Prodigy, by Marie Lu (2013)

**Plot spoiler if you have 

not read Legend!**

Day jolts awake beside me.  His brown is covered with sweat, and his cheeks are wet with tears.  He's breathing heavily.

Following Legend, Prodigy takes up where the Republic's most wanted criminal, Day, and the Republic's most celebrated prodigy, June Iparis, left off - hitching a ride on a train bound for the military city of Las Vegas.  Nine days have passed since they broke out of Batalla Hall and escaped Los Angeles.  Day wants to join up with the Patriots to rescue his little brother, Eden.

"You're really set on finding the Patriots, 

aren't you?"

Elector Primo has died and his son, Anden Stavropoulous, is the new Elector.

The Republic has simply moved on to the next Elector without skipping a beat, as if Anden were the same person as his father.  My head swims - I try to remember what I'd learned in school about choosing a new Elector.  The Elector always picked his successor, and a national election would confirm it.  It's no surprise that Anden is next in line - but our Elector has been in power for decades, long before I was born.  Now he's gone.  

Our world has shifted in a matter of seconds.

June and Day find the Patriot's leader, Razor.  Although they don't have any money to offer, they're still valuable to the Patriots.

"There is something you can offer," he starts.  "Fortunately you've arrived on a very interesting night."  

"Rarely has the Republic been as vulnerable as it is now.  There will never be a better time to spark a revolution."

The Patriots want Day and June to assassinate the new 20-year old Elector.

Will they accomplish this mission?  Who can they trust?  Will they survive?  This is a great read if you like action, drama, and political intrigue.  In my opinion, Prodigy is a more exciting read than book 1, Legend.  

Rating:  7 out of 10 stars
*mild language

To check this read out at NOLS, click HERE!

Looking for Alaska, by John Green (2005)

one hundred thirty-six days before
The week before I left my family and Florida and the rest of my minor life to go to boarding school in Alabama, my mother insisted on throwing me a going-away party.  To say that I had low expectations would be to underestimate the matter dramatically.

Sixteen-year old Miles Halter attends public high school.  He doesn't have any friends and his high school experience has been less than fun.  He actually wants to go to boarding school.  After learning about French poet François Rabelais's last words ("I go to seek a Great Perhaps."), Miles realizes that he doesn't have to die to start looking for his Great Perhaps.  He decides to attend Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama.

Miles loves to read biographies of famous people and remembers their last words.

I thought of the people I'd read about - John F. Kennedy, James Joyce, Humphrey Bogart - who went to boarding school, and their adventures - Kennedy, for example, loved pranks.  I thought of the Great Perhaps and the things that might happen and the people I might meet and who my roommate might be...

Miles's roommate is Chip Martin, aka the Colonel.  The Colonel shows Miles the ins and outs of Culver Creek and gives Miles his nickname:  Pudge.  Then he takes Miles to meet Alaska in her room.

We walked in.  I turned to close the door behind me, and the Colonel shook his head and said, "After seven, you have to leave the door open if you're in a  girl's room," but I barely heard him because the hottest girl in all of human history was standing before me in cutoff jeans and a peach tank top.

And so Miles's Great Perhaps begins.  Looking for Alaska is funny, shocking, and heart-breaking.  I absolutely loved it!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars
*language, sexual inference, sexual situations, smoking, drinking 

To check this read out at NOLS, click HERE!