Book Bucket List | LEGEND!

Last September, I was lucky enough  to get to spend some time with author and librarian, Nancy Pearl.  She was speaking at the kick off of the One Book, One San Joaquin program and unsurprisingly, we talked a lot about books.  We got on the topic of books being turned into movies and we were discussing the pros and cons of The Hunger Games movie, the soon to be released Divergent movie, and Maze Runner.  Pearl asked me if I had read the Legend series and I hadn't.  She was really excited about the book and the author, who resides in the Bay Area.  So whenever I saw someone check out Legend, I always remembered that Nancy Pearl recommended it to me, but I still never checked it out... and I never checked it out...and I never checked it out.

Last week, I was at home with nothing to do and had just finished both books I was reading. (The life and times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the couple who taught America how to love by Thomas Maier and The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkowski)  I was scouring the library's Overdrive site for something to read on my kindle, when it occurred to me, I still hadn't taken Nancy Pearl's recommendation!  I was still skeptical, (because really, how many dystopian teen series can there really be?)but I figured I couldn't find anything else.  

So I started Legend, and I finished it that day.  I loved it.  I always find it interesting when I like one of the main characters, but don't care much for the other.  The story is about a very divided class society in a fledgling military nation.  June is a prodigy as far as the Republic is concerned.  She scored a perfect score on her trial (Sort of like our SAT but it determines your life even more than our test) and lives with her brother since her parents were killed in a car accident.  Day is a homeless teenager, fighting to survive on the streets of Los Angeles while doing all he can to bring the corrupt Republic to it's knees.

The Legend series consists of three books, Legend, Prodigy, and Champion.  If you liked the Hunger Games or Divergent, I would read these in a hurry.  Also, if Nancy Pearl ever gives you a personal book recommendation, take it!