Nothing by Janne Teller YP FIC TELLER

One day Pierre Anthon, a seemingly normal Danish 7th grader, realizes that life has no meaning. He therefore decides to spend all his time in a plum tree trying to get used to doing nothing. This causes the rest of his class to question the meaning in their lives. Not wanting to question the meaning their lives they decide on a decisive course of actions: pelting Pierre with rocks. Unfortunately, Pierre is unfazed and continues ridiculing their belief in any meaning. They then come up with a master plan: build a Pile of Meaning in an abandoned saw mill. Each child must give up what is most precious. When they discover that they cannot give up what they love the children then start to pick another child's item. This leads to bitterness and each child trying to have revenge by picking something more precious then what they lost. Then things go terribly, horribly, tragically wrong.

WARNING: This novel is dark with a capital D. But I loved it anyways. It is creepy, sad, and absolutely unique. It takes a really cold and serious look at what people will do to hold onto feeling 'normal'. The kids start by picking items that are really personal, but then bitterness at losing a favorite item leads them to pick some seriously evil choices to take from their classmates. The fact that the setting is Danish didn't bother me and I actually liked having a foreignness to the story. The kids and what they do could all be set anywhere but the bleakness of Denmark did add to the story. This is definitely a good read for fans of books like Lord of the Flies or other books that show what monsters lie in the hearts of people.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan is the first book of a new steampunk trilogy written by young adult, sci-fi writer, Scott Westerfeld. Steampunk is a genre of science fiction writing that encompasses a unique mix of past and future. The first steampunk novels were written by H.G. Wells (War of the Worlds) and Jules Verne (Journey to the Center of the Earth). Originally, steampunk was set in the Victoria era with futurist possibilities, like flying machines, computer-like contraptions, and weapons. The genre eventually evolved to include sub-genres known as clockpunk (16th Century) and dieselpunk (WWI era).

Westerfeld’s new series begins in 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which was the event that sparked World War I. Instead of accurately retelling the events of WWI, Westerfeld creates an alternate history, where countries are divided by science and warfare. Countries, like Germany and Austria, known as Clankers, have highly developed war machines. Other countries, such as England, have trusted Darwinists scientists, who developed living war machines and new animals through cross breeding DNA. The Leviathan is part whale, part airship, and it is the pride of the Air Service.

At the beginning of the story we meet young Aleksander (Alek), son of the assassinated Archduke, who is forced to flee his homeland. He is being chased by the Germans and Austrians because he is a threat to the Austrian Empire. The story also introduces Deryn, a young girl who is passing as a teen boy in order to join the British Air Service. She is a talented airman, but women aren’t allowed to fly.

The two cross paths at the start of the war. Alek and his men, who escaped to Switzerland, encounter Deryn and the Leviathan crew when the airship crashes after a German air assault. This book starts an around the world journey and a clash of thinking on man, machine, and science.

Watch this:
Leviathan Book Trailer

Scott Westerfeld has written a number of novels and many of them are available at the library. You may be familiar with the previous series, Pretties, Uglies, Specials, and Extras. Vampire enthusiasts may be familiar with Peeps and The Last Days.