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Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox
Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox
Michael Buckley | 2020 | Children
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Traveling the Galaxy via…a Lunchbox?
Finn is a typical almost twelve-year-old. He’s got a younger sister who annoys him, he’s struggling to make friends at his new school, he’s being picked on by a bully, and he has a crush on a classmate. His life changes when he accidentally takes his sister’s lunchbox to school one day. When it starts to glow, he discovers that it’s become a portal to another part of our galaxy. On, and this portal is the key to a battle against a race called The Plague that destroys planets. With The Plague now looking at Earth as their next target, Finn is going to have to come up with some kind of plan to save the world.

It’s been a few years since I picked up one of Michael Buckley’s books, so I was thrilled to see he had a new series out. As you might suspect from the description, this is a wild, fast-paced right that I found hard to put down. And I haven’t even mentioned the seven-foot-tall robot yet. I did feel it got a little too apocalyptic for me at times, but that’s a matter of personal taste. The characters are good, although the one that got the most development here was a cliché. The creativity that went into this book is outstanding with lots of details that are fun. Kids will eat this book up and be anxious for the next one when they are done.
  
Sophtware Slump by Grandaddy
Sophtware Slump by Grandaddy
2011 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This is another great example of repetition, something simple and small that carries a huge resonance. There’s that line he keeps repeating: 'Don’t give up, 2000 man.' That whole record has got this incredible apocalyptic feel and the scene they paint over and over again is one of Earth covered in detritus from this era that’s become obsolete; something happened to humans and now all their crap is left everywhere, their computer keyboards and so on. “I’ve used that idea six times in my own band: the title ‘Qwerty Finger’ is about a qwerty keyboard that washes up on a beach and at the end of ‘NASA Is On Your Side’ you’ve got children climbing over fridges. It’s because that imagery is so powerful and I don’t think anyone really went there again. “I kind of believe that will happen and I don’t know if I believe it because of Grandaddy or because it’s a rational thing to think, but I do and I do still believe that our time will pass and all of our technology and crap will come to nothing. That’s a big influence for a band to have on a little boy I think. “This song is probably the best one on there and the way it just keeps on going is incredible, both in terms of its length and that churning message: 'Don’t give up'. It made me feel that I was the start of life around that age, the ‘2000 man’ and that’s very powerful stuff if you hit the right kid at the right time."

Source
  
Into The Forest (2016)
Into The Forest (2016)
2016 | Drama, International, Sci-Fi
A light, pretty take on the bonds of family during hard times gets brutalized halfway through by one of the hardest to watch scenes of 2015 before becoming a powerfully emotional apocalypse tale about how much of your life is actually necessary. This has been criticized up and down for not using a 'harrowing' enough crisis to set the scene, and look I'm just going to tell you right now that I understand why you all think this is 'millennial' but this right here would be my living nightmare. I'm that character in every pre/post-apocalyptic movie who loses their shit after the power goes out in the first five minutes - I don't even go tent camping, like I *need* that shit. To quote Kumail Nanjiani from 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘚𝘪𝘤𝘬: "I'm going to be the first guy to die. I die so the other characters get to find out something weird is going on". Also a big plus that this doesn't turn into some finger-shaking technophobic lecture as it no doubt would have under any other circumstances. No I don't take a ton of stock in this rather simple story on the surface but the real beauty of it is brought to life with these all-in performances, earthly visuals, together with the *deeply* rich and evocative score. It's such a bracingly haunting yet unforgettably sensual experience, and it has one of the more sound 'good thing, bad thing, good thing, bad thing...' structures for the genre. Very lovely.
  
The Electric Kingdom
The Electric Kingdom
David Arnold | 2021 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Electric Kingdom is a novel that takes another look at the beauty of humans in a post apocalyptic world. Eighteen years after a deadly Fly Flu sweeps the globe, killing most of the population, Nico and her dog, Harry get sent on a voyage by Nico’s father to find a mythical portal. Along the way, she meets other children, including a young artist named Kit. There’s also the Deliverer, who lives Life after Life in an attempt to put the world back together. This story is an exploration of art, love, life, and finding beauty.

Every character that David Arnold writes in this book is so full of love, warmth, and heartbreak. I fell in love with Kit and his outlook on live. It was beautiful. The relationship he had with his mother Dakota, and why he calls her “My Dakota” made me tear up.

I’m not sure I completely understand the whole dynamics of the world that is in this book, but I still very much enjoyed it! There are so many layers and plot twists and double backs, you don’t realize how intense it is until you’re half way through it. By then, Arnold has you hooked and you’ve got to find out what happens and how it’s all connected!

I haven’t read anything from Arnold before but I enjoyed this one and will seeking out others from him.

*Thank you Bookish First and Penguin Teen/Viking Books for Young Readers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
  
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