The Host

by Stephenie Meyer Published by Hachette Book Group 2008 619 Pages Genre: Science Fiction Summary: As we begin this book we find ourselves inside a human. Yes, a human. We are an alien. They call her wanderer because she has been on so many worlds, but now she is part of Melanie Stryder. Well, she is trying to stay apart from Melanie. She seems to take over some times. But she would never tell anyone she might have a human that can control her. As she tries to figure things out, she decides to take a trip to see the doctor that put her in this body. But to get rid of the woman who is tailing her, looking for Melanie's family, who is still out there somewhere, she drives instead of flying like the seeker. She never was really planning to go see her doctor, she was going to try to make sense of the map that kept flashing through melanie's mind. Wanderer was attached to Melanie's spinal cord, under the skin. This is why they were able to go undetected for so long. The only way to check to see if someone was still human, was to check for the thin cut line down the back of the neck and the silver around the pupil of the eye. Wanderer searches for days, but finally finds the location of the hidden reble group. They come out to get her and then blind fold her so she is unsure how to get out. All she knows is that she is underground, and she has found Jared, and Jamie. Jamie is Melanie's little brother, and Jared is her boy friend. However now that Wanderer and Melanie are somewhat the same person Wanderer is also in love with Jared. But Jared just wants her out so he can have Melanie. Once they decide that Wanderer wants to help them and isn't a hostle, they let her become part to the community. They hope she will help them detach the aliens from their people. So the devise a plan. While they are putting this plan into action, they accidently kill one of Wanderer's kind and she almost loses it. However, this means they also killed a human, so they are both frusterated. Mean while, Wanderer has fallen for another one of the humans named Ian. He too is in love with her and has saved her from the others multiple times. Eventually as they continue working on their plans Wanderer has to take them out to get supplies. They are able to detach the aliens, but find that is has left some of the humans brain dead. When they learn this, they decide it's to risky to take Wanderer out of Melanie. Because they are both present in the body still. But they think this may be why some of the humans make it. Because they are still aware in the body. So they take Wanderer out as she has decided this to be her last world, and to die in this world, she was ready to pass on. Twist! Wanderer wakes up to Melanie's face looking at her. She is alive! They had taken a body that was brain dead and put Wanderer in the body. This way she could live out the human experience with Ian and then pass on. The book ends as they decide to go out and find other humans. My Reaction: I loved this book. It was fantastic! I spent a lot of time reading late into the night! I liked this book so much better than the twilight saga because it was not so physically driven. This book was more about emotions. It was Wanderer's first experience with emotions and all five senses. She couldn't get enough of it, and it made me think of all the things we experience on a daily basis as humans that makes us so much more aware than the other things that inhabit our earth. Potential Problems: It could be a little scary with the fact that aliens have taken over the world, and that there is a lot of fear drivin issues. Recommendations: I really like this book for older kids. It's not quite a tween book, but it may be appropriate if they can allow themselves to be engaged and interested. It's quite the thinker.