Gone by Michael Grant

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In a quiet town in California, in the middle of class, everyone over the age of 14 disappears. Adults and older teens just blink out of existence. In the world that everyone now lives in there are no rules, no parents, no one to tell kids what to do, fix a broken arm, or make food. Add to that the fact that there are little kids and babies who need to be taken care of and you have a pretty gripping story. But why stop there? Let’s pile on. Some kids have special super abilities and some kids are powerless. When the power hungry kids from the private school come to town and clash with the public school kids anything can happen.


I enjoyed reading this book. I’m reading the sequel right now. I hardly ever read a whole series, because there are too many good stories to get to and I don’t have the time, but I really want to know what is going to happen to these kids. The book drags a little in the middle, and it takes a while to get where it’s going, but the final showdown is worth it, and there are some amazing action sequences that would translate really well to a movie. There is a lot of violence so if you are sensitive to that sort of thing don’t read the book. The main characters are mostly 14 and that is the youngest aged teen I think I would recommend the book to.

Every You, Every Me by David Levithan

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Evan had a friend named Ariel. Ariel is gone now, but Evan starts finding photos that make him believe that she is back somehow and looking to get back at him. He becomes more and more paranoid as the photos pileup.


I picked up this book because I liked the idea of the story being told with photos as well as with the writing. The pictres are a little creepy and I wanted to see how they related to the story.  I read the book and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. Evan is the unreliable narrator. He writes things and then scratched them out, so the reader is never really certain of the truth. Weird is what I think about this book. It has received some starred reviews and a lot of people have liked the story. I guess I’m not really a fan of psychological thrillers because it left me feeling a little flat.

All these Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

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In about 70 years the world’s resources are going to be spread very thin. Chocolate and caffeine are illegal, and paper is hard to come by. Because resources are so scarce water and food are rationed, new clothes are no longer produced, and people who were once inside the law are now on the outside. Annie’s family make chocolate. They have been making it for over 100 years. They still make it and sell it legally in places around the world where it’s not outlawed, but in the U.S. where Annie lives, she is part of an infamous crime family. When she is implicated in an attempted poisoning she must do everything she can to survive and protect her family.


Annie is a very likable character and the story has a lot going on; romance, friendship, and crime. A lot of event stake place in the book, but the ending was kind of a letdown. There is no big dramatic ending. The story just stops and we are left wondering what will happen in the future. The story is wrapped up, but since it’s about this girl’s life, we see that she will have to keep making hard decisions. I liked it, but at the same time I wanted a little more. I would recommend this to girls who like complicated plots and well thought out characters.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

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It’s 1996 and Emma just got her very first PC. She loads AOL and clicks on her favorites. Facebook pops up even though it won’t exist until 2004. She starts seeing what her life will be like fifteen years in the future. At first she thinks it’s a trick, but when she tells her friend Josh they start to take it seriously. Facebook knows things that no one could know, and there are pictures posted that they have not even developed yet. Once they believe Facebook is showing them their future they start to make minor changes that and soon they see the effects of knowing their future.


I have been waiting since 13 Reasons Why for a new Asher book and I’m not disappointed. This book is not deep and gut wrenching like 13 Reasons Why, but it is a fun read and it has an interesting take on the way our lives are shaped. I loved the idea that even the smallest change could have astounding consequences in our lives. Because it’s told in alternating chapters from the point of view of a boy and a girl, I think anyone will like the story.

Two Books I Really Meant to Read

Have you ever started a book a few times, thought it was interesting, but never really been able to get back to it?  That has happened to me.  I have these two books, with great reviews, that seem really interesting.  I checked them out from the library, renewed them, and now they are overdue again.  I have started reading both of them, and I think the stories are interesting, but I just can’t seem to finish.  It’s time for me to give up.  Maybe I can come back to them or maybe someone else will read them and let me know the endings.

I recommend you give these books a try.  The Predicteds by Christine Seifert is about a girl whose mother made a test that can predict how someone will behave in the future.  (Will you be a good kid or bring a gun to school.)  The other book, Going Underground by Susan Vaught, is about a guy that did something not so bad, but it will haunt him for the rest of his life.  Both are meant for older teen readers because of the situations in the books. 

