Neal Shusterman review

I wonder how many books I've finished at about 3am... Probably a majority. I guess I'm just incapable of putting a book down when I'm anywhere near the end of a story. Is the next-day-grogginess worth it? Absolutely.

My most recent reads were recommended by Orson Scott Card. Sean and I are religous readers of his weekly column. And thus we began reading Shusterman.

His books are considered young adult books, but heck, they're usually the best genre. I've read three of his books so far.

Everlost

The trouble with reviewing his books is that there's not much I can say without giving away surprises. Everlost is essentially about death. And the adventures of kids in a world in-between life and death. I think it's really a study of the bravery of kids and growing to find peace within yourself in hard situations. But it's fun and creative too. I found it thought-provoking.

Antsy Does Time

This book is SO ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLY SUPER FUNNY! Very different from Everlost, though it's actually about death too. Everything the main character says/thinks just causes me to chortle up a storm. Honestly, one night I was reading in bed after Sean had fallen asleep, Antsy told the funniest story about a school play and I laughed for about 10 minutes, waking Sean up about 3 times in the process. It's a great story about friendship and service and it's just so fun to read. Sean says it has great "voice." Read this one, it's my favorite of the three.

The Dark Side of Nowhere

This was a fun little sci-fi book about teenagery kids and humanity. I don't think there was anything too remarkable about this book, I just so enjoyed the way Shusterman tells stories that I had to get my hands on more.

In thinking about it, the main theme about all these books is in valuing life. They make you think but have fun in the process. Neal Shusterman is simply an entertaining author. All the books are quick reads. As a sidenote, the covers are weird (well, Everlost's is ok), if I was judging a book by it's cover, I wouldn't read these. But I judged it by the author, so I did read them. Hope you like them!