Summer Reading Spectacular #14

It was a busy day for reading!

First, I completed the first book in the Kidnapped trilogy, “Abduction”. Those of you of a certain age will likely know Gordon Korman (who has been discussed here before) for his light and amusing novels full of quirky, rambunctious characters up to various goofy shenanigans. (Favourites include No Coins Please, I Want to Go Home, and Go Jump In the Pool!) What you may or may not know is that he has, in recent years, also become known among the junior set for his adventure series, little thrillers just right for that 9 to 14 year-old audience.

The Island trilogy follows a group of kids who get stranded on ... you guessed it, an island.
The Everest trilogy follows a group of kids who have adventures while climbing ... you guessed it, Everest.
The On the Run series (of six books) follows a pair of kids who are ... you guessed it, on the run.
The Dive trilogy follows a group of kids having adventures ... you guessed it, in the ocean.

In any case, Kidnapped, is a follow-up to On the Run, taking the family from the previous series on a new adventure when one of the kids is ... you guessed it! KIDNAPPED!

I won’t comment much until I finish the other two books in the trilogy. Suffice it to say that Korman knows his audience. So far this adventure, like those before it, have enough plot twists and dangerous scenarios to keep the junior audience excited and interested, but not so much complexity that they’ll feel bogged down or overwhelmed by details and content.

Secondly, I finished reading The Ottoman Cage, by Barbara Nadel, an author new to me. A crime thriller type of story set in Istanbul, it actually made me want to visit the city. The author, who apparently has spent plenty of time in Turkey, wove the history, culture, and classes of Istanbul deeply into every page of the story, with characters whose backstories are surprisingly fleshed-out while somehow not feeling like “add-ons” to her plot. The book was previously published as A Chemical Prison, which still appears on the top of every inside page, oddly enough. Although that title does make sense, The Ottoman Cage is, in my humble opinion, a much better title -- both more engaging and more variously applicable to themes and symbols within the book. I believe I will search out her first novel, Belshazzar’s Daughter, which shares setting and characters with this book, to enjoy at a later date.

Later, I started and finished Snap by Alison McGhee, a short novel about a girl who attempts to organize her life with lists and elastic bands and who struggles with her fears and feelings when her closest friend learns that her grandmother is dying. (I do not envy those people who have to encapsulate the story or theme of a book for dust jackets and the like.)

Finally, I read Bone: Book Three – Eyes of the Storm.