|
Catalog| Get a Library Card| Log In To Your Account | ||||||
| HOME | USING THE LIBRARY | BOOKS & READING | RESEARCH & HOMEWORK | PROGRAMS & CLASSES | EVENTS | ABOUT KCLS | |
|
|
Teen Zone Staff Picks-- Search Results
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Peeps by: Scott Westerfeld More Info: "When Cal arrived in New York City to attend college, he promptly went out to lose his virginity--which he promptly did. Unfortunately, in the process Cal also picked up something else: a parasite which causes all the symptoms (and strengths) of vampiri
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by: Rachel Cohn More Info: "Nick: onstage with the band, totally not prepared for his Evil Ex-Girlfriend to show up and prove how much his heart can hurt. Norah: watching the band, mailed her refusal to Brown University this morning in favor of joining her Evil Ex-Boyfriend on a
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Hit the Road by: Caroline Cooney More Info: "Brittany is the proud owner of a two-week-old driver's license but no car. On the first day of summer vacation, she is hustled by her feisty grandmother into a crazy scheme: to drive a rental car filled with little old ladies to their college reunio
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Runaways, vol 1 : Pride and Joy by: Brian K. Vaughan More Info: "Alex, Nico, and their friends know that most teenagers have days when they don't get along with their parents. But most teenagers don't have parents who turn out to be super-villains with powers from the future! When the kids make an unwelcome discover
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Grayson by: Lynne Cox More Info: "During a routine training session, 17-year-old long distance swimmer Lynne Cox feels a change in the ocean around her: tiny fish surround her, and then disappear. Larger fish appear and then disappear, followed by...something larger. A great white
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Singing Hands by: Delia Ray More Info: The year is 1948, and 12-year-old Gussie Davis (who can hear) is starting to rebel against her parents (who are deaf). She starts out by humming...loudly...in church. Since her father is the minister at St. Jude's Church for the Deaf, she gets away with
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Girls by: Lori Lansens More Info: "Ruby describes her conjoinment with her twin Rose by asking the reader to put a hand over one ear. That is the part of Ruby's head that is permanently fused to Rose's head. All their lives, the two girls have thought their own independent thoughts,
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Mimus by: Lilli Thal More Info: "Peace has been declared at last between the long-warring countries of Moltovia and Vinland, and Prince Florin of Moltovia eagerly rides to the banquet that will celebrate the kiss of peace between his father and King Theodo. When he arrives, however, he
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Chosen by a Horse by: Susan Richards More Info: ""She looked like a complicated wire coat hanger draped with a mud-caked brown pelt. Bones protruded everywhere. I watched her ribs heave up and down for a minute and listened to her wheeze. Her eyes were open but droopy, weeping a whitish discharge th
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Odd Thomas by: Dean Koontz More Info: "Odd Thomas is a 20-year-old frycook from Pico Mundo, California who makes fabulous pancakes and also communes with the dead. Usually, spirits will seek Odd Thomas' help to resolve whatever issue keeps them stranded on earth. Sometimes these ghosts hav
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Amazing Grace by: Megan Shull More Info: "By the end of page 3, teen tennis star Grace Kincaid has given up the lifestyle of the rich and famous, million-dollar endorsements for Nike, Pepsi, and Mercedes-Benz (among others), and her life at the center of a media circus. By the end of page 19,
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Peaches by: Jodi Lynn Anderson More Info: Birdie : sweet, kind, and sheltered. She loves the peach orchard, misses her mom, and longs for romance. Leeda: the "poor little rich girl" who has everything...but wants her mom's love more than anything. She impulsively volunteered to work at the
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: All Hallow's Eve : 13 Stories by: Vivian Vande Velde More Info: Witches, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and...a haunted car? The conventions of traditional scary stories are irreverently turned sideways with marvelous results in this quick collection of short stories. Here are thirteen spooky stories with a little
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Rules of Survival by: Nancy Werlin More Info: When Matthew sees Murdoch defend an abused child in a grocery store, he becomes obsessed with getting Murdoch to help defend Matthew and his sisters from their abusive mother, but everything goes wrong when his mother begins dating Murdoch. Will he be a s
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: An Abundance of Katherines by: John Green More Info: Child math prodigy Collin, faced with post-graduation blues and a breakup with his 19th girlfriend (all of whom were named Katherine), reluctantly goes on a roadtrip with his best friend Hassan and begins to learn that life doesn’t always fit into a formu
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Bad Kitty by: Michele Jaffe More Info: "In second and third grades I would go over to Polly's house after school and we would play Barbie Crime Scene. Polly liked it because she got to dress Barbie and Ken and Skipper up in the right outfits for whatever scenario we were doing - like beachwea
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Stone Goddess by: Minfong Ho More Info: "Nakri Sokha is the daughter of a dancer, the sister of a dancer, and is learning to dance herself when the communist Khmer Rouge army of Pol Pot force her family and all the people of Phnom Penh to evacuate the city. As they flee to the village home of
|
|
|
Category:
Short Reads Title: God Went to Beauty School by: Cynthia Rylant More Info: "...He went there to learn how to give a good perm and ended up just crazy about nails so He opened p His own shop. ""Nails by Jim"" He called it. He was afraid to call it Nails by God. He was sure people would think He was being disrespectful and using
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: PostSecret : extraordinary confessions from ordinary lives by: Frank Warren More Info: "Some of the confessions are sweet: When i see an ugly bride, what i am really seeing is a glimmer of hope for the future. [maybe i will marry, someday.] Some are a little bizarre: I used to think the rhythm was gonna get me. Others made me laugh, o
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Just In Case by: Meg Rosoff More Info: After rescuing his baby brother from a near-death experience fifteen-year-old David Case, convinced that fate is out to get him and that only a complete transformation will save him, assumes the name Justin Case, befriends an invisible greyhound and begin
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Storm Thief by: Chris Wooding More Info: In Orokos, an ancient island city wracked by unnatural storms and ruled by a dictator, Rail and Moa, two thieves, seek to flee the island with the help of Vago, a golem, after they steal a valuable artifact the their mistress wants for herself and the sec
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: PostSecret: extraordinary confessions from ordinary lives by: Frank Warren More Info: Some of the confessions are sweet: Some are a little bizarre: Others are funny, thoug
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: Bad Kitty by: Michele Jaffe More Info: "In second and third grades I would go over to Polly's house after school and we would play Barbie Crime Scene. Polly liked it because she got to dress Barbie and Ken and Skipper up in the right outfits for whatever scenario we were doing - like beachwea
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Life As We Knew It by: Susan Beth Pfeffer More Info: When an asteroid hits the moon and moves it closer to the Earth, seas overflow, volcanoes erupt, the earth shakes, winter settles with a deathly grip and life as she knew it is irrevocably changed for sixteen-year-old Miranda as family and their small Pen
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Devilish by: Maureen Johnson More Info: After her best friend, Ally, sells her soul to a demon for beauty, popularity and confidence, Jane makes a deal with the demon herself; if she can kiss her ex-boyfriend by Halloween night, she gets Ally’s soul back but if she fails, the demon gets them bo
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace by: Mary Janice Davidson More Info: "14-year-old soccer-star Jennifer knows that puberty would bring a lot of changes, but her parents never warned her that she would turn into a dragon, complete with horn-covered snout, long scaly tail and wings! After making her first were-dragon transf
|
|
|
Category:
Short Reads Title: Casey at the Bat by: Ernest L. Thayer More Info: "The classic struggle between the Mudville Nine and the hometeam is updated in this beautifully illustrated Visions in Poetry edition. Dressed in baggy jeans, with headphones and backwards ballcaps, players advance to the field, flanked by intense baseba
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Sisters Grimm : the fairy tale detectives by: Michael Buckley More Info: "Orphaned sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm are being sent (under protest) to live with the grandmother they thought was dead. But Relda Grimm isn't dead...and she is no ordinary granny, either. She makes black spaghetti with green meatballs for dinner,
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Not the End of the World by: Geraldine McCaughrean More Info: "A daughter is not the same blessing as a son, after all. ""Shem, Ham, and Japheth: sons of Noah."" They are the only ones who will be mentioned a hundred years from now when people tell our story. I know I won't figure. Noah's daughter Timna has many
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by: Chris Wooding More Info: "Among the cradlejacks, draugs, fiends, and other wych-kin, 17-year-old Thaniel finds pretty young Alaizabel Cray...and clues to a mysterious conspiracy that might be worse than the worst nightmares anyone has ever dreamed. In darkly moving chapters rem
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Ultimate Iron Man by: Orson Scott Card More Info: When super-genius Tony Stark's mother was pregnant with him, she contracted a fatal regenerative virus. The virus killed Maria Stark and mutated her unborn child, but his father saved Tony by coating him in an experimental bio-armor. Mutation gave Tony
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Fairest by: Gail Carson Levine More Info: "In the traditional versions of the story of Snow White, a child with hair as black as ebony, skin as white as snow, and lips as red as blood is beautiful...right? Yet, somehow 15-year-old Aza's pale skin, dark hair and red lips are unsightly, homely,
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Pinhoe Egg by: Diana Wynne Jones More Info: "Whatever else, Gammer Pinhoe had certainly gone off her rocker. With shouts of ""twisted cheese!"" and ""knitted squid!"", the elderly leader of the magical Pinhoe clan is removed kicking, screaming, and throwing magical spells in all directions, lea
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Set In Stone by: Linda Newbery More Info: In 1898, Samuel Godwin arrives at Fourwinds to tutor 19-year-old Juliana and 16-year-old Marianne only to find one girl on the edge of despair, the other on the edge of madness and a mystery involving the four statues the manor was named for.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Braid by: Helen Frost More Info: When landlords evict their family, two Scottish sisters, 14-year-old Jeannie and 15-year-old Sarah, braid their hair together and cut the braid, each taking a piece, before they are separated forever with Jeannie sailing for Canada with their parents and
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Wintersmith by: Terry Pratchett More Info: "Despite a distinctly un-witch-like name, Tiffany Aching is a witch. Armed with common sense, bits of string, and an iron frying pan, Tiffany's first quest was to rescue her small brother from the Faery Queen. Her companions for the journey are a tal
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Foreshadowing by: Marcus Sedgwick More Info: "What if you could see the future? What if you could predict death? What if nobody believed you? In 1915, Sasha discovers an unwelcome talent: while working as a volunteer nurse at a local hospital, she sees visions of death in the eyes of sold
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Brief History of the Dead by: Kevin Brockmeier More Info: "According to this book, when people die they go to The City to continue their existence as long as someone in the world remembers them. In the City, people do whatever they did before they died: they work, they eat, they sleep, they work, they meet old f
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Mom's Cancer by: Brian Fies More Info: "In 2002, the author's mom was diagnosed with lung cancer that metastasized to her brain after a lifetime of smoking. The diagnosis was the first step in a long circus of events for Mom, for Brian and his two sisters, and for other family members and fri
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Viking Warrior by: Robert Judson More Info: Fourteen-year-old Halfdan, the illegitimate son of a chieftan, is freed from slavery at the death of his father and must learn the ways of a Viking warrior.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Ophelia by: Lisa Klein More Info: Young Ophelia's crush on Prince Hamlet grows into love, but on the night of their secret wedding, the ghost of his murdered father visits and gives Hamlet a command that can only lead to madness and grief.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Elsewhere by: Gabrielle Zevin More Info: "Elsewhere is where 15 (almost 16) year old Liz ends up when she dies in a traffic accident. When Liz arrives in Elsewhere, she can't believe that the afterlife could possibly be like this: you continue to live your life, but instead of aging, you get y
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Broken Moon by: Kim Antieu More Info: "Nadira is working as a maid in the home of a rich family in Pakistan when she learns that her young brother Umar has been kidnapped by slave traders and taken to the desert to be a camel jockey. When the police and rescue agencies are unable to locate U
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Enthusiasm by: Polly Shulman More Info: "Julie's best friend Ashleigh is an Enthusiast. She has gotten obsessed with candy-making, military strategy, reptiles, and the newest album by the Wet Blankets. But now Julie is enthusiastic about Julie's all-time favorite book, Pride and Prejudice.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Defiance by: Valerie Hobbs More Info: "Eleven-year-old Toby wants to have (for once) a normal summer vacation. He wants to ride his bike, swim in the lake, and watch the night sky through his telescope. He does NOT want to think about the time he spent in the cancer-treatment ward at Childr
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Kiki Strike : Inside the Shadow City by: Kirsten Miller More Info: "I've always found that one of the biggest benefits of being a girl is that most people refuse to take you seriously. While boys must be constantly monitored and are always the first suspects when anything goes wrong, everyone expects girls to do what th
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Hattie Big Sky by: Kirby Larson More Info: "The year is 1917, and orphan Hattie Brooks is tired of being an unwanted servant, shuffled between grouchy relatives. When she inherits her uncle's 320-acre claim in Montana, she packs up her few possessions and her cat and heads west to ""prove the cla
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: In the Belly of the Bloodhound by: L.A. Meyer More Info: "Wanted for piracy by the Royal Navy, Jacky ""Bloody Jack"" Faber returns to Boston with the intention of lying low in the protecting walls of the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls while waiting for her true love Jaimy to catch up with her. But even
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Persepolis : the story of a childhood by: Marjane Satrapi More Info: "Marjane Satrapi was ten years old in 1980, the year that it became obligatory to wear the veil at her school in Tehran, Iran. Daughter of liberal political activists, Marji relates the years of her life between ages six and fourteen in a series of comic
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Wildwood Dancing by: Juliet Marillier More Info: Jena and her sisters secretly go dancing in the Wildwood every full moon, but when their secret world is threatened when their cousin Cezar takes over their estate and plans to destroy the Wildwood.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Tyrell by: Coe Booth More Info: Fifteen-year-old Tyrell scambles to make money for his family, but is determined to do it legally so that he doesn't end up in jail like his drug-dealer father.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by: Brian Selznick More Info: "This fast-moving mystery novel in pictures and words features 12-year-old orphan Hugo, who keeps the clocks of the Paris train station running by day, and works long hours by night to reconstruct a mechanical automaton damaged in the museum fire that kil
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Pox Party by: M.T. Anderson More Info: "In the elaborate writing style common to educated Colonial men of the mid-1770's, Octavian tells the story of his childhood : raised by a group of rational Boston philosophers as an experimental ""zoological"" study of African people, he is given an exc
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Uglies by: Scott Westerfeld More Info: "On your 16th birthday, you can be pretty. On your 16th birthday, they will ""surge"" you--give you surgery to make your skin clear, your eyes big, your teeth strong and straight. If you are too fat, they'll make you skinny. If you are too skinny, they'
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Enna Burning by: Shannon Hale More Info: "Enna's brother is reluctant to talk about his new skill with fire. And no wonder: without using flint or matches, Leifer can set fire to anything...or anyone. When their country goes to war and the siblings gather against an invading army, fire con
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Nature of Jade by: Deb Caletti More Info: Jade, a seventeen-year-old who suffers from panic attacks, finds comfort watching the elephants at the zoo, but one day she sees Sebastian watching the elephants too and her life changes forever.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Harmless by: Dana Reinhardt More Info: When their parents catch high school freshmen Emma, Anna and Mariah lying about their whereabouts on a Friday night, they tell one seemingly harmless lie that impacts their lives in ways they never expected.
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Pride of Baghdad by: Brian K. Vaughn More Info: "In April 2003 American forces bombed the city of Baghdad. Buildings were destroyed. Walls were broken. And the animals at the zoo were loose in the city. Freedom is exhilarating for the youngest lion in the pride. It's frightening for the oldest fem
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest by: Matt Haig More Info: "Aunt Eda lives in Norway, doesn't have a television, serves flatbread and cheese for breakfast, and has a lot of rules. The most important rule, she says, is rule #9: NEVER--UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES--GO INTO THE FOREST. Newly-orphaned Samuel doesn't i
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Mother-Daughter Book Club by: Heather Vogel Frederick More Info: "Nine months of Little Women, book discussions, and life. What could be worse? Somehow, Emma's convinced other moms in her aerobics class that they needed to form a book club with their daughters. Naturally, the moms didn't consult the girls--and Emma
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Mystic and Rider by: Sharon Shinn More Info: "Senneth travels the country with two of the King's Riders and two magically-talented friends. Together they are exploring the towns and villages, looking for ""trouble""...whatever that might mean. And their search is more successful than anyone could
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Gym Candy by: Carl Deuker More Info: All Mick Johnson cares about is football and he's determined to be the best, even if it means turning to steroids for help.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Saints of Augustine by: P.E Ryan More Info: Sixteen-year-olds Sam and Charlie have been best friends since they were kids, but family changes- the death of Charlie's mom and the divorce of Sam's parents- drive a wedge between them. Left alone, each struggles to deal with the loss of a parent, a fri
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The New Policeman by: Kate Thompson More Info: "J.J. Liddy grew up with music always in his house on the west coast of Ireland. His mother and sister and he are all accomplished musicians, and generations of his family have hosted monthly gatherings of dancers, singers, storytellers and musicians. B
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Crazy Man by: Pamela Porter More Info: "Saskatchewan farm girl Emaline Bitterman is 12 years old in 1965, the year that she is injured by the tractor. Em figures it was her own fault; that her accident started all the changes and left her with a father gone, a dog dead, one leg shorter than t
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Looking Back : a book of memories by: Lois Lowry More Info: "...at the time, I had not yet read Stuart Little, so I was not expert at mouseology. I did realize that he was rather large for a mouse; but The Rats of NIMH had not yet been written so I hadn't read that either, and didn't know that there were other, l
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: My Nights at the Improv by: Jan Siebold More Info: "In any new situation, Lizzie Marino can think of the most clever and brilliant comment to make...about thirty seconds too late. Now she's attending a new school in a new town, and the only girl in her class who talks to her is mean. Then Lizzie disco
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Dragon's Keep by: Janet Lee Carey More Info: Rosalind, a descendant of King Arthur’s exiled sister, the princess of Wilde Island and the one prophesied to return honor to her bloodline, is born with a dragon claw on one hand. When dragons return to the island to wreak havoc, Rosalind will discover h
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: While I Live by: John Marsden More Info: The war has ended, but Ellie, the heroine from Tomorrow When the War Began, is still fighting for her life in this new world where her one-time enemies are now her uneasy neighbors and her own people are making it difficult to keep her family together and
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Flat-out Rock by: Mike Tanner More Info: Explore the influences and legacies of groundbreaking, 1960s musicians like the Beatles, Dylan, Joplin and the Rolling Stones.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: The Hypochondriac's Pocket Guide to Horrible Diseases... by: Dennis DiClaudio More Info: "Here at last is the ultimate easy-to-read guidebook to weird diseases, conditions, infections and parasites. From the benignly strange: Cornu Cutaneum - in which you grow a horn, not like a goat, but more like a rhinoceros to the historically signi
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Cry of the Icemark by: Stuart Hill More Info: "Princess Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield is only 13 years old, but she has spent her entire life training and preparing to be a Queen and a warrior. When she impetuously saves the life of a werewolf, she gains a friendship and creates the f
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Water for Elephants by: Sara Gruen More Info: "Jacob Jankowski is ninety (or maybe ninety-three?) years old now, but he hasn't always been an old man with precarious balance issues stuck in a nursing home. Jacob clearly remembers the 1930s, when he was abruptly orphaned and left penniless just befor
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Falconer's Knot by: Mary Hoffman More Info: "Medieval teenagers Silvano and Chiara have very different backgrounds. Silvano is the only son and heir to his father's considerable fortune. He fancies himself in love with the sheep-farmer's wife...but when the farmer is killed and Silvano is blamed,
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Red Moon at Sharpsburg by: Rosemary Wells More Info: Thirteen year old India Moon wants to go to the women’s college she’s heard about in Ohio and studies faithfully with Emory Trimble, a neighbor who teaches her science, but its hard to imagine getting such a chance as the Civil War heats up around her She
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Tribute To Another Dead Rock Star by: Randy Powell More Info: Grady travels to Seattle for a tribute concert to his rock star mother who died three years ago and to visit his father and step- family. Although Grady describes himself as an unnoticeable blob, this skateboarding, air guitar playing teen manages to deal
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Violet & Claire by: Francesca Lia Block More Info: Violet and Clare are polar opposites--Violet is outgoing, ambitious, and level-headed with a passion for screenwriting, while Clare is a romantic, ethereal, poetess. Who would think they could become best friends?
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Deathwatch by: Robb White More Info: It started off simple enough. Ben was just trying to earn extra cash by hiring himself out as a desert guide for an out-of-towner intent on bagging a rare bighorned sheep. Then Ben finds himself locked in a life and death battle with a cruel big-game hunt
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Star Split by: Kathryn Lasky More Info: In the year 3028, Darci is a 13 year old who lives in a world where cloning and genetic enhancement is the norm in life and inherited diseases have become extinct. Darci's life is very normal, even boring, until one day she meets her own clone. Unauthoriz
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Shakespeare Stealer by: Gary L. Blackwood More Info: Widge is an orphan living in Elizabethan England. A doctor teaches him a way to write as quickly as a person can speak (the forerunner to shorthand). And even though Widge is an apt pupil, the doctor sells him to a gentleman for a mere ten pounds. This ge
|
|
|
Category:
Multicultural Perspectives Title: I am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, by: Jackie Chan with Jeff Yang More Info: Jackie Chan is famous for his death-defying stunts and incredible agility. So how did Jackie Chan go from rambunctious child to international superstar? Find out in this fascinating book written in Jackie's humorous style.
|
|
|
Category:
Reads for Reluctant Readers Title: I am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action by: Jackie Chan with Jeff Yang More Info: Jackie Chan is famous for his death-defying stunts and incredible agility. So how did Jackie Chan go from rambunctious child to international superstar? Find out in this fascinating book written in Jackie's humorous style.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Pirates! : The true and remarkable adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy K by: Celia Rees More Info: Nancy Kingston, shipped off to Jamaica for an arranged marriage after her father's death, escapes her fate by running away with Minerva, a young slave girl, and turning pirate, but the price of her independece may be her true love, who is an officer in th
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Gospel According to Larry by: Janet Tashjian More Info: Josh Swenson's anti-consumerism website, written under an assumed name, sparks national attention that results in a hunt for the true identity of Larry .
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Red Scarf Girl: a memoir of the Cultural Revolution by: Ji-Li Jiang More Info: For Ji-Li, a smart girl from a good family, 1966 was the year when all the rules changed as China began its Cultural Revolution and anyone too intelligent or from a privileged background was persecuted. Nonfiction
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: Coraline by: Neil Gaiman More Info: Coraline, a curious young girl, finds a mysterious door in her new apartment that leads her to a creepy mirror world where her other mother and other father want her to stay forever. Supernatural/Horror
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: Rats by: Paul Zindel More Info: Sarah and her brother Matt race to save New York from a plague of mutant rats invading from Staten Island, now a giagantic landfill. Supernatural/Horror
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The First Part Last by: Angela Johnson More Info: Bobby has some new rules in his life because Bobby, just a teenager himself, is now a single father whose life has been divided into "then" and "now".
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The life history of a star by: Kelly Easton More Info: Kristin Folger writes about everything in her life including her bickering parents and first experience with high school ("High school. Cesspool. What more can I say?"), but she never writes about her beloved brother, the star student and athlete, who is
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the correspondenc by: Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer More Info: Cecelia and Kate, best friends and cousins, are separated for the London Season, but both soon stumble onto a mystery involving enigmatic wizards, a vengeful witch, an enchantingly beautiful girl, two handsome (but horrible) young men and a very curious c
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Before We Were Free by: Julia Alvarez More Info: Anita begins to understand the danger her family lives with when her cousins flee to America and her immediate family is left living in the Dominican Republic under a harsh dictator.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: How Angel Peterson Got His Name by: Gary Paulsen More Info: Readers will wonder how anyone from Paulsen's hometown ever made it to adulthood as he relates all of the bad ideas and dangerous stunts he and his friends performed including an attempt to break the speed record for skis&from behind a car. Nonfiction
|
|
|
Category:
Multicultural Perspectives Title: Go and Come Back by: Joan Abelove More Info: Two American anthropology students study a tiny village in the Amazon jungle, little guessing how the tribe, especially a young girl named Alicia, views their civilized' habits.
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: Nothing But the Truth by: Avi More Info: When Philip hums with the Star-Spangled Banner, to annoy his teacher and is suspended, it sparks a national debate about patriotism
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Slumber Parties: Things to Make and Do by: Jennifer Traig More Info: With funky illustrations, this book gives party theme ideas as well as suggestions for movies, crafts, food and music, including how to make chocolate soup or candy jewelry for a Sweet Dreams party.
