The Handmaid’s Tale (Anchor):“In the world of the near future, who will control women’s bodies? Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are only valued if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now…. Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid’s Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.”

Except for the “funny” part, this is a dead-on description, capturing the tone and the basic plot of the book.

Shug (Simon & Schuster): “Shug is clever and brave and true (on the inside, anyway). And she’s about to become your new best friend. Annemarie Wilcox, or Shug as her family calls her, is beginning to think there’s nothing worse than being twelve. She’s too tall, too freckled, and way too flat-chested. Shug is sure that there’s not one good or amazing thing about her. And now she has to start junior high, where the friends she counts most dear aren’t acting so dear anymore — especially Mark, the boy she’s known her whole life through. Life is growing up all around her, and all Shug wants is for things to be like they used to be. How is a person supposed to prepare for what happens tomorrow when there’s just no figuring out today?”

This blurb just makes me want to go “awww”. Kind of like the book.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Delacorte Press): “In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future – between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?”

I like this one because it’s gripping enough to make you want to open the book, and yet doesn’t give away a think about the book. Excellent.

When You Reach Me (Wendy Lamb Books): “Four mysterious letters change Miranda’s world forever. By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper: I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late.”

I put this here because I’m not sold on it. Technically, this is true about the book, but… it’s also not true. Then again, this one is a particularly hard book to sum up, mostly because in giving anything away, you diminish the reading experience. Kudos to Wendy Lamb Books for giving it a good shot…

Other books read this month:
11 Birthdays
Book of Unholy Mischief
My Antonia
The Adventures of Charley Darwin
Troubadour (DNF)
Dreamdark: Silksinger
Little House in the Big Woods
Darkwood
Eighth Grade Bites
The Prince
Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Approach that Works
Ariel’s Journey (DNF)
Secret Keeper
Let It Snow
Someone Like You
The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez
Forest Born