The Undertakers: Rise of the Corpses by Ty Drago

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Whatever you do, don’t call them zombies. They are invaders, wearing the bodies of the dead as a disguise. Everyone just sees a regular person, with the exception of a few kids. When Will first sees them he thinks he’s going crazy, but soon he learns that he’s not the only one. He is rescued from his school and taken to a secret place filled with other kids like him who can see the undead for what they really are. Now he is a part of the Undertakers and he has to help fight these hidden monsters before they take over everything.


I liked the book. It’s written for a younger teen audience (ages 11-13). It’s an easy read and boys will really get into the story. There are a lot of fights to keep everyone interested, and no one has any special powers, except the ability to see through the disguise to the rotting corpse underneath. You know typical teenage stuff. It’s a different take on zombies and it’s not a survival story. It’s definitely set up for some sequels and the writing makes me care enough about the characters to want to see what happens next.

Blink and Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones

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Blink is a sixteen year old runaway who spends his time stealing rich kid’s clothes so he can sneak into hotels and eat left over room service before housekeeping cleans up the hallways. Caution is a runaway living with an abusive, drug dealing boyfriend. When Blink sees a not quite kidnapping, and Caution runs away with some serious drug money their lives are thrown into turmoil. Fortunately they find and try to help each other. Unfortunately they are facing double the trouble trying to solve the kidnapping mystery and stay alive.


Why is it that whenever I read a gritty and unusual urban fiction book it’s almost always set in Canada? Those Canadians know how to keep me interested, even without spells or the walking dead. This book is written in a fast and exciting way. Guys who don’t want to read will be sucked into Blink’s story. There’s no flowery prose here, but somehow the story gets told…and it’s told well. The blunt way the story is told mirrors the blunt and rough way these teens are living, without being to over the top.  There’s some cussing, and drugs, and a whole lot of violence, but what do you expect from a mystery book written about runaways. My advice is to Read It.

The Anti Prom by Abby McDonald

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The cool girl, the outcast, and the wall flower. What do they all have in common? Prom of course. All three girls show up expecting different things and none of them get exactly what they thought they were going to out of their prom night.


Told in alternating chapters we see from each girl’s point of view. I like the way the story is told, and the way it’s all wrapped up. Each girl is incredibly believable and I think a lot of teen girls will see themselves or someone they know in the book. I would recommend for 9th grade and up because of some mild language and implied sexual content. (Nothing explicit in the book and no F bombs.) This is a good girlie teen book.

Drums Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

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Steven is an eighth grade drumming phenom. He practices like crazy and is really big in jazz band. His life is typical, with crushes and homework, until his five year old brother Jeff gets cancer. Steven’s life starts spinning out of control as his brother gets more sick, and his parents try to work out the best treatment. This is the story of the year of treatment that happens and what it takes for a family to deal with sickness.


I liked the book because it’s honest. It’s not all sad or all happy. It is just a realistic look at a family, told from the point of view of the older brother. When his little brother gets sick, the whole world revolves around making him better. Grades slip, parents ignore other problems, the family struggles, because that’s what really happens. Even though the little brother is fighting cancer, this is overall a happy book with a lot of heart. I also really like the sequels, especially Tales of the Midnight Driver!

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

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In Tally’s world everyone normal is an Ugly. It’s ok, because when you turn 16 you get an operation and you become a Pretty. You get to leave your ugly life behind and move to New Pretty Town, where you can party and have fun. Tally has snuck out and seen the parties and the pretty people for herself so she can’t wait for her operation. When there are only a few weeks left until her operation she makes a new friend who challenges what Tally thinks about being pretty. Soon Tally is given an ultimatum; she can turn on her friend or stay ugly forever.