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Fax from Sarajevo: a story of survival by: Joe Kubert More Info: During the 18-month siege of Sarajevo in 1992-1993, Ervin Rustemagic and his family where trapped in the city where bombs rained from the sky, snipers targeted children, food was scarce, and Ervine's only means of communication was a fax machine.
|
|
|
Category:
Coming-of-age Title: Tangerine by: Edward Bloor More Info: Paul, a pretty good student and excellent soccer player, is legally blind, but he can still see enough to know that something is severely wrong with his temperamental older brother, Erik.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Stick Figure: a diary of my former self by: Lori Gottlieb More Info: After meeting her popular, slender cousin and seeing how everyone approves of Kate's dieting, Lori begins her own diet and is soon on her way to the stick figure of her dreams, so why is her family suddenly alarmed?
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Goddess of Yesterday by: Caroline Cooney More Info: Anaxandra, taken from her island as a hostage, assumes a new identity as Princess Callista after raiders destroy her captor's home, but her impersonation will embroil her in the treachery of the Trojan war.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Unnatural Death: Confessions of a Medical Examiner by: Michael Baden More Info: A medical examiner explores the deaths of Tennessee Williams, Elvis Presley and Jennifer Levin as well as others in these real-life cases of the deceased.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by: Joyce Carol Oates More Info: Matt's only joking when he talks about blowing up the school, but someone thinks he's serious and only Ursula Riggs, the school misfit, is willing to defend him.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Wolf By the Ears by: Ann Rinadi More Info: Harriet Hemmings, well-educated, well-dressed and well-cared for, is a slave, but she suspects her master is also her father and longs for freedom and acknowledgement from Thomas Jefferson.
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Alias by: Mary Elizabeth Ryan More Info: Toby discovers the shocking truth that his mother is wanted for anti-government activities during the Vietnam War and that they are fugitives.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Tomorrow When the War Began by: John Marsden More Info: Seven teens return from a weekend of wilderness camping to find that their country has been invaded and they must become guerilla fighters if they hope to see their family or homes again.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Giver by: Lois Lowry More Info: Jonas, newly assigned to the honorable task of being the Receiver who will accept collected memories from his predecessor, the Giver, finds that his new memories include the deadly knowledge about his perfect' society.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Letters from the Inside by: John Marsden More Info: When Tracy and Mandy begin writing to each other, both think its safe to write a few lies, after all, pen pals are unlikely to meet, but their lies hide dark truths that will come out, even if they never meet.
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Batman: The Long Halloween by: Joseph Loeb and Tim Sale More Info: Batman must capture a new murderer, aptly named Holiday because he only kills on holidays, whose exploits have even inspired the Joker, who feels there's only room for one homicidal maniac in Gotham.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Thief Lord by: Cornelia Funke More Info: Brothers Bo and Prosper won't be separated by their Aunt Esther so they run away to Venice where they meet the mysterious Thief Lord and are adopted into his gang.
|
|
|
Category:
Religious Perspectives Title: Because of Winn-Dixie by: Kate Dicamillo More Info: India Opal doesn't expect much of Naomi, the new town she and her father have moved to in Florida, but when she adopts an ugly dog named Winn Dixie, she learns to see things a little differently.
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: A Darker Place by: Laurie King More Info: Anne Waverly, occasionally an undercover FBI agent, will do anything to save children from the cults she's studied because the one child she could not save was her own daughter.
|
|
|
Category:
Coming-of-age Title: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by: Ann Brashares More Info: Like every solemn bond, there are rules to this sisterhood, such as: never wash the pants; never double cuff them (it's tacky); never say the phat while wearing them; never think, I'm fat.' Love your pants and love yourself.
|
|
|
Category:
Romance Title: Rosey in the Present Tense by: Louise Hawes More Info: When Franklin's girlfriend Rosey dies in a car accident he is so unwilling to let her go that he begins to talk to her and soon she is talking back.
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: Things Not Seen by: Andrew Clements More Info: When Bobby wakes up invisible, his only ally is a blind girl and he'll need all the help he can get to discover the cause of this weird situation grows more and more dangerous.
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Stuck in Neutral by: Terry Trueman More Info: Shawn, a bright young man with cerebral palsy, is beginning to suspect that his father may be looking for a deadly way to solve Shawn's problems for him for good.
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Virtual War by: Gloria Skurzynski More Info: Fourteen-year-old Corgan, genetically engineered to win the Virtual War for the Federation of the Western Hemisphere, is tired of being obedient to the Supreme Council, even though the fate his world rests on him.
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Violet Eyes by: Nicole Luiken More Info: Every two years, Angel's father's company sends the family somewhere new. This wouldn't be a big deal, but everywhere they go, Michael Vallant has been there before her. He's on all the trophies at school. Half the kids and teachers talk about him. It see
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Money Hungry by: Sharon G. Flake More Info: Greedy. Selfish. Cheap. So Raspberry Hill's friends say. She sells pencils and holiday candy at school. She washes cars and cleans houses. Anything to make a buck. She can never have enough. When you have money, you have power. With money, you won't be ho
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: The Dark Side of Nowhere by: Neal Shusterman More Info: Billington is a small town where nothing exciting ever happens. To Jason, it feels as if everyone had agreed to live as if they were in a Norman Rockwell painting of America the Bland. Everything's just so. . . normal! As time goes on, the town's perfect
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: Princess Diaries by: Meg Cabot More Info: Fourteen year-old Mia's just a typical combat-boot-wearing, animal-rights-loving, algebra-failing New York City teen living with her artist mom... News Flash: Dad is prince of Genovia. Downer: Dad can't have any more kids (so no heir to the throne). Shock
|
|
|
Category:
Reads for Reluctant Readers Title: Cirque du Freak, A Living Nightmare by: Darren Shan More Info: Two teenage guys manage to get a hold of tickets and sneak out to an unlawful freak show. This show is beyond all limits, and it will begin a long, terrifying journey for the narrator whose name, happens to be that of the author, Darren Shan. In the word
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: Carpe Jugulum by: Terry Pratchett More Info: "Carpe jugulum. That's the family motto of the unusual vampires who dwell in Uberwald. Spiked with humor, this is not your run-of-the mill vampire tale.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Carpe Jugulum by: Terry Pratchett More Info: "Carpe jugulum. That's the family motto of the unusual vampires who dwell in Uberwald. Spiked with humor, this is not your run-of-the mill vampire tale.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Violet Eyes by: Nicole Luiken More Info: Every two years, Angel's father's company sends the family somewhere new. This wouldn't be a big deal, but everywhere they go, Michael Vallant has been there before her. He's on all the trophies at school. Half the kids and teachers talk about him. It see
|
|
|
Category:
Short Reads Title: Money Hungry by: Sharon G. Flake More Info: Greedy. Selfish. Cheap. So Raspberry Hill's friends say. She sells pencils and holiday candy at school. She washes cars and cleans houses. Anything to make a buck. She can never have enough. When you have money, you have power. With money, you won't be ho
|
|
|
Category:
Reads for Reluctant Readers Title: Money Hungry by: Sharon G. Flake More Info: Greedy. Selfish. Cheap. So Raspberry Hill's friends say. She sells pencils and holiday candy at school. She washes cars and cleans houses. Anything to make a buck. She can never have enough. When you have money, you have power. With money, you won't be ho
|
|
|
Category:
Short Reads Title: The Dark Side of Nowhere by: Neal Shusterman More Info: Billington is a small town where nothing exciting ever happens. To Jason, it feels as if everyone had agreed to live as if they were in a Norman Rockwell painting of America the Bland. Everything's just so. . . normal! As time goes on, the town's perfect
|
|
|
Category:
Reads for Reluctant Readers Title: The Dark Side of Nowhere by: Neal Shusterman More Info: Billington is a small town where nothing exciting ever happens. To Jason, it feels as if everyone had agreed to live as if they were in a Norman Rockwell painting of America the Bland. Everything's just so. . . normal! As time goes on, the town's perfect
|
|
|
Category:
Romance Title: Princess Diaries by: Meg Cabot More Info: Fourteen year-old Mia's just a typical combat-boot-wearing, animal-rights-loving, algebra-failing New York City teen living with her artist mom... News Flash: Dad is prince of Genovia. Downer: Dad can't have any more kids (so no heir to the throne). Shock
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: Cirque du Freak, A Living Nightmare by: Darren Shan More Info: Two teenage guys manage to get a hold of tickets and sneak out to an unlawful freak show. This show is beyond all limits, and it will begin a long, terrifying journey for the narrator whose name, happens to be that of the author, Darren Shan. In the word
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Bone, v.1: Out from Boneville by: Jeff Smith More Info: If Bugs Bunny collided with The Hobbit, this would be the result. The artwork is to die for. The story is funny, suspenseful and a touch romantic. Grab your granddad and run the name Pogo by him and he'll tell you that no one, no one, can match the comi
|
|
|
Category:
Coming-of-age Title: Growing Wings by: Laurel Winter More Info: The changes in your body when you hit puberty can be tough. But imagine that in addition to growing hair in strange new places you've also sprouted wings. Huge wings. And you find out your mom grew them too until her mom, your grandmother hacked them
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Growing Wings by: Laurel Winter More Info: The changes in your body when you hit puberty can be tough. But imagine that in addition to growing hair in strange new places you've also sprouted wings. Huge wings. And you find out your mom grew them too until her mom, your grandmother hacked them
|
|
|
Category:
Multicultural Perspectives Title: A Walk in My World : International Short Stories About Youth by: Anne Mazer More Info: Fancy a trip around the globe but don't have the time or money? Then check out this book of worldly short stories by some of the best writers anywhere.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Lirael, Daughter of the Clayr by: Garth Nix More Info: Lirael, Daughter of the Clayr, waits inside the glacier for the Sight, and she won't be considered an adult until she gets it. To get away from her aunt, she goes to work in the library, where her Charter Magic skills allow her access to knowledge and pla
|
|
|
Category:
Short Reads Title: Split Image by: Mel Glenn More Info: Told in poems of about a page in length (just right for reading during commercials), this is the story of part of Laura Li's high school year. The really great thing about it is that each poem is from a different person's perspective and told in their voi
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories by: Chris Crutcher More Info: "Sports" stories you might like, even if you'd sooner pull weeds than read Sports Illustrated.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Ironman by: Chris Crutcher More Info: Beau Brewsster wants to win Yukon Jack's Ironman Triathalon this year. Besides biking and running, he works out with the college swim team every morning -- though some members would like to murder him. How can Beau concentrate on his training when his fat
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Flash Fire by: Caroline B. Cooney More Info: Saturday, October 27, Los Angeles County 3:15 PM: 15-year old Danna Press watches TV reports of wildfires. They'll never get to our area! 3:40: Elony decides to close the curtains against the glare outside. It's getting so hot! Even the floor's gettin
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Within Reach: My Everest Story by: Mark Pfetzer & Jack Galvin More Info: Do you like outdoor sports? Do you like taking risks? Mark Pfetzer has been combining both since he was 11, as a karate black belt, survival rescuer, deep sea diver, and, especially, a mountain climber. By age 15, Mark had been the youngest climber on fou
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Alida's Song by: Gary Paulsen More Info: The boy was 14, painfully shy, no friends, going nowhere. But in June he received a letter from his grandma, offering a paying job on a farm for the summer, where she was employed as cook. All the food he could eat, plus three dollars per day. No electr
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Jumping the Nail by: Eve Bunting More Info: Dru and her friends at La Paloma High in Southern California remember the story of the two students who jumped the Nail (a high cliff overlooking the Pacific) ten years earlier. The two of them fell 90 feet to the ocean below&and didn't make it. Dru is
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: A Time Apart by: Diane Stanley More Info: Ginny is away from her sick mother for the summer and has to be a part of her father's research. Her father re-created an Iron Age village and is going to live there with a group of volunteers for a year, to see how people lived thousands of years ago. Th
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Kit's Wilderness by: David Almond More Info: Kit Watson, moves with his family to the town of Stoneygate, once a coal-mining town, to help care for his old grandfather. He is drawn into a group of kids who play a game called "Death". When the knife blade spins and points to Kit, he is left undergrou
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Golden Compass by: Philip Pullman More Info: When Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon decide to spy on a presentation her uncle is making, they have no idea that they'll witness his attempted murder. Then Lyra is apprenticed to the beautiful Mrs. Coulter and given a strange device, called an alethiomete
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Swallowing Stones by: Joyce McDonald More Info: July 4th. Michael's 17th birthday. A hot summer day at a party in Michael's backyard. When Michael secretly fires his new rifle into the air, he never dreams that he's doing something that will change his life forever. The next day, Michael hears that a
|
|
|
Category:
Reads for Reluctant Readers Title: Swallowing Stones by: Joyce McDonald More Info: July 4th. Michael's 17th birthday. A hot summer day at a party in Michael's backyard. When Michael secretly fires his new rifle into the air, he never dreams that he's doing something that will change his life forever. The next day, Michael hears that a
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Duplicate by: William Sleator More Info: David finds a mysterious machine on the beach and discovers that the machine can duplicate organic matter. Cool! Just think what he could do if he made a duplicate of himself! He could have the second David do boring stuff like go to school while he goes
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by: Alden R. Carter More Info: Mark must keep family tradition alive by spending 8 or 9 days with his cousin, Randy, paddling a canoe in the Minnesota wilderness to prove he's a man. Things go well at first. Mark and Randy talk a little and fish a lot. But when a bear gets into the f
|
|
|
Category:
Reads for Reluctant Readers Title: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by: Alden R. Carter More Info: Mark must keep family tradition alive by spending 8 or 9 days with his cousin, Randy, paddling a canoe in the Minnesota wilderness to prove he's a man. Things go well at first. Mark and Randy talk a little and fish a lot. But when a bear gets into the f
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Adam & Eve & Pinch-Me by: Julie Johnston More Info: You'd hide your feelings, too, if you'd been moved from place to place, family to family, with no one to really care for you, to love you. That's the way it was for Sara Moone during her 15 years in various foster homes. As she grew up, Sara learned to be
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Tamsin by: Peter S. Beagle More Info: Jenny, a girl familiar only with the big-city business and noise of New York City, is sent to a 16th century farm in Dorset, England when her mother gets remarried. There Jenny meets the beautiful and kindly Tamsin, who's haunted the estate for over 300 y
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: Tamsin by: Peter S. Beagle More Info: Jenny, a girl familiar only with the big-city business and noise of New York City, is sent to a 16th century farm in Dorset, England when her mother gets remarried. There Jenny meets the beautiful and kindly Tamsin, who's haunted the estate for over 300 y
|
|
|
Category:
Coming-of-age Title: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾ by: Sue Townsend More Info: Life is never easy for British teenager Adrian Mole. For one thing, his parents are obnoxious; his father can't keep a job and his mother wants to be a punk rocker. For another, Adrian is an intellectual and a poet, but is trapped in the body of a pimpl
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾ by: Sue Townsend More Info: Life is never easy for British teenager Adrian Mole. For one thing, his parents are obnoxious; his father can't keep a job and his mother wants to be a punk rocker. For another, Adrian is an intellectual and a poet, but is trapped in the body of a pimpl
|
|
|
Category:
Short Reads Title: Violet and Clare by: Francesca Lia Block More Info: Violet and Clare are polar opposites--Violet is outgoing, ambitious, and level-headed with a passion for screenwriting, while Clare is a romantic, ethereal, poetess. Who would think they could become best friends?
|
|
|
Category:
Pacific Northwest Authors Title: Tribute To Another Dead Rock Star by: Randy Powell More Info: Grady travels to Seattle for a tribute concert to his rock star mother who died three years ago and to visit his father and step- family. Although Grady describes himself as an unnoticeable blob, this skateboarding, air guitar playing teen manages to deal
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Black ships before Troy : the story of the Iliad by: Rosemary Sutcliffe More Info: Made for mythology buffs, this retelling of the Trojan War is gorgeously illustrated by long-time Tolkien artist Allan Lee. With his vivid illustrations accompanying Sutcliffe's retelling, the myth takes on a new life of its own. Paris seals the fate of h
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epide by: Jim Murphy More Info: No one noticed when the fever began to kill people in the summer of 1793. The citizens of Philadelphia were more worried about the Revolution in France or the uncommon heat. Soon the fever would halt the entire city as victim after victim fell to the invi
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Fever 1793 by: Laurie Halse Anderson More Info: Mattie Cook helps her grandfather and widowed mother run their coffee shop in Philadelphia. In August of 1793, the city is hot and busy, but unbeknownst to Mattie or anyone else, it is also deadly. A terrible fever sweeps the streets, driving citizens to
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Raising the Griffin by: Melissa Wyatt More Info: Alex Varenhoff knows that his family was once ruled Rovenia, a small European country, but that was before the Communists took over and exiled his family. He's had a relatively normal life in England. Until he finally discovers the truth his parents have
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Year of the Hangman by: Gary Blackwood More Info: 1777, called the year of the hangman because of the multiple sevens, looming like gallows and for the many British traitors hung for their crimes. 1777, was also a pivotal year for the American Revolution. What would have happened if the revolutionaries h
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: All American Girl by: Meg Cabot More Info: Samantha isn't the most popular girl in school; her older sister Lucy is. She isn't the smartest kid on the block, either; her younger sister Rebecca is. Sam doesn't even have a romance of her own--she's secretly in love with Lucy's boyfriend. Suddenly
|
|
|
Category:
Multicultural Perspectives Title: Born Confused by: Tanuja Desai Hidier More Info: Dimple Lala just wants to be a normal American girl, but that can be challenging when her traditional parents seem determined to make her into the perfect Indian girl. They even arrange for her to meet a suitable boy. Dimple used to find solace with her b
|
|
|
Category:
Multicultural Perspectives Title: A Step From Heaven by: An Na More Info: While flying to America, Young Ju believes she is on her way to heaven. Her uncle tells her it is a step from heaven. It doesn't take her long to realize this step is steep. From her first sip of Coca-Cola, which "bites the inside of my mouth and throat l
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Touching Spirit Bear by: Ben Mikealsen More Info: What is this book about?
|
|
|
Category:
Multicultural Perspectives Title: When My Name Was Keoko by: Linda Sue Park More Info: What is this book about?
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Hawksong by: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes More Info: What is this book about?
|
|
|
Category:
Pacific Northwest Authors Title: Behind The Wheel: Poems About Driving by: Janet. S. Wong More Info: Comparing driving to real life, you will find yourself smiling and nodding in agreement as you read the title poem "Behind The Wheel" where everything you need to know about life can be learned behind the wheel.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Curse of the Blue Tattoo by: L. A. Meyer More Info: Jacky Faber learns that the only thing more dangerous than hunting pirates is learning to be a Fine Lady in boarding school.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: A Hat Full of Sky by: Terry Pratchett More Info: Tiffany Aching apprentices to a senior witch in this sequel to The Wee Free Men.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Au Pairs by: Melissa De La Cruz More Info: Spend the summer with three teenage au pairs working for the wealthiest families in the Hamptons.
|
|
|
Category:
Sports Title: Swifter, higher, stronger: a photographic history of the Summer Olympics by: Sue Macy More Info: This detailed history of the Summer Olympics will warm you up for the 2004 Athens Games.
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Fray by: Joss Whedon More Info: It is the Buffyverse, only hundreds of years later. Fray is the newest Slayer in a desolate future where the vampires are coming back.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Double Helix by: Nancy Werlin More Info: Eighteen-year-old Eli discovers a shocking secret about his life and his family while working for a Nobel Prize-winning scientist whose specialty is genetic engineering.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Airborn by: Kenneth Oppel More Info: Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Heir Apparent by: Vivian Vande Velde More Info: For once Giannine’s father gives her a decent birthday gift, a coupon for a gaming center. Soon engaged in the game, Heir Apparent, she’s a lost heir struggling for her throne. Like any game-player, she gets frustrated when her efforts only lead to death.
|
|
|
Category:
Coming-of-age Title: Gingerbread by: Rachel Cohn More Info: Cyd Charisse, a “recovering hellion”, has a hard time fitting in with her family after being kicked out of a boarding school. She wants to spend all her time with her new boyfriend, not with her appearance-obsessed mother. After a big blowup over Cyd’s be
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: Son of the Mob by: Gordon Korman More Info: Vince wants nothing to do with the family business. It only gets him into trouble, like the time he was given a stolen Porsche for his birthday. He finally has a chance at being normal when he meets Kendra, but when Kendra unknowingly reveals that her fat
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Fray by: Joss Whedon More Info: Just when you think its safe to go out at night, Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, comes up with an even darker chapter of his story. Melaka Fray’s supernatural agility and toughness allow her to become one of the best thieves in the seedy
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Mates, Dates and Cosmic Kisses by: Cathy Hopkins More Info: What is this book about?
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Mates, Dates, and Sleepover Secrets by: Cathy Hopkins More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it?
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Mates, Dates, and Inflatable Bras by: Cathy Hopkins More Info: What is this book about?
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Sabriel by: Garth Nix More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it?
|
|
|
Category:
Coming-of-age Title: Boy Meets Boy by: David Levithan More Info: Paul, a sophomore at a high school where the quarterback is also the homecoming queen and where the Gay-Straight Alliance was formed to teach straight kids how to dance, doesn’t worry too much about being gay. But he does worry about meeting Mr. Right, so
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: This Lullaby by: Sara Dessen More Info: Remy doesn't believe in love-- her mother's five marriages have dispelled any illusions she had about romance, but in the summer after graduation, with another wedding in the works, she meets Dexter who tempts her to believe.
|
|
|
Category:
Coming-of-age Title: Heaven by: Angela Johnson More Info: For Marly, the town of Heaven, where she lives with her parents and her little brother truly is heaven. She knows her friends Shoogy, whose bold manner masks hidden pain, and Bobby, a single teen father, find life much more difficult. But a letter from a
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Wee Free Men by: Terry Pratchett More Info: The fairies are poised to invade and Tiffany Aching’s little brother Wentworth has been kidnapped by the evil Queen of the Fairies. Its up to her to save him, but this wannabe witch will need more than her natural magical talent. Luckily she has the Nac M
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Across the Nightingale Floor by: Lian Hearn More Info: Set in an imaginary feudal Japan this is the story of 16-year Takeo, who is raised by a secret religious group called the Hidden. Takeo is orphaned when agents of the local lord burn his village; he is saved from certain death by the intervention of an o
|
|
|
Category:
Coming-of-age Title: Catalyst by: Laurie Halse Anderson More Info: Kate Malone is a self-described geek: senior in high school, track star, math and science whiz, preacher's kid and family caretaker. She handles the stress in her life by organizing it as methodically and precisely as the periodic table. Suddenly, event
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Close to Shore by: Mike Capuzzo More Info: In the summer of 1916, all along the New Jersey Shore, vacationers fled the beaches as swimmers were torn apart by a mysterious monster. Soon, the monster was discovered to be a rogue great white shark and the hunt was on for the dangerous creature. See t
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: The Radioactive Boy Scout: the true story of a boy and his backyard nuclear by: Ken Silverstein More Info: In this page-turning biography, Silverstein explores one Boy Scout's out-of-control love affair with science and his astonishing attempt to build a nuclear reactor in his backyard.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Nobody was here: 7th grade in the life of me, Penelope B. by: Alison Pollet More Info: Life in New York in the 1980s is made more difficult for a middle school girl by problems at home and at school.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: A hat full of sky by: Terry Pratchett More Info: Tiffany Aching, a young witch-in-training, learns about magic and responsibility as she battles a disembodied monster with the assistance of the six-inch-high Wee Free Men and Mistress Weatherwax, the greatest witch in the world.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Jason and Kyra by: Dana Davidson More Info: When popular basketball star Jason and quiet, brainy Kyra are paired for an English project each finds that the other is not quite what they expected and that, despite obstacles and misunderstandings, they want to be together.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by: Deb Caletti More Info: Ruby McQueen, usually a cautious, thoughtful person, finds herself changing completely for the new boy next door becoming a fearless, reckless girl, but how much should a person change for love?
