Article 5

Article 5, Kristen Simmons, is another Hunger-Games-like book about a dystopian era, but one that is more . . . realistic, if you don't mind the oxymoron. 
     Ember Miller remembers Chase Jennings as the sweet boy who used to be her boyfriend.  Ember Miller's mother remembers how life in the United States used to be before the new Articles were introduced and the war happened.  But remembering won't get the mother-daughter pair anywhere after the so-called 'Moral Milita'  invade their home and separate them, because according to the government and Article 5 they are not a 'true family'.  The worse thing is, is that Chase was one of the officers who dragged a fighting Ember away from her mother. 
      Things go from bad to worse--Instead of being just hungry and poor, Ember is now stuck in a rehab for 'troubled girl's with no hope for a trail.  Until a familiar face takes her out to be a witness for her mother's trial.  Maybe life will look up after all . . . as soon as Ember can figure out what's going on, and what her heart is telling her. 


This book is a literal all-nighter.  Seriously.  I stayed up until 11 and woke up at 6 to read this.  (I need my beauty sleep, okay?  It can't harm me, not while I have this face.)  Needless to say, I finished it before I allowed myself to even consider breakfast this morning. 
     What is it about dystopian books that captivate us?  With Katniss it was the fear that she might die, and the hope that she could earn something better.  With Ember, though, it's the fear that she might die and the hope that she won't.  There is no cushy side to this new United States as there was with Panam.  The hard life is the only life, and it doesn't matter if you put your life on the line, you will stay where you are or your situation will become worse. 
     One scene from the book that stays with me is when Ember is lined up in a food line in Tennessee (don't ask, I won't tell you) and she sees a beggar, an old emaciated man just standing by the side of the road.  The people start to descend on him and they pull away his cardboard sign and the tin that's by his feet for donations.  Ember keeps trying to save him, but she gets pulled away, and when the people leave she realizes that the man died a while ago.  He was dead standing up-right, and people took all of his clothing while he was dead.
     The better thing is that people haven't waited generations to start a revolution--but I'll keep my fingers still on that one.
      I did love the characters, well, the two main ones.  They seemed to be the best people in the book, the only people who were out for personal gain that wasn't monetary.  Ember becomes a fighter in the course of the book, and the transition doesn't happen as fast as it happens in other books.  It's slow and you can barely notice it, but it's there.  That gradual change is pretty refreshing, actually, watching it happen slowly and not snap!  she's a fighter.  (I won't point fingers, Ms. Everdeen.)  Chase, well, Chase is an interesting case.  I like his character a lot, but he's very, very intense.  I could see his eyes burning holes at me through the paper.  It was different, you know, because usually you can't feel people in books that way.  But if I met these two on the street, I would be able to pick them out and have a conversation  with them.  What we would talk about other than if I meant them harm or not, I do not know.
    I will wait with bated breath for a sequel.  There seems to be a raid on Chicago or something in order . . . and even though my mother won't let me handle a firearm, I will be right a the helm with Ember Miller, fighting my way to freedom.  And though this is not a fate that I wish on the United States of America, or any other country in the world, I'll have you know that liking this book, well, it's as mandatory as obeying the Articles.  (I made a funny.  No, wait, it was a baddie.)