Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay. This book starts with two stories: one about Sarah, a 10-year-old Jew living in Paris in 1942, and one about Julia, a journalist living in Paris 60 years later, who is working on a story about the roundup of the French Jews. The two stories are woven together in the first half of the book, but the second half is told completely from Julia's point of view. This was a part of World War II history I had never heard about, so the historical aspect of the novel was eye-opening. And Sarah's story is incredibly powerful and heart-wrenching. I couldn't put the book down until the second half, when Sarah's voice disappears. Julia's story, including her search for the rest of Sarah's story, is good but not compelling, but the book as a whole was wonderful. Definitely not a beach read, but definitely one that will stick with you for a while.
Ender in Exile, by Orson Scott Card. Yes, I'm enough of a geek to like the Ender books. However, I really only like the Ender books, meaning Ender has to be the main character. And because Ender's story is too complex to sum up, I'm just going to write this as if everyone has read at least the first two books in the series. This one expands on events that are just mentioned at the end of Ender's Game, so I was intrigued. I'm happy to say that I liked it. It doesn't feel like Orson Scott Card decided to rewrite history (which is what I was afraid of); it just expands Ender's story. You get to see how he deals with the aftermath of Battle School and the war in more detail than you get in Speaker for the Dead, and I enjoyed seeing his transition from boy hero to the man he ultimately becomes. Very nice.
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