This is one of those books that I read so long ago, and I just assume everyone has read it, but of course not everyone has. I LOVE THIS BOOK!! If you only read one book I recommend this is the one. It’s set in the distant future. The old governments failed, and a virus destroyed all of the worlds’ oil. New ways of living and doing this had to be created. The government decided that the reason people hated and made war was because people where jealous and hated people who were different, so their solution was to make everyone the same; Beautiful. I love the concept and the delivery. This is a clean read, with a lot of action. I recommend it for guys and girls. I predict you will get sucked in.

This is my favorite cover for the book.  It's been reprinted and recovered a lot.

 

The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty

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Bindy is an eleventh grader in an exclusive Australian school, but this is not your typical high school story. Told exclusively through notes passed, journal entries, and school assignments you get to find out what is happening to Bindy and her classmates. She is a weird and mostly unsympathetic character. She spies on fellow classmates and writes the oddest things. She is paranoid that someone is trying to kill her, and more than a little obsessed with her classmates. This is the sequel to The Year of Secret Assignments, and readers will see a lot of the same characters, but Bindy is the focus of this story.

I loved this book. When I read it I didn’t know it was a sequel so I read it first. The twist ending is amazing and it fully changes the story. Things that seemed meaningless at the beginning turned out to be really important. I won’t give it away, because I’m against spoilers, but I will say the book is not predictable at all. This book is not for everyone, I know because I have recommended it before and been disappointed, but if you like quirky characters and an unusual story you will enjoy this book. It’s a mostly clean read with not much romance or swearing. If you like it read the first book.

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Sleepless by Thomas Fahy

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After a school sponsored community service trip to New Orleans goes awry the teens all realize that they are not able to sleep. Emma and her friends, who were all on the trip, join a secret society run by their teacher, Dr. Beecher's. He thinks that by meeting they can talk about fine art and support each other. Soon classmates start turning up dead and they are trying to figure out who is doing the killing and why.


I thought I would love this book. The cover is so cool and I really liked one of Fahy’s other novels Unspoken, but this one just didn’t do it for me. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t get into the story or muster up any kind of sympathy for the characters. I know that a lot of other people really liked it. It is a thriller and if you like books that take lots of turns, and a story that jumps around, you might really enjoy this book. One teen liked it so much he made a book trailer that I have poster below. This book is definitely for an older teen crowd. There is some sexual content and swearing.

Dull Boy by Sarah Cross

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Avery has superpowers. He can fly and is crazy strong. There may be other powers but he needs to keep a lid on his abilities because if the wrong people find out, he could end up being dissected by guys in white lab coats. Avery has some trouble controlling his powers, which leads to property damage and parent drama. He even has to quit the wrestling team because he can’t control his strength. As soon as he switches schools things really start to change for him. He meets some other people with abilities. Are they good guys, bad guys, really hot girls with evil plots to rule the world?


I liked the book. It was a fun read, and gave a more realistic look to what might happen if you really did have special abilities. I would recommend it to guys that are looking for something fast and exciting to read. The internal conflict is a little reminiscent of the Smallville T.V. series Superman. I’m hoping for a sequel. You can check out the author’s blog for more info and some cool extras about the characters.

Jersey Tomatoes Are the Best by Maria Padian

 

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Henry and Eva have been best friends since they were five years old.  Henry is a super competitive tennis player with a coach / dad from hell.  He is obnoxious, rube, and likes to play head games with the other players.  Eva is a ballerina that hates to compete; she just wants to be perfect.  She has a stage mom that puts down other dancers, drives everywhere for dance shows, and accuses anyone she thinks slighted her daughter.  When both girls get the chance to go away to prestigious summer camps to improve their skills, their parents have no choice but to let them.  This book is the story of the summer that changed their lives.  

Told in alternating chapters, we get to see the story from both girls’ point of view.  I thought this would be a fun light hearted summer read.  I was right and I was wrong.  It was a fast and easy read.  I liked the characters.  They are not cute characters to be read once and never thought of again.  All of the characters in the book are fully fleshed out and realistic.  No one is all good or all bad. I appreciate the layers.  When the book started I didn’t expect the story to go where it did.  I’m glad I read it.  I would recommend this book to girls who like realistic fiction, or who are not sure what they like.  I usually think every book could be made better with a liberal application of zombies, but I wouldn’t change a thing about this story. I can tell for a fact, having been to Jersey many times, that Jersey Tomatoes really are the best. 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

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Candor - The quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness


Abnegation - Renunciation of your own interests in favor of the interests of others

Dauntless - Invulnerable to fear or intimidation

Amity - Peaceful relations, as between nations; friendship.

