Maria Violet ponders the possibilities of the four waves.

 
In a sea of YA dystopian novels, it’s difficult to stand out. So many of the stories that gained popularity around the same time as The Hunger Games have followed the basic formula of taking a teen who has grown up in this post-apocalyptic world and pitting them against the authority. The 5th Wave sets itself apart in a number of ways, most notably by having the main character witness the event that drives the Earth into chaos, and showing her having to adapt to a world that has changed overnight but is still recognisably sexist and racist.

The story follows Cassie, a fairly regular girl who witnesses the beginning of an alien attack that leads to invasion. During the upheaval, perpetuated in five “waves,” Cassie loses track of her brother and is determined to find him and save him from the aliens. She meets and befriends Evan who trains her to fight and the two must work together to try and survive.

This all raises the question, though: Could this really happen? Is it possible that the various “waves” might actually be problems we could face, either from aliens or just natural causes? While we are not made aware at the beginning of the film what the titular “5th Wave” is, we can look at the other four.

1st Wave – The first of the alien attacks is an electromagnetic surge that knocks out all power on the planet. This is probably the most logical first step to an invasion. In fact, the first plans the US drew up for aerial attacks back in 1941 involved trying to knock out German power plants. Without power, nothing else works in the modern world. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the US power grid ranks a D+ and is susceptible to weather, physical attack, and even animals. There is very little financial incentive for companies to upgrade, so the whole system continues to deteriorate. While a global attack is unlikely, cascading regional attacks could be accomplished here on Earth with enough planning.

2nd Wave – The aliens use steel beams launched from space into Earth’s fault lines, creating massive tsunamis and earthquakes. This is somewhat fanciful, both in terms of steel not being able to handle reentry at that speed and the sheer scale of the devastation. That being said, extreme weather conditions are not only a possibility – they are a reality. From more severe hot and cold temperatures to enormous events like Superstorm Sandy, global climate change and overpopulation has increased the intensity of many of our weather patterns, making them capable of untold destruction.

3rd Wave – A deadly flu is unleashed on humanity, spreading quickly among the population and severely whittling down the number of living people. Disease is no joke, and health organizations around the world are constantly scrambling to try to keep it under control. This is especially true with the rise of bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics, eliminating the primary way that we combat those types of diseases. Viruses like the flu are already very difficult to keep under control, so while it would take some time to decimate the population, it would be nearly impossible to keep from eventually doing just that eventually.

4th Wave – At this point, the aliens are taking over the bodies of human beings, subsuming their personalities and walking among us in secret. While there is no credible basis for this sort of physical thing actually happening, the idea has been explored in science fiction as metaphor for quite some time, most notably in Invasion of the Body Snatchers which used the alien replacements to represent Communists hiding among us.

While unlikely to happen exactly as it does in the film, the various attacks in The 5th Wave are not only plausible in certain instances, they are already happening around us and many don’t even realize it. It seems many places in the world are likely susceptible to energy failure in addition to the dwindling natural resources we already have. Environmental disasters happen all the time and in most instances, unpredictably. Just a few months ago, Japan was struck with tsunami waves caused by an earthquake in Chile. Disease and epidemics are also in full throttle with the zika virus, causing flu symptoms and birth defects. And while aliens seem farfetched, there’s no telling who is out to get you.

Joelene:

Cover

A slightly psychopathic-looking rocking duck in a kids’ playground.

Characters

There’s a pretty big cast. It’s easy to get mixed up or lose track of who’s dating who until it’s mentioned again. I like how everyone is initially described. They all seem larger than life and visually dynamic.

Favourite

Cass. Hands down. She’s in one of the most awful situations out of everyone, but instead of running away or lashing out at the others, she tries to look out for everyone.

Least Favourite

There were a few that might qualify. I’d probably choose Kara. Partially because this is her story so we’re stuck with her for so long, but partially because she just has no reason to be the way she is. It’s like she blames the world for giving her a raw deal when, by anyone else’s standards, she has it pretty good.

Beginning

Kara hasn’t been back to Oak Park since the night she almost overdosed in the park next to the boy she loved. She’s changed a lot since then, but going back brings a surge of memories.

