Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers

Zeitoun

by Dave Eggers

Vintage Books, NY 2009

Zeitoun sent his family out of New Orleans in preparation for the hurricane named Katrina. All he really expected were some downed trees and a bit of aggravation, so he stayed behind to watch after the house and check on his family's rental properties.  In the days following the infamous storm, he ends up paddling through the city in a canoe helping his neighbors and feeding the neighborhood dogs. Then things take a turn for the worse that you both do and don’t expect and we’re given a first hand account of the madness and chaos that followed hurricane Katrina.

At the end of Zeitoun's stranger than fiction account, I was left with one question: How could this happen here?

Bottom Line:
The author weaves Zeitoun's family history into the tale, personalizing the Katrina tragedy and making it more than the hard to fathom images on the television screen.

The Maze Runner, by James Dashner

The Maze Runner

by James Dashner

Delacorte Books for Young Readers, NY 2009

This is the story of a group of amnesiac teenage boys living in a self-sustaining compound surrounded by very high walls with gates that close every night to protect them from the surrounding monster-filled maze. Basically, the boys have no memory of their lives prior to their arrival in the compound, and they can't figure out how to get themselves out of this pickle even though every day several of the detainees attempt to solve the maze. Enter Thomas. This Glader suspects he holds the key to everyone's escape, but is he just leading them from bad to worse? That's what Gally thinks, and he isn't shy about expressing his feelings.

This is the first book in The Maze Runner Trilogy, and I was all "Wait, what? Oh, now I get it!" throughout the story until I got to the end and realized I actually had no idea what was going on - so I went out and got book 2, The Scorch Trials, immediately and I still don't quite know how the story will end. Now I am impatiently waiting for the third and final book to come out.

Bottom Line:

I loves me a good dystopian novel and this one has all the right stuff.