Grace and Fury

Banghart, Tracy. Grace and Fury. 2018. 320p. 519 mins. ISBN 9781549172595. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

In a world where girls are not allowed to read and have very limited options, being a Grace is one of the most attractive positions in Viridia. Upon her birth, Serina's parents saw that she would be very beautiful. They spent their meager income insuring that she would learn the proper skills necessary to be a Grace, a consort to the Superior. Every three years, three Graces are selected by the Superior to join his household. They provide entertainment, companionship, and heirs. Serina has grown up training mercilessly to ensure that she would be one of the girls picked, which should secure her family a future free from wants.

Her younger sister, Nomi, has trained as a handmaiden, the girl that accompanies a Grace, and the sisters hope to stay together. Whereas Serina is compliant and graceful, however, Nomi is willful and strong-headed. She learned how to read when her brother illegally taught her, and she wants more from life than servitude, even if it is to help her sister. She wishes to break the bonds that tie women to a second-class status.

At the Superior's court, Nomi catches the eye of the Heir, who appoints her one of his three Graces. Serina is humiliated but agrees to serve Nomi as her handmaiden. Both girls find themselves in roles for which they have not been prepared. Nomi, who stole a book from the Superior's library, is resistant to the Heir's approach. Serina is caught with Nomi's book, and to protect her sister she takes the blame, but is condemned to prison on Mount Ruin. There she discover a deadly world where girls fight against each other under the watchful eye of the male prison guards. Nomi, meanwhile, becomes part of a plot designed to overthrow the Superior and free her sister. Both of them make deadly choices, however, and soon find themselves in a perilous situation ...

Another example of girls pitted against themselves for the hand of the crown, Grace and Fury is nevertheless different enough to be intriguing. By flipping the roles on Serina and Nomi, the reader experiences the sudden change in their life circumstances, and roots for both of them to emerge unharmed, if not psychologically unscathed, from their experiences. Fans of The Selection, Red Queen, and others will appreciate the story and grit displayed by both main characters.

Breakout

Messner, Kate. Breakout. 2018. 448p. ISBN 978-1-68119-536-0. Available at FIC MES on the library shelves.

Every teen in the small community of Wolf Creek, in upper New York, is looking forward to summer vacation. With only a few days of school left, Nora Tucker and her friends are already imagining the lazy days of swimming at the pool, eating popsicles, and enjoying the many hiking opportunities around their community. Except two prisoners have just escaped from the maximum security prison located on the edge of town, and now the entire area is on lockdown with hundred of police officers searching the area.

As an aspiring journalist and editor of her school newspaper, Nora is both thrilled and horrified by this brazen escape. Her father is the prison warden, and his job is on the line and times are thus very stressful at home, especially since her younger brother was looking forward to his birthday party barbecue outside, and now it won’t happen. As a journalist, however, this is the opportunity of a lifetime to witness live coverage and learn from the best.

 For Elidee, Wolf Creek is a new place to live. Her mother and her have just moved here so they can be closer to her brother, who has to spend a decade behind the walls of the prison for a crime he committed in New York City. With more inmates in town than people, and with a large majority of the prisoners being African-American, Elidee feels the tensions in town, as one of the few African-Americans outside of the walls. She really wants to attend a prestigious school in New York City, but her application has been rejected.

Lizzie is a great comedian and loves to create parodies, and finds journalism little more than an afterthought. When her grandmother is arrested for helping the inmates escape, her life changes. How does one make light of a terrible decision? As racial aspects of the community that were hidden before are revealed due to the stress, Nora, Elidee and Lizzie have to figure out how they will survive a summer stuck in their now fortified and paranoid town.

 Told through text messages, transcripts of recorded conversations, lyrics, news stories, comics, and memoirs written for the Wolf Creek Community Time Capsule Project, fans of thrillers and friendship will appreciate Breakout.