Erudite - Having or showing knowledge

Society is divided into five factions, each valuing a different virtue. The day has come for Beatrice and everyone else who is sixteen to choose which faction she will belong to. Once they choose, they must complete an initiation. If they survive initiation their faction will become their new family. Beatrice make the difficult choice and starts initiation. What she discovers about herself and the world she lives in, threatens to change her way of life forever.

The book is a Hunger Games and Maze Runner read alike; teens in a distant future, trying to survive. The idea of choosing who you will be for all time, when you are so young, echoes reality where teens are meant to choose a college and career before they even know who they are yet. Reality aside, this kind of survival story is exciting to read. The characters are well thought out and multilayered. I’m interested to see where the story will go if there are sequels. I would recommend this for guys and girls who like action and survival stories. There is some romance and the story is slightly more girly than Hunger Games. The movie rights have been picked up so we will be seing it before to long. 

The Detention Club by David Yoo

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Peter and Drew are about to start their first year of middle school. They were the coolest kids in elementary school so they know that they would rule middle school. Peter was not prepared for everyone else changing over the summer, or the harder classes, or detention. As all of his plans to become popular fail, he and Drew try to keep their friendship together and make it through middle school.

This story is funny and cute. The book is full of hysterical supporting characters and it rings true for what happens to a lot of kids as they move from elementary school to middle school. I liked the way that Peter and his sister see the same situations differently, and the way that Drew misunderstands everything. I would recommend this book to 5th and 6th grade boys and girls who like humor and realistic fiction.

Withering Tights by Louise Rennison

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Tallulah is off to performing arts school in the country. She will be spending six weeks away from her family at sleep away camp. She is planning on studying the performing arts and boys. Unfortunately no one told her that the camp is all girls. Does she let it stop her? No. She makes friends and finds out a lot about herself and, meets some boys from the next camp over.


For those people who liked reading about Georgia, you are going to love her cousin Tallulah. It starts with Tullulah heading to the country.  We get to meet the crazy family she is staying with, and the tiny Yorkshire village where the camp is located.  This is a whole new English world for readers to enjoy.  The book is cute, funny, and full of the promise of snogging. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a girly story .

Addie on the Inside by James Howe

 

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From the outside Addie is an outspoken know it all.  She cares about the environment, human rights, and preventing animal cruelty.  On the inside she cares about those things, but she is aware of just how much she doesn't know.  This book is told in verse, poems from Addies perspective, about what's going on in her life as a 7th grader in Paintbrush Falls Middle School.  She deals with friends, bullies, gossip, and her very popular boyfriend.

This is a companion novel to "The Misfits" and "Totally Joe".  This time we get to tread the book from Addie's perspective.  I was surprised when I opened the book at it was in verse.  I didn't expect it, but I loved it.  The poems are in various styles, but the voice rings true for a 13 year old girl in middle school.  Howe deals with some difficult topics in the book, and he faces the subjects head on, while managing to keep it age appropriate for a 7th grade reader.  This is a great book and I recommend it for everyone.  

                                                                                                               Read the other books  in the Misfits Universe.

A Love Letter to James Howe

Dear James,

I love you for Pinky and Rex, for Bunnicula, and the Misfits.  I love you for Bobby and Joe, and especially Addie, who I see in the mirror nearly every day.  For being fearless and giving us three dimensional characters.  For making all of your characters read like the age that they are, and never compromising or giving in to sensationailsm.  For writing about the everyday so that people can see the drama in our regular lives.  For giving my book clubs, both teen and adult, something to talk about.  For all of these reasons and million more I can’t articulate, I love you.  

