Red Glove, by Holly Black

Holly Black is one of my go-to authors for urban fantasy.  She does not disappoint in this most recent book. This is a second book in the Curse Workers series.  These are set in contemporary times, on the Eastern seaboard of the United States but in a world with a minor difference. In this alternative world there are a small group of people called curse workers who have powers to change, among other things,  people's memories and emotions.  Curse workers can also kill people with the touch of a hand.

In Black's world these forces unfortunately are not used for good.  Set in the Eastern United States the curse workers primarily work for organized crime. The main character, Cassel Sharpe, is struggling with defining his role within his family, friends, and the world at large. His family in particular challenges him every step of the way to try and reconcile his and native born talents with his own personal morality. Added to Cassel's interior conflict are the pressures being exerted upon him by his family members, the FBI, and a crime lord.

The story in this book is driven by Cassel's attempts to discover the identity of a murder.  In doing so he has to involve his friends and explore the boundaries established by the law and social norms. The plot, characters, and writing will keep you reading.  The theme of reconciling your personal values with your family's and the world at large makes this book well worth recommending to young adult readers.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The final book in a series of 3. I'd hear many comments from friends and librarians about the conclusion of the Hunger Games series. Most said something along the lines that "it was good, but really more of an adult book." It really is quite violent. I think it's one of those books that I would hesitate to recommend to students, but that many would read. It is no more violent than many of the movies they watch regularly or some of the "reality" shows like Jackass. To recommend it more completely as an appropriate YA read, the message Collins is sending about wars and conflicts is very appropriate for the age group.

I still think this series is a good companion/alternate read to books like Lord of the Flies or Animal Farm. It is more contemporary and deals more directly with the complexities of modern political systems in the era of technology.

I did not find it as an enjoyable a read as the other two books in the series (thus the 3 instead of 4 stars) but it is important, as a reader, to have the sense of completion.

Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

I've put off reading this series. I had distopia ennui. But, I finally got far enough down in the stack of "next" books that I had to pick it up. I'm now a fan too and am listening to book 2 in the series.

This isn't really a distopia book. I think it's more a survival and society book. Set in a future when the US government has dissolved and been replaced with something like a feudal state, the people (serfs) are forced to fight to the death in annual games. The selection process is from 12-18 year-olds.

This is a good supplementary text to a book like Lord of the Flies. Although the children/young adults are not on the "island" by accident, they follow a similar developmental path as do the boys from Golding's novel. Although both books are identified as having a 5th grade reading level, the style, register, and contexts of Hunger Games, will make it a book that appeals to students who might reject the British boy's school context of Lord of the Flies. The characters are in about the same age range of the older novel, so it will appeal to the older readers who are typically required to read Lord of the Flies.