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Tithe: a modern faerie tale by: Holly Black More Info: Sixteen-year-old Kaye and her mother, an often-drunk, often-broke would-be rock star, have just returned to her grandmother’s house after her mother’s boyfriend attacks them. With no job and problems at school her life seems dark, but it’s about to get a
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Hollow Kingdom by: Clare B. Dunkle More Info: Kate has inherited Hallow Hill from her mother, but upon arriving finds out that it is more than just an old house. It is Hollow Hill, the land of the goblins. Marak, the Goblin King, needs a bride and he has chosen lovely Kate, despite her objections. He
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Operating Codes by: Nick Mann More Info: There is something strange about Sentinel House. Noises can be heard at night: the march of ghostly feet upon the drive. Sometimes, when you look through a window, you see more than just your own reflection; you see another face, a forgotten face, looking
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Shades of Simon Gray by: Joyce MacDonald More Info: At the center of the town of Bellehaven stands an ancient oak. Two hundred years ago a young man was summarily hanged here after a hasty trial. Now the tree marks the scene of another violent event. Simon Gray, 16, has crashed his car into the tree and is
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Realm of Possibility by: David Levithan More Info: Through a series of free verse poems, the lives, loves, hopes and fears of twenty teenagers are woven together like threads, showing that all are connected, even when they do not know it.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Sea of Trolls by: Nancy Farmer More Info: In 793, Jack, a bard’s apprentice, and his sister Lucy are kidnapped from their Saxon homeland by the Viking raider Olaf One-Brow and taken across the sea to a land where adventure and danger awaits in the kingdom of Ivar the Boneless and his half-troll q
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Little Sister by: Kara Dalkey More Info: Thirteen-year-old Mitsuko flees Japan’s capital with her family when the monks of Mount Hiei attack, but as they escape into the mountains, her brother-in-law is killed, leaving her sister Amaiko soulless. Mitsuko is determined to save Amaiko. But how can
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Wreckers by: Iain Lawrence More Info: On a dark and stormy night in 1799, fourteen-year-old John Spencer is the only survivor of a shipwreck on the rocky coast of Cornwall. John quickly discovered that his father’s ship was lured onto those rocks by wreckers, land-bound pirates who light fals
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: What My Mother Doesn't Know by: Sonya Sones More Info: Sophie is in love with Dylan. Until she meets Chaz. And then there’s Murphy. Sophie is almost fifteen. She’s having a hard time figuring love out. Her parents were in love once, but know they fight all the time. She isn’t even sure they love her let alone
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Hate You by: Graham McNamee More Info: Alice writes songs nobody ever sings, not even Alice herself. She has a "Frankenstein voice, all cracked, scratched and broken". It’s a voice for frightening dogs and small children. Alice lives with her mother. Her father used to live with them. He wasn’
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Don't try this at home : how to win a sumo match, catch a great white shark by: Hunter S. Fulghum More Info: "Here are intricate instructions for dangerous, crazy, illegal, and ill-advised endeavors. The stunts described are similar to those in Worst Case Scenarios, but the solutions and written instructions are much more detailed, with fewer illustrations and
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Hollow Kingdom by: Clare Dunkle More Info: "Orphan Kate and her younger sister Emily are sent to live with distant relations at the remote lodge house at Hallow Hill. Soon they discover the mysterious stories of past residents, as well as meeting some of the weirder supernatural inhabitants of th
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Close Kin by: Clare B. Dunkle More Info: In this sequel to the Hollow Kingdom, eighteen-year-old Emily loves her life with the goblins, but leaves their kingdom in search of Seylin, the young mixed-blood goblin she unthinkingly rejected, who has disappeared in seach of his lost elven ancestors.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Crack in the Line by: Michael Lawrence More Info: Alaric Underwood, grieving his mother’s death, discovers a way to connect with an alternate reality where his mother survived her accident, but to his surprise he finds that in this reality, he is a girl named Naia.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Key to the Golden Firebird by: Maureen Johnson More Info: Brooks, May and Palmer, sisters named after their father's favorite baseball players, must face life after his death from a heart attack in the family Firebird.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Snow Walker by: Catherine Fisher More Info: Jessa and Thorkil work to restore their kingdom to its rightful ruler, but the evil sorceress Gudrun the Snow-Walker stands in their way and their only hope to defeat her lies with Kari, her outcast son.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Sea of Trolls by: Nancy Farmer More Info: Apprentice bard Jack and his younger sister Lucy are taken captive by Viking Berserkers and carried off to the kingdom of Ivar the Boneless and his half-troll queen. To save Lucy, Jack accepts a quest to Jotunheim, the land of the trolls, accompanied by
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Honey Baby, Sweetheart by: Deb Caletti More Info: 16-year-old "quiet girl" Ruby knows that Travis is bad news. Too handsome to be trustworthy, and too rich to care, Travis says that Ruby is fearless. In an attempt to prove Travis right, Ruby gets involved with reckless, dangerous, and even criminal act
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Stoner and Spaz by: Ron Koertge More Info: "Ben knows that he's attracted to Colleen because she's pretty and he's weird-looking; because she doesn't care what she wears and he dresses carefully to disguise his cerebral palsy; because he thinks she's brave and he thinks he's not. But he's also at
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by: Ron Koertge More Info: "....it feels weird smuggling something about poetry up to my room like it's the new Penthouse. But I don't want Dad to know what I'm doing yet. Even though I'm not doing anything. Not really. I'm just going to fool around a little, see what's what poet
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: No Shame, No Fear by: Anna Turnbull More Info: In 1662, fifteen-year-old Susanna takes a job as a servant in town when her father is arrested for practicing his Quaker faith. In town, she meets seventeen-year-old William, the son of a wealthy Anglican family, and as they fall in love they realize that
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Rock Star, Superstar by: Blake Nelson More Info: When seventeen-year-old Pete, a high school student in Portland, Oregon, joins a new band, he finally begins to find success with his music, but as the group gains popularity he also has to deal with a new girlfriend and his strained relationship with his
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Bucking the Sarge by: Christopher Paul Curtis More Info: 15-year-old Luther T. Farrell has worked like a dog for his mom (a.k.a. "The Sarge") who runs several shady businesses including the Happy Neighbor Group Homes, designed to milk the system for all it will give. The Sarge uses every angle to cheat, steal,
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Peeps by: Scott Westerfeld More Info: "When Cal arrived in New York City to attend college, he promptly went out to lose his virginity--which he promptly did. Unfortunately, in the process Cal also picked up something else: a parasite which causes all the symptoms (and strengths) of vampirism. Fortunately, he is partially resistant to the bug--so although he is strong, pale, light-sensitive and hungry for meat, he doesn't (immediately) go crazy and start eating people. Unfortunately, the Night Watch organization which assists and oversees the control of vampires in NYC seems to be hiding some important information from Cal...and the rest of humanity. Alternating chapters of Cal's story include scientific, graphic, and tremendously icky information about real parasites: toxoplasma gondii, pigeon mites, various lices, screwworms, and many other really yucky bugs that have plagued (literally) humans and animals throughout history. Eeeeeew! "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by: Rachel Cohn More Info: "Nick: onstage with the band, totally not prepared for his Evil Ex-Girlfriend to show up and prove how much his heart can hurt. Norah: watching the band, mailed her refusal to Brown University this morning in favor of joining her Evil Ex-Boyfriend on a kibbutz in South Africa--and just discovered that Tal isn't there, he's here. And **** you so much for asking. In first-person chapters alternating between Nick and Norah, they journey through the New York music scene, to an all-night Korean grocery, an all-night Russian cafe, and eventually to the ice room of the Marriott. In 24 hours they cover a lot of territory...but are they getting any closer to love? "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Runaways, vol 1 : Pride and Joy by: Brian K. Vaughan More Info: "Alex, Nico, and their friends know that most teenagers have days when they don't get along with their parents. But most teenagers don't have parents who turn out to be super-villains with powers from the future! When the kids make an unwelcome discovery, they must make decisions about their own future--and make their decisions fast. One kid is an alien. Another is a mutant. One communicates telepathically with a protective pet dinosaur. What other secret powers do these kids have...and are these powers enough to escape the super-powers of their parents and the evil group called ""The Pride""?"
|
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Chosen by a Horse by: Susan Richards More Info: ""She looked like a complicated wire coat hanger draped with a mud-caked brown pelt. Bones protruded everywhere. I watched her ribs heave up and down for a minute and listened to her wheeze. Her eyes were open but droopy, weeping a whitish discharge that streaked the dried mud on her face. The same discharge was coming out of her nose. I knew she had pneumonia and had been started on antibiotics before leaving the SPCA. She couldn't keep her head up because she was too weak."" On a cold March day, Susan Richards impulsively agreed to adopt a severely neglected Standardbred horse named Lay Me Down. Crippled by racetrack injuries, thin from malnutrition, and with an angry foal at her heels, Lay Me Down had every reason to resent humans and fear contact with them, but was at first too weak to do anything but accept whatever people did to her. As time passed, Susan began to glimpse the serene soul within Lay Me Down...and in loving the mare, the psychologically damaged woman learned the process of accepting the love of people. "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Odd Thomas by: Dean Koontz More Info: "Odd Thomas is a 20-year-old frycook from Pico Mundo, California who makes fabulous pancakes and also communes with the dead. Usually, spirits will seek Odd Thomas' help to resolve whatever issue keeps them stranded on earth. Sometimes these ghosts have a message for the living; more often, those who have died suddenly or violently are ""stuck"" until there is resolution or justice. When Odd Thomas sees a gigantic group of ""bodochs"" (mysterious shadows attracted by pain and suffering) gathering around a new town resident, he feels obligated to investigate--and hopefully prevent whatever trouble is brewing. But the evil stalking Pico Mundo is more devious than he expects, and Odd will need help from all his friends--living and dead--to survive. If you read this book, be ready to get scared. Be ready to laugh. And (a quick warning here) have a hanky ready for the last few chapters. "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Amazing Grace by: Megan Shull More Info: "By the end of page 3, teen tennis star Grace Kincaid has given up the lifestyle of the rich and famous, million-dollar endorsements for Nike, Pepsi, and Mercedes-Benz (among others), and her life at the center of a media circus. By the end of page 19, she has given up honey-blonde hair extensions, a $4,000 Chanel jacket, and her rhinestone-encrusted cell phone. And by the beginning of page 33, Grace--having renounced her former identity completely--is on her way to Medicine Hat, Alaska to join the other 811 residents in what she hopes will be a normal life. In Alaska, Grace learns that moose are uglier than she thought, dogs are friendlier than she knew, chopping wood is a lot harder than it looks, and people...well, people can be pretty darn nice! "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Just In Case by: Meg Rosoff More Info: After rescuing his baby brother from a near-death experience fifteen-year-old David Case, convinced that fate is out to get him and that only a complete transformation will save him, assumes the name Justin Case, befriends an invisible greyhound and begins a relationship with a worldly older girl.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Storm Thief by: Chris Wooding More Info: In Orokos, an ancient island city wracked by unnatural storms and ruled by a dictator, Rail and Moa, two thieves, seek to flee the island with the help of Vago, a golem, after they steal a valuable artifact the their mistress wants for herself and the secret police are interested in as well.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: PostSecret: extraordinary confessions from ordinary lives by: Frank Warren More Info: Some of the confessions are sweet: Some are a little bizarre: Others are funny, thoughtful, and even pathetic:
Frank Warren's "community art project" began when he asked strangers to write a secret they had never told anyone on a postcard, and then mail the card anonymously to him. Some cards are scribbled on card paper. Others are carefully constructed artworks.
Each of the more than 10,000 postcards he has received (so far) reveals a secret that someone, somewhere, has guarded from the rest of the world.
Here is intriguing insight into the lives of people. Read it...and think. |
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: Bad Kitty by: Michele Jaffe More Info: "In second and third grades I would go over to Polly's house after school and we would play Barbie Crime Scene. Polly liked it because she got to dress Barbie and Ken and Skipper up in the right outfits for whatever scenario we were doing - like beachwear for "Tropical Paradise Turns into a Bloodbath" or party clothes for "Massacre at a Charity Ball." We would pose them like crime victims and leave "evidence" around, and then the Spice Girls and My Little Pony would come and figure out what happened...." While vacationing in Las Vegas with her family, wannabe-teen-sleuth Jasmine stumbles onto a fast-moving, over-the-top, not-entirely-believable, frequently-second-guessed* murder mystery. The clues are gathered, the suspects are suspected, and the Cute Guy just might** be a Good Guy! Jasmine just wants to make sure everyone understands this: all the trouble that results from her investigations is entirely the cat's fault. Here at last is a funny, quirky, hip and hilarious mystery. Be prepared to laugh out loud at the antics of Jasmine and her smart, talented, and very loyal friends as they try to solve the mystery. No sexual situations (Jasmine deserves a kiss, if only her friends will leave her alone with Jack for a few minutes!), no cussing, and the violence is worthy of a Disney movie. Recommended for readers who like to laugh, ages 12 and up. * by Jasmine, her friends, and lots of other people, via frequent footnotes to the text ** what if he's a Bad Guy? And worse: what if he saw Jasmine's Kermit the Frog Underwear while she was dancing?!?! Ohmygawd!!!
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Peaches by: Jodi Lynn Anderson More Info: Birdie : sweet, kind, and sheltered. She loves the peach orchard, misses her mom, and longs for romance. Leeda: the "poor little rich girl" who has everything...but wants her mom's love more than anything. She impulsively volunteered to work at the orchard this summer, and doesn't know how to take it back. Murphy: the bad kid, sent by the court to do "community service" working in the orchard. Together, these very different girls spend a sweltering summer working in a Georgia peach orchard. Together, they learn to hate the real estate developer who wants to raze the historic orchard and build condos. Together, they survive a hurricane that sweeps across the South. Together, they learn about peaches, about life, and about each other. Together, they become friends.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: All Hallow's Eve : 13 Stories by: Vivian Vande Velde More Info: Witches, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and...a haunted car? The conventions of traditional scary stories are irreverently turned sideways with marvelous results in this quick collection of short stories. Here are thirteen spooky stories with a little bit of gore (mostly drippy blood) and a little bit of screaming (shrieking, moaning, the usual), a full moon or two (plus thunder-and-lightning sometimes), and some teenage Trick-or-Treaters who get what they DO NOT expect.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Rules of Survival by: Nancy Werlin More Info: When Matthew sees Murdoch defend an abused child in a grocery store, he becomes obsessed with getting Murdoch to help defend Matthew and his sisters from their abusive mother, but everything goes wrong when his mother begins dating Murdoch. Will he be a savior or, like the other adults in Matthew’s life, will he ignore the abuse?
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: An Abundance of Katherines by: John Green More Info: Child math prodigy Collin, faced with post-graduation blues and a breakup with his 19th girlfriend (all of whom were named Katherine), reluctantly goes on a roadtrip with his best friend Hassan and begins to learn that life doesn’t always fit into a formula.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Bad Kitty by: Michele Jaffe More Info: "In second and third grades I would go over to Polly's house after school and we would play Barbie Crime Scene. Polly liked it because she got to dress Barbie and Ken and Skipper up in the right outfits for whatever scenario we were doing - like beachwear for ""Tropical Paradise Turns in a Bloodbath"" or party clothes for ""Massacre at a Charity Ball."" We would pose them like crime victims and leave ""evidence"" around, and then the Spice Girls and My Little Pony would come and figure out what happened.... While vacationing in Las Vegas with her family, wannabe-teen-sleuth Jasmine stumbles onto a fast-moving, over-the-top, not-entirely-believable, frequently-second-guessed1 murder mystery. The clues are gathered, the suspects are suspected, and the Cute Guy just might2 be a Good Guy! 1 by Jasmine, her friends, and lots of other people, via frequent footnotes to the text 2 what if he's a Bad Guy? And worse: what if he saw Jasmine's Kermit the Frog underwear while she was dancing?!?! Ohmygawd!!!"
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Stone Goddess by: Minfong Ho More Info: "Nakri Sokha is the daughter of a dancer, the sister of a dancer, and is learning to dance herself when the communist Khmer Rouge army of Pol Pot force her family and all the people of Phnom Penh to evacuate the city. As they flee to the village home of her grandmother, Nakri's mother and father explain that quiet obedience and deference to authority is the Cambodian--and the Buddhist--way of life. Nakri tries to get along quietly, even when her father is taken away to a ""re-education camp"" from which he never returns. When Nakri and her older brother and sister are taken away to a work camp as well, the family is broken apart, and only some of the pieces will ever be reunited. Nakri and her brother survive nearly four years of hard work and scarce food before freedom returns to Cambodia. But then there is no food, no money, and no work. The only alternative to staying and starving is to cross the border into Thailand, and hope for some help there. But the path across the border is covered in land mines..."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Short Reads Title: God Went to Beauty School by: Cynthia Rylant More Info: "...He went there to learn how to give a good perm and ended up just crazy about nails so He opened p His own shop. ""Nails by Jim"" He called it. He was afraid to call it Nails by God. He was sure people would think He was being disrespectful and using His own name in vain and nobody would tip.... In this brief book of poems, God does all sorts of ordinary, wonderful stuff. God goes rollerblading (and falls down 20 times), watches cable TV for a week, and climbs a mountain. God is a girl (and also an eagle, and a tree...). God adopts a dog (named Ernie), and rides in a boat. And then...God dies. "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: PostSecret : extraordinary confessions from ordinary lives by: Frank Warren More Info: "Some of the confessions are sweet: When i see an ugly bride, what i am really seeing is a glimmer of hope for the future. [maybe i will marry, someday.] Some are a little bizarre: I used to think the rhythm was gonna get me. Others made me laugh, or ponder, or feel sorry for the person who submitted them: I waste office supplies because I hate my boss. I DON'T CARE ABOUT RECYCLING (but i pretend i do.) I envy the willpower of anorexics. Frank Warren's ""community art project"" began when he asked strangers to write a secret they had never told anyone on a postcard, and then mail the card anonymously to him. Some cards are scribbled on card paper. Others are carefully constructed artworks. There was no deer. I was just driving too fast. Each of the more than 10,000 postcards he has received (so far) reveals a secret that someone, somewhere, has guarded from the rest of the world."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Life As We Knew It by: Susan Beth Pfeffer More Info: When an asteroid hits the moon and moves it closer to the Earth, seas overflow, volcanoes erupt, the earth shakes, winter settles with a deathly grip and life as she knew it is irrevocably changed for sixteen-year-old Miranda as family and their small Pennsylvania town struggle to survive.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Devilish by: Maureen Johnson More Info: After her best friend, Ally, sells her soul to a demon for beauty, popularity and confidence, Jane makes a deal with the demon herself; if she can kiss her ex-boyfriend by Halloween night, she gets Ally’s soul back but if she fails, the demon gets them both.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace by: Mary Janice Davidson More Info: "14-year-old soccer-star Jennifer knows that puberty would bring a lot of changes, but her parents never warned her that she would turn into a dragon, complete with horn-covered snout, long scaly tail and wings! After making her first were-dragon transformation, Jennifer moves in with her grandfather to learn the dragon skills she will need to survive. Grandpa Crawford teaches Jennifer and other young were-dragons how to breathe fire, camoflage themselves, summon lizard-friends and fly. He also teaches them the history of weredragons...and the history of enemies who still want to destroy dragons forever."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Short Reads Title: Casey at the Bat by: Ernest L. Thayer More Info: "The classic struggle between the Mudville Nine and the hometeam is updated in this beautifully illustrated Visions in Poetry edition. Dressed in baggy jeans, with headphones and backwards ballcaps, players advance to the field, flanked by intense baseball fans. The bouncy rhythm of the poem is broken up by the powerful illustrations, gently changing the story from a fun old-fashioned parody into a more powerful tale of triumph and defeat in the inner city. Not a single word of the poem has been changed--but with the new context comes fresh insight. "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Sisters Grimm : the fairy tale detectives by: Michael Buckley More Info: "Orphaned sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm are being sent (under protest) to live with the grandmother they thought was dead. But Relda Grimm isn't dead...and she is no ordinary granny, either. She makes black spaghetti with green meatballs for dinner, and pancakes with bright-pink syrup for breakfast. Her house is full of masks, swords, photographs, and books about magic and fairy tale creatures. To Sabrina and Daphne's surprise, Granny Relda is a fairy tale detective, hot on the trail of a mystery involving giants, pixies, fairies and witches, and a certain ""prince"" named Charming! Readers familiar with the canon of fairy tales will enjoy guessing the ""secret"" identity of major characters like Mr. Canis, and there are plenty of folklore in-jokes along the way."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Not the End of the World by: Geraldine McCaughrean More Info: "A daughter is not the same blessing as a son, after all. ""Shem, Ham, and Japheth: sons of Noah."" They are the only ones who will be mentioned a hundred years from now when people tell our story. I know I won't figure. Noah's daughter Timna has many unanswered questions about God's Plan and the whole ark-building enterprise. Why doesn't she feel grateful for being saved from the Flood? Why does God want to save so many animals (lots more than two mice!) and allow the slow death of so many people? And: if Noah's family will be the only blessed survivors, where will she find someone to marry? Day by day, Timna and the others aboard Noah's Ark record their experiences: the hunger, the fear, the pain, and the stink. The sons fear for their wives. The wives question their own worthiness. The animals catalog hunger, noise, confinement, proximity to prey--and to predators--and the loss of their own family flocks, herds, and fledglings. And Timna quietly questions everything."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by: Chris Wooding More Info: "Among the cradlejacks, draugs, fiends, and other wych-kin, 17-year-old Thaniel finds pretty young Alaizabel Cray...and clues to a mysterious conspiracy that might be worse than the worst nightmares anyone has ever dreamed. In darkly moving chapters reminiscent of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (Clarke, 2004) and the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix, Thaniel and his friends track through the haunted streets of London, searching for information that will, possibly, save the world. They are aided at times by the police, members of the nobility, a Beggar Lord, a blind prophet, and a very unusual criminal. In the end, Thaniel must take the action that will save them all...at least, for a little while. Scary, freaky, weird, gorgeous. Don't read it at night!"
|
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Ultimate Iron Man by: Orson Scott Card More Info: When super-genius Tony Stark's mother was pregnant with him, she contracted a fatal regenerative virus. The virus killed Maria Stark and mutated her unborn child, but his father saved Tony by coating him in an experimental bio-armor. Mutation gave Tony super-intelligence and enhanced powers to heal and regenerate damaged body parts, but also causes intense and chronic pain. As a young teen, Tony spent years developing technology to produce "Iron Man" armor...with limited sucess....
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Fairest by: Gail Carson Levine More Info: "In the traditional versions of the story of Snow White, a child with hair as black as ebony, skin as white as snow, and lips as red as blood is beautiful...right? Yet, somehow 15-year-old Aza's pale skin, dark hair and red lips are unsightly, homely, ill-favored...ugly. Aza has two marvelous talents: she has a beautiful singing voice, and she can ""throw"" her voice to make it appear that someone else is singing. However, the new queen has plans for Aza's amazing voice, and blackmails the girl into fooling the people of the court into believing that the queen's voice is the fairest. Then Aza discovers the magic mirror that can can bestow beauty...dangerous beauty. This terrific re-casting of Snow White leaves the Disney version in the dust, with wonderful interwoven themes of strength, love, and true beauty. And best of all: no more ""hi-ho, hi-ho."" "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Pinhoe Egg by: Diana Wynne Jones More Info: "Whatever else, Gammer Pinhoe had certainly gone off her rocker. With shouts of ""twisted cheese!"" and ""knitted squid!"", the elderly leader of the magical Pinhoe clan is removed kicking, screaming, and throwing magical spells in all directions, leaving Woods House uninhabited, unguarded...and For Sale. So, how long has that egg been in the attic, disguised by strong ""Don't Notice"" spells? Who is the mysterious gentleman hidden on the far side of that very mysterious fence? How does Joe expect to build a flying machine out of a stuffed ferret and a couple of wooden tables? And how can Marianne Pinhoe become the next Gammer when none of the grownups even take her seriously?"
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Set In Stone by: Linda Newbery More Info: In 1898, Samuel Godwin arrives at Fourwinds to tutor 19-year-old Juliana and 16-year-old Marianne only to find one girl on the edge of despair, the other on the edge of madness and a mystery involving the four statues the manor was named for.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Braid by: Helen Frost More Info: When landlords evict their family, two Scottish sisters, 14-year-old Jeannie and 15-year-old Sarah, braid their hair together and cut the braid, each taking a piece, before they are separated forever with Jeannie sailing for Canada with their parents and Sarah remaining behind with her grandmother.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Wintersmith by: Terry Pratchett More Info: "Despite a distinctly un-witch-like name, Tiffany Aching is a witch. Armed with common sense, bits of string, and an iron frying pan, Tiffany's first quest was to rescue her small brother from the Faery Queen. Her companions for the journey are a talking toad (a former lawyer) and a band of tiny, fierce, bright blue creatures called the Nac Mac Feagles, who are famous for fightin', drinkin', and stealin'...and also for drinkin', stealin', and fightin'...as well as occasionally stealin', drinkin', and fightin'. The two succeeding volumes continue the action--and the hilarity--at top speed. A Hat Full of Sky follows Tiffany's attempts at education, and Wintersmith chronicles her first (and notably odd) romance. No sexual situations, the violence is silly, and the cussing is all done in Feagle. ""CRIVENS!"""
