young adult fiction

The next Reader’s Advisory Roundtable will be Wednesday, February 14th at 9am at the Leeds Library.  The topic up for discussion will be Scandinavian mysteries/thrillers!  Today we met to talk about young adult fiction J

The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand

Before I Fall meets “bah, humbug” in this contemporary YA reimagining of A Christmas Carol from New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand. On Christmas Eve five years ago, seventeen-year-old Holly Chase was visited by three Ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she’d become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways. She didn’t. And then she died.

Now she’s stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge—as their latest Ghost of Christmas Past. So far, Holly’s afterlife has been miserable. But this year’s Scrooge is different. This year’s Scrooge might change everything…The Afterlife of Holly Chase is a witty, poignant, and insightful novel about life, love, and seizing second (or third) chances, perfect for readers who loved Before I Fall or Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares.

Liz, Pinson

The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

Malcolm Polstead is the kind of boy who notices everything but is not much noticed himself. And so perhaps it was inevitable that he would become a spy....Malcolm's parents run an inn called the Trout, on the banks of the river Thames, and all of Oxford passes through its doors. Malcolm and his daemon, Asta, routinely overhear news and gossip, and the occasional scandal, but during a winter of unceasing rain, Malcolm catches wind of something new: intrigue. He finds a secret message inquiring about a dangerous substance called Dust—and the spy it was intended for finds him.

When she asks Malcolm to keep his eyes open, he sees suspicious characters everywhere: the explorer Lord Asriel, clearly on the run; enforcement agents from the Magisterium; a gyptian named Coram with warnings just for Malcolm; and a beautiful woman with an evil monkey for a daemon. All are asking about the same thing: a girl—just a baby—named Lyra. Lyra is the kind of person who draws people in like magnets. And Malcolm will brave any danger, and make shocking sacrifices, to bring her safely through the storm.
Liz, Pinson

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan

The Sword of Summer
Magnus Chase has seen his share of trouble. Ever since that terrible night two years ago when his mother told him to run, he has lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, staying one step ahead of the police and truant officers. One day, he's tracked down by an uncle he barely knows-a man his mother claimed was dangerous. Uncle Randolph tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god. The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants, and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years. When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision. Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . .

The Hammer of Thor

Thor's hammer is missing again. The thunder god has a disturbing habit of misplacing his weapon--the mightiest force in the Nine Worlds. But this time the hammer isn't just lost, it has fallen into enemy hands. If Magnus Chase and his friends can't retrieve the hammer quickly, the mortal worlds will be defenseless against an onslaught of giants. Ragnarok will begin. The Nine Worlds will burn. Unfortunately, the only person who can broker a deal for the hammer's return is the gods' worst enemy, Loki--and the price he wants is very high.

The Ship of the Dead

Magnus Chase, a once-homeless teen, is a resident of the Hotel Valhalla and one of Odin's chosen warriors. As the son of Frey, the god of summer, fertility, and health, Magnus isn't naturally inclined to fighting. But he has strong and steadfast friends, including Hearthstone the elf, Blitzen the dwarf, and Samirah the Valkyrie, and together they have achieved brave deeds, such as defeating Fenris Wolf and battling giants for Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. Now Magnus faces his most dangerous trial yet. His cousin, Annabeth, recruits her boyfriend, Percy Jackson, to give Magnus some pointers, but will his training be enough? Loki is free from his chains. He's readying Naglfar, the Ship of the Dead, complete with a host of giants and zombies, to sail against the Asgardian gods and begin the final battle of Ragnarok. It's up to Magnus and his friends to stop him, but to do so they will have to sail across the oceans of Midgard, Jotunheim, and Niflheim in a desperate race to reach Naglfarbefore it's ready to sail. Along the way, they will face angry sea gods, hostile giants, and an evil fire-breathing dragon. Magnus's biggest challenge will be facing his own inner demons. Does he have what it takes to outwit the wily trickster god?
Liz, Pinson

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

All her life, Valancy Stirling lived on a quiet little street in an ugly little house and never dared to