Storyline

The story follows Kara and her friends as they make the choices that lead to the night she almost dies.

Ending

Is in keeping with the rest of the story. It’s a satisfying conclusion that brings the story full circle.

Thoughts

This is a book I would have appreciated when I was younger. Not that drugs or parties were ever my scene, but it was kind of hard to find out about things like drugs without trying them first-hand. Half the people said that you’d try them and die; the other half said that they were the best thing ever. There wasn’t a middle ground. I guess this book is the middle ground, though it’s kind of excessive.

I appreciate that Kuehnert explores abusive relationships, but wonder why her warnings are about the guy who listens to people’s problems, respects women and can see where he’s gone wrong in the past; rather than about the guy who carries a knife, likes to get in fights and has no respect for women. Sure, anyone can be an abuser, but one of those guys shows all the classic signs, and it’s not the one she picked.

There’s not much in this novel for me, but it’s a safe way for younger people to find out about darker parts of the world. When I was fourteen I would have gotten a lot more out of it.

Quote

When his gaze locked on mine, I mentally chanted my mantra of I can’t stay, and then I let him embrace me. His scent had always reminded me of a muskier version of the air off Lake Michigan, and as soon as it reached my nostrils, it shattered the icy indifference that I’d tried to force myself to feel about him. As I melted into his familiar arms, I could no longer deny it: I’d missed him and I’d missed home and I’d gone too long without facing all of my bad memories and old ghosts.

Bel:

Cover

A playground at sunset. A fair representation of where most of the situations happen.

Characters

Between wanting to smack sense into all of them and then do it again, just to be sure it sunk in, it doesn’t bode well.

Favourite

Not sure that I had one.

Least Favourite

Pick anyone, they’re all really horrible for many different reasons.

Beginning

Teen in a social crisis because her friend moves away and decides to hang with the druggies.

Storyline

Self harm drugs, drinking, and teens thinking their lives suck because of external reasons (not at all because of their personal choices).

Ending

The ‘don’t try this at home kids’ message come through.

Thoughts

Did I think this book was well written? Yes.

Do I like the topics covered in the book? No.

As a teen, I felt like life wasn’t exactly a bed of roses. But even for me back then, drugs were not the answer. We had our druggie kids at school, and the number of times I ended up with a second hand buzz from the pot smokers who were never busted for lighting up on school grounds was ridiculous. Those kids were total LOSERS. Four years after graduation, one of them shot a local police senior sergeant. This is reality folks.

A book like this would have them revelling in how awesome it is that someone finally wrote a book about them. In other words, they’d be missing the point entirely.

As a parent, I get the fear factor. Be alert for what your teens are up to. Get help quickly. Do not be an absentee in their live or else THIS could happen.

This book was set in an era where, at least in Australia, safe sex, stay in school and keep away from drugs were HUGE campaigns in schools. I have no sympathy for any of the characters.

I just do not see what MTV was hoping to achieve by publishing this book. The truth is, this is a representation of such a small number of teens. The ones who would read it would either think it’s glorifying their behaviour, or curl their lips and look away.

All choices have consequences; it’s up to you to make good choices.

Krista:

Cover

A lot of the big moments in the story  happen in the park in which they all  hang out, so the cover does represent the story well.

Characters

There are a lot of characters in this story and part of the story of this book Ballads of Suburbia in which teens tell their stories of their messed up lives. The story focuses on Liam and Kara but we are really introduced to this whole community through their stories.

Favourite

None. I believe this story focused more on the negative side affects of life and although some healing does happen, there are no role models.

Least Favourite

Shelly: she is the one that throws the parties… every week. A place that supplies the drinks, drugs, atmosphere that never has an adult present. A lot of things stem from Shelly’s house and what it represents.

Beginning

Liam and Kara find out their parents are divorcing. Neither has any friends or other family to lean on for the emotional support and they look to others their age to fill that void. All of the characters in this story are going through emotional turmoil and don’t have a positive support system to lean on. They are all looking for a way to not actually have to live the life they are in. Being teenagers they do not feel they have any way out.