Thank you for all of the fun I had when I was a kid reading Bunnicula, and for all of the fun that the families I recommend those books to enjoy today.  Thank you for writing about real life and about vegetarian vampire bunnies.  Thank you for having characters we call all relate to.  You are a prince among men and an unparalleled writer.  

In short, you are lovely and I love you.

Sincerely 

Melissa aka Librarian Barbie 

Click here to read more about James Howe.

I'm So Sorry For Not Writing Sooner!

I have been up to nothing these past few months.  I'm not sure what's wrong but I haven't read anything good or bad that I've felt like writing about.  Now all at once these past few days I have been reading up a storm, and I have something to say.  So enjoy!

Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan (Forest of Hands and Teeth Sequel)

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Annah is alone in a dying city. She can’t keep waiting for Elias to return to her, and she can’t stay in the city any longer. She must go back to her village in the Forest of Hands and teeth. When she meets Catcher and he seems to know things about her, she makes the decision to find her long lost sister and find a way to make a home. Of course nothing goes as it should in the Zombie Apocalypse future.


I was so excited to read this book because I really loved the Forest of Hands and Teeth and the Dead Tossed Waves. This book was kind of a letdown. I found myself picking it up, and putting it back down. I just couldn’t get into the characters, or muster up much interest in what happened to them. I’m not really sure what why the book fails to deliver, but maybe it has something to do with trying too hard to weave the stories together, or the hopelessness in the story. This particular story was not for me, but you might like it if you like romance, and tormented lounging (and I know some of you do).

The Abused Werewolf RescueGgroup by Catherine Jinks

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Toby wakes up in the hospital after being found in a Dingo pen at the local zoo. His mom and doctors are concerned, but he seems healthy and goes home. Soon strangers come to his door to tell him that he is a werewolf; all of this in modern Australia. Because Catherine Jinks is not Stephanie Meyer, Toby and his mom don't just believe and accept what the mysterious strangers tell them. They do the normal and responsible thing, which is to threaten to call the police and kick the strangers out of there house. As it turns out, that is not the best thing for Toby. Soon he has been kidnapped by bad guys, who like to hold werewolf fights. Toby and a cast of characters come up against the bad guys to disastrous results.


One thing I always like about the Catherine Jinks books is that the parents are never useless. They always play a part in the story. I also like the way that there are crossover characters from The Reformed Vampire Support Group in this book. I loved that book and I ‘m glad to know what’s going on with them. I liked this book, but the story seems to stagnate near the end. We spend so much time in the bad guy’s house it starts to feel like we are really there, and we are never getting out. Maybe that’s what she was going for, because I felt like I could sympathize with Toby. I wanted out too. Some readers may love this story, but it was a little slow for me. I’m not saying not to read it, but be prepared for it to be not as good as The Reformed Vampire Support Group.

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Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements

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Bobby is a regular teen living in a regular town.  His parents are smart scholarly types and he does just fine in school. Everything is running smoothly until he wakes up one morning and is invisable.  As he tries to figure out how to become visable again he and his parents struggle with the rumers that he is a missing person. 

This book caught me right away.  Bobby and his parents are realistic characters, who deal with his invisability the way most families probably would.  I love the way that everything is normal and true to life, except for the whole invisability thing.  I would reccomend this book to guys and girls who like scifi and realistic fiction. 

Odd Is On Our Side by Dean Koontz

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Odd Thomas sees dead people. He lives in a small town and he tries to help the dead to find rest. Sometimes the dead aren’t just concerned with their own former lives and troubles, sometimes they are trying to tell him about something dark arriving in town. When Elvis (yes, The King) appears to Odd to warn him, Odd and his girlfriend take it seriously and try to save the town.


