URGENT NOTE TO ALL MOVIE-GOERS + YOUNG ADULT (AND ADULT) READERS:

Many folks are probably aware that the new blockbuster hit The 5th Wave was based on a best selling novel by Rick Yancey. What you  may not know, however, is that it is absolutely imperative that you READ THE BOOK FIRST. I really must insist. Everyone knows that the book is always better than the movie, but in the case of The 5th Wave, this sentiment cannot be expressed urgently enough. Rick Yancey, unlike so many writers of fast-paced action fiction, has an exquisite ability to keep his readers in the dark, putting off the answers to our fevered questions and filling out the tension with enough character development and plot to make it virtually impossible to put down. There are discoveries that should not be revealed in any other format than good old fashioned page-turning, leaving you to feel haunted and bothered with fears and questions- but in a way that is delicious. In a book where 97% of the human race is obliterated by an alien apocalypse in the first few pages, there are no characters who seem too precious to the author as to remain obstinately protected from harm, making this story a particularly intense roller-coaster ride. Grades 9+