Marie Lu

Marie Lu (born Xiwei Lu) is an American young adult author. She is best known for the Legend series, novels set in a dystopian and militarized future. The novels form the basis of a movie to be produced by CBS Films and directed by Jonathan Levine.

Background and education

Lu was born in 1984, in Wuxi, China. By the age of 5, she and her family moved to the United States in Georgia in 1989. She attended the University of Southern California and interned at Disney Interactive Studios. Before writing her first book, Lu worked as an art designer for the video game industry.

Critical reception

Writing in The New York Times, critic and author Ridley Pearson wrote of Legend, "Overpackaged, overhyped first novels are done a disservice by their publishers, with untested authors expected somehow to justify all the gloss and glitter of a full-bore prepublication promotional blitz. Too many just don't merit the attention. I could only stand up and cheer, therefore, for Marie Lu’s 'Legend.' A fine example of commercial fiction with razor-sharp plotting, depth of character and emotional arc, 'Legend' doesn’t merely survive the hype, it deserves it."

Legend (Lu novel)

Legend is a 2011 dystopian young adult novel by Marie Lu. It is the first book of a trilogy, followed by Prodigy and Champion.

Plot

The Republic, a country created after the United States on the coast of California, is split in sectors. Every year the Republic hosts the trials to see who trains to enter the army (to fight a war against the Colonies) or to become a part of the work force. As the scores range from failing to passing only one person in the Republic stands to hold the highest score, 1500. June Iparis, the Republic's prodigy.

Day, the Republic's fifteen-year-old most wanted criminal, breaks into Los Angeles Central Hospital in hopes of stealing a cure for the plague that threatens his family. While escaping the hospital, Day loses the pendant his father gave him and allegedly kills Metias Iparis.

June, the fifteen-year-old prodigy, is chosen to find and capture Day, who is charged with the murder of Metias Iparis (June's older brother), among other crimes against the country. Though she was born into an elite family in one of the wealthiest districts in the Republic, June poses as a girl from the slums in order to search for Day, coincidentally collecting Day's fallen pendant as she observes the crime scene. When attempting to lure Day by pretending to be a merchant with a plague cure that doesn't work, June decides to look for Day herself.

Legend

A legend (Latin, legenda, "things to be read") is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. Legend, for its active and passive participants includes no happenings that are outside the realm of "possibility" but which may include miracles. Legends may be transformed over time, in order to keep it fresh and vital, and realistic. Many legends operate within the realm of uncertainty, never being entirely believed by the participants, but also never being resolutely doubted.

The Brothers Grimm defined legend as folktale historically grounded. A modern folklorist's professional definition of legend was proposed by Timothy R. Tangherlini in 1990:

Etymology and origin

Legend is a loanword from Old French that entered English usage circa 1340. The Old French noun legende derives from the Medieval Latin legenda. In its early English-language usage, the word indicated a narrative of an event.

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars is the sixth novel by author John Green, published in January 2012. The story is narrated by a sixteen-year-old cancer patient Hazel Grace Lancaster, who is forced by her parents to attend a support group in the "Literal Heart of Jesus" where she subsequently meets and falls in love with seventeen-year-old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player, as well as an amputee. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which the nobleman Cassius says to Brutus: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings." A feature film adaptation of the novel directed by Josh Boone and starring Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort and Nat Wolff was released on June 6, 2014. The film adaptation was a strong critical and commercial success.

Plot

Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old with thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs, attends a cancer patient support group at her mother's behest. During the support meeting, Hazel meets a 17-year-old boy named Augustus Waters, whose osteosarcoma caused him to lose his leg. The two bond immediately and agree to read each other's favorite novels. Augustus gives Hazel The Price of Dawn, and Hazel recommends An Imperial Affliction, a novel written by Peter Van Houten about a cancer-stricken girl named Anna that parallels Hazel's own experience. After Augustus finishes reading her book, he is frustrated upon learning that the novel ends abruptly without a conclusion. Hazel explains the novel's author had retreated following the novel's publication and has not been heard from since.