Storyline

It is a mixture of different stories from teens in the Oak Park area of Chicago during the early 90’s. The stories look at the variety of a ways that these kids are searching for an escape: self harm, sex, drugs, alcohol and a feeling of friendship and community with each other.

Ending

A lot of the kid’s stories are about hitting rock bottom and forcing their parents or police to take action. This causes a lot of them to separate into their own lives, graduating and moving on from the situation they put themselves in. And some don’t make it through.

Thoughts

While I agree with the points that Bel made regarding the book, I had a different childhood. I was lucky enough to make some very smart decisions, but also made bad ones. I even saw some very good friends and family make some of the bad decisions. I had this book on my want to read list because, looking back, I still question some of the decisions I saw being made around my life. When it came down to it, my decision to not participate is what made me the avid reader that I am. But I have always had a bit of interest of seeing what it was like for those I know who made other decisions.

This book is not for everybody, perhaps not the best book for a book club choice, but I still feel that there is no harm done by educating ourselves on things that may happen in the world. Even though everybody may not understand or relate to these characters, they do exist. It took me a long time to get through the story because it is heavy. It is sad and it has a powerful message.

Paperback, 344 pages

Published July 21st 2009 by MTV Books (first published July 15th 2009)

ISBN 1439102821 (ISBN13: 9781439102824)

Discussion Topics

Are the kinds of self-harming habits explored in Ballads of Suburbia – things such as excessive drinking, drug use and cutting – being glorified in novels, or is it important that these issues be explored?

A stunning novel about the transformative power of love, perfect for fans of Jay Asher and Laurie Halse Anderson.

Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.

There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution—Roman, a teenage boy who’s haunted by a family tragedy, is looking for a partner. Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other’s broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together. 

Hardcover, 302 pages

Published February 10th 2015 by Balzer + Bray

original title

My Heart and Other Black Holes

ISBN

0062324675 (ISBN13: 9780062324672)

It’s expected that a novel focusing on a plan to commit suicide is going to be depressing and melancholy. There is not much that the story brings plot-wise that is not described in the synopsis. It’s a story that focuses on two characters: Aysel and Roman. They meet on an Internet suicide site and make a pact to commit suicide together.

I had a hard time trying to figure out what to say in my review of this story, as the book cover pretty much summarized the whole book. What I figured I would do was discuss my feelings about the story. It is hard to know whether the actions and feelings that the characters experience are enough to consider suicide. People lose themselves in emotions, become blind, lost, panicked, content or happy on an individual basis. It’s such a personal issue, how can  I judge whether they were justified in their thoughts?

Aysel is having a hard time at home and school. She feels constantly judged, eyes on her at school and also in her own home. She has a hard time expressing her emotions. Roman, on the other hand, feels that a part of him is missing. His actions caused harm and the guilt weighs him down so heavily that he’s lost his way.

This story is mostly about working out your feelings. Sometimes you find your way through them, but sometimes you don’t. The decision to follow through with your intentions, or finding a way to release them becomes the main objective of the book.

I personally agree that the best way to really understand how you feel is to open up. Conversation really does wonders, and when things are brought to light, the majority of the time you feel better. Since I am a strong believer in honesty, releasing emotion through conversations is the best thing for you emotionally. It depends on who’s around you though. Often releasing through writing, drawing, exercising is a good start, and both of these characters seem to have fallen into a place where they block out using that kind of release.

The message I got from the book was… don’t be afraid to talk, ask the hard questions, get to know yourself and others. I’m not going to say it was an easy book to read, or that I would recommend it to everybody. But I think that it was well presented and could really connect with some readers. There is a message here and taking some time out to really think about it, or discuss it with others, might give some people comfort.

Over a few short months in the early 1950s, three passenger planes crash in the town of Elizabeth. Judy Blume’s latest novel, In the Unlikely Event, is centred on this historical tragedy.

In 1987 Miri Ammerman prepares to return to her hometown, Elizabeth, New Jersey for a commemoration of the tragedy that unfolded thirty-five years earlier.

