The End Games by T. Michael Martin

"People say they have hope for the future, but no they don't. Because hope wasn't about the future, not truly. Hope was: make me feel better now. Hope was: tell me, this second, that I'll be all right. Hope was: tell me I don't have to be different, but things will be. Hope made you feel better by letting you feel a false future..."

This book basically knocked my socks off. The End Games is set during a zombie apocalypse. Teenaged Michael and his five-year-old brother Patrick have been running from zombies since Halloween, weeks ago, when everything started. For the brothers, the zombies are like living in a video game. They follow the instructions of the Game Master, earning points for finding supplies and weapons. Too bad it isn't really a game.

Michael made the "game" up to protect his brother. Patrick has a mental impairment that makes it hard for him to face extreme situations. When things become overwhelming, he starts to hurt himself and can even shut down completely. Patrick doesn't actually believe that they are in danger at any point.

So the brothers play the "game," doing their best to survive hordes of zombies, or Bellows. Bellows is Michael's term for the zombies, so-called because they parrot back whatever is said around them. Just when I thought zombies couldn't get any creepier, this happens. To make matters worse, they get on the bad side of a religious cult that worships the Bellows. The cult wants to sacrifice Michael for killing one of their precious "angels." Fortunately, the boys are rescued and taken to a secure fortress. After all of the running, the "game," they are finally safe...or are they?

The End Games made me happy because it gave me the good, old-fashioned zombie story I have been wanting. It's pretty intense, with loads of action and thrilling scenes. The story also mixes in some drama in Michael and Patrick's backstory. There's also some humor and a very sweet story of love between two brothers. The year is only a little over halfway through, but I am calling this as one of my top reads of 2013.

I received my copy of The End Games from Edelweiss, courtesy of HarperCollins. It's available for purchase now.

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Humans waste words. They toss them like banana peels and leave them to rot.
Everyone knows the peels are the best part.

The cover of this book pulled me in from the moment I saw it at my bookstore. I read the description over and over, and I teared up every time. When the library acquired the ebook, I absolutely had to read it.

Ivan is a gorilla who lives in a roadside mall, and he is telling us his story. I assume that the book takes place in the 1950s or 1960s, because there don't seem to be very many rules for keeping exotic animals in malls. The whole thing is a bit depressing. There aren't very many visitors to the mall anymore, and the owner has been sad since his wife died. Ivan's closest friends are an old elephant with a bad leg, Stella, and a stray dog, Bob. Ivan loves to draw and paint, he has since he was a baby in the jungle. His paintings are sold in the gift shop, but it's not enough.

In order to drum up business, the mall buys a baby elephant named Ruby. She is cute and inquisitive and absolutely miserable living in a tiny enclosure and learning tricks. Stella's leg gets worse, and she eventually passes away. Her final wish is for Ivan to get Ruby out of the mall, to a zoo where she can be with other elephants. The only question is how one gorilla can accomplish this fairly massive feat.

I'm just a teensy bit older than the intended audience, but I really enjoyed the book. I've always had a soft spot for animals, so I am sure I would have cried as much when I was still a kid as I cried now. It's also interesting how Ivan was based on a real gorilla, also named Ivan. This is the only book I've ever read with a gorilla as the narrator. The story can be heartbreaking, but Ivan adds a lot of humor as well. Ivan's story isn't one you can soon forget.

Here is the fantastic book trailer, featuring a lot of the fantastic illustrations.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Can you remember being a child and all the blind faith that came with it? You would believe in monsters and fairy tales, anything that could be dreamt up could be real.

When Jacob was younger, his grandfather would tell him stories of his childhood. Grandfather Lawrence grew up on an island with a group of other children, safe from any monsters that would harm them. All of the children had special abilities; One girl could levitate, one could produce fireballs, there was an invisible boy and one with bees living inside of him. There was even a collection of photographs as evidence that such marvelous things could exist.

Now that Jacob has grown up, it's obvious that his grandfather is delusional. The photographs are faked. The old man keeps ranting and raving about monsters and his gun cabinet. Obviously, the only monsters were the Nazis and the island was the safe haven for a Jewish child whose family was killed. It was all part of his grandfather's fantasy world. Except...his grandfather was right all along.

The stars of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children are definitely the photographs. They are all real, found pictures, and the story was written around them. I found myself looking forward to anytime a picture was described, because then the author would have a picture ready for the reader. It really adds to the experience of the book. As for the story, there are paranormal elements and time travel, scary monsters and lessons in growing up. What more could you ask for, really?

The Summer We Read Gatsby by Danielle Ganek

"How well can we really know another person? People can be in your lives for years- they can fill your lives. But all you really know of them are the stories they tell you. And then they die. They always leave a mystery behind."

Half-sisters Pecksland (Peck) and Stella Blue (Cassie) are spending their summer in Southampton while sorting out their Aunt Lydia's estate. They end up finding a mystery. In her will, their aunt requested that they find a "thing of utmost value." Right after reading that passage of Lydia's will, Cassie thinks of a painting inscribed "To L.M. from J.P." The painting, which they suspect may be an early Jackson Pollock, goes missing soon afterwards. Further details aren't really necessary because the treasure hunt is never really the main focus of the plot, just an entertaining backdrop and deus ex machina.

The main story lies with Peck and Cassie. As children, they never spent much time together. Their father fell in love with Cassie's mother when he was still married and subsequently left Peck and her mother. The sisters are as different as night and day, as identical twins always are in popular culture. Peck is curvy, loud, and prone to exclamation. She wears a lot of vintage clothes (The descriptions of which made me jealous). Cassie has lived in Switzerland for most of her adult life, and is quieter, stick thin, and doesn't care about clothes. Everything is seen through Cassie's eyes, which is probably for the best. Peck would probably have been an overwhelming, inaccurate narrator.

Throughout the summer, Peck and Cassie connect as sisters for the first time. They learn to appreciate each other as almost the only family either has left. Both sisters find love with old acquaintances. Peck falls in love with ex-boyfriend Miles Noble, then falls out of love, then back in again. Cassie has a difficult time with old family friend Finn Killian. Peck is wooed by a Gatsby-themed party and monogrammed pool, Cassie by baseball games and family s'mores.

The Summer We Read Gatsby actually repeats a lot of the themes from one of my other Cannonball Reads, Paper Towns. The half-sisters didn't really know each other well, they didn't know their aunt well enough. On the second, nothing more could be done because Aunt Lydia was dead, to be abrupt. Yet, her death led to greater bonding between the sisters. Her death led to romance: Peck and Miles, Cassie and Finn. Lydia's death led to a whole new dysfunctional family. It's really incredibly beautiful to see the disconnection of death forge bonds of connection amongst the living. Nobody knows everything about any one person, no matter how close you get. There will always be secrets taken to the grave. Ultimately, we have to focus more on the living, forge our connections, and disclose our secrets while we still have the chance.