The Forest at the Edge of the World - Trish Mercer

Like all great books, don't give up in the first few pages. The first time I read Ender's Game I gave up in the first few pages. Same with The Hobbit, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Narnia. (how foolish I was to give up on those gems so easily. But never again!) 

As you read this book, you are pleasantly surprised when you are whisked away into a world you've never been in, with people you've never met, and a story you've never heard. The narration is beautiful, the culture rich, and the characters very much alive.

This book is refreshing because it is not trendy. There are no paranormal romances, legions of elves, or extraordinary children heroes who do impossible tasks. No. This story is believable because it seems so real.

In the dystopian world created by Mercer, the curiosities of her heroes as they try to discover who the grand puppet master is that controls their world is both captivating and intriguing. By the time you think you have it figured out as to who that is, the plot has developed to the point where you, like them, are second guessing yourself.

The plot summary, in the author’s own words:

“Captain Perrin Shin, assigned to village Edge of the World, is out to do more than command the new fort. He’s determined to uncover the mystery of the Guarders: where they live, why they attack, and what they want.
Suspiciously, none of their behavior has ever made sense.
Mahrree Peto, a teacher in Edge, is also growing suspicious. Of the Administrators who promise to eradicate the Guarders, and of the arrogant captain they sent to protect Edge.
It’s hard to know who to trust.
The most powerful man in the world is also fascinated by trust, and precisely what it takes to destroy it. He’s looking for research subjects, and up in Edge a brash captain and a nosy teacher have caught his attention.
Let the experiment begin.”

You and your teens won't go wrong by giving yourself up to the story for a few hours until the book ends. At which time you, like me, will be begging for more.


Personal Bio:

I got my Bachelors at BYU in Archaeology and eight months later started back at BYU, this time working on my Masters in Environmental Science. I work as the Anthropology 101 Head TA, I love to dig in the dirt--such as gardening with my husband or excavating prehistoric ruins, and I love to explore National Parks. 

Madison is a guest blogger for the BYU Bookstore. If you would like to submitt a book review, please contact us at bookstore_marketing@byu.edu

National Children's Book Week

Recently three hours in a car that seats six, but not comfortably, was made fun rather than unpleasant because, at my grandson’s request we listened to The True Meaning of Smekday.  As I listened to my grandson giggle in all the right places from the back seat and my husband joining in beside me, with moments of laugh out loud enjoyment, I marveled at the universality of “children’s” literature.  Walter de la Mare, in Bells of Grass, says so eloquently: “I know well that only the rarest kind of best in anything can be good enough for the young.”  I would not change the children’s claim to “the rarest kind of best” in literature, but one thing I would change is the tendency of adults and young adults to think that they have grown beyond books labeled “children’s” literature.

National Children’s Book Week is May 13 – 19^th.  Take the time to celebrate by treating yourself to a children’s book.  Better yet enjoy it with a child.  There is no more satisfying magic than that moment when you meet in a book and understand each other and life at a new level.  Some of my favorite titles that have been springboards to just such moments are:

                The Fortune-Tellers by Lloyd Alexander

                Anansi and the Talking Melon by Eric Kimmel

                14 Cows for America by Carman Agra Deedy

                Midnight Fox by Betsy Byars

                Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary

                Wonder by R J Palacio

                One Hen - How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference by Katie Smith Milway

                Charlotte's Rose by A E Cannon

                A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

“Reading is one of the true pleasures of life. . .it is mind-easing and mind-inspiring to sit down privately with a congenial book...” Thomas S Monson

Give in, take pleasure in life, READ!

-Anita



Anita is the Children's Book buyer for the BYU Bookstore and has worked at the BYU Bookstore for over ten years! Anita spreads her love of reading within our Children’s Books department and with many local book events such as Books for Young Readers, Education Week and the Annual Christmas Booktalk.

Summer Reading

Here at BYU, we are finished with semester. That means time to read things I want to read!

Since I'm not taking classes this summer, and I'm not spending a huge chunk of the summer writing for a newspaper or traveling, I am hoping to get some more fun reads in.

This is my summer reading list:

1. MockingJay: I've read the first two Hunger Games books and started this one, but I didn't finish. I figured it would be good to read the third one before the second movie comes out.

2. The Harry Potter series: I read them all very quickly about six years ago and I would love to revisit them. I figured, they were the books that got me to read many other books the summer of my junior year of high school so maybe they would help me read more again. Plus, they're surprisingly quick reads.

3. Designing Brand Identity. I'm getting way into wed design and graphic design and I bought this book for Christmas. It's way overdue to be read. Non-fiction books are my guilty pleasure, what can I say?

There you go, that's what you can expect to see me reading this summer. I try to not make too ambitious of reading lists seeing as it's a difficult habit for me to develop in the first place. Wish me luck this summer!

-Hillary

Earth Day Poetry

Happy Earth Day! And Poetry Month!

In the spirit of both of holidays, here is a poem about appreciating the Earth:

"Influence of Nature" by William Wordsworth

Therefore am I still

A lover of the meadows and the woods

And mountains, and of all that we behold

From this green earth; of all the mighty world

Of eye and ear, both what they half create

And what perceive; well pleased to recognize

In nature, and the language of the sense,

The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,

The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul,

Of all my moral being.

Do you have a favorite nature poem? I am a big fan of Romanticism and transcendentalism, so I will be celebrating Earth Day by appreciating nature as well as having my own personal escape to it. It's a beautiful day here at the BYU Bookstore, and it would be a shame not to go outside and clear my head the way Wordsworth did back in his day.

Have a great day!

-Hillary