The story was interesting and I liked the art in this graphic novel. I liked the idea for the story and the characters, but the way it was told left me a little flat. I didn’t feel a real connection to the story and I was skipping stuff to get to the end. Not my favorite graphic novel, or supernatural mystery.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

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Andi is devastated by the death of her little brother and the end of her parent’s marriage. She blames herself for a lot of what happens and she tries to save her mom from a deep depression while attempting to hide from her own dark feelings of desperation and sorrow. Andi is a wealthy girl who goes to an elite school. When situations start to get out of control at home her father takes her on a business trip to Paris. He thinks she will work on her senior paper and get away from the things that are troubling her. What she finds in Paris is the diary of a girl her own age. The girl lived during the French revolution and was nanny to the last heir to the throne. In alternating stories we hear the events of both girls’ lives as they deal with two separate but oddly similar tragedies.


I usually don’t read said or realistic fiction. I like zombies and ninjas thank you very much, but this book blew me away. The pain is so realistic and not at all gratuitous. Donnelly tells the story so well that you can smell the gun powder from the fireworks, and feel the chill of a New York City night. I recommend this for anyone who likes realistic fiction, historical fiction, or stories about the intricacies of families. If you’ve never read YA fiction this book would be a good place to start. I also recommend Donnelly’s other book, A Northern Light.

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Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler

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Missy has a terrible secret. She cuts herself to let out all of the bad stuff she feels. She thinks she keeps it hidden so well, but when something brings her secret to light she’s not sure what to do. When her cutting brings her to the edge of death she is presented an offer. Die or become one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Now she is the Red Rider; she is War.


This is the second book by Jackie Morse Kessler. The first featured a girl who became famine. Both books are amazing. I usually hate books that deal with the sad depressing fact that people hurt themselves. For some reason the way Morse Kessler writes, the insight she brings to the topic, and the fact that death likes to wear the skin of a rock god I listened to when I was a teen all comes together in an incredibly readable story. I recommend these books to everyone. There is some implied sexual content and violence, but it’s nothing gratuitous. What happens in the story is what must happen to get the main character where she belongs. GREAT BOOK!

Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin

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Sophie Blue is a goth teen, who starts noticing weird things in her small town.  After her father disappears under suspicious circumstances and a strange Popsicle truck starts following her she delves into the mystery.

I didn't enjoy this story.  I didn't like it from the start, but I thought the characters were interesting so I kept reading.  It is a science fiction story with a graphic novel flare.  There is a lot of virtual reality (it's hard to keep track of what's real and what's not) and the characters who start out interesting, don't end up that way.  I read some other reviews that this books was good, but I feel bamboozled.  I guess if you really like pulp science fiction this book might be for you, but I don't recommend it.

McPherson College's Miller Library - The Best Library Guide Ever

Click here to read the guide. (I mean now. It's AWESOME.)

Seriously this is the best thing I have ever seen!  I am in love with the guys who wrote this.

Amelia O'Donohue is So Not a Virgin by Helen Fitzgerald

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Rachel is the girl in town who everyone tells their secrets to, because it’s guaranteed that she will never tell the secret. After she gets in trouble at a town dance, her parents send her to the pricy private boarding school that she really wants to go to. It seems like all of her dreams will come true. She will graduate at the top of her class, get into medical school, and live happily ever after. Things are going well, until her friends start trash talking about her and she uncovers a secret that is too big to keep.


The book was not what I expected. The back cover and the title make it seem like the book is about Amelia, but it’s not. She is in the story, but the real story is Rachel. We see the world through Rachel’s eyes, so much so that we don’t see everything clearly. The story was a surprise and I’m glad that I read it. It’s told from a unique prospective. I would recommend this to older teen readers because of some sexual content (nothing explicit just a little more information than some tweens are ready for), and the maturity level of the characters and situations. (9th grade and up).

Virals by Kathy Reichs

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Tory moves to a remote island to live with her dad near the research facility where he works. There are other teens on the island and they become friends. After Tory saves a wild wolf dog from an experiment, she and her friends are infected with a virus that gives them heightened senses and reflexes. The virus turns them into Virals. Now they are similar to the wolf dogs that the infection came from; they are a pack. They use their new abilities to try and solve a murder.


