Reading Friday

Welcome to another installment of Reading Friday! I read two books this past week:

1. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski. After reading Rutkoski's interview on the Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival blog, I read the ARC of this novel.*

Kestrel is the daughter of a general. She has the choice either to marry or go into her father's army. Kestrel accompanies her friend, Jess, to the town's marketplace during a slave auction. Kestrel is in a heated bidding war with another person over the slave, who is a young man the same age as Kestrel. She wins him after bidding a large sum of money; hence, the winner's curse. Kestrel is fascinated by the slave, Smith (Arin), and wants to know his background. Smith is guarded about how much he lets Kestrel know about himself--he has secrets.

While I was put off by the cover of the book (how many YA books have covers with young ladies suffering from ennui in fancy dresses?), I really enjoyed this book! I especially like Rutkoski's characters; Kestrel is a strong female character who makes mistakes. Smith (Arin), Kestrel's slave, is headstrong and torn between loyalty and romance. Rutkoski's style kept me reading--I had to know what was going to happen next.

The novel ended a bit abruptly, but I believe this is the first in a trilogy. I'm excited to read the next installment.

The Winner's Curse is scheduled to be released on March 4.

2. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

I read this book in less than an hour. Linda Sue Park weaves the stories of two people from South Sudan together. One is Salva Dut, the real-life founder of Water for South Sudan. He is one of the Lost Boys of the Sudan in the 1980s/1990s. The other is Nya, a fictional girl living in a Sudanese village in 2008. Nya walks to the nearest freshwater source for her village every day-- it takes her most of the day walking to fetch water for her family. Through the two narratives, the reader is able to see the war in Sudan and how that has affected the Sudanese people over the past 20 years.

Everyone should read this book. I didn't realize how much the Lost Boys struggled during the war. Although I knew that fresh water is a problem for many people in Africa, I didn't realize the extent of the problem. This book exposed me to lives outside my realm of experiences.

Overall, it was an awesome week for reading!

*NOTE: My friend who went to NCTE picked up the ARC at one of the publisher's tables. I am not compensated in anyway for my book reviews on my blog.