At fifteen, Miri’s world was beginning to open up for her. With 1951 almost over, 1952 will be the year she finds her first love and meets her father. It will also be the worst year of her life. A year in which her best friend becomes a stranger, her entire school lives in fear of falling planes and a year in which Miri learns that no matter how much you love people, sometimes you cannot trust them.

Judy Blume is an author that generations of teens have grown up with. With In the Unlikely Event she has written her first novel for adults in seventeen years. For any of us who grew up with Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret or Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing for company, we now have a novel to turn to as adults. Though, one could argue, not completely. While In the Unlikely Event has a more adult slant, and many adult viewpoints, the world is still primarily seen through the eyes of a teenager. There is still an innocence about the perspective in much of this story that makes a reader see the world through new, unjaded eyes.

Knowing what Unlikely Event is about creates a pervasive feeling of dread through the novel. As favourite characters board planes, reading further becomes almost stressful. Even as the characters go about their daily lives, there is a feeling of doom hanging over them. The notion that they might not all survive three planes tumbling from the sky leaks into the pages.

These catastrophic events are experienced through multiple perspectives, which works in achieving the sense of community that Blume was evidently pursuing. For me, though, there were too many voices. A few of them stood out far and above the others and I would have preferred the novel to have focussed on them. Miri, the central character, obviously takes centre stage. Through her narrative enough of a sense of community is built up. Her accounts of the toll the accidents take on her school-mates, her best friend, her family and the community at large works, because her viewpoint is so ingrained in the novel. Even when she goes to community meetings about the accidents, the atmosphere in her description is electric.

While Unlikely Event centres around the three unfortunate Newark passenger plane crashes that happened in the early 50s, there’s so much more to get swept up in in the tale. Set in another era, Unlikely Event takes us back to the days of Elizabeth Taylor hairstyles and distinctive American cars.

It also harkens back to an era that had wildly different core values. Much of Miri’s worry stems from the fact that she lives in a time when protecting children meant not telling them anything. Rather than talking the tragedies out, the adults leave the children to feed each other’s fears until they believe the crashes are anything from enemy attacks to aliens. Similarly, as an illegitimate child, Miri’s past is shrouded in mystery.

Unlikely Event could easily be a novel that descends into the chaos of the disaster that it is depicting; instead it explores the social intricacies surrounding the events. While it has themes that aren’t suitable for younger readers, older teens who enjoy contemporary YA would likely love this novel.

In the Unlikely Event – Judy Blume

Pan Macmillan (June 2, 2015)

ISBN: 9781509801657

As you know, I got this book in the goodie bag from the Hachette evening late last year. It’s the second book I read this year and, wow, what a read.

I sat down at about 2 in the afternoon and only got up for dinner and bathroom breaks; I was done before bed. I didn’t realise the words on the front cover of the review copy were in fact quotes from people who had already read the book. I agree with them all.

Blurb from goodreads…

“Can the best thing happen at the worst time?  Her dad went crazy. Her mom left town. She has bills to pay and a little sister to look after. Now is not the time for level-headed seventeen-year-old Lucille to fall in love. But love—messy, inconvenient love—is what she’s about to experience when she falls for Digby Jones, her best friend’s brother. With blazing longing that builds to a fever pitch, Estelle Laure’s soulful debut will keep readers hooked and hoping until the very last page.”

And holy dooly didn’t it keep you on the edge of your seat.

Laurie is a master of getting you to the point where you think you’ll cry with the character in utter frustration, and then the quick release leaving you with mental pins and needles.

The beauty contained between the lines is gritty and untraditional. It’ll speak to anyone who has had (or thinks they have had) a difficult childhood. Lucille’s stoicism is both heart breaking and something to be celebrated. I feel like. perhaps. Laure is touching a nerve in how authentic it feels.

I hope you’ll buy a copy or demand your local library stock a copy because I seriously think everyone will love this book.

Estelle’s next book is aiming for January 2017. Geez I hope this year goes quickly.

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published December 22nd 2015 by HMH Books for Young Readers

ISBN 0544534298 (ISBN13: 9780544534292)