The first book I decided to dive into the summer with was Stolen by Lucy Christopher. Probably a pretty odd choice for the summer, considering its tragic subject matter and emotionally draining narration, but I'd heard good things from a colleague. After reading the tale of a teenage girl's abduction and subsequent isolation in the Australian outback with her abductor, I found I was not quite as moved as my colleague. The narration style is interesting, told almost in a sort of second person narration in that Gemma is writing a letter of the events that unfolded during her month-or-so captivity to Ty, the man responsible for stalking than stealing her away from an airport to the ranch he'd constructed away from all other civilization. The pace was a bit slow for me, but picked up at the end when nature gets the best of Gemma and she is put in a life-or-death situation from a snake bite. Ty tries to care for her with his limited medical supplies, but he realizes that he won't be able to save the girl he dreamed of spending the rest of his life with on his own. He takes her to a nearby mine (with workers and access to a hospital), first by camel, then by car. Gemma is left struggling with mixed feelings, probably the aftereffects of Stockholm syndrome. The ending was tied up in a satisfactory way, but overall I would say Stolen did not steal my heart.
At this point, I was ready for something a lot lighter. I found a very different, and extremely enjoyable, new read in Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel. I've read and loved Oppel's other YA books, especially the Airborn series, so I knew I would not be disappointed by his latest novel. In this realistic fiction story, thirteen-year-old Ben reluctantly becomes "big brother" to a chimp named Zan when his parents undertake a ground-breaking research project to test the language skills of this primate species. It took me a while to warm up to this book, not unlike Ben's slow-building warmth toward Zan. I don't know how well Oppel researched chimps and their learning abilities, but I found myself cheering as Zan initiated communication with his "family" and tearing up when Ben discovered that Zan would have to leave them. Okay, I'll admit it - there was a full-on waterworks show going as I struggled through the final pages. A LOT happened at the end...almost to the point where I lost a bit of the sense of realism that Oppel had worked hard to create early on. For instance, Ben and his mom end up "chimp"-napping (couldn't help myself!) Zan from a researcher whom they have reason to believe may sell Zan to a testing lab. I also had a tough time liking the protagonist at times. I appreciate the author's development of a realistic, multi-dimensional main character, but his flaws were off-putting at times. Other than these slight flaws, I loved Half Brother. Outside of being a heart-warming read, it raises a lot of thought-provoking questions about what constitutes fair animal treatment and what it takes to make a loving, happy family.
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