This book never took off for me. I read it and kept waiting for the exciting part to happen, but it never did. The beginning was slow, and there was a lot of background and build up about the relationship of the group. Once they were infected and started to have the special abilities, it was still slow. On the front cover James Patterson gives the book an endorsement. I think the book is trying to appeal to fans of the Maximum Ride series, but the book lacks the fast action and believable friendship in the group of teens. It reads less like a teen book, and more like what an adult thinks being a teen is like. This was not the book for me, but it might be for you. Let me know what you thought.

Trapped by Michael Northrop

Scotty and 7 others are trapped in their high school when a record breaking blizzard strikes. Over ten feet of snow piles onto the roof of the school where the kids are trapped. The windows are obscured and the halls are pitch black. There is plenty of food in the cafeteria, but without electricity how can they cook or stay warm? They are buried in the school, and know on knows they are there. They are trapped.

I loved the book. Survival stories are my favorite, especially when the situation is realistic. These are regular students, no geniuses. They are trying to survive it what is a very realistic situation. The teens read true to their age, and the situation, and the description of the events and the weather was so spot on I felt cold while I was reading it. I would recommend this book to guys and girls who like survival stories and realistic fiction. There was no cursing or sex, but there was plenty of longing and death.

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If I Stay by Gayle Forman

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Mia is a beautiful and talented girl. She has a great family, wonderful friends, and a boyfriend who she loves. Everything is going great until an accident puts her somewhere between life and death. Now the only thing left for her to do is decide if she will stay or die.


I usually don't like sad stories, but I loved this. Even with all of the tragedy and drama the book is full of hope. The characters all read true, and the story is believable. There's no white light or flashes of what like might be after death. You get to see what Mia sees and hears while she’s in the hospital bed. You get to live her memories and you get to understand the decision she makes. It’s an amazing story I would recommend to readers 14 and up. Mia is a character who is almost eighteen and she is dealing with life decisions that I think might be hard for younger readers to understand. The romance is not explicit but is more mature than younger readers might be ready for. An excellent book!

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

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This is the sequel to The Maze Runner.  I loved the book.  It has complex characters (including some new people), betrayal, danger, action, and a serious mystery.   This book is about as close to the Hunger Games as you’re going to get these days.  I’m hoping that this will just be a trilogy and that all of the answers will be revealed in the next book.  This book is a must read.  I recommend it for mature 12 year olds and older.  There is a little romance, and lots of violence.   It’s a great survival story and those are my favorite!   

XVI by Julia Karr

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In this distant future when you turn 16 (XVI) you get a tattoo that lets everyone know you are of age to become sexually active. You are safe until you hit the age of 16. Once you are sixteen you are now officially a “sexteen”. Health class is for girls too learn how to attract a guy, and all of the magazines are training you to look and act a certain way so that guys will want to have sex with you. Nina is fifteen and she is not looking forward to turning sixteen. She doesn’t want a boyfriend. She just wants to get good enough grades so that she can go to a good college and get out of being a low income and low class person. Only the upper class people in society get to choose what happens to them. When something tragic happens in her family she is trying to save her sister from a horrible fate and protect herself.

The idea for the book is interesting. It does a good job of illustrating that not all teen girls are boy crazy. That said I didn’t like the book. I usually love a dystopian future story, but this one did nothing for me. The book ended leaving lots of questions, the characters where kind of one dimensional (except for the grandmother) and overall it left me feeling flat. That’s just my opinion. There is a little romance, kissing, but the book is for 14 and up based on all of the talk about being a “sexteen” and the truth about what happens to some of the girls in the book.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

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Lena is about to turn 18 and have the surgery that will cure her disease. Everyone gets the surgery so that they will never be afflicted with love. Love is the most insidious disease of them all, because once you have you it; you don’t want to be cured. Everything is going as planned until she falls victim to the disease. Now she will do anything to stay with the guy she loves.

