Thrillers for Teens Fiction Title: Airborn Author: Kenneth Oppel Summary: Matt Cruse, cabin boy extraordinaire aboard the giant passenger airship Aurora, teams up with a headstrong passenger named Kate who believes she has evidence of the existence of mythical winged creatures. They encounter a dreaded air pirate and explore a deserted island. Title: Ender’s Game Author: Orson Scott Card Summary: Young Ender Wiggins is becoming very skillful at playing computer war games in his military school. But in a society where only two children are permitted, why were his parents allowed to have him, a third and how will his planet survive the merciless attacks of a superior alien force? Title: Finding Lubchenko Author: Michael Simmons Summary: Evan Macalister’s dad is a multimillionaire, but he’s pretty strict, so Evan gets back at him by “liberating” electronics from his father’s company. When Evan’s father is arrested for the murder of a coworker, Evan realizes that he may have the evidence to free him. Title: In Darkness, Death Author: Dorothy Hoobler and Thomas Hoobler Summary: In medieval Japan, the great warlord Inaba has been murdered under the noses of two guards. To find the killer, they hire Judge Ooka and his young pupil Sekei. Sekei travels a great distance with a ninja, only to risk his life on a sacred mountain after many adventures. Title: Point Blank Author: Anthony Horowitz Summary: What’s the matter with the students at the Swiss private school Point Blanc? After several of their extremely wealthy fathers die in accidents, Alex Rider is sent by the M14 British spy network to infiltrate the school and finds kids who are so docile they’re spooky and a dark scientist teacher who asserts sinister control. Title: Powder Monkey: Adventures of Sam Witchall Author: Paul Dowswell Summary: Having always dreamed of being a sailor, Sam Witchall quickly finds that life at sea is not so fun when a British warship presses him into service as a “powder monkey,” a member of the gun crew responsible for the dangerous job of running back and forth below decks to retrieve gun powder for the canons during fierce battles with enemy warships. Title: Rash Author: Pete Hautman Summary: In the year 2074, Bo Marsten lives in the United Safer States of America, where safety and security are of the utmost importance and have been taken to the extreme. When Bo punches a classmate, he ends up in a work camp in the middle of Canada surrounded by polar bears, and discovers the joys of playing illegal football. Title: Runner Author: Carl Deuker Summary: Living on a broken down boat on Puget Sound with his alcoholic unemployed dad, the only thing Chance really enjoys is running. Chance receives a job offer from someone at the marina to deliver packages on his daily runs and jumps at the chance, but he begins to wonder if it’s worth the risk. Title: Tenderness: A Novel Author: Robert Cormier Summary: Killer Eric Poole is released from prison on his 18th birthday, after convincing most authorities that he was driven to commit murder by his parents’ abuse. One police officer recognizes his real nature, and hopes to intervene before Eric can strike again, but very soon runaway Lori hooks up with Eric in search of tenderness. A psycho-thriller. Title: The Bar Code Rebellion Author: Suzanne Weyn Summary: In the scary future society where Kayla lives, everyone is required to get a bar code tattooed on them when they turn seventeen. The tattoo, which contains a person’s genetic code, is tied to horrors that compel Kayla and other resisters to risk the punishment of death rather than receive the tattoos. Title: The Boy in the Burning House Author: Tim Wynne-Jones Summary: Two years after Jim Hawkins’s father Hub disappeared, he has almost come to terms with his grief, but the pastor’s step-daughter Ruth Rose reopens the wound. She is sure that her father killed Hub, and that there are clues somehow in the story of a boy who died in a house fire 30 years earlier. Title: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp Author: Richard Yancey Summary: Alfred agrees to help his uncle steal a sword in a get-rich-quick scheme and give it to a man who claims to be its owner. The sword is the legendary Excalibur, and Alfred must help the descendants of the Knights of the Round Table get it back from the forces of evil. Title: The House of the Scorpion Author: Nancy Farmer Summary: In the country of Opium, lying between the U.S. and Astlan (Mexico), Matt discovers he is a clone of a very powerful 140-year-old drug lord, and that he was produced as a source of “spare parts”. He escapes with the help of two kind people in the household, but must eventually return and confront his destiny. Title: The Lightning Thief Author: Rick Riordan Summary: Percy Jackson’s life is turned upside down when his mom sends him to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for the children of the Greek gods and goddesses who are still alive, from which he sets out on a quest across the United States to the gates of the Underworld battling monsters along the way.