 

An Uninterrupted View of the Sky

Crowder, Melanie. An Uninterrupted View of the Sky. 2017. 289p. ISBN 978-0-399-16900-7. Available at FIC CRO on the library shelves.

Bolivia is at the center of the worldwide cocaine production. The United States, the biggest consumer of cocaine, pressured Bolivia to pass stringent narco trafficking laws to address the problem at the source instead of at its destination. Known as the 1008, this law strips Bolivians of their assets and their due process, even though this violates the Bolivian constitution.

In 1999, Francisco lives a middle class life. His family rents a house, he goes to school, and he’s about to graduate in a few weeks. Francisco’s real passion is soccer, and his ultimate goal is to start a soccer apparel shop with his best friend Reynaldo, but his father, who drives a taxi, insists he continues his studies. His 8-year-old sister sister Pilar adores him, but they share a bedroom and Francisco wishes he had more privacy.

When his mother arrives in a panic by the soccer pitch to retrieve him, Francisco knows something is wrong. His father has been arrested under the 1008 for being a suspect in transporting cocaine. The taxi has been seized, and the family can no longer afford their rental property, much less hire a lawyer to defend him. Overnight the children are forced to move in the prison with their father, while their mother simply abandons the family behind.

Life in prison is terrible. Francisco and Pilar are allowed to leave every day, but must be back by 6 pm. There are other kids who live here and also attend their schools. The prison also houses criminals as well as suspects, and many of them are dangerous. Francisco cannot believe that the government would allow this travesty to happen, but every day he wakes up wondering what will happen next. And if Francisco found his lack of privacy difficult before when sharing a room with his sister, it’s nothing compared to sharing a cell with his sister and father. Now Francisco has a goal. He needs to study to become a lawyer so he can help his dad, but going to school while living in prison is hard. His father has a plan for the family. He wants them to go live with his parents, in the Bolivian mountains, but dark-skinned peasants are considered uncultured and uncivilized, and Francisco doesn’t want to go live with them, away from the city. With his fate and that of his sister in his hand, Francisco has difficult choices ahead of him, if only he can survive another day in prison.

Inspired by true events, Francisco’s story will inspire while confronting the harsh reality of a justice system unable to deliver true justice. Readers who enjoy tragic losses will appreciate Francisco’s changes of circumstances for the worst and the steps he takes to try and fix the scales of justice, but don’t expect a happy ending, just an uninterrupted view of the sky.

Prisoner of Ice and Snow

Lauren, Ruth. Prisoner of Ice and Snow. 2017. 280p. ISBN 9781681191317. Available at FIC LAU on the library shelves.

Valor is ready to do anything to help her twin sister Sasha. Even if that means making an assassination attempt on Prince Anatol so she can be condemned and sentenced to the ruthless Tyur’ma prison. For that’s where her sister has been sent after she stole a delicate musical box that was intended to cement an alliance between their country of Demidova and the neighboring nation of Magadanskya. And Valor knows that her sister will not be able to survive without her help.

As daughters of royal advisors, Valor and Sasha’s arrests bring disgrace on their family. Valor has a plan, however. She has seen her father’s old maps and knows there is a tunnel beneath Tyur’ma that leads straight to the Royal Palace. All she’s got to do is find her sister, steal a key, and escape with her from the inside of the prison, a feat no one has successfully accomplished in the 300 years’ existence of Tyur’ma. Unfortunately, Valor was not counting on the harsh and treacherous environment imposed by Warden Kirov, head of the notoriously cruel Peacemakers, guardians of the prison.

Now inside the ice walls, Valor finds herself struggling with her captivity. The lack of food, the lack of sleep, the cold, and the overwork is rapidly wearing her down. She knows that Sasha is more delicate, so these conditions must be even harder for her. As she plans her escape, Valor will have to turn to others to help. But with so many spies and criminals surrounding her, whom can she trust?

A well crafted fantasy novel about a place of ice and cold, readers will enjoy discovering how Valor surmounts the struggle to free her sister and prove her innocence.