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Foreshadowing by: Marcus Sedgwick More Info: "What if you could see the future? What if you could predict death? What if nobody believed you? In 1915, Sasha discovers an unwelcome talent: while working as a volunteer nurse at a local hospital, she sees visions of death in the eyes of soldier patients. Then she sees another vision: the future death of her brother on a battlefield. Like Cassandra during the Trojan War, Sasha learns that her predictions are unwelcome--and unconditionally disbelieved. Frantic to save her remaining brother, Sasha runs away from England and into the horror of World War I.... No cussing, no sex; some soldiers' injuries are explicitly described. "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Brief History of the Dead by: Kevin Brockmeier More Info: "According to this book, when people die they go to The City to continue their existence as long as someone in the world remembers them. In the City, people do whatever they did before they died: they work, they eat, they sleep, they work, they meet old friends and make new ones. When there is no longer a living person to remember, people disappears from the City. Meanwhile, back in the world or the living, Coca Cola employee Laura Byrd is stranded alone on Antarctica as a result of a publicity stunt combined with a world-wide plague called ""the Blinks."" The news reports say that people are sick, that people are dying, that everyone is dying...and then there are no more news reports...."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Mom's Cancer by: Brian Fies More Info: "In 2002, the author's mom was diagnosed with lung cancer that metastasized to her brain after a lifetime of smoking. The diagnosis was the first step in a long circus of events for Mom, for Brian and his two sisters, and for other family members and friends. Chemotherapy, radiation, side effects, blood thinners, anti-nausea drugs, hair loss, memory loss, weight gain, and stages of grief are only parts of the tightrope walked by this family. Brian recorded the process for himself by writing and illustrating this comic-style book about the experience, so that now the rest of the world can share the experience and benefit from it. Sometimes, you never want to hear the word ""CANCER"" again. Sometimes, you feel like you need more information about it--fast. Sometimes, you need to know about the part of treatment that the medical books don't cover. This is the book about that last bit."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Viking Warrior by: Robert Judson More Info: Fourteen-year-old Halfdan, the illegitimate son of a chieftan, is freed from slavery at the death of his father and must learn the ways of a Viking warrior.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Ophelia by: Lisa Klein More Info: Young Ophelia's crush on Prince Hamlet grows into love, but on the night of their secret wedding, the ghost of his murdered father visits and gives Hamlet a command that can only lead to madness and grief.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Kiki Strike : Inside the Shadow City by: Kirsten Miller More Info: "I've always found that one of the biggest benefits of being a girl is that most people refuse to take you seriously. While boys must be constantly monitored and are always the first suspects when anything goes wrong, everyone expects girls to do what they're told. It may seem a little insulting at first, but low expectations can be a blessing in disguise. If you're smart, you can use people's foolishness to your own advantage. It's amazing what you can get away with when no one bothers watching. Narrator Anaka Fishbein is mystified when she is chosen to join Kiki Strike and four other strangely talented girls to form a group of butt-kicking spygirls who explore--and exploit--the secret tunnels and rooms located far beneath the modern New York City. Betty can disguise herself in amazing ways. Luz makes mechanical gadgets out of ordinary household objects. DeeDee is a world-class chemist, and Oona is the best hacker (and forger) in Manhattan. What is Anaka's talent? And what is it, exactly, that Kiki does best? Mystery. Action. Revenge. Sneaking around. Kidnapping. Explosions. More sneaking. High-speed chases (on a vespa). More action. And even more sneaking. No sex, minimal cussing and violence (mostly off-stage). "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Hattie Big Sky by: Kirby Larson More Info: "The year is 1917, and orphan Hattie Brooks is tired of being an unwanted servant, shuffled between grouchy relatives. When she inherits her uncle's 320-acre claim in Montana, she packs up her few possessions and her cat and heads west to ""prove the claim"" by building fences and planting and harvesting the land. Farming is hard work, but the work is only part of Hattie's challenge: America is at war with Germany, her dearest friend from Iowa is ""over there"" in the army, and her new friends in Montana include German people who are homesteaders like Hattie herself. How can she reconcile the idea of a need to kill off the world's population of bloodthirsty Huns, with her own experience of the gentle neighbor Karl, who helps her with planting and plowing? "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: In the Belly of the Bloodhound by: L.A. Meyer More Info: "Wanted for piracy by the Royal Navy, Jacky ""Bloody Jack"" Faber returns to Boston with the intention of lying low in the protecting walls of the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls while waiting for her true love Jaimy to catch up with her. But even when Jacky is trying to be good, sometimes adventure comes looking for her. On a class trip around Boston Harbor, Jacky and the other students are kidnapped by vengeful slave traders and taken onboard a ship bound for the slave markets of Africa where the girls will be sold (for a high price!) to the Arabian harems. Aboard the Bloodhound, Jacky needs all of her tenacity, bravery, and ingenuity to outwit the slavers. But can she convince the delicate ladies of the Lawson Peabody School to be strong when the need for strength arises? Book 4 in the ""Bloody Jack"" series--read them all!"
|
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Persepolis : the story of a childhood by: Marjane Satrapi More Info: "Marjane Satrapi was ten years old in 1980, the year that it became obligatory to wear the veil at her school in Tehran, Iran. Daughter of liberal political activists, Marji relates the years of her life between ages six and fourteen in a series of comic book illustrations: the schools, the demonstrations, the food and clothing shortages, and the rebellions--large and small--against the Islamic Republic. You might expect that a book about growing up during the Islamic Revolution would be sad, scary, and awful. This book is all of those things. You might expect that a comic book is funny, silly, and irreverent--and this book is all of those things as well. This book is not just about war or religion. It's about people. Most importantly, this is a story about life. Take the Persepolis Challenge: read the first page. You won't stop reading until you reach the end!"
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Wildwood Dancing by: Juliet Marillier More Info: Jena and her sisters secretly go dancing in the Wildwood every full moon, but when their secret world is threatened when their cousin Cezar takes over their estate and plans to destroy the Wildwood.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Tyrell by: Coe Booth More Info: Fifteen-year-old Tyrell scambles to make money for his family, but is determined to do it legally so that he doesn't end up in jail like his drug-dealer father.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by: Brian Selznick More Info: "This fast-moving mystery novel in pictures and words features 12-year-old orphan Hugo, who keeps the clocks of the Paris train station running by day, and works long hours by night to reconstruct a mechanical automaton damaged in the museum fire that killed his father. Illustrations dominate the book--pages of text are greatly outnumbered by gorgeous runs of full-page pencil drawings, movie stills and archival photos which rapidly advance the action of the story, reminiscent of a silent film with occasional ""boards"" of text and dialogue. The silvery drawings simulate a camera's actions of zoom, pan, and fade, adding to the film-like feel of the story."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Pox Party by: M.T. Anderson More Info: "In the elaborate writing style common to educated Colonial men of the mid-1770's, Octavian tells the story of his childhood : raised by a group of rational Boston philosophers as an experimental ""zoological"" study of African people, he is given an excellent classical education, including the studies of Latin, Greek, music, and literature. Accompanying Octavian's education are other rituals associated with the scientific study of animal behavior, including the meticulous weighing of his food and excrement. When the financial sponsorship of the Novanglian College of Lucidity changes, so do the goals of the experiment. The new benefactors wish to prove the inferiority of the African people, and so the scientists are compelled to change their techniques to provide the desired result. A scientific ""Pox Party"" is instituted to inoculate guests (and their servants and slaves) with the smallpox virus, but the results are disasterous and Octavian escapes the home of the scientists and join up with the patriots who fight for freedom--freedom for white people, that is. The complex sentence structure and archaic language used throughout the book guarantee that this story will not be read lightly. However, the reader who perseveres will not be disappointed in this well-researched historical novel of the beauty and ugliness of the human spirit. Descriptions of slave life, medical practices, and battlefield injuries are horribly accurate and deeply disturbing but ultimately worthwhile and necessary to the strength of the story."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Uglies by: Scott Westerfeld More Info: "On your 16th birthday, you can be pretty. On your 16th birthday, they will ""surge"" you--give you surgery to make your skin clear, your eyes big, your teeth strong and straight. If you are too fat, they'll make you skinny. If you are too skinny, they'll make you fatter. Everyone is pretty. Everyone is happy. Everyone has everything. Why would anyone want to run away from this? A few days before her 16th birthday, Shayla runs away into the wilderness to avoid the ""pretty surgery"". Her friend Tally is sent after her...and if she can't convince Shayla to return to the city, Tally will stay ugly forever. Then the girls discover a side effect that nobody ever talks about: the surgery doesn't just change your body. It changes your mind, too...."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Enna Burning by: Shannon Hale More Info: "Enna's brother is reluctant to talk about his new skill with fire. And no wonder: without using flint or matches, Leifer can set fire to anything...or anyone. When their country goes to war and the siblings gather against an invading army, fire consumes more than Leifer intends. Enna takes the fire-talking skill into herself, sure that she can control it. But fire is capricious and powerful, and very soon the power begins to threaten the lives of everyone Enna loves. This story is a sequel to The Goose Girl, and updates readers on the characters of that book without sacrificing the autonomy of strong, likeable, new characters. No cussing or sexual situations (but two quietly satisfying romances). "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Nature of Jade by: Deb Caletti More Info: Jade, a seventeen-year-old who suffers from panic attacks, finds comfort watching the elephants at the zoo, but one day she sees Sebastian watching the elephants too and her life changes forever.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Harmless by: Dana Reinhardt More Info: When their parents catch high school freshmen Emma, Anna and Mariah lying about their whereabouts on a Friday night, they tell one seemingly harmless lie that impacts their lives in ways they never expected.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The New Policeman by: Kate Thompson More Info: "J.J. Liddy grew up with music always in his house on the west coast of Ireland. His mother and sister and he are all accomplished musicians, and generations of his family have hosted monthly gatherings of dancers, singers, storytellers and musicians. But when a classmate insinuates that one of the musical ancestors was also a murderer, J.J. is forced to examine his role in the family and the society. Time is not just running out for J.J. and the rest of his family. Strangely enough, time seems to be running somewhere else....and the Fair Folk who have lived in the land of Eternal Youth don't know how to get rid of the stuff! This fun and funny fantasy excursion into Tir na nOg will have readers humming little tunes (each chapter ends with a few bars of a pertinent Irish melody) and wondering, always wondering, about the true identity of the mysterious new policeman."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Crazy Man by: Pamela Porter More Info: "Saskatchewan farm girl Emaline Bitterman is 12 years old in 1965, the year that she is injured by the tractor. Em figures it was her own fault; that her accident started all the changes and left her with a father gone, a dog dead, one leg shorter than the other, and a crazy man hired for the season to plant and tend the crops. But Em's mom says the accident was just the last straw. Her father didn't blame the dog--he blamed himself. He just took it out on the dog. And then he left. Left behind on the farm, Em's mother hires Angus, a ""Mental"" patient from the local institution. Angus frightens the neighbors with his differences, but Em notices his gentleness with wild birds, his keen observation of the garden and the farm, and his kindness to her. What will it take for other people to see past the strangeness of the ""crazy man""?"
|
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Looking Back : a book of memories by: Lois Lowry More Info: "...at the time, I had not yet read Stuart Little, so I was not expert at mouseology. I did realize that he was rather large for a mouse; but The Rats of NIMH had not yet been written so I hadn't read that either, and didn't know that there were other, larger rodents in the same general family as mice.... He looked vulnerable and homely, with two visible front teeth--my own were missing at the time--and as I walked, I began to think of names for him and to picture how he would come when I called. Warming him against my heavy jacket didn't waken him. Clearly my jacket sleeve wasn't warm enough. So when I entered the house through the back door, into the kitchen, and heard my mother busy upstairs with the baby, I carefully turned on the oven. I knew enough to set it to a low temperature so that it would warm and waken my mouse gradually. Then I laid him gently inside the oven. I guess I got busy with my paperdolls and forgot to check on him fr a while. I don't remember exactly. But that would explain why it was my mother who first noticed that there was something baking.... I have always felt that she overreacted. Using photos and fragments of family stories, Lois Lowry (author of The Giver, Anastasia Krupnik, and many other books for children and teens) recounts events in her life that inspire her writing. Some situations are funny, others are sad. Interspersed with brief quotations from Lowry's popular novels and stories, all are enlightening."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: My Nights at the Improv by: Jan Siebold More Info: "In any new situation, Lizzie Marino can think of the most clever and brilliant comment to make...about thirty seconds too late. Now she's attending a new school in a new town, and the only girl in her class who talks to her is mean. Then Lizzie discovers a theater class practicing on the stage below the little room where she does her homework. As the class learns skills in improvisational theater, Lizzie learns to improvise right along with them--and her improv skills help her reach out to new friends...including her mom, and maybe even the mean girl at school."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Dragon's Keep by: Janet Lee Carey More Info: Rosalind, a descendant of King Arthur’s exiled sister, the princess of Wilde Island and the one prophesied to return honor to her bloodline, is born with a dragon claw on one hand. When dragons return to the island to wreak havoc, Rosalind will discover her true destiny.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: While I Live by: John Marsden More Info: The war has ended, but Ellie, the heroine from Tomorrow When the War Began, is still fighting for her life in this new world where her one-time enemies are now her uneasy neighbors and her own people are making it difficult to keep her family together and her dreams alive.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Flat-out Rock by: Mike Tanner More Info: Explore the influences and legacies of groundbreaking, 1960s musicians like the Beatles, Dylan, Joplin and the Rolling Stones.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: The Hypochondriac's Pocket Guide to Horrible Diseases... by: Dennis DiClaudio More Info: "Here at last is the ultimate easy-to-read guidebook to weird diseases, conditions, infections and parasites. From the benignly strange: Cornu Cutaneum - in which you grow a horn, not like a goat, but more like a rhinoceros to the historically significant: The Plague - if caught early, the Plague can be handled easily with an antibiotic such as streptomycin. After that, forget it. and including the painfully horrible: Cerebral Sparganosis - in which a three-foot-long worm emerges from your ankle this tiny tome will provide hours of ""ookey"" entertainment with medically accurate--but lighthearted--descriptions of symptoms and diagnostic procedures, and tongue-in-cheek suggestions for prevention. A convenient index of symptoms is included at the end of the book. An outstanding choice to read aloud to those stuck in an elevator or on an extended car trip with the reader."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Cry of the Icemark by: Stuart Hill More Info: "Princess Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield is only 13 years old, but she has spent her entire life training and preparing to be a Queen and a warrior. When she impetuously saves the life of a werewolf, she gains a friendship and creates the first--but not the last--unlikely alliance that might possibly save her beloved country from the war machine of the invading Empire. Thirrin fills her defensive force with human warriors...and also with werewolves, vampires, ghosts, witches, and giant talking snow leopards. With this unusual army behind her, Thirrin must challenge and defeat Scipio Bellorum's nearly infinite Empirical army. The battle scenes are fast and furious, with tragedy and triumph well-mixed throughout the tale. Readers and fans of Alanna (Tamora Pierce) and the Damar chronicles (Robin McKinley) rejoice and make room on the bookshelf! No sex or cussing; the battle scenes are bloody without dwelling unnecessarily on gore. There are hints of a sweet romance between the princess and her warlock advisor...perhaps a sequel will tell more in this storyline."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Water for Elephants by: Sara Gruen More Info: "Jacob Jankowski is ninety (or maybe ninety-three?) years old now, but he hasn't always been an old man with precarious balance issues stuck in a nursing home. Jacob clearly remembers the 1930s, when he was abruptly orphaned and left penniless just before graduating from Cornell University's veterinary school. He tells his story in flashbacks as he remembers the day he jumped a train...and ended up in the dubious company of the Benzini Brothers traveling circus. Filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of life ""behind the scenes"" in a Prohibition-era circus, this novel follows a forbidden romance between Jacob and equestrienne Marlena, the treachery of ringmaster Uncle Al, and the extraordinary lives of circus talent, freaks, roustabouts, and -- of course -- the elephant. Some ""on-stage"" sexual activity and innuendo, and some in-character non-subtle cussing."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Falconer's Knot by: Mary Hoffman More Info: "Medieval teenagers Silvano and Chiara have very different backgrounds. Silvano is the only son and heir to his father's considerable fortune. He fancies himself in love with the sheep-farmer's wife...but when the farmer is killed and Silvano is blamed, the boy must flee to the sanctuary of a Franciscan friary or face execution as a murderer. Chiara is recently-orphaned and very poor. Her older brother sent her to the nuns of St. Clare, rather than feed Chiara at his own expense. Silvano meets Chiara when each is assigned to assist in the making of special paints for a new fresco in the Basilica of Assisi. When a visitor to the friary is murdered, Silvano is suspected again, and he and Chiara must find the clues to clear his name...and discover the real murderer. History. Mystery. Romance. No cussing or kissing or on-stage blood."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Red Moon at Sharpsburg by: Rosemary Wells More Info: Thirteen year old India Moon wants to go to the women’s college she’s heard about in Ohio and studies faithfully with Emory Trimble, a neighbor who teaches her science, but its hard to imagine getting such a chance as the Civil War heats up around her Shenandoah Valley home and her father, an ambulance wagon driver for the Confederate Army, goes missing.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Elsewhere by: Gabrielle Zevin More Info: "Elsewhere is where 15 (almost 16) year old Liz ends up when she dies in a traffic accident. When Liz arrives in Elsewhere, she can't believe that the afterlife could possibly be like this: you continue to live your life, but instead of aging, you get younger year-by-year until, as a 7-day-old baby you are Released into the river to be born again as a new child on earth. What about her driver's license? What about the prom? What about her first kiss? And why do people keep telling her that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward? "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Broken Moon by: Kim Antieu More Info: "Nadira is working as a maid in the home of a rich family in Pakistan when she learns that her young brother Umar has been kidnapped by slave traders and taken to the desert to be a camel jockey. When the police and rescue agencies are unable to locate Umar, Nadira cuts her hair and disguises herself as a boy in an attempt to infiltrate the camel races and rescue her brother. In the camel camps she encounters tremendous cruelty. Not only are the camel trainers unafraid to beat, starve, and sexually molest the boys, but they also encourage the older boys to mistreat the younger children. Nadira's struggle to change the culture of the camel camps and save the young boys there begins with lessons she learned from the traditional tales of Shahrazad, who saved many lives by telling a series of stories to amuse the king. This well-intentioned story covers a lot of hot political ground, including the rights--and lack of rights--given to Pakistani women, the abject poverty that inspires some parents to sell children into slavery, and the astonishing cruelty of camel racing in the Arab regions. The tidy ending, with nearly everyone living ""happily ever after"" seemed rushed and unconvincing. Still, the book was worthwhile for the unusual contemporary setting. No cussing and minimal bloodshed. Sexual molestations occur offstage, and are referenced so obliquely that the reader is sometimes unsure of what happened. "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Enthusiasm by: Polly Shulman More Info: "Julie's best friend Ashleigh is an Enthusiast. She has gotten obsessed with candy-making, military strategy, reptiles, and the newest album by the Wet Blankets. But now Julie is enthusiastic about Julie's all-time favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. Determined to emulate the world of Jane Austen's characters, Ashleigh and Julie don vintage gowns and sneak into the only place where they might meet dashing swains dressed in formal attire with whom they may dance in a Quadrille. At the private boarding school on the hill, the girls meet Grandison Parr and his friend Ned Downing. But, alas for Julie, Ashleigh thinks that Parr is her own Darcy--without realizing that Julie already has a crush on him. Comedy, music, poetry, and heaps of happy surprises to satisfy readers who enjoy modern love stories and old-fashioned romances. "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Defiance by: Valerie Hobbs More Info: "Eleven-year-old Toby wants to have (for once) a normal summer vacation. He wants to ride his bike, swim in the lake, and watch the night sky through his telescope. He does NOT want to think about the time he spent in the cancer-treatment ward at Children's Hospital. And he really doesn't want to think about the weird lump that has reappeared on his side, just where the old cancer used to be. When Toby meets his elderly neighbor Pearl and Pearl's elderly cow Blossom, his life begins to change in a hurry. Pearl is nearly blind, and her daughters want her to move away from her home in the country. But Pearl defends her freedom with the same strength that she defends her life.... Living with illness is tough enough for adults--for kids, the battle is even tougher. This sweet book is an exploration of lives touched by sadness, sickness, and love. "
|
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Pride of Baghdad by: Brian K. Vaughn More Info: "In April 2003 American forces bombed the city of Baghdad. Buildings were destroyed. Walls were broken. And the animals at the zoo were loose in the city. Freedom is exhilarating for the youngest lion in the pride. It's frightening for the oldest female. And for all of them, freedom is very, very brief....
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest by: Matt Haig More Info: "Aunt Eda lives in Norway, doesn't have a television, serves flatbread and cheese for breakfast, and has a lot of rules. The most important rule, she says, is rule #9: NEVER--UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES--GO INTO THE FOREST. Newly-orphaned Samuel doesn't intend to break Aunt Eda's rules. But when his younger sister Martha goes into the forest, Samuel impulsively grabs a strange book called The Creatures of Shadow Forest by Prof. Horatio Tanglewood, and runs in after her. Professor Tanglewood's book describes all sorts of horrible creatures, like Truth Pixies (who make a poisonous soup that causes the diner's head to explode), Huldres (hideously ugly underground creatures who hate everything and evaporate in sunlight), and Trolls (strong, cruel, ugly, dumb, and impossibly strong). Samuel soon discovers that the Horatio Tanglewood left out some important information about the forest...and ignorance is very dangerous...."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Mother-Daughter Book Club by: Heather Vogel Frederick More Info: "Nine months of Little Women, book discussions, and life. What could be worse? Somehow, Emma's convinced other moms in her aerobics class that they needed to form a book club with their daughters. Naturally, the moms didn't consult the girls--and Emma, Jess, Cassidy and Megan have things they'd rather be doing. There's also the issue of the girls not actually being friends....at least, not at first...."
|
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Mystic and Rider by: Sharon Shinn More Info: "Senneth travels the country with two of the King's Riders and two magically-talented friends. Together they are exploring the towns and villages, looking for ""trouble""...whatever that might mean. And their search is more successful than anyone could have guessed. Magic, intrigue, political plots and battles of wits--and swords--are just the beginning of the adventure. No cussing, but there are a few steamy love scenes and a few non-gory battles. There's even a little romance!"
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Gym Candy by: Carl Deuker More Info: All Mick Johnson cares about is football and he's determined to be the best, even if it means turning to steroids for help.
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Saints of Augustine by: P.E Ryan More Info: Sixteen-year-olds Sam and Charlie have been best friends since they were kids, but family changes- the death of Charlie's mom and the divorce of Sam's parents- drive a wedge between them. Left alone, each struggles to deal with the loss of a parent, a friend and a sense of self.
