crazy.  Something dangerous.  Something impossible.   

No, it's not Battlestar Galactica (although I have to agree that the plots are a little too similar), it's Partials, the first book in a new YA dystopian series by horror writer Dan Wells.  As you can probably tell, the story speeds along, with plenty of action to keep it moving.  An exciting, entertaining ride, for sure.  Wells does take the time to build his dystopian world, fleshing it out with enough historical and political detail to bore some readers.  Not this one.  To me, all the background information makes Kira's world more believable.  It helped me not just to understand the society, but also to care about its salvation.     

Although it's not the most original series in the world, I enjoyed Partials.  Sure, it could use more surprises (the plot gets pretty predictable), better character development (especially of the guys), and something different to really distinguish it from other stories (thankfully, the humans don't take to space or it would have been a complete Battlestar Galactica ripoff).  Overall, though, it's an absorbing read.  And, truthfully, if you handed me the sequel right now (which isn't actually possible since Wells is still writing it, but whatever), I would clear my schedule to make room for it.  Today.  Right now.  Yeah, I totally would.       

(Readalikes:  Reminded me of other YA dystopians like Delirium and Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver and Matched by Ally Condie)

Grade:  B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG-13 for language (no F-bombs), violence and sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of Partials from the generous folks at Balzer and Bray (an imprint of Harper Collins).  Thank you!  

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There are two things books about World War II usually aren't:  snarky and upbeat.  Code Name Verity, a YA novel by Elizabeth Wein, happens to be both.  Maybe that's why it's such a different kind of read, one that's affecting and grim, but still almost funny.  You don't see that a lot—actually, you never see that—in stories about this time period.  Code Name Verity is unique and that's why I liked it.

The first half of the story is narrated by a young Scottish woman, whose ability to speak German makes her a perfect spy for England.  When the novel opens "Verity" has been captured by the Gestapo and is being held for questioning in Ormaie, France.  The Nazis have made it clear that if she does not reveal the nature of her mission, she will be executed.  After she's beaten and tortured, of course.  Given scraps of paper on which to write out her confession, Verity takes her time, spinning out tales like Scheherazade.  Since the SS officer in charge appreciates a good story, she gives him one.  As she writes about espionage, friendship, courage and cowardice, Verity fights for her life, one word at a time.   

Margaret "Maddie" Brodatt tells the second part of the story.  An English pilot, Maddie is used to making secret flights into enemy territory.  She's flown her friend Verity several times, always without incident.  Until now.  Now, Verity has been captured and Maddie's hiding out in a leaky barn in Nazi-held France.  Scribbling her own notes, Maddie talks about her childhood, her lifelong desire to fly airplanes, her friendship with Verity, her fears of being courtmartialed—or, even worse, being captured like Verity.  Although she doesn't practice her religion, Maddie's Jewish ancestry could still land her in a Nazi death camp.

As the two women write their histories, a remarkable story emerges—one of adventure, one of bravery, one of hope and one of friendship that transcends the horrors of war.

Although Code Name Verity is being promoted as a YA book, I don't see it appealing to teens really.  Not that it lacks action or intriguing characters or even a sarcastic, foul-mouthed narrator—it has all that.  But it's still kind of an old-fashioned book.  Action-packed and absorbing and entertaining, for sure, just in a vintage kind of way.  Does that make any sense?  Probably not.  No matter.  Suffice it to say, I enjoyed this unique and powerful WWII novel.  It's different—in the very best kind of way.  

(Readalikes:  Reminded me a bit of Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith)

Grade:  B

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  R for language (a handful of F-bombs, plus milder invectives), violence/scenes of peril, and sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Code Name Verity from the generous folks at Hyperion.  Thank you!

       

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When the Soviet secret police storm into her home late one night, 15-year-old Lina Vilkas can hardly contain her shock.  She's heard of other Lithuanians stolen away in the night, but those were criminals, rebels.  Lina's father teaches at the university—what could the Soviets possibly want with him?  And where is he, anyway?  No answers are given the family, only orders to Davai (Hurry)!  Like cattle, Lina, her mother, and her 10-year-old brother, Jonas, are herded at gunpoint into a truck.  It's a terrifying beginning to a harrowing journey that will take the Vilkas', along with other Lithuanian refugees, to an isolated labor camp in the frozen wastelands of Siberia.  

As WWII rages on, Lina knows her chances of rescue—even of survival—dwindle with every passing day.  Between the hard, physical labor, the malnutrition, the brutal guards, and the diseases that run rampant through the camp, people are dying right and left.  Lina refuses to be one of them.  She won't give up, especially not until she's found her father.  Using her remarkable drawing skills, she risks her life to document her experience in pictures and words.  She hopes they will someday reach her father, somehow tell the horrifying story of her imprisonment if she does not live to tell it.   

I've read lots of WWWII books, but none that dealt with the occupation of Lithuania.  Although Lina's story is similar to others about the Holocaust, it's different in its location, its time period (the novel begins on June 14, 1941) and the fact that Lina and most of the people deported with her are not Jewish.  Still, Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys is an affecting novel that, once again, brings home the horrors that occurred to innocent people during the war.  As you'd expect, it's a grim and gloomy tale, one that speaks of hope, but doesn't really deliver it.  Overall, I found the book gloomier than others of its type, with a narrator who felt a little distant to me (if that makes sense).  Between Shades of Gray is, no doubt, an absorbing read—it's just not as powerful as other WWII stories I've read.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other WWII books, like The Diary of Anne Frank; Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum; Rutka's Notebook; The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne; etc.)

Grade:  B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG-13 for language (no F-bombs), violence, sexual innuendo, and mature subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find