Article 5 by Kristen Simmons



I have read a lot of books this summer, but this book is by far, one of the best.  I could not put this book down once I started it.  I began reading it last night and finally made myself go to bed sometime after midnight.  Then, I spent the entire morning finishing it, because I had to know what happened.

In a (hopefully) distant future, The Bill of Rights have been replaced by The Moral Statutes (see below).  These Moral Statutes are enforced by The Federal Bureau of Reform, known to civilians as the Moral Militia.  At first, if you are not compliant, you receive a citation and you are required to pay a fine.  Now, the rules are becoming more strict and the punishment is getting worse.  Now, if you are not compliant, then the government comes in and makes you disappear.  Seventeen year old Ember's existence is enough to condemn her mother.  She was born out of wedlock, which means that her mother is arrested and Ember is sent to a reform school.  She is not even considered a legal citizen.  What hurts Ember the most is that her boyfriend, who was drafted into the Moral Militia, is present when she is arrested.  She feels betrayed, but she knows she must find a way to escape and help her mother. 

The Moral Statutes of the United States of America
ARTICLE 1 - The United States embraces the Church of America as her official religion.
"Article 1 denied individuals the right to practice or 'display propaganda' associated with an alternative religion to Church of America" (53).

ARTICLE 2 - Literature and other media considered immoral are hereby banned and shall not be owned, bought, sold or traded in any capacity.

ARTICLE 3 - Whole families are to be considered one man, one woman and child(ren).

ARTICLE 4 - Traditional male and female roles shall be observed.
"Traditional male and femal roles were outlined in Article 4.  The importance of a woman's subservience.  The necessity for her to respect her maile partner while he, in turn, supported the famil as the provider and spiritual leader....when I searched for some clause prohibiting domestic violence, I found no mention of it" (53).

ARTICLE 5 - "Children are considered valid citizens only when conceived by a married man and wife.  All other children are to be removed from the home and subjected to rehabilitation procedures" (53).

Simmons, Kristen.  Article 5. New York: Tor Teen, 2012.

Sequels

I've been focusing on reading some sequels lately, so instead of posting a blog over each one, I thought I would just lump them all together and give a brief opinion.  The main reason I don't want to blog extensively on them, is because I will have to give too much of what happened in the first book away. 

 

 

 I recently blogged about City of Bones, which was the first book in The Mortal Instruments series.  I just finished book 2 and 3 of this series and I really enjoyed them, though there were some parts that were very predictable.  Also, while it is such a fast read and action packed, there is always some sort of crazy drama going on too.  This series was originally meant to be a trilogy.  I felt like the author pretty much wrapped up the main conflicts at the end of  City of Glass, so I'm curious to see what she will do with the next three books in the series.  It may be awhile before I read those though, since book 6 has not been published yet.  Since I am at a good stopping point, I think I will probably hold off with the rest of this series until the final book comes out.  The author also has a related series set much earlier called The Infernal Devices series.  I'm not sure if I'll move on to those or not.

On this book, I'm kind of cheating, since I'm not quite finished with it.  I have the audio version, so it takes a lot longer for me to finish a book this way.  However, I am 2/3 of the way through it and I have really enjoyed it so far.  This is the sequel to A Discovery of Witches.  Diana and Mathew have traveled back in time to Elizabethan England.  I would say that this book is probably for more mature readers than the first book.  It also helps if you are somewhat familiar with Elizabethan England and the historical figures associated with that time period, since it appears that Mathew was great friends with every important historical person who existed then.  We meet Christopher Marlow, Henry Percy, Queen Elizabeth, and Sir Walter Raleigh, just to name a few. 



GoodReads

If you haven't already joined goodreads.com, I highly recommend it.  It is a great place to keep track of what you've read and what you want to read.  If you're like me, when you walk into a book store/library, you see tons of books that interest you.  However, you don't have time to read all of those books at that moment.  Later, when you're between books and you are looking for something to read, all those books you were interested in have been forgotten.  Goodreads helps you keep this from happening.  If you are using a computer to access the site, you can search for the book and add it to your to-read list.  If you have a smartphone or an ipad, simply download the goodreads app.  Then, all you have to do is pick up the book off the shelf and use the barcode scanner to add it to your list.  It's an easy way to keep track of what you want to read next!  Also, you can review the books you've read and read reviews of books that you are interested in.  You can also add friends and see what your friends are reading.  It's a great site, so check it out, and be sure to add me as a friend when you do!