Set in the distant future the government has decided that once cured of love people are more docile and productive. The surgery is compulsory and if you don’t do it you become an invalid. You are no longer part of society, and you are on the run from the law. The book had some interesting ideas, but it’s a romance from start to finish. I never felt much for any of the characters and I wouldn’t say this is a must read. I know a lot of other people who really like the book, but it just wasn’t for me. Maybe because the hype built it up so much, I was expecting more so I was disappointed with the book. I would have liked a little more about the supporting characters, and some background on the society. This is not a book for Hunger Games fans. The action is limited, and the romance is not exciting. I would say for ages 13 and up based on the romance towards the end of the book.

A Kiss In Time by Alex Flinn

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This is a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.  Sleeping Beauty is a brat because her parents keep her in the lap of luxury in the palace.  They are so afraid of the curse she can't leave the palace, and has no friends.  So it's no surprise that she ignores the rules, wanders where she is not supposed to be and pricks her finger on a spindle.  Fast forward 300 years and she is found not by a handsome prince, but by a regular guy doing a summer tour of Europe.  She goes to live in his house and the story unfolds.

I was expecting a lot more because I liked Beastly so much, so I was a little underwhelmed.  I didn't really like or feel a connection with any of the characters and the reaction of the parents in the story did not read true at all.  The book was not for me, but it is well written and if you like fairy tale retellings you might enjoy it.

The Agency: A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee

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In 1853 London, Mary is an orphan who is sentenced to be hanged for stealing. She is soon rescued and offered a place in a home for girls. She attends school and becomes a young lady. When she turns seventeen she is no longer satisfied with the life of a school teacher. She wants something more, so she talks to the headmistress of the school and is let in on a secret. The school is a front for an all-female agency that investigates crimes. Mary is soon the newest agent and gets her first assignment. She must find out information about a merchant by posing as a ladies companion to his daughter.


This was not the book for me. I’m not much of a historical fiction reader, and I like books with stories that unfold a little faster than this. That said the book is well written, and historically accurate. The manners, actions, and crimes are realistic for the time period. Mary is a strong and intelligent female character with a quick wit and the ability to fight. I would recommend this book to girls who like historical fiction.

Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

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Nick is a street wise teen, who goes to a a fancy private school his single mom can't afford.  When he gets involved in a mugging, and a mysterious stranger rescues him, Nick is caught up i a strange adventure.  He has to save himself, friends, his future, his mom, and all this while battling an angry swarm of zombies.

This is the first in a series called the Chronicles of Nick.  We find out about who he is and a little about his future.  I liked the story and the idea that future Nick is trying to help past Nick.  Percy Jackson fans will like the story because it features a greek goddess, and because it is a multilayered story featuring a regular kid forced into a series of unusual and dangerous events.  I would recommend this to teen guys who enjoy adventure and zombie stories.

Peak by Roland Smith

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Peak is a fourteen old climber.  Both of his parents are famous mountain climbers.  He lives with his remarried mom is New York city, but when he runs into some legal troubles he soon finds himself out of the city and at the base camp of mount Everest.

This is the thrilling adventure of Peak's climb to the top of Everest. I loved the book and I wasn't expecting to.  I'm not a fan of realistic fiction but this story is so well told and exciting.  The story is told from Peak's perspective and his voice reads true as a teen boy.  All of the supporting characters are fully formed and add something to the story.  It's a clean read and I recommend this book to guys and girls who like adventure.  If you know of someone who doesn't want to read, this would be a good book to give to them.  The action starts on the first page and doesn't let up.  My Teen Book Club loved this book.

Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

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Rene is a typical California girl. Her long hair is wild, she loves the beach, and she wears cut offs and flip flops every day. Her parents are amazing, and her life is a happy one. On her sixteenth birthday everything she knows changes. After a tragedy befalls her parents she is sent to live with her grandfather in Maine, then later to a boarding school. When strange things start happening to the students in the school Rene tries to understand what is happening and help.


The story is a romance. She meets a boy on her first day at school, and they have a kind of love/hate relationship that soon turns to just love. It is a little reminiscent of Twilight with the boy who likes her so much he needs to stay away. Rene is a strong character who tries to solve a mystery and be kind to everyone. I liked the story and would recommend it to girls who like supernatural romances. It’s an interesting take on the genre. Romance is kept PG13, no cursing.