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: The Plain Janes by: Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg More Info: "When Jane is injured by a bomb attack in Metro City, her parents freak out and move the family to the suburbs. In Kent Waters, Jane shuns the popular crowd and joins group of outcast girls (who are all named ""Jane""). Together the Janes create a series of anonymous ""art attacks"" to urge local citizens to seek out and create art in ordinary places. But some of the adults in town don't see the need for surreptitious art...including Jane's parents...and the local police department.... "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Runner by: Robert Newton More Info: "High school senior Chance Taylor would love to be like the kids on the school cross-country team, with their $100 shoes and their Gatorade and power bars. Instead, he washes dirty pots at a local restaurant to earn enough money to buy food and toothpaste and to pay the moorage fees for the ramshackle boat he shares with his alcoholic dad. When Chance runs, he runs to forget about money...and about his life. Then a stranger makes him an offer: $200 a week to pick up an occasional package on his normal running route. Easy money...right? Chance isn't dumb, but he is desperate enough to take the job. Even when the job gets dangerous. The cussing early in the book may be a redlight to some readers; no kissing or up-close bloodshed. This book has been nominated for the 2008 Evergreen award, which is decided by readers in grades 7-12. Participants must read 2 or more nominated books and vote for the best. The ballot for the Evergreen Book Award is located here: http://www.kcls.org/booksandreading/evergreenaward/booktalks/archives/artwork/Ballot%202008.pdf"
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Before I Die by: Jenny Downham More Info: "British teen Tessa is dying of leukemia. She has already survived treatments, remissions, and recurrence, and at the beginning of the book, she faces reality: she is dying, fast. And she's not ready yet. Tessa makes a list of things she wants to do before she dies. Some are sweet, others are dangerous. She has nothing to lose, and she doesn't have much time. Sex tops the list. Drugs are #2. Travel the World is #7, but she's willing to swap that for Get Parents Back Together. Fall in Love isn't on the list at all...but it happens anyhow."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Invisible by: Pete Hautman More Info: "Invisible by Pete Hautman Doug is a loner, an oddball, a self-proclaimed nerd who is fixated upon the number 17, a model railroad bridge made entirely of matchsticks, and Melissa Haverman, the prettiest girl in school. He spends most of his time thinking about these things and about his unusual friendship with Andy Morrow, the popular football star at his school. The boys often talk late into the night about Andy's interests and Doug's interests...but they never talk about what happened at the abandoned Tuttle house a few years ago. There is clearly something wrong with Doug. He isn't stupid, but he is very strange. Readers will soon recognize that Doug avoids talking and thinking about certain topics, especially as the topics pertain to Andy. But why? No cussing or kissing; there are a couple scenes of bullying and a lot of eerie weirdness. This book has been nominated for the 2008 Evergreen award, which is decided by readers in grades 7-12. Participants must read 2 or more nominated books and vote for the best. The ballot for the Evergreen Book Award is located here: http://www.kcls.org/booksandreading/evergreenaward/booktalks/archives/artwork/Ballot%202008.pdf"
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Crow by: Alison Croggon More Info: Hem, an orphan who only recently discovered his sister and true heritage, begins his studies to become on of the magically gifted Bards of Edil-Amarandh just as the armies of the Dark march upon his new home. With his mentor Saliman, he joins the resistance and learns that, like his sister, he has a destiny. Book Three of the Pellinor.
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Death Jr by: Gary Whitta More Info: "D.J. has typical worries about being the new kid at school. Fortunately, he quickly finds some friends, including Pandora (who has a compulsive thing about opening stuff), Stigmartha (who bleeds from her hands when she's nervous), Smith and Weston (tremendously brilliant conjoined twins) and Seep (an armless, legless smart-aleck who lives in a gigantic jar on wheels). Unfortunately, there are a few accidents early on, including the regrettable incident of the class pet. And then, there's the class field trip to the Museum of Supernatural History, where Pandora opens the wrong box and releases...well, something bad. But other than that, it's a pretty normal week for a nice middle school kid whose dad just happens to be DEATH. Ghoulish humor and terrific art based on the video game. "
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Glass Castle by: Jeannette Walls More Info: "Jeannette describes her childhood in poetic terms: playing among the coyotes, lizards, and feral cats of the desert towns in the American West, learning to find indigenous food and identify rocks and minerals in the landscape around her. Simultaneously, she and her siblings were busy surviving the capriciousness, alcoholic rages, and complete selfishness of her parents. She learned to mend shoes with safety pins, color her skin with markers so the holes in her pants wouldn’t show, and scrounge for food in the school lunchroom garbage cans. And she learned to be strong, independent, creative and even somewhat non-materialistic. Amazingly, Jeannette’s memoir is not angry or bitter. Understandably, she loses patience with her parents’ inability to care for their kids, which frequently crossed the line from neglectful to outright abusive. But her ability to value her mom and dad’s eccentric life choices makes this autobiography completely unique among the “my parents were way more bizarre than yours” genre currently rampaging through bookstores. This book has been nominated for the 2008 Evergreen award, which is decided by readers in grades 7-12. Participants must read 2 or more nominated books and vote for the best. The ballot for the Evergreen Book Award is located here: http://www.kcls.org/booksandreading/evergreenaward/booktalks/archives/artwork/Ballot%202008.pdf"
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: A Lifetime of Secrets : a PostSecret book by: Frank Warren More Info: "The latest PostSecret book reveals the new life of secret-sharing. As part of a public-art project, Frank Warren issued an open invitation for people to share a secret they've never told anybody. Write the secret on a postcard, decorate it, send it to Frank. Three years and more than 150,000 postcards later, the art project is going strong. Some of the secrets are amazing: When I was 14, someone told me: ""I'm excited about your life!"" Thank you. Those words have stuck with me. They keep me going. I won't disappoint you. And I keep passing them along to others. Some secrets are inspiring: To me, everything is an ADVENTURE Some secrets sound very familiar (at least to me): I didn't really have a ""work emergency"". I just didn't want to face our old classmates at your wedding. Some are scary. Some are funny. Some are sad. All the secrets belong to somebody. You can share them by reading this book. When you finish reading this book, why not make a ""secret postcard"" and leave it in the book for somebody else to find and read? You can also visit the PostSecret blog at www.postsecret.com "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by: Ally Carter More Info: "15-year-old Cammie speaks 14 languages fluently, studies Covert Operations at school and can kill a person several different ways (one way involves a piece of uncooked spaghetti....). But she hasn't got a clue about boys. With her friends at the Gallagher Academy--a school for girl spies, disguised as a school for rich girl brats--Cammie makes secret forays out into the ""real world"" where she meets Josh, a normal boy who has no clue about her real identity and talents. But will Josh still like her if he ever learns the truth about the Academy? Great descriptions of classes at spy school, amazing gadgets that James Bond would have loved, a bunch of quick-moving action sequences, and a little bit of romance. No cussing or violence, a little bit of kissing. "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Book of Thousand Days by: Shannon Hale More Info: Fifteen-year-old servant Dashti is bricked up in a tower with her mistress, Lady Saren, when the noble lady refuses to wed an evil lord.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Long May She Reign by: Ellen Emerson White More Info: Meg, the college-age daughter of the first female President of the United States, struggles with the physical and emotional traumas left behind from her recent abduction by terrorists, especially the fact that her mother refused to negotiate for her freedom.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Mississippi Jack by: L.A Meyer More Info: "Jacky (""Bloody Jack"") Faber's triumphant homecoming with the other students of the Lawson Peabody School--and her long-awaited reunion with her darling love Jaimy-- is cut short when she is very nearly arrested by British naval officers on (well-deserved) charges of piracy. In a hair-raising escape, Jacky ventures inland to avoid further arrest and (of course) she runs into further adventures. She tricks tall-tale hero Mike Fink, and turns his river flatboat into a casino showboat, floating tent-revival and medicine show. She befriends noble savages, and she barely outwits the immoral but good-looking naval officer chasing her. And when Jacky arrives in New Orleans at last, she finds an old, uhm, acquaintance...waiting for her."
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Incantation by: Alice Hoffman More Info: "There was a list of the ways to tell who was a hidden Jew: They wear clean clothes on Saturday. We did that, but only to air out our best clothes to wear to Sunday Mass. They light candles on Friday night. We did that, but only to see by candlelight, for soon enough it would be dark. They fast twice a year. We did that, but only to remember my father. They tell stories of Queen Esther. We did that, but only because she was a saint spoken about in church. They do not eat pork. We did that, but simply because we preferred vegetables and fresh green things. They name their children after those in the Old Testament. We did that, but they were only our pet names... The village where Estrella's family has lived for more than 500 years has changed. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella have extended the Inquisition into Spain, and now the Conversos--Jews who converted to Christianity to avoid persecution--are reviled even more than the Jews themselves. First books are burned...later, the bonfires are built to burn people. Who could possibly guess the secret Estrella's family has hidden for so long? And who would possibly betray them?"
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by: Sherman Alexie More Info: "14-year-old Arnold Spirit (""Junior"") describes himself as a weird-looking dork Indian. Born with water on the brain, a talent for cartooning and a brilliant sense of the absurd, Junior's diary and cartoons chronicle his simultaneously tragic and outrageously funny attempt to escape from life on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Junior's parents want to support him in his new adventure, but their own alcoholism often interferes with their good intentions. Most of the other tribal members, including Junior's best friend Rowdy, think that Junior is just a traitor--an ""apple"" who looks red on the outside but is really white on the inside. Junior knows that he'll always be an indian...but he wants out of the society that seems to be mostly drunk indians killing themselves and each other with their destructive addictions.... "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Freak by: Marcella Pixley More Info: With her crush moving in and her newly popular older sister ignoring her, life is complicated for seventh-grade misfit Miriam Fisher, but when the school bullies notice her situation, it gets a lot worse.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Spud by: John van de Ruit More Info: As Apartheid in South Africa ends and Nelson Mandela is freed, thirteen-year-old John “Spud” Milton writes about life at his boy’s boarding school.
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: by: More Info:
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Fablehaven by: Brandon Mull More Info: "Kendra and Seth have rarely met Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson, and they've never visited the secluded estate called Fablehaven. They are surprised to learn that their grandparents are caretakers of a special preserve for endangered--and magical--species. Fairies, witches, trolls, satyrs and other mystical creatures live safely within the boundaries of the sanctuary...until inquisitive Seth breaks an ancient law preserving the peace. With her grandmother recovering from a recent chicken-transformation, her brother under attack by imps, and her grandfather mysteriously missing, Kendra must find the courage and ingenuity to rescue her family--and hopefully, to save Fablehaven itself."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Does My Head Look Big in This? by: Randa Abdel-Fattah More Info: "I'm experiencing a new identity, a new expression of who I am on the inside, but I know that I'm not alone. I'm not breaking new ground. I'm sharing something with millions of other women around the world and it feels so exciting. I know some people might find it hard to believe but walking around the mall tonight I'd never felt so free and sure of who I am. I felt safe from people judging me and making assumptions about my character from the length of my skirt or the size of my bra. I felt protected from all the crap about beauty and image. As scared as I was walking around the stores in the hijab, I was also experiencing a feeling of empowerment and freedom. I know I have a long way to go. I still dressed to impress and I took ages to get my makeup, clothes and hijab just right. But I didn't feel I was compromising myself by wanting to make an impression. I was looking and feeling good on my own terms, and boy did that feel awesome. Against the advice of her parents and some of her friends, Australian teen Amal has decided to wear the hijab, the Muslim headscarf, full-time. The story of her 11th-grade year chronicles her experiences with family, friends, classmates, neighbors, and total strangers as she comes to terms with her religious beliefs. "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Flora Segunda by: Ysabeau S. Wilce More Info: "Flora Fyrdraaca is nearly 14 years old, the daughter of the Warlord's Commanding General (fondly known to Flora as ""Mamma"") and a man renowned for past glories and present drunkenness. Her ancestral home is possessed of (at least) eleven thousand rooms, only one of which contains a functional toilet. The magic used to maintain Crackpot Hall is fading. When Flora inadvertently becomes linked to the living House, she begins to fade as well.... "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio by: Lloyd Alexander More Info: "Carlo is, without doubt, a chooch--a fool, a bumbler, a credulous ninny--who is kicked out of the family home by his impatient uncle and embarks upon an amazing adventure beginning with a nonsensical treasure map and leading to the kind of magic you haven't heard about since Shaharazad told 1001 tales of the Arabian Nights. Wicked thieves, mysterious storytellers, a seller-of-dreams, the world's laziest camel-puller, a humble wise-fool, and a beautiful girl intent on revenge fill out the colorful cast, with fabulous and funny dialog to keep the story moving."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Book of a Thousand Days by: Shannon Hale More Info: "In a mythically-imagined medieval Mongolia, orphan Dashti leaves her nomadic life on the Steppes to becomes the personal maid to Lady Saren. Saren has refused to marry a powerful (but horrible) Prince--and chosen instead to be imprisoned in a tower for seven years, taking Dashti with her. At first, Dashti is too thrilled with the delicious food and soft bedding to miss life under the open sky...but comfort soon pales beside Dashti's longing for freedom. Still, she is resigned to the imprisonment until she is instructed pretend to be her mistress Saren while speaking through the tower wall to the khan Tegus. Tegus is gentle and kind--a strong contrast to the cruel Lord Saren had been ordered to marry. The girls eventually escape the tower and make their way to the city of Khan Tegus, accompanied by a kindly yak. Still, a happy ending is still many pages away, as both Dashti and Saren have much to learn about each other and themselves."
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: My Swordhand is Singing by: Marcus Sedgwick More Info: A series of murders in his small Eastern European village and a warning from the gypsies, convinces Peter that he must pit himself against the rising undead and their mistress, the Shadow Queen.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Beastly by: Alex Flinn More Info: Popular and cruel freshman Kyle Kingsbury is turned into a beast after he humiliates a Goth girl and must live in seclusion with only the Internet for company as he seeks a way to end his curse.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Beastly by: Alex Flinn More Info: "New York City highschooler Kyle Kingsbury figures he's got everything: good looks (okay: great looks), money (lots of money!), the right clothes, a hot girlfriend...and his future looks pretty great. But when he flaunts his good looks and money once too often by mocking an ugly girl, he angers somebody. And that ""somebody"" is determined to teach Kyle an old lesson in a very new way. Transformed into a Beast so hideously ugly that his own father refuses to be seen with him, Kyle must find a girl who will love him enough to kiss him despite his ugliness. He's pretty sure it will never happen. He only has two years to break the curse, or he will spend the rest of his life as a Beast. "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Tantalize by: Cynthia Leitich Smith More Info: "Quincie Morris has grown up in the family restaurant business. At age 17, she is the driving force behind opening a new restaurant with a unique image: Sanguini's, the first restaurant in Austin with a vampire theme. The food will be exquisite, the staff will be thematically costumed...and then the chef is murdered. And Quincie's best friend --a hybrid-werewolf -- is the primary suspect. Werewolves and vampires are just the beginning in this suspenseful and tangled plot. There are also were-alligators. And were-armadillos. And even were-vampires! Alternately creepy and fun, with lovely (and later, horrible) descriptions of menu items from both the Prey Menu and the accompanying Predator Menu. "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Schooled by: Gordon Korman More Info: "The eighth-grade president is always a big joke at Claverage Middle School. The kids always elect the weirdest, clumsiest, most misfit kid in the school, and make that kid's eighth grade year into one extended wedgie. When Capricorn (Cap) Anderson shows up at school, his election to office is a landslide. After all, Cap has never before attended public school. He doesn't know about money, television, girls...or anything else. Cap's upbringing at Garland Farm has given him a lot of practice growing organic vegetables and tie-dying his own clothes, learning tai chi, and living off the grid, but not much practical knowledge about living in the modern world. Cap is an obvious target for popular kids like Zach and Lena, who plan to torment the new kid all year long. But in a series of unlikely, hilarious, and right-back-atcha events, Cap's first year in public school ends up very differently than anyone planned..."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Deadline by: Chris Crutcher More Info: "18-year-old Ben Wolf gets the news right before he starts his senior year in high school: he's dying of a rare and agressive blood disease. Against the advice of his doctor, Ben decides to forego treatment entirely. He also decides to keep his illness secret from everyone, including his family, friends, teachers and coach. Ben's last year is full of courage. Though scrawny, Ben makes the football team at his tiny Idaho high school and plays a successful season alongside his brother Cody. He gathers the courage to talk to his secret love, super-hottie-athlete-girl Dallas Suzuki, and she actually asks him to Homecoming! He is so affected by Alex Haley's biography of Malcom X that he not only challenges the classmates and his town to overcome their prejudices, he seeks out late-night discussions with the only other person in town who admits to loving the book: the town drunk. And just when Ben is really enjoying life, his illness starts to intrude. If you're seeking a light and fluffy tearjerker, avoid this book--in fact, avoid everything ever written by this author. Crutcher is well-known for award-winning stories of substance abuse, bigotry, child molestation and neglect, and this book is no exception. However, despite the heavy subject matter, one message shines through: ""Life is short. Whatever you really want to do, do it now."""
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Sweethearts by: Sara Zarr More Info: Jenna, once the unpopular misfit Jennifer, has everything a high-school girl could want, popularity, a boyfriend and a place in the scheme of things, but then Cameron Quick returns. Cameron, the only friend of her youth, the friend who disappeared after a terrible incident that Jenna prefers to forget, Cameron, the boy whose presence and secrets can change everything.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Girl Overboard by: Justina Chen Headley More Info: Despite her privileged position as the daughter of rich entrepreneur Ethan Cheng, fifteen-year-old Syrah Cheng’s life seems pretty grim; her boyfriend betrayed her, her step-siblings hate her, she blew her knee snowboarding, and her best friend ditched her, but a new friendship with a leukemia-stricken girl convinces Syrah to take control of her life again, even if it means stepping back onto the board and confronting her family.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Getting It by: Alex Sanchez More Info: "15-year old Carlos is a desperate virgin. All of his buddies say that they've hooked up with girls. Why not him? In desperation, Carlos asks a gay kid at school to do a Queer Eye for the Straight Guy makeover on him, and Sal agrees...provided that Carlos helps to start a Gay-Straight Alliance at their school. The guys hang out and become friends. But Carlos is getting lots of pressure from friends and family not to ""turn gay"", and when the girl of his (ahem) dreams beckons him, Carlos abandons his new friend to hook up with her. Carlos and his friends are mostly great guys, trying to figure out who they are and what is important to them. They make mistakes, and sometimes even learn from their mistakes. Mostly, the characters in this book are like real people: doing the best they can. There is cussing...in Spanish, mostly. There is sex...sorta...including an oral sex scene that's so tactful that it would be difficult to point at and scream ""eeek"" at any particular word or passage. Recommended for any student at any school that has a Gay/Straight Alliance, or at any school that needs one."
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: American Born Chinese by: Gene Luen Yang More Info: " Three stories intertwine: Teenager Jin Wang is embarrassed by his looks, his culture, and his family. He longs to be more like the other kids in his school: white-skinned, blue-eyed, and popular. Danny, a white-skinned, blue-eyed kid with a weirdly embarrassing Chinese cousin. The Monkey King, an ancient trickster hero in Chinese folklore. In this oddly -told graphic novel, we learn that Jin Wang, Danny, and the Monkey King have more in common than you might think...including an interesting fondness for transformer toys. This book was awarded the 2007 Prinz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature."
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Arrival by: Shaun Tan More Info: "A man leaves his family behind and travels to a strange new land, where the food, the language, and even the buildings and animals are weird and unfamiliar. He has no skills: he cannot read the signs or operate simple household machines. Yet, he patiently persists and is guided along his journey by the kindness of strangers--people who have also experienced the heartbreak and frustration of leaving their homes and learning to live in a new place. The story is old; how many times has this story been told in literature, movies, and poetry? Shaun Tan's take on the old tale is entirely new: the entire story is told in lovely paneled drawings without words, making the immigrant experience accessible to people of all ages and cultural backgrounds. Readers (no matter what their native language may be) experience the confusion first-hand by viewing the pictures, and trying to decipher and make sense of the weird places and objects."
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Hearts of Horses by: Molly Gloss More Info: "The year is 1917, and young men are volunteering to go ""over there"" to fight for freedom against the Germans. Back on the homefront, nineteen-year-old Martha Lesson leaves her home in Pendleton and comes to the Umatilla region looking for work, for adventure--and for a home. A horse-trainer by trade, Martha arrives in south central Washington State, and is immediately hired by several local families to break horses to saddle. Traditionally, horse breaking was done by men, usually by snub-tying the animal for hours (or days), or by ""bucking out"" the horse until it was too exhausted to protest carrying a rider. But Martha has a different plan for the horses she will train.... In the course of the winter months, Martha trains a horse for a man dying of cancer, befriends a German family who are shunned by their neighbors, attends dances and skating parties, and, despite her shy nature, becomes part of the community."
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Primavera by: Mary Jane Beaufrand More Info: In 15th century Florence, fifteen-year-old Flora Pazzi is often ignored by her noble family in favor of her older sister, whom even the great painter Botticelli finds beautiful. Flora herself is destined for a convent and desperate to avoid that fate, but political intrigue with the powerful Medici clan may foil her escape plans.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: You Know Where To Find Me by: Rachel Cohn More Info: Living on a Georgetown estate, seventeen-year-old Miles and her cousin Laura were inseparable, but when Laura commits suicide with prescriptions drugs (which Miles is also addicted to) Miles is left behind to grieve and finally to discover how to live on her own.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Runemarks by: Joanne Harris More Info: "In Norse mythology, Odin, Thor, Frigg, Freya and the trickster god Loki had long adventures, often involving bloodshed and humiliation, epic battles and torturous tasks, all leading up Ragnarók, the final battle and the End of the World. And after the End of the World...then what? In a tale taking place five centuries after Ragnarók, young Maddy Smith meets up with a strangely magical one-eyed traveler. One-Eye recognizes Maddy's birthmark as a rune of power, and teaches her to use her magical skills. Then Maddy meets up with the old trickster god Loki, who wants to know why One-Eye is so interested in a magical girl...and the quest is on! Underground they go, through Hel and back, with goblins, dead guys, gods, goddesses, and a talking (possibly oracular) rock following close behind."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Dragonhaven by: Robin McKinley More Info: "15-year-old Jake lives with his father on the world's largest endangered wildlife preserve: the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies at Smokehill National Park. Supposedly, the Institute staff studies dragons. Actually, most staff members have only seen dragons at a distance. They've got proof that some dragons live in the Park....somewhere. But for various complicated reasons, dragons are difficult to find--and nearly impossible to study. Nearly impossible, that is, until Jake stumbles upon a dying mother dragon and her single surviving dragonlet. Without considering the consequences of his action, Jake grabs the tiny dragon and snuggles her ember-hot body next to his skin in an effort to rescue her from certain death. From that point in time forward, Jake's life becomes very, very complicated...."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Epic by: Conor Kostick More Info: "Epic is a game. New Earth was settled by people who were determined to leave the violence of Earth behind them. To achieve this goal, societal rules forbid violence of any kind, except within the planet-wide video game of Epic. Within Epic, players fight battles, kill small goblins for money, find treasure, settle disputes, rise to power in government, and lose that power if their player character makes a mistake within the game. When Erik and his friends discover a loophole in the game, they are able to kill a dragon--making them extremely wealthy members of society. Then Erik learns that some of the ""Non-Player Characters"" in the game are not like the others: some of them are self-aware. These special characters are key to winning at Epic...and ending the game forever. What will happen to the world when the game is done? "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Thirteen Reasons Why by: Jay Asher More Info: "You don't ever know what goes on in anyone's life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person's life, you're not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can't be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person's life, you're messing with their entire life. Everything...affects everything. When Clay Jensen receives a shoebox in the mail filled with cassette tapes, he doesn't know what to think. He finds a tape player (who has tape player anymore?) and starts to listen. The voice he hears on the tape is Hannah Baker...who killed herself. Using the cassettes, Hannah tells the stories--thirteen stories--to explain the reasons why she committed suicide. If you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why. There are only two rules. Rule #1: You listen. Rule #2: You pass the tapes on to the next name on the list."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Airman by: Eoin Colfer More Info: When fourteen-year-old Conor Broekhart witnesses the murder of his king, he is accused of the crime by the real assassin and sent to a diamond mine prison where his dream of creating a flying machine is the only hope that sustains him.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Adoration of Jenna Fox by: Mary E. Pearson More Info: Seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox has just awoken from an 18 month coma with very little memory of her life before her accident, but soon begins to suspect that her life is not quite as straightforward as her parents want her to believe.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Derby Girl by: Shauna Cross More Info: "Bliss has plenty of reasons to be unhappy. After all, she doesn't live with hip parents who understand her, in a socially-savvy city on the coast where she can shop for her favorite indie clothes and music. Instead, she lives in a small backwater Texas town where the music is ""all country, all the time"" and top social honors are reserved for beauty queens with gigantic hair. Then Bliss discovers roller derby and almost immediately she lies about her age, gives herself a ""derby name"" and joins the team. Her life as a derby girl, complete with fishnet stockings, wild makeup, wild parties and a brand-new boyfriend with great taste in music brings Bliss more happiness she ever envisioned....until her parents find out. And her best friend gets mad. And she gets busted for being under-age. But there's still that great boyfriend....right? All the leaping, diving, blocking, spinning, blood, and orneriness you expect from a sassy girl with pent-up energy to burn. Some cussing, underage partying, and sexual situations. "
|
|
|
Category:
Short Reads Title: Lawn Boy by: Gary Paulsen More Info: "A boy and a old lawnmower. Together, they could make a little money over the summer. On the other hand...with the help of Arnold the stockbroker, Pasquel the probably-not-authorized-in-this-country yard worker and a bunch of his ""relatives"" with pickup trucks, and a friendly heavyweight boxer called Joey Pow, they could make a LOT of money. Grab your sunscreen and gas up the mower for this slapstick adventure in amateur capitalism. The story is funny, quick, and almost plausible enough to inspire me to go into business mowing lawns and and making a bundle of cash. No cussing, sex, or plausible violence, assuming you don't actually believe that Joey Pow would really stuff that wicked man into the dishwasher...."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Dingo by: Charles deLint More Info: "Miguel knows right away that Lainey is an unusual girl. Not just because she's Australian and has beautiful red-gold hair and a strangely intelligent dog called Emily. There's something else...something mysterious, something possibly frightening, and something definitely mysterious about Lainey. Then Miguel learns that Lainey is not only a girl, she's also a dingo, an Australian wild dog. And so is her ...uhm... sister Emily. Newcomers to de Lint's literary world may struggle a bit as Miguel befriends the town bully, carries a message from long-dead Australian aborigines, challenges the authority of an ancient power, learns a new version of a story by Rudyard Kipling, and falls in love with a were-dingo. Readers familiar with de Lint's fey characters will immediately feel at home in this quick little love story. Either way, it's a fun tale with a sweet ending. Minor bloodshed (a black eye and a couple of cracked ribs), minimal cussing, and no sex."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Red Handed by: Gena Showalter More Info: "Phoenix has gone to rehab for -- she swears -- the last time. She has kicked her addiction -- she's pretty sure -- to the alien drug Onadyn, the deoxygenating drug that makes humans feel as if they are soaring through the heavens (if it doesn't kill them). She never wants to return to the life she had as an addict: Untrustworthy. Tainted. Worthless. When Phoenix gets recruited to become an agent for the highly secretive Alien Investigation and Removal agency, she figures she'll be able to prove her worth to everyone: to her classmates, to her mother, and most of all to herself. If she survives.... More action scenes than Maximum Ride. More cool gadgets than I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You. More shiny machines and violence than Alex Rider. More political treachery than Uglies. Sexual situations, violence against aliens, and a little bit of cussing. "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Starry Rift by: Jonathan Strahan More Info: A boy struggles to loose enough weight to take a beloved possession to a new world, a girl discovers how gaming can change her life, siblings find out the difference between virtual life and much more in these short stories by several prominent teen and science fiction writers exploring both the reaches of the universe and the reaches of the mind.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Princess Ben by: Catherine Gilbert Murdock More Info: The heir to her kingdom, Princess Benevolence spends all of her time under the strict supervision of her Aunt Sophia, but when she discovers a secret wizard's tower in the palace, her life takes a magical turn and she decides its time to take charge of her fate.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Skulduggery Pleasant by: Derek Landy More Info: "Skulduggery Pleasant is a detective...a sarcastic, walking, talking skeleton who makes a living (if you can call it that!) solving mysteries and saving the world. Stephanie meets Skulduggery at her uncle's funeral, where she learns that Uncle Gordon's death was not natural...and soon Stephanie is attacked by magic for the first time in her life. But it won't be the last time--not by far. Full of page-turning adventure, scary magical duels, explosions, chases, mysterious puzzles, and plenty of suspenseful sneaking around; humorous dialog keeps the story light. Intense-but-not-gory action"
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: City of Bones by: Cassandra Clare More Info: "15-year-old Clary sees her first demon in a New York club. Shortly after that, she witnesses the destruction of the demon by tattooed teenage ""Shadowhunters"", who kill the Night Children threatening the mortal world. Curious but shaken, Clary returns home to find her apartment vandalized, her mother missing...and clues indicating that Clary herself is a Shadowhunter. Plenty of creepy creatures abound in this urban fantasy--not only vampires (who ride flying motorcycles and give very elegant parties) and werewolves (who sometimes deliver take-out Chinese food), but also other, more ominous Night Children who gradually reveal secrets about Clary's family...and secrets about the other Shadowhunters as well. Mysterious, magical, and sexy fiction."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Life as We Knew It by: Susan Beth Pfeffer More Info: "16-year-old Miranda leads a pretty normal life: she goes to school, hangs out with friends, crushes on a local athletic celebrity, and wishes her parents weren't divorced. Then one evening in May, an asteroid strikes the moon out of its normal orbit, and nothing will ever be normal again. Tides are disrupted. The entire Eastern Seaboard is gone. Broadcast media is disrupted, and gradually stops. The electricity flickers on-and-off for weeks...and then stops. Long-dormant volcanoes erupt, pouring ash and smoke into the atmosphere. Within months of the asteroid event, the people of the Earth are faced with starvation, disease...and worse. Miranda's family hoards food as long as they can. But what will happen when the food runs out?"
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Another Kind of Cowboy by: Susan Juby More Info: "Canadian teen Alex has always been horse-centered. As a young child, he taught his bicycle the fine art of dressage. When his father wins a broken-down horse in a poker game, Alex trains the ugly creature to the best of his ability, and actually wins some local shows in Western showmanship. Despite his success as a ""cowboy"", Alex yearns for the world of dressage, high-schooling horses in the tradition of the Lipizzan Stallions and the Spanish Riding School. Cleo has always had whatever she wants, whenever she wants it....except real attention from her rich, shallow parents, who paid housekeepers, chauffeurs, and other staff members to raise their daughter. She is sent to a ""riding academy"" on Vancouver Island catering to rich girls and their horses (especially those girls who have had discipline problems at home). Cleo meets Alex and thinks: ""boyfriend."" Alex meets Cleo and thinks, ""brat."" But when it's time for Alex to come out of the closet, Cleo is the friend who is ready to hear his secret."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Airhead by: Meg Cabot More Info: Geeky, plain sixteen-year-old Emerson Watts wakes up with the body of celebrity supermodel Nikki Howard.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Dead and the Gone by: Susan Beth Pfeffer More Info: Manhattan seventeen-year-old Alex Morales must fend for himself and take care of his two younger sisters when an asteroid hits the moon and sets off a cataclysm that kills his parents.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: A Countess Below Stairs by: Eva Ibbotson More Info: "Young Countess Anna Grazinsky and her family flee to safety from the Bolshevik Revolution, but their wealth is gone. Although a myriad of jobs are available to exiled male Russian nobles in England, very few employers will hire a girl like Anna, and she eagerly seeks a post as a housemaid for the esteemed (but impoverished) Westerhame estate. There, she befriends everyone above- and below-stairs, and makes a particularly strong impression on Lord Rupert, the heir to Westerhame. Unfortunately, Rupert is engaged to beautiful, wealthy, strong-minded Muriel Hardwicke, whose ambitions and modern scientific ideas will certainly bring unhappiness to Anna's new friends. If only the wedding could be stopped...but how? This charming Cinderella story is set in post-WWI England with a strong ""Pride and Prejudice"" feeling built into the characters, and an unusual but wonderful comedic thread. Anna is entrancing, Rupert is noble but tangled, Muriel is hilariously single-minded, the competition for eligible husbands is fast and furious, and the antics of the Russians-in-exile lend a circus air to the entire tale. (don't miss the part about the dachshund who helped to smuggle a valuable diamond in his, er, intestinal tract....!)"
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Maximum Ride : the Final Warning by: James Patterson More Info: "When is a trilogy about bird-kid mutants NOT a trilogy about bird-kid mutants? When there's a fourth book, of course! Maximum Ride and her ""flock"" of scientifically-modified kids are back, and this time they're trying to save the whole dang planet from global warming, evil corporations, and other scientifically-modified entities. Together the Avian-Americans (plus Total the dog) soar, dive, flap, kick, and fast-talk themselves into trouble and out again, adding all kinds new talents and useful information to their uneducated brains. From a blizzard in Antarctica (no polar bears, incidentally) to a hurricane in Florida (safety glass does break, BTW, just into squares instead of spears), to a hearing before Congress, the adventure never pauses for breath. And just when reasonable people might expect a quiet finale two pages from the end of the book, Max's internal alarm activates, compelling the kids to take wing again and lending hope to readers who never want the series to end."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Peeled by: Joan Bauer More Info: "High school reporter Hildy Biddle is curious: why should a long-abandoned house suddenly be inspiring fear in her little apple-growing town. Assisted by friends, family, and the hard-nosed advisor to The Core, Hildy starts asking questions that some people don't want to answer. Will scare tactics from a shady newspaper editor and a ""big-time real estate guy"" change Hildy's town forever? Author Joan Bauer has created a new, strong female protagonist who is intent on improving the world. Readers will cheer as the story (and the truth) is unpeeled and revealed at last."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Shift by: Jennifer Bradbury More Info: "The day after high school graduation, Chris and his best buddy Win head out on their bicycles to ride across the United States, from West Virginia to Washington State. Chris is looking for an adventure before he starts college in the fall. Win is looking for something else. Then, in a small Washington town just 80 miles shy of their goal, Win disappears. Chris doesn't have a clue where--or why-- his friend has gone...until the postcards start to arrive. Told in chapters alternating between Chris' experience in college and flashbacks to the bike trip, suspense builds and details start to add up as Chris tries to locate his buddy. Although the boys spend a lot of time traveling and enjoying the sights along the road, their journey across the country isn't nearly as important as the coming-of-age journey and the evolving friendship of Win and Chris. Extra stars are awarded for the author's accurate (if unflattering) descriptions of several small towns in Washington State."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Night Road by: A.M. Jenkins More Info: Hemovores (vampires), disciplined Cole and good-natured Sandor introduce newly turned frat-boy Gordon to the realities of vampirism.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Hurricane Song by: Paul Volponi More Info: Miles, who prefers football to music, knows that moving to New Orleans to live with his father and uncle, both avid jazz musicians, will be a difficult change, but he doesn’t realize how dangerous might be too, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Kafka on the Shore by: Haruki Murakami More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Alyssa, age 15, Fairwood Library
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Bound by: Donna Jo Napoli More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Jenny, age 12, Fairwood Library
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: Sleeping Freshman Never Lie by: David Lubar More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Travis, age 14, Issaquah Library.
|
|
|
Category:
Adventure Title: Splinter Cell: Operation Baracuda by: David Michaels and Tom Clancy More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Dominic, age 14, Issaquah Library
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Life in the Fat Lane by: Cherie Bennett More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Lizzie, age 13, Issaquah Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Summerland by: Michael Chabon More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Melanie, age 12, Vashon Library
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: The Girl's Book of Love by: Ed. By Catherine Dee More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Marisa, age 14, Vashon Library
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: The Last Days by: Scott Westerfeld More Info: What is this book about? What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Taylor, age 15g worms that crawl out of the ground. What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Taylor, age 15
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Fire Storm by: Jeanette Windle More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Cori, age 17, Maple Valley Library
|
|
|
Category:
Adventure Title: Voyage of the Arctic Tern by: Hugh Montgomery More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Kristy, age 16, Kent Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Fellowship of the Ring by: J.R.R. Tolkein More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Gorwinder, age 12, Redmond Library
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: Haunted School by: R. L. Stine More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Russ, age 12, Redmond Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Slaughterhouse Five by: Kurt Vonnegut More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Ann, age 17, Redmond Library
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: World War Z by: Max Brooks More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Will, age 13, Auburn Library
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Troubled Waters by: Carolyn Keene More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Jazmin, age 12, Auburn Library
|
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Lost and Found by: Anne Schraff More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Sam, age 17
|
|
|
Category:
Sports Title: Hoops by: Walter Dean Myers More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Sam, age 17
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Touching Darkness by: Scott Westerfeld More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Kevin, age 11, Bellevue Library
|
|
|
Category:
Classics Title: Emma by: Jane Austen More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Natalie, age 12, Bellevue Library
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Scared Stiff by: Willo Roberts Davis More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Taylor, age 11, Algona-Pacific Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Specials by: Scott Westerfeld More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Lizzy , age 12, Algona-Pacific Library
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Miracle on 49th Street by: Mike Lupia More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Eleise, age 14, Auburn Library
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Unsolved Mysteries of the Old West by: W.C. Jameson More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Sean, age 13, Auburn Library.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Black and White by: Paul Volponi More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Heather, age 16, Algona-Pacific Library
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Black Sheep by: Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Lauren, age 14, Federal Way Library
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Lieutenant Hornblower by: C.S. Forester More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Maggie, age 14, Federal Way Regional Library
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Al Capone does my Shirts by: Gennifer Choldenko More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Paige, age 14, Federal Way Library.
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: City of Bones by: Cassandra Clare More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Lauren, age 14, Federal Way Library.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Killer Angels by: Michael Shaara More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Josh, age 14, Bellevue Library
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Complications by: Atul Gawande More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Sam, age 17, Bellevue Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Lost City of Faar by: DJ McHale More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Prottush, age 13, Bothell Library.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Dream Spinner by: Bonnie Dobkin More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Amanda, age 15, Bothell Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Last Book in the Universe by: Rodman Philbrick More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Victoria, age 13,
|
|
|
Category:
Adventure Title: Arthur and the Minimoys by: Luc Besson More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Ellen, age 12
|
|
|
Category:
Romance Title: Hook Up or Break Up by: Kendall Adams More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Kayla
|
|
|
Category:
Short Reads Title: Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul by: Canfield, Hansen, and Kirberger More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Gaby, age 16, Kenmore Library.
|
|
|
Category:
Sports Title: Gym Candy by: Carl Deuker More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it?
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Shatterglass by: Tamora Pierce More Info: What is this book about? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Priya, age 16, Bothell Library
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: When Broken Glass Floats: Growing up under the Khmer Rouge by: Chanrithy Him More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Sara, age 14, Kenmore Library
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Bounce by: Natasha Friend More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Lauren, Age 13, Auburn Library
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Tears of a Tiger by: Sharon M. Draper More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Olga, age 12, Kent Library
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Airman by: Eion Colfer More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Jewell, age 13, North Bend Library
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Outrageously Alice by: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Rosalind, age 13, Lake Forest Park Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: 2001: a Space Odyssey by: Arthur C. Clarke More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Abdullah, age 17, Newport Way Library
|
|
|
Category:
Romance Title: Crush du Jour by: Micol Ostow More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Maria, age 12, Kenmore Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Twilight by: Stephanie Meyer More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Tylar, age 15, Bothell Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Fablehaven by: Brandon Mull More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Natalie, age 16, Fall City Library
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Would You by: Marthe Joclyn More Info: High-school junior Natalie often plays “Would you” with her friends, a game where they dare each other to choose between two difficult options. But the words take on new meaning for Natalie when her older sister and best friend, Claire, is hit by a car and left on life-support.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: City in the Lake by: Rachel Neumeier More Info: When Prince Cassiel vanishes from the City in the Lake, the mages of the land use all their powers to find him. One of these mages, the father of seventeen-year-old Timou disappears as well. Relying on her own magical powers, Timou begins her own quest, one that will reveal many secrets about her kingdom and her family.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Rules of Survival by: Nancy Werlin More Info: "Emmy, the events we lived through taught me to be sure of nothing about other people They taught me to expect danger around every corner. They taught me to understand that there are people in this world who mean you harm. And sometimes, they're people who say they love you. Matthew is thirteen years old when he first meets Murdoch McIlvane, the man he hopes will rescue him and his younger sisters from their mentally ill and abusive mother, Nikki. Murdoch seems like a superhero, like Batman or Superman--somebody who could swoop in and whisk the kids away from their horrible home. In a long letter to his sister Emmy, Matthew chronicles the struggle the kids must endure before Murdoch and a few other caring adults are able to get the kids away from their destructive, despicable parent. In the meantime, evidence mounts up against Nikki: the drinking, the boyfriends, the unpredictable abuse and neglect. But will the evidence be enough to free the children? Nancy Werlin has created a fascinating, horrendous situation -- fictional, but believable. The story is not unlike a train wreck--horrible to witness, but impossible to ignore. Readers won't dare stop reading before the last page"
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Sold by: Patricia McCormick More Info: "If I bring a half-dozen men to my room each night, and each man pays Mumtaz 30 rupees, I am 180 rupees closer each day to going back home. If I work for a hundred days more, I should have nearly enough to pay back the 20,000 rupees I owe to Mumtaz. Then Shahanna teaches me city subtraction. Half of what the men pay goes to Mumtaz, she says. Then you must take away 80 rupees for what Mumtaz charges for your daily rice and dal. Another 100 a week for renting you a bed and pillow. And 500 for the shot the dirty-hands doctor gives us once a month so that we won't become pregnant. She also warns me: Mumtaz will bury you alive if she sees your little book of figures. I do the calculations. And realize I am already buried alive. Lakshmi is 13 years old when her stepfather sells her to an ""auntie"" travelling to the big city. The auntie has promised Lakshmi's mother that the girl will go to work as a maid in the city. In fact, the fictional Lakshmi--and up to 12,000 real Nepali girls each year--has been sold into a life of sexual slavery in an Indian brothel. Gradually, Lakshmi forms friendships that help her survive--with the other girls in the ""Happiness House"", with the boy who sells tea from a street cart, and with the young son of another prostitute. Still, her life is mostly without hope, for Mumtaz cheats the girls outrageously and then abandons them on the street when they become too sick or broken to work. The girls fear Mumtaz. They fear the corrupt police, who take payments from Mumtaz to look the other way. And they fear the Americans who might take them from the brothel only to shame them and abandon them on the streets. How will they ever escape--and if they did, how could they ever return home?"
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Dreamers of the Day by: Mary Doria Russell More Info: " The year is 1921 and Agnes Shanklin is alone, having survived the tragedies of the Great War and the Great Influenza that killed the rest of her family. Saddened, Agnes gathers her modest inheritance and her dachshund and leaves Ohio...to visit Egypt. There, she spends time with a few dignitaries who have gathered for a week at a Cairo hotel to draw territorial boundaries and invent the new nations of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. While Agnes is a fictional character, the figures and actions of Winston Churchill, T.E. Lawrence (""Lawrence of Arabia""), Gertrude Bell, and others are based firmly in the historical record. Warleaders and politicians would learn much by spending time with this book, as will anyone else who is able to make the acquaintance of Agnes Shanklin, Rosie the dog, and a few Western politicians who toured the pyramids and changed the world."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Compound by: S.A. Bodeen More Info: "Eli and his family have lived underground in the Compound for six years. For six years, they have survived while the rest of the world died, including Eli's grandmother and twin brother. For six years, the family has eaten, slept, exercised, studied, and waited. The door to the Compound will open after fifteen years, when the radioactivity has died down, and the world is habitable again. And then Eli discovers a live Internet connection. How could the Internet be active if the entire world is dead? Which leads to Eli's next question: what if the world outside was not destroyed?"
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Poison Study by: Maria V. Snyder More Info: "Yelena has been imprisoned in the dungeon for almost a year when she is offered a way to escape imprisonment and her scheduled execution: she can become the Commander's food taster--eat fine foods, sleep on a soft bed, and take the chance of being poisoned three times each day. She leaps at the chance, hoping to escape the castle (and the executioner) forever. Only after her first training session as food taster does Yelena learn the secret technique that keeps food testers from running away: she has been poisoned with Butterfly Dust, and will die unless she is given the antidote each day. Excellent suspense, political intrigue, fight scenes, magic, and a little bit of romance. "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Black Pearls : a faerie strand by: Louise Hawes More Info: "Gretel reveals what really happened with Hansel and the witch and the oven. Prince Charming is bewildered by Cinderella's behavior after the wedding. The magic harp explains why she loved to play and sing for the giant...and why she would never sing for that thieving rascal Jack... In this slim volume, seven familiar fairy tales are retold by non-traditional central characters from each story, offering a unique perspective for the reader. Pencil illustrations and beautiful cover art add to the lushness of the book."
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: In Odd We Trust by: Queenie Chan and Dean Koontz More Info: "Nineteen-year-old Odd Thomas is a frycook with an amazing talent for pancakes. Only a few people know about Odd Thomas' other talent: he sees dead people. Although a few ghosts hang around for no apparent reason (Elvis, for example, rearranges the furniture sometimes), often the restless dead are murder victims seeking help to find their killers. Such is the case of Joey, a young boy mysteriously killed while in the care of his nanny. When other children in the neighborhood receive threatening mail, the police focus their efforts on protecting them...but Joey wants Odd Thomas to take care of the nanny. Only the murderer--and the dead--know the reasons why...."
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: No Fear Shakespeare : Hamlet by: Neil Babra More Info: "Prince Hamlet of Denmark returns home to discover that the ghost of his father is haunting the castle, his uncle Claudius has inherited the throne, and his mother, the widowed queen Gertrude, has married Claudius! How could it get any worse? Students unfamiliar with the original will welcome this graphic novel portrayal of Hamlet to assist them in keeping all the names and plotlines straight. The artwork is starkly black and white--certainly appropriate for the themes and storyline. Lovers of Shakespeare's language will not love this edition: the dialogue has been streamlined and modernized, with only shadows remaining in a few of the most familiar speeches. "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Other Side of the Island by: Allegra Goodman More Info: Honor wishes her parents would just follow the rules laid down by Earth Mother, the leader who has watched over humanity since an apocalyptic flood, but when their rebellion puts them in danger, Honor must decide where her own loyalties lie and discover the truth about her world.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Graceling by: Kristin Cashore More Info: "People in Katsa's world who have two differently-colored eyes are ""graced"": they have a special, magical talent. Some have a grace for cooking, others for training horses, and still others have a grace for foretelling the weather. Katsa's grace for killing was discovered at the age of eight, when she fatally smashed the nose bone of an inappropriate uncle into the man's brain. Since then, her uncle the King has honed Katsa's talent and exploited her ability to bully and punish his adversaries. Unknown to the King, however, Katsa and her friends have formed a secret council which works to overthrow the corruption of power. While on a secret mission for the Council, Katsa finally finds a person with a grace that might possibly be a match for her own: Prince Po, who apparently has a grace for fighting. Katsa and Po journey together on a mission to rescue Po's beloved grandfather...a journey that becomes more perilous, and more enlightening, with every page."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Grist by: Heather Waldorf More Info: "16-year-old Charlena is an aspiring writer who has talent but--according to her Creative Writing teacher--lacks ""grist"". Searching for life experiences to provide substance for her writing, Charlie agrees to spend the summer at her grandmother's cabin in remote Lake Ringrose, Ontario. There she meets a troubled boy who barely survived the snowmobile crash that killed his father. Despite her Gram's cautions to befriend Kerry but not get ""too involved"" with him, Charlie and Kerry quickly move towards intimacy, which turns out to be a very bad idea, indeed. The recreational community of Lake Ringrose is well-drawn, but I found the most engaging aspect of this book to be the strongly-written voice of Charlie and the intriguing people in her world, including her dead mother. As Kerry's secrets are gradually revealed, the reader discovers that there other people have secrets, too...including Charlie. This book has been nominated for the 2009 Evergreen Young Adult Book Award. For more details about this award, including voting information, visit the website: http://www.kcls.org/evergreen/nominees/index.cfm"
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Last Exit to Normal by: Michael B. Harmon More Info: "When Ben was 14 years old, his dad came out of the closet. Shortly after that, Ben's world fell apart. His mom moved out, Edward ""the Boyfriend"" moved in, and Ben started an active campaign of bad behavior to make his dad miserable...or at least make his dad pay attention to Ben's unhappiness. Three years (and a ton of joints plus a few encounters with the police later) Ben is yanked out of his familiar Spokane surroundings and moved with his unconventional new family to a small farming community where ""different"" often means ""outcast""....or worse. And there is no doubt that Ben's spiked hair and tattoos and two-dad family will label him different from the neighbors. But somebody in Rough Butte, Montana is more unhappy than Ben. "
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Rapunzel's Revenge by: Shannon Hale More Info: "Rapunzel's pregnant mother craved the rampion leaves growing in the witch's garden so much that she sent her husband over the wall at night to steal the leaves...and when baby Rapunzel was born, the witch claimed the child for herself. Years later, Rapunzel explores her tower home...and discovers the bleak landscape outside. Determined to escape from her horrible witch ""mother"", Rapunzel uses her amazing hair as an unconventional tool for survival in a world remarkably similar to the American Old West (with a little magic thrown in). Along with a useful fellow called Jack, and the opinionated goose Goldy, Rapunzel challenges the authority and magic of the witch...with astonishing results. Here is a terrific story with excellent illustrations. No cussin' or killin', except for her what needed killin' : justice for the bad guys and a happily-ever-after ending. "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Jellicoe Road by: Melina Marchetta More Info: Taylor, embroiled in a secret war between her school, the local townies and the nearby military school, must also search for her missing guardian and discover how similar events twenty-two years ago may have contributed to Hannah's disappearance.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The President's Daughter by: Ellen Emerson White More Info: Meg Powers just wants to hang out with her friends, play tennis and hassle her little brothers, but when you're the daughter of the President of the United States even simple things become complicated, especially when the President is your mother and she's America's first woman president.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by: Jessica Day George More Info: "Winter had been upon the land for a long time, and summer was a long-ago memory when the woodcutter's youngest daughter was born. Scorned by her mother, begrudged the food and warmth she will take from the rest of the family, the girl hopes to gain happiness for her family when she pursues the magical white reindeer. The reindeer gives her a gift...and it is this gift that leads a gigantic white bear to her house with a tempting offer: if the girl will live for a year in the castle of the bear, her family will receive untold riches. This magical retelling of the Scandinavian folktale ""East of the Sun, West of the Moon"" is woven with folktales of other lands and populated by mythical creatures from all over the world. Yet it is the girl and the bear who keep the center stage, especially when her curiousity leads him to a terrible doom, from which only she can save him. "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Unwind by: Neal Shusterman More Info: "In the future, things are different. Abortions are forbidden by law; instead, the constitutional amendment called ""The Bill of Life"" allows parents to choose retroactive abortion for children between the ages of 13 and 18. It's not really murder, insists the law: ""unwound"" children continue to live...in a divided state. When Connor accidentally discovers his unwind order, he runs away. While trying to escape, he joins forces with Risa, an orphan ordered for unwinding due to governmental budget cuts in her institution, and Lev, a boy marked from birth as a religious ""tithe unwind"" given to society. What will happen when the harvesters catch up to them?"
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: A Posse of Princesses by: Sherwood Smith More Info: "When 16-year-old Princess Rhis journeys to a coming-of-age party for the Crown Prince, she dreams of romances like the ballad stories she loves so much. Instead, she meets a handsome but rather dull prince, a bunch of princesses and gentlemen (some pretty, some clever, some wild, and some with secrets), and a clever scribe who is more interesting to Rhis than anybody else at the event. When Iardith, the prettiest of the princesses, is abducted, the princesses band together to rescue her and hopefully prevent a war. In the middle of the rescue, Rhis finds something very unexpected...."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by: Sonja Sones More Info: "High school freshman Robin Murphy has been the class loser nearly forever, until Sophie Stein becomes his girlfriend. Then Sophie becomes ostracized as well, which makes Robin feel simultaneously bad for Sophie and happy that he isn't alone anymore. In the midst of Robin's romance with Sophie, he joins a college art class and is attracted to classmate Tessa, who doesn't realize that Robin is a high school kid...or a loser. "
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Kingdom on the Waves by: M.T. Anderson More Info: Sixteen-year-old slave Octavian has escaped the College of Lucidity where he was raised and found freedom under Loyalist British rule, but that freedom comes at a cost. He must join the Loyalist Navy and help beat the American rebels.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Hunger Games by: Suzanne Collins More Info: When her little sister is chosen for the deadly Hunger Games, a government-sponsored event where contestants must battle each other to survive, sixteen-year-old Katniss volunteers to go in her place, but the other contestant from their district is Peeta, a boy Katniss has known all her life and whom she now must kill if she hopes to win the brutal game.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Becoming Billie Holiday by: Carole Weatherford More Info: This blank-verse poetic narration is voiced by Eleanora Fagan, known to the world as blues singer Billie Holiday. Raised in poverty and frequently abandoned by her mother, young Eleanora's voice is her ticket to a life outside of prostitution and scrubbing the floors of rich people. Her unsuccessful searches for love, her career as the first black singer to front an all-white jazz band, and her emotional attachment to music is poignently told; her drug addiction, her fondness for abusive men, and other self-destructive behaviors are treated (inappropriately) lightly. The beautiful illustrations by Floyd Cooper highlight the poems, which are titled with the names of Billie Holiday tunes.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: House of Many Ways by: Diana Wynne Jones More Info: Charmain Baker has led a sheltered life, and spent most of it reading books. When she goes to look after the house of her Great-Uncle William (better known as the Royal Wizard Norland) she suddenly has a need for knowledge and skills that she had never considered: how to wash clothes, how to make tea, how to fly, and how to solve the puzzle about the king's vanished treasury. Charmain is aided in her quest by an enchanting dog, a bewildered apprentice wizard, a strong-willed magic book, a sorceress named Sophie Pendragon, a fire-demon, and the disguised Wizard Howl.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones by: Helen Hemphill More Info: "14-year-old Prometheus Jones, who was born on Emancipation Day, gets nothing but trouble when he agrees to take a raffle ticket in trade for breaking a fractious filly to saddle. When he wins the half-blind raffle horse, an argument breaks out, causing Prometheus and his younger cousin Omer to flee west. The boys hook up with a cattle drive headed for South Dakota, and the trail west is not smooth nor safe, and Prometheus blames himself when Omer is drowned while herding cattle across a tricky stretch of river. Prometheus has a strong, likable voice, but most of the characters in the story seem built out of a Hollywood western movie script, including the gruff-but-fair trail boss, the camp cook, and the selfishly troublesome cowboy who learns to appreciate the talents of young Prometheus. An author's note gives details about the real African-American cowboy Nat Love, whose memoirs inspired this book."
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Here Lies Arthur by: Philip Reeve More Info: "Gwyna is very young when the raiders burn her village and kill everyone but her. She escapes only by hiding under the water in the mill pond...and when she finally emerges, bedraggled and snot-nosed, she is discovered by Myddrin (a.k.a. ""Merlin"") who disguises her first as the Lady of the Lake, and then as an apprentice boy. Arthur, it turns out, is not the gallant and noble figure from legend; Gwyna reveals him to be the brutish leader of a group of thugs. The only thing that differentiates Arthur from a hundred other warleaders is Myddrin, who acts as Arthur's ""spin doctor"" by retelling stories to boost Arthur's reputation. With plenty of bloodshed to move the plot along, this cynical telling of the Arthur story is anything but traditional. Gwenhwyfar's affair with Bedwyr (the king's young nephew) doesn't end tragically but gruesomely: when Arthur discovers the adulterers together, he beheads the young man and drives his wife to suicide. Yet even these events are spun by Myddrin to add political strength to Arthur's horrible impulses. The power of the story comes, naturally enough, from the demonstrated power of stories. Myddrin tutors Gwyna in the art of telling stories that will out-last the protagonists, and the popularity of modern Arthur myths confirms his teachings."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Life as We Knew It by: Susan Pfeffer More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Tyler, Bellevue Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Looking Glass Wars by: Frank Bedder More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Aliya, age 14, Federal Way Regional Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Double Identity by: Margaret Peterson Haddix More Info: What is this book about? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Jessica, age 12, Snoqulmie Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Avielle of Rhia by: Dia Calhoun More Info: What is this book about? Review written by:Jessica, age 12, Snoqulmie Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: So You Want to be a Wizard by: Diane Duane More Info: What is this book about? Review written by: Jeffrey, age 14, Redmond Library
|
|
|
Category:
Multicultural Perspectives Title: Bindi Babes by: Narinder Dhami More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Rachel, age 17, FW 320 Library
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Until We Meet Again by: Anne Schraff More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Tylar, age 15, Bothell Library
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Big Fat Manifesto by: Susan Vaught More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Sarah, age 14, Sammamish Library
|
|
|
Category:
Short Reads Title: Bird by: Rita Murthy More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it?
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Incantation by: Alice Hoffman More Info: " What is this book about? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by:Ashley, Carnation Library "
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: A Great and Terrible Beauty by: Libba Bray More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Review written by: Chelsea, age 12, Redmond Library
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Body of Christopher Creed by: Carol Plum-Ucci More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Hannah, age 12, Redmond Library
|
|
|
Category:
Multicultural Perspectives Title: Uncle Tom's Cabin by: Harriet Beecher Stowe More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it?
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Way of the Warrior by: Andrew Matthews More Info: Jimmu watches his father committ ritual suicide and vows to avenge him, but when his father's enemy, Lord Ankan, impresses him with his good nature and fairness, Jimmu must decide if his own quest for vengeance is just.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Love is Hell by: Melissa Marr, et al. More Info: Teen authors Melissa Marr, Scott Westerfeld, Justine Larbalestierr, Gabrielle Zevin and Laurie Faria Stolarz each contribute supernatural tales of romance in this anthology of short stories.
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Bad Kitty v. 1: Catnipped by: Michele Jaffe More Info: "Little Life Lesson #1. Life is a lot like hair. Some mornings you get up and it looks great. Other mornings you can tell it's out to get you. Even on the best days, part of you wishes yours were more like that girl's whose picture you see all the time in magazines. Oh, and if you're me, they can both have very bad ends. Jas has all kinds of Little Life Lessons--partly wise, partly sarcastic, and always great fun. She and her friends (seen first in Bad Kitty) are adept at solving crimes (and occasionally committing them), seeking out amazing guys, and being totally fashionable at all times. Instead of employing the footnotes, commentary and sidenotes used in the original book, the new graphic novel uses an extra panel at the bottom of some pages with one-liners from characters--almost like graphic subtitles. Crazy as it sounds, it keeps the action moving, and keeps the giggles flowing. No cussing or nekkidness but Jas does (finally!) secure a few hard-earned kisses from Jack the Unstoppably Hot boyfriend."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Neptune's Children by: Bonnie Dobkin More Info: "Within a few hours of the release of a biological warfare plague germ, all the adults on Earth are dead. On vacation at the Isles of Wonder theme park, Josh and his little sister watch in horror as all the adults around them die, leaving them and thousands of other children orphaned and alone. Gradually, they begin to form a society of their own, led by Milo and some of the other kids. Food and other resources are plentiful and renewable, as the Isles of Wonder were designed to be almost entirely self-sufficient on a short-term basis for a much larger crowd of people. With a smaller population, Milo and the Core group assume that they can live happily forever, playing games and having fun. However, some kids want to go to the outside world to see what is happening on the other side of the island barrier...and Milo wants to stop them."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Graveyard Book by: Neil Gaiman More Info: "A toddler narrowly escapes the murderer who has killed his family by wiggling out of his crib and meandering down the dark night street into the graveyard where he is protected by--and accepted by--the ghosts of people buried there. This collection of stories concerns the boyhood of Nobody Owens, adopted by ghosts and educated in the ways of the world (this world and the next world) by good people who just happen to be dead. Only Neil Gaiman would have twisted Kipling's Mowgli stories into this wondrous tale of death and life. Though the tales are dark, there is plenty of light. Each chapter stands alone (several have been published elsewhere as short stories), and yet the entire tale flows beautifully as Bod grows from a child with the Freedom of the Graveyard into a young man yearning to be surrounded by people who breathe."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Big Fat Manifesto by: Susan Vaught More Info: "I'm not chubby. I'm not chunky. I'm not hormonally challenged or endocrine-disordered. I do not prefer platitudes like ""large"" or ""plus-sized"" or clinical words like obese. I'm fat, fat, fat. If the word makes you uncomfortable, that's your problem.... F-A-T. That's the word. Get used to it. Get over it. I have to. Every single day of my life. Jamie is a high-school senior and author of a weekly column in the school newspaper. Her column, ""Fat Girl"" is (hopefully) her ticket to a gigantic scholarship to the college journalism program of her choice. In it, she promises to chronicle the life and adventures of herself as a Fat Girl, enemy of cute fashion stores like Hotchix. Then, Jamie's boyfriend ""Fat Boy"" Burke drops his bombshell: he's going to have his stomach stapled. What will happen to Fat Girl when her boyfriend gets Skinny?"
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by: Alison Goodman More Info: Eon has the rare ability to see all of the energy dragons that protect the Empire. This talent should make him a prime candidate to become the next Dragoneye, one of the men who trades part of their life-force to control the dragons' powers, but Eon has to marks against him; he is crippled and he isn't actually a boy. Eon is really Eona and if she is discovered, she will surely be killed. When she is chosen, not by the Rat Dragon, but by the Mirror Dragon who disappeared 500 years ago, Eon discovers that she must come to terms with her true self if she wishes to save the Empire from an unscrupulous prince and rogue Dragoneye.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Princess of the Midnight Ball by: Jessica Day George More Info: In this retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Princess Rose and her sisters must dance each night for the sinister King Under Stone to meet the terms of their mother's bargain. They fight the curse, but find hope when young Galen, a soldier returned from war, takes a position as a palace gardener. He uses magical gifts and his own talent for knitting to unravel the mystery of where the King's daughters disappear to each night.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Austenland by: Shannon Hale More Info: "Thirty-three year old Jane Hale is a modern girl with an old-fashioned problem: she is in love with Mr. Darcy. Specifically, Jane--like so many women since the original publication of Pride and Prejudice in 1813, finds that none of the men she meets are ever as romantic, intellectual, or fascinating as Elizabeth Bennett's true love. Jane always compares her dates to Mr. Darcy...and none of them has ever measured up to the high standards created by Jane Austen, or the even higher measurement created by heart-throb actor Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy in the BBC dramatic production of the book. When a wealthy relative bequeaths Jane a vacation ""theme"" trip to an English country home, Jane dons empire-waisted gowns, practices her ""Austen-speak"" and etiquette, and spends ten days immersing herself in a game that is a cross between Disneyland and Fantasy Island, with actors playing the parts of elderly aunts, single ladies, and dashing gentlemen in tight breeches. Her goal: to rid herself of this obsession forever. She might be successful. Or perhaps she will finally meet a romantic man of her own...."
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Moon Riders by: Theresa Tomlinson More Info: Myrina is eager to follow the family tradition of serving seven years as a Moon Rider, warrior priestesses who perform ritual dances for the nomadic tribes of Asia Minor. Among Myrina's friends is another new Moon Rider: Cassandra, the soothsaying princess of Troy. Together, the girls and their companions work to defend the doomed city--and each other.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Not Quite What I Was Planning by: Various Authors More Info: "Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in six words. Papa came back swinging with ""For sale: baby shoes, never worn."" Some say he called it his best work. Others dismiss the anecdote as a literary folktale. Either way, the six-word story was born... The editors of SMITH magazine, an online publication that celebrates personal storytelling through technology, issued the following challenge in November 2006: Write your memoir...in six words. They received thousands of submissions, and collected a bunch of them in this book. Some authors are famous, but most aren't. Some stories will make you nod your head in agreement, and some will have you shaking your head in amazement. Pick up the book for just a minute, and be astonished at how long you stand there reading it."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Marked : the House of Night book 1 by: P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast More Info: Zoey Redbird is a normal high school student looking for her place in the world. She doesn't want to be a popular kid--she just wants to feel "normal." Then her world is suddenly changed when she is marked by a Vampyre Tracker, and is obligated to leave her family and friends behind in order to attend a school for fledgling vampyres. At the House of Night, Zoey's unique nature begins to shine, and the strength of her power surprises even the experienced vampyres at the school...
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Flygirl by: Sherri Smith More Info: America has entered World War II and with her brother already on the front, eighteen-year-old Ida Mae Jones wants to do her bit to help. She can fly, so when she learns about the Women's Airforce Service Program (WASP), she's eager to join. There's just one problem; Ida Mae is an African American and therefore not eligible for the program. If she wants to fly with the WASPs, she have to pass for white and leave her family and friends behind.
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: Bonechiller by: Graham McNamee More Info: Danny is new to the arctic Ontario town of Harvest Coast, so when he a horrific creature attacks and stings him one night, he doesn't tell anyone. Who would believe it? But when his new friends tell him about the "bonechillers" and the mysterious disappearances that have plagued the town for a century, he begins to believe that he and his friends to kill the creature before they become its victims.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: North of Beautiful by: Justina Chen Headley More Info: High school senior Terra struggles to decide her future as she goes through another round of treatments for the port-wine birthmark on her face. She wants to attend art college, but she doesn’t think her abusive father will allow that to happen. When she meets Jacob, a Chinese-American Goth boy with a cleft lip and his own complicated family life, she finds a new friend and new confidence, but will either be enough to make her see beyond her imperfections?
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Charles and Emma by: Deborah Heiligman More Info: Charles Darwin believed in reason; he even drew up a chart with the pros and cons of marriage, but he eventually married Emma Wedgwood. Their unique relationship (he was a man of science and she was devoutly religious) thrived despite their differences as Darwin researched his theory of evolution, Emma helped him edit his controversial work and together they raised ten children.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Heroes of the Valley by: Jonathan Stroud More Info: "In a time of peace, there is no need for heroes. Yet, Halli Sveinsson longs for an adventure of his own, like those of the mighty Svein, founder of his house. He wants to battle the fearsome Trows, to defend his house, to fight with a sword. However the swords have long since been banished from the valley, and anyhow, Halli is too short and stumpy to do more than play silly tricks on his family and the servants. Then Halli plays a trick on an important visitor, and Ragnar of the House of Hakon swears he will have vengeance.....and Halli finds himself on the road of a hero's quest unlike anything he's ever heard in the stories."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Paper Towns by: John Green More Info: "Quentin (called ""Q"" by his friends) has been in love with his beautiful, exotic, mysterious neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman since they were toddlers, but now that they are high school seniors, he thinks that she will be unattainable forever. Then one night she crawls into his bedroom window and asks for his help in completing an all-night journey. Together Q and Margo create an exquisitely dramatic revenge on those who have done them wrong...and the next day, Margo is gone. Fearing that Margo has left town to commit suicide, Q and his weird-but-loyal friends Ben and Radar plus a few unexpected tagalongs track down mysterious clues to Margo's whereabouts. But will they arrive at the paper town in time?"
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Call of the Wild by: Jack London More Info: "Buck is a big dog, born and raised in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley, stolen and sold to strangers to be a sled dog in the Yukon during the great gold rush of the lat 1890's. Arrived in the North, Buck survives not only the hard work and harsh conditions, but also learns to survive the cruelty of harsh and inexperienced humans. Originally published in 1903, Call of the Wild blends the author's experiences as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness with his ideas about nature, survival, struggle for adaptation, and mastery over the environment, and is still relevant for discussion in modern times. Read Call of the Wild during the month of May and participate in activities relating to the book as part of The Big Read, sponsored by the King County Library System. More information about The Big Read can be found on the website: www.kcls.org" "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Hatchet by: Gary Paulsen More Info: "13-year-old Brian Robeson is the only passenger--and only survivor--when a small plane goes off-course and crash lands following the pilot's heart attack. Now, he is alone in the Canadian wilderness with only a little hatchet and his own ingenuity as tools for survival. At first, the city kid has no idea how to find food, water, or protection from sun, mosquitoes, and large predators. Gradually, however, he teaches himself the skills he needs to survive and even thrive. Brian's mistakes are as telling as his successes, as he discovers (the hard way) the necessity for securing his food from marauding skunks, as well as a method for building fire, for catching fish, and for hunting birds and rabbits. Author Gary Paulsen has hunted and fished for survival since he was a young teen, and the grittiness of Brian's situations are unmistakably authentic. Kids can read Hatchet during the month of May and participate in activities relating to the book as part of The Big Read, sponsored by the King County Library System. More information about The Big Read can be found on the website: www.kcls.org "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Firebirds Soaring by: Various Authors More Info: Featuring 19 stories by notable authors including Margo Lanagan, Jane Yolen, and Nancy Farmer, this third anthology in the series offers more tales of fantasy and science fiction.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Vibes by: Amy Kathleen Ryan More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Ashley, grade 8
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: My Most Excellent Year by: Steve Kluger More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Alexandra, grade 8
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Identical by: Ellen Hopkins More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Ashley,grade 9, Maple Valley Library
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: No Shame, No Fear by: Ann Turnbull More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Ashley, grade 8
|
|
|
Category:
Adventure Title: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by: Trenton Lee Stewart More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Alexandra, grade 8
|
|
|
Category:
Romance Title: Sea of Love by: Jamie Ponti More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Allison, grade 9, Maple Valley Library
|
|
|
Category:
Coming-of-age Title: 13 Little Blue Envelopes by: Maureen Johnson More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Michelle, grade 7, Maple Valley Library
|
|
|
Category:
Humor Title: How Not to Spend Your Senior Year by: Cameron Dokey More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Laura, grade 10, Redmond Library
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Privilege by: Kate Brian More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Christine, grade 7, Mercer Island Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Ender's Game by: Orson Scott Card More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Danielle, grade 9, Algona Pacific Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Double Helix by: Nancy Werlin More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Jennifer, grade 7, Mercer Island Library.
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Reality Check by: Peter Abrahams More Info: Cody, a sixteen-year-old who dropped out of high school after a football-career-ending injury, leaves his small Colorado town to find his missing girlfriend, Clea, who disappeared from her Vermont boarding school.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Almost Astronauts by: Tanya Lee Stone More Info: Thirteen women, many of them well known pilots, qualified for NASA's Mercury space mission, but were not allowed to participate. Here is their story.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Demon's Lexicon by: Sarah Rees Brennan More Info: After his father was murdered and his mother went crazy, sixteen-year-old, demon-slayer Nick Ryves learned to put all of his trust in his older brother, Alan, his only comrade in arms against the demons who hunt them. But when the two brothers work to help a demon-marked classmate, he begins to realize that Alan has kept important secrets from him that may change both of their futures.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Beyond by: Michael Benson More Info: Photos from 60 years worth of robotic space probes vividly show the far reaches of the solar system in this book that also includes historical and scientific details about each planet.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Silver Phoenix by: Cindy Pon More Info: Seventeen-year-old Ai Ling knows that her parents have had a hard time finding a proper husband for her, but when her father is called away to the Imperial Court and then goes missing a lecherous neighbor tries to blackmail her into marriage. She can't force herself to accept, so instead, she searches for her father and meets another wandering misfit in search of his parents. Chen Yong doesn't know the identity of his birth parents, only that one of them was obviously a foreigner, since he is only half Xian. Together Chen Yong and Ai Ling soon find that their mysteries are connected and that they may need each other to survive.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Mare's War by: Tanita S. Davis More Info: Two sisters, fifteen-year-old Octavia and seventeen-year-old Tali, are forced into a road trip with their grandmother, Mare, but find themselves fascinated by Mare's stories of her enlistment in the Army during World War II and her work as one of the African American women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battlion, which served overseas processing soldiers letters.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: China by: Adeline Yen Mah More Info: Touching on everything from ancient dynasties to modern technology, this book brings 2,000 years of Chinese history and culture to life.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Days of Little Texas by: R.A. Nelson More Info: 16-year-old Little Texas, a revivalist healer, is having a crisis of faith. He’s being haunted, quite literally, by the teenage girl he couldn’t save and his great-aunt, the leader of their troupe, has brought him to an old plantation where his preaching is supposed to defeat the evil that lingers there.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Viola in Reel Life by: Adriana Trigiani More Info: Viola doesn't want to leave Brooklyn for boarding school in Indiana, especially since it means leaving behind her best friend, Andrew, but with her parents filming a documentary in Afganistan she has little choice. Only her video journal keeps her sane, but it might get her in trougble too.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Mission Control, This is Apollo by: Andrew Chaikin More Info: The facts and stories of each Apollo mission are detailed in this lovely book, illustrated with vintage photos and paintings by astronaut Alan Bean.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Mission Control, This is Apollo by: Andrew Chaikin More Info: The facts and stories of each Apollo mission are detailed in this lovely book, illustrated with vintage photos and paintings by astronaut Alan Bean.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Thirteenth Child by: Patricia C. Wrede More Info: "Everyone knows that the seventh son is extra-lucky, and the seventh son of a seventh son is lucky and magically talented...but few people pay attention to the rest of the children in the family. That is, unless one of the children is a thirteenth child, because a thirteenth child is extra unlucky and probably extra wicked as well. Eff, the thirteenth child and twin sister to a ""double-seven"" tells her story: adventure on a frontier where the deer, and the antelope and the steam dragons play. The story is light, funny, and surprising. Eff tries not to whine or feel sorry for herself, but it's difficult to keep a secret as important as the identity of the thirteenth child...until she learns that she has some talents that may be even more important than her those of her talented twin brother."
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Rapture of the Deep by: L.A. Meyer More Info: "On the very morning of her wedding to Jaime Fletcher, intrepid Jacky Faber is grabbed by British Naval Intelligence once again and given a new assignment: to locate a sunken Spanish treasure ship, and retrieve the gold therein to bolster British coffers which have been depleted in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte. Disguised as sponge divers on a scientific exploration mission , Jacky and her faithful crew are accompanied by characters returning from earlier Bloody Jack books, including the noble Captain Hannibal Hudson, the handsome Lord Richard Allan, the lowlife-slimeball Lieutenant Flashby, and--at last--Jacky's own beloved Jaime. They are joined by a full cast of new characters as well, including pirates, barkeeps, cockfighters, orphans, and treacherous Spanish sailors. Action, adventure, brawling, singing, dancing, swimming and shooting. Bloody Jack fans, rejoice! "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by: Gabrielle Zevin More Info: "What if you could start over? What if you could leave everything behind, with no memory of anything that you had done, had said, had thought, had felt? When high school junior Naomi Porter tumbles down the stairs, she wakes up in the hospital with no memory of the previous four years. She doesn't remember her parents' divorce, or the name of her boyfriend, or how to drive a car, or why she was so passionate about being co-editor of the yearbook, or any of the vocabulary words in her French textbook. It's a distressing situation...but also a liberating one. Naomi feels that she is free reconstruct her life unencumbered by memories. Her old friends try to help her adjust, but Naomi finds herself drawn to someone new: James, who has suffered trauma of his own and wishes more than anything for a blank slate. This book has been nominated for the 2010 Evergreen Award, which are chosen by readers in grades 7-12. For more information about this award, and to see the list of 2010 nominees, visit the 2010 Evergreen Ballot Short Form website "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Peak by: Roland Smith More Info: "14-year-old New Yorker Peak Marcello would rather be climbing mountains, but settles for climbing and tagging skyscrapers. When he is caught scaling the Woolworth Building and thrown in Juvenile Detention, Peak's famous mountaineering father shows up in court and suggests that his son should spend some time away from the city. It is only days later--in Kathmandu--that Peak finally learns his dad's real plan: to promote a professional mountaineering guide service by pushing Peak to the top of Mount Everest as the youngest person to summit the mountain. To get to the top, Peak will need to simultaneously overcome the physical challenges of the mountain, cope with his mixed feelings about his dad, and dodge the political entanglements of Tibet, China, and Nepal. This book has been nominated for the 2009 Evergreen Award, which is decided by readers in grades 7-12. Participants must read 2 or more nominated books and vote for the best. The list of 2010 nominated books is found online: http://www.kcls.org/evergreen/nominees/index.cfm"
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Liar by: Justine Larbalestier More Info: Seventeen-year-old Micah is a self-admitted liar, but when her secret boyfriend is murdered, her lying habit makes her the prime suspect. Now she's ready to tell the truth, but can anyone believe it?
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Going Bovine by: Libba Bray More Info: When a punk angel visits sixteen-year-old Cameron in the hospital and sends him on a quest to find a cure for his condition, he isn’t quite sure what’s real and what’s a product of his wandering mind. Cameron has been diagnosed with the Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease, more commonly known as Mad Cow disease. But hoping to save himself from the dark energies of Dr. X, Cameron sets off, Don Quixote style, with a hypochondriac dwarf and a talking garden gnome to save the world.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: King of the Screwups by: K.L. Going More Info: 16-year-old Liam takes after his retired-supermodel mom: he is athletic, good-looking, and has inherited her eye for fashion. However, according to his dad, Liam is a continual disappointment, a slacker, and a screw-up. When Liam is caught in the act with a girl on his dad's office desk, he gets kicked out of the house and goes to live with his "Aunt Pete," a cross-dressing glam-rocker who lives in a trailer park. In his new surroundings, Liam tries harder than ever to earn his dad's approval -- concentrating so much on what his father wants him to do that he cannot recognize his real strengths and talents until he nearly screws up his life for good.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Along for the Ride by: Sarah Dessen More Info: "In the summer between graduating high school and beginning college, Auden leaves her mom's house to spend some quality time with her dad, his new wife, and their new daughter Thisbe in the little beach town of Colby. Auden's hopes of spending the summer studying college textbooks and having meaningful discussions about life with her father are quickly dispelled: the baby cries continually and her father insists on keeping distance between himself and the other family members so that he can finish writing his book. Left to herself for much of the summer, Auden wanders the streets of town at night and meets up with Eli, another teen with time on his hands. Together, Auden and Eli do the things that she never did as a kid: bowling, food fights, and delivering newspapers. But just because she learns to ride a bike doesn't mean Auden has really changed, does it? And will her family ever change?"
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Rampant by: Diana Peterfreund More Info: "16-year-old Astrid Llewelyn's mother had always told her daughter that real unicorns are not flying, sparkley, pinkish-purple fairy-tale beasts, but rather murderous, poisonous monsters (now extinct) that could only be killed by virgin girls like Astrid. Of course, Astrid's mom was a complete kook. That's what Astrid thought, anyhow, until the night when her boyfriend got himself gored by a murderous, poisonous monster with a single horn growing out of its head. Sent to Rome to train with other virgin huntresses against the re-emerging threat of bloodthirsty unicorns, Astrid learns about magic, romance, and her family's history...and learns some interesting stuff about her mother, as well. A strong narrative voice and some excellent butt-kicking battle scenes, interspersed with scenes of sexual questioning, including the role of virginity, the definition of rape, and the power of love. "
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Outlaw: the legend of Robin Hood by: Tony Lee More Info: The outlaw Robin Hood has changed through the centuries, but the heroic story continues to draw an audience. With gorgeous color, fabulous action sequences, and snappy dialog, this graphic novel leaves Kevin Costner's guy in tights far behind. The Merry Men are a slightly different group from many traditional versions of the story, but readers will clearly identify the gigantic Little John, faithful Friar Tuck, and hot-headed Will Scarlet, as well as the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham, Guy of Gisborne, and -- of course -- Maid Marian
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Maximum Ride: Schools Out Forever by: James Patterson More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Michelle, grade 7, Maple Valley Library.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Shadow Kiss by: Richelle Mead More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it?
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: A Time for Dancing by: Davida Wills Hurwin More Info: What is this book about? I thought the story was very touching, and I cried. This book was very different than most "cancer" books. The girls have their own, distinct personalities. They go through a lot together and they grow apart, then closer then ever. They are very realistic! Review written by: Brooke, grade 8, Mercer Island Library.
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: The 39 Clues Book 1: the maze of the bones by: Rick Riordan More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Jay, grade 6, Redmond Library
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Raven's Gate by: Anthony Horowitz More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Abdullah, age 13.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Ferrets for Dummies by: Kim schilling More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Emma, grade 10
|
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Kiki Strike: inside the Shadow City by: Kirsten Miller More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Madison, grade 9
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Sunshine by: Robin McKinley More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: A.C.M., grade 6
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Artemis Fowl: the lost colony by: Eoin Colfer More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Topi , grade 10.
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Runaways 1; Pride and Joy by: Brian K. Vaughan More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Misha, grade 9, Mercer Island Library
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Wolf Brother by: Michelle Paver More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Kela, grade 7, Mercer Island Library
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Demon King by: Cinda Williams Chima More Info: Reformed gang-leader Han struggles to support his family, but a unexpected encounter with corrupt wizards leaves him in possession of an ancient amulet that will change his life.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Pale Assassin by: Patricia Elliot More Info: As the French Revolution draws near, young, aristocratic Eugenie de Boncoeur is sent from Paris to a convent for safety, but she and her royalist brother have secret, powerful enemy who is determined to bring them down.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Marcelo in the Real World by: Francisco X. Stork More Info: "17-year-old Marcelo is on the very high-functioning end of the autism spectrum, and his classes at Paterson have taught him many skills for living in the ""real world."" However, his high-powered lawyer father isn't satisfied with Marcelo's progress, and insists that the boy take a summer job at the law firm, rather than working with the ponies in the therapeutic riding center at Paterson. At the law firm, Marcelo meets people from all ends of the ""real world"" spectrum, including musically-talented Jasmine in the mail room, snobbish personal secretaries, and the lecherous son of one of the lawyers. Marcelo also becomes personally involved in the law firm's biggest cases when he discovers the photograph of a victim in the trash, and decides that he must take action. "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Wintergirls by: Laurie Halse Anderson More Info: "Lia is an anorexic, a cutter, and now she is also haunted. The specter of Lia's estranged friend Cassie, who died horribly in a hotel room, will not leave her alone. Before she died, Cassie left 33 messages on Lia's phone, but Lia didn't listen to any of them until it was too late. Now, Lia sees Cassie everywhere, impossibly and beautifully thin...as thin as Lia wants to be. Plagued by parents, by school, by food, Lia must find a way out of anorexia before she joins Cassie. When high school junior Naomi Porter tumbles down the stairs, she wakes up in the hospital with no memory of the previous four years. She doesn't remember her parents' divorce, or the name of her boyfriend, or how to drive a car, or why she was so passionate about being co-editor of the yearbook, or any of the vocabulary words in her French textbook. It's a distressing situation...but also a liberating one. Naomi feels that she is free reconstruct her life unencumbered by memories. Her old friends try to help her adjust, but Naomi finds herself drawn to someone new: James, who has suffered trauma of his own and wishes more than anything for a blank slate. This book has been nominated for the 2010 Evergreen Award, which are chosen by readers in grades 7-12. For more information about this award, and to see the list of 2010 nominees, Lia is an anorexic, a cutter, and now she is also haunted. The specter of Lia's estranged friend Cassie, who died horribly in a hotel room, will not leave her alone. Before she died, Cassie left 33 messages on Lia's phone, but Lia didn't listen to any of them until it was too late. Now, Lia sees Cassie everywhere, impossibly and beautifully thin...as thin as Lia wants to be. Plagued by parents, by school, by food, Lia must find a way out of anorexia before she joins Cassie."
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: The Color of Earth by: Kim Dong Hwa More Info: "Ehwa is seven years old on the first page of this beautifully illustrated manhwa, interested in bugs, flowers, and her own body. As she grows and matures, she discovers the physical differences between boys and girls, grows into young womanhood and undergoes her first confusing experience with romance and sexuality. Action, adventure, brawling, singing, dancing, swimming and shooting. Bloody Jack fans, rejoice! "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Bewitching Season by: Marissa Doyle More Info: "Persephone tries to be as thrilled about ""coming out"" into London society as her twin sister Penelope. The dresses are pretty, and being presented to the queen is rather exciting. However, Persey would really rather just stay home to study her books of mathematics, philosophy, poetry, and magic. She doesn't want to meet eligible bachelors, because she has already fallen in love with handsome Lochinvar, Lord Seton--but she is sure that he doesn't really love her. Magical spells, fabulous gowns, and a little intrigue involving the future Queen Victoria...plus a little romance."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Pop by: Gordon Korman More Info: Marcus Jordan is determined to make the football team at his new school, even though the star quarterback hates him. Hoping to improve his game, Marcus practices at the park, where he meets Charlie, a former pro who shows him some new moves. But as Charlie's behavior grows more erratic, Marcus begins to worry more about his friend more than the game.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Lips Touch Three Times by: Laini Taylor More Info: Mortals and the supernatural collide in these three tales. In the first tale, a goblin boy offers a shy girl forbidden fruit and forbidden kisses. In the second, a curse keeps a young woman silent until love unleashes her voice with devastating effects. And in the last, a girl discovers that her mother's mysterious past connects her to a dark, magical folk.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Sister Wife by: Shelley Hrdlitschka More Info: "15-year-old Celeste has always questioned her faith, but has never known any life outside of her small, old-fashioned, polygamous faith-based community. Although she is intrigued by the stories told by a girl from outside the community, Celeste was raised in a family with multiple mothers and many children, and has always assumed that she would live in a similar family when she reached the age of marriage, She is attracted to a young man of her faith, but he wants to leave Unity and want her to accompany him rather than marry the man chosen for her by the Prophet. Celeste wants more than the community can give her, but how can she shame her family and leave them behind?"
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Pretty Dead by: Francesca Lia Block More Info: "Charlotte is a vampire. She collects beautiful clothing, shoes and handbags from the greatest designers, witnesses human tragedies all over the world, and now lives in Los Angeles where she befriends Emily, a human girl. When Emily commits suicide, Charlotte finds comfort in spending time with Emily's boyfriend Jared...and discovers that she is gradually returning to mortality.... Magical spells, fabulous gowns, and a little intrigue involving the future Queen Victoria...plus a little romance."
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Eternal by: Cynthia Leitich Smith More Info: "Guardian Angel Zachary is attached to his subject, Miranda. He is so attached, in fact, that when she is scheduled for death at age 17, Zachary steps in to block the fall that will kill her...and inadvertently causes her to be transformed into a vampire and thus probably damned for all eternity. Stripped of his wings and his heavenly power, the angel Zachary seeks redemption not only for himself but also for the vampire Miranda. Is it possible that the newest daughter of Dracula has retained part of her mortal soul?"
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Ice by: Sarah Beth Durst More Info: "Cassie grew up on an arctic research station raised by her grandmother, her father and the other scientists. She loved to hear Gram tell the fairy tale of the Polar Bear King and the North Wind's Daughter...until, on her 18th birthday, she discovers that the story is true: her mother, the daughter of the North Wind, has been captured by trolls and can be rescued by the Polar Bear King. The price of the rescue is simple: Cassie must agree to marry the bear. The specter of Lia's estranged friend Cassie, who died horribly in a hotel room, will not leave her alone. Before she died, Cassie left 33 messages on Lia's phone, but Lia didn't listen to any of them until it was too late. Now, Lia sees Cassie everywhere, impossibly and beautifully thin...as thin as Lia wants to be. Plagued by parents, by school, by food, Lia must find a way out of anorexia before she joins Cassie. When high school junior Naomi Porter tumbles down the stairs, she wakes up in the hospital with no memory of the previous four years. She doesn't remember her parents' divorce, or the name of her boyfriend, or how to drive a car, or why she was so passionate about being co-editor of the yearbook, or any of the vocabulary words in her French textbook. It's a distressing situation...but also a liberating one. Naomi feels that she is free reconstruct her life unencumbered by memories. Her old friends try to help her adjust, but Naomi finds herself drawn to someone new: James, who has suffered trauma of his own and wishes more than anything for a blank slate. This book has been nominated for the 2010 Evergreen Award, which are chosen by readers in grades 7-12. For more information about this award, and to see the list of 2010 nominees, Lia is an anorexic, a cutter, and now she is also haunted. The specter of Lia's estranged friend Cassie, who died horribly in a hotel room, will not leave her alone. Before she died, Cassie left 33 messages on Lia's phone, but Lia didn't listen to any of them until it was too late. Now, Lia sees Cassie everywhere, impossibly and beautifully thin...as thin as Lia wants to be. Plagued by parents, by school, by food, Lia must find a way out of anorexia before she joins Cassie."
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Sweet, Hereafter by: Angela Johnson More Info: Shoogy, leaves her troubled home to live with her boyfriend, Curtis, but that relationship has troubles too. Curtis has already served one tour in Iraq and may be facing another.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Tangled by: Carolyn Mackler More Info: Jena feels like a loser whose life is passing her by. Skye's perfect world is caving in around her as her depression deepens. Owen escapes into his blog to avoid his pushy family. Dakota hides behind his jerk-jock image to keep from dealing with the death of his girlfriend. When these four teens spend their spring break in Paradise, a Caribbean resort, everything changes.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Numbers by: Rachel Ward More Info: Fifteen-year-old Jem can see the date of someone's death in their eyes. When she notices that all of the other tourists on the London Eye Ferris Wheel are going to die that very day, she runs away, embroiling herself and her friend Spider in hunt for terrorists.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: All Unquiet Things by: Anna Jarzab More Info: Seventeen-year-old Neily found the body of his dead ex-girlfriend. He blames himself for not answering her last phone call. Now, her cousin Audrey has asked him to help her find the real killer and exonerate her father, who was accused of the murder.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Finnikin of the Rock by: Melina Marchetta More Info: With the help of a mysterious, mute prophetess, Finnikin, an exile from the cursed kingdom of Lumatere, hopes to find the lost heir to the throne who can restore his homeland.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: The Unwritten Rule by: Elizabeth Scott More Info: When her best friend starts dating her secret crush, Sarah begins to wonder if their friendship can survive, especially if Sarah dares to break the "unwritten rule", the one about stealing your best friend's boyfriend.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: A Conspiracy of Kings by: Megan Whelan Turner More Info: Sophos, heir to the kingdom of Sounis, finds himself kidnapped and sold into slavery by rebels seeking to overthrow his uncle. With quick wits and careful planning, he may have a chance to save his kingdom, but only he discovers who his true enemies are.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Riker's High by: Paul Volponi More Info: Sixteen-year-old Martin Stokes crime was relatively small- he “steered” an undercover cop to the local marijuana dealer- but while he waits for the lawyers to pick a court date, he’s stuck at Riker’s High, a school on the infamous island prison.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Last Summer of the Death Warriors by: Francisco Stork More Info: Pancho, whose sister recently died under strange circumstances, wants to find out the truth about her death. D.Q., diagnosed with a fatal kind of brain cancer, wants to prevent his absentee mother from dictating his treatment options. They agree to help each other, forming an odd friendship that may not survive D.Q.’s mother, Pancho’s vendetta or the girl they both like.
|
|
|
Category:
Coming-of-age Title: Green Witch by: Alice Hoffman More Info: Green, the only one in her family to survive an attack on the city across the bridge, works in her garden, tells the stories of the other survivors in her community, and longs for the return of the boy she loves, who went away to search for his own family.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: The Line by: Terri Hall More Info: The Line is a government created boundary that separates the United States from a place known as Away. Rachel and her mom live on The Property, where her mom works as a housekeeper for Ms. Moore. No one is allowed to cross The Line, as it's meant to prevent The Others from coming into the United States. No one really knows much about The Others. supposedly they were trapped after a large-scale war, and the government wants to keep them separate. Rachel's mom has always been a skeptic of the government and encourages her daughter to think independently and do what's right and fair. But when someone or something makes contact from the other side of the Line, Rachel has to decide who's telling the truth. If you liked The Giver by Lois Lowry, you will love The Line.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Shipbreaker by: Paolo Bacigalupi More Info: Nailer knows that he can't salvage parts from the derelict tankers on his Gulf coast beach forever. Sooner or later he'll get injured or grow too big to crawl through the decks. When a sleek solar clippership washes up after a storm, its rich cargo might be his way out, but the owner, a girl his own age, is still alive. In a future where survival trumps compassion, will Nailer choose to help his "Lucky Girl" or give her up to the enemies hunting her, one of whom is his own father?
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Princess of Glass by: Jessica Day George More Info: After the curse on Princess Poppy and her eleven sisters is broken, she wants nothing to do with magic, but a sinister fairy godmother has plans for Poppy's new friends and she's the only one equipped to stand against the witch.
|
|
|
Category:
Graphic Novels Title: Ghostopolis by: Doug Ten Napel More Info: Garth Hale has been zapped into the Ghost World by an inept Supernatural Immigration Task Force agent. Frank Gallows, the agent who zapped him, is determined to rescue Garth, but the sinister ruler of Ghostopolis may not let them go.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Poison Diaries by: Maryrose Wood More Info: In eighteenth century England, sixteen-year-old Jessamine Luxton lives with her father, an apothecary, in an abandoned abbey. She longs to study his arts, but he takes on a mysterious new apprentice, Weed, a boy Jessamine’s age who as an uncanny knowledge of plants.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Glimpse by: Carol Lynch Williams More Info: In this novel-in-verse, twelve year old Hope struggles to understand why her older sister Lizzie tried to commit suicide and the role their manic mother may have played in the attempt.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Please Ignore Vera Dietz by: A.S. King More Info: Quiet, straight A, high school senior Vera Dietz hides a mounting number of secrets: her binge drinking, her older boyfriend, her feelings about her parents’ divorce and the truth about her ex-best friend’s mysterious death. Fortunately for Vera, Charlie, the dead ex, isn’t about to let her keep those secrets or destroy her life, like he did.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Strings Attached by: Judy Blundell More Info: Seventeen-year-old Kit Corrigan leaves Rhode Island behind to dance on Broadway, but finds 1950s New York more dangerous than she imagined when a gangster offers her a job.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Lafayette and the American Revolution by: Russell Freedman More Info: Hoping for glory and believing in the revolutionary cause, Lafayette, just nineteen, left his homeland, wife and baby behind to fight for the American Revolution. It was the first step in a lifetime of bold and adventurous decisions.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Across the Universe by: Beth Revis More Info: Seventeen-year-old Amy is thawed from her cryogenic sleep 50 years too soon- the spaceship carrying her family to their new home has not yet reached its destination. Life on the Godspeed is ruled by Eldest, who shares few of his secrets with the other passengers. Even Elder, his teenaged successor, doesn’t know everything. When more colonists are thawed too early- with fatal consequences- Amy and Elder must discover the truth behind the Godspeed’s mission.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Life on Mars by: Jonathan Strahan More Info: Twleve renowned authors of science fiction, including Kim Stanley Robinson, Ellen Klages and Cory Doctorow, offer tales about life on Mars, giving us diverse glimpses of how humans might settle the red planet.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Blood Red Road by: Moira Young More Info: Eighteen-year-old Sabra travels across a post-apocalyptic wasteland to find her kidnapped twin brother. When she is captured herself, she must fight as an arena slave and plan for the day when she can rescue her family.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Cleopatra Confesses by: Carolyn Meyer More Info: In Ancient Egypt, young Cleopatra must battle her vicious siblings and Roman politicians to keep her throne.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Revolution by: Jennifer Donnelly More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Abby, grade 10. "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by: Sherman Alexie More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Grace, grade 12, age 17 "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: All-American Girl by: Meg Cabot More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Sarahl, grade 8. "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Compound by: S.A. Bodeen More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Christine, age 16. "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Her Fearful Symmetry by: Audrey Niffenegger More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Christine , age 16. "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Betrayed by: P.C. and Kristen Cast More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Dena, grade 11. "
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Dragons of Spratt, Ohio by: Linda Zinnen More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Sarah, grade 7, Redmond Library. "
|
|
|
Category:
Horror Title: Chronicles of Nick: Invincible by: Sherrilyn Kenyon More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Emma, grade 11, age 16 "
|
|
|
Category:
Romance Title: Unearthly by: Cynthia Hand More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Lita, grade 12. "
|
|
|
Category:
Adventure Title: Girl in the Arena by: Lisa Haine More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Emma, age 15. "
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: This Dark Endeavor by: Kenneth Oppel More Info: 15-year-old Victor Frankenstein will not accept that his twin brother is dying. When he discovers a recipe for the “Elixir of Life” in a secret library, he believes he may have found a cure for the mysterious illness, but assembling the rare ingredients may prove a deadly endeavor.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: The Girl is Murder by: Kathryn Miller Haines More Info: 15-year-old Iris’s world turns upside down when her father loses a leg at Pearl Harbor and her mother commits suicide. Money woes make things worse, forcing her to leave her posh private school and attend a tough, Lower East Side public school. When a classmate goes missing, Iris sees a chance to help her father with his struggling PI business, but war-time New York is a dangerous and sometimes deadly place.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Everybody Sees the Ants by: A.S. King More Info: If fifteen-year-old Lucky Linderman had realized that his social-studies survey on suicide would prompt so much attention from the adults in his life, he might have chosen a different topic. Despite their sudden concern, they do nothing to stop the bully who has tortured Lucky for years. He retreats into his dreams where he plans daring rescue missions for his POW-MIA grandfather until a change of location and a friendship with a teenage hair model begin to change Lucky’s view on life.
|
|
|
Category:
Historical Fiction Title: Watch that Ends the Night by: Allen Wolf More Info: As each “watch” of the Titanic’s voyage and sinking ticks by, socialites, immigrants, crew, rescuers and even the ice berg tell their story in this haunting novel in verse.
|
|
|
Category:
Mystery & Suspense Title: Greek Who Stole Christmas by: Anthony Horowitz More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Abdullah, grade 8, Des Moines Library.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Leaving Paradise by: Simone Elkeles More Info: What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Belah,age 12, Mercer Island Library.
|
|
|
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction Title: Girl in the Arena by: Lisa Haine More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Emma, age 15. "
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Beach Blondes: a Summer novel by: Katherine Applegate More Info: " What is this book about? What do you like/dislike about it? Who would enjoy reading it? Review written by: Emily, grade 6, Federal Way Library. "
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Black and White by: Larry Dane Brimner More Info: During the Civil Rights Movement, Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth called for the end of segregation and was opposed at every turn by Eugene “Bull” Connor, Birmingham’s Commissioner of Public Safety, setting up a conflict that would rock that nation.
|
|
|
Category:
Non- Fiction Title: Iceberg Right Ahead! by: Stephanie Sammartino McPherson More Info: Remember the Titanic with this detailed overview of the tragic sinking and its aftermath.
|
|
|
Category:
Contemporary Title: Chopsticks by: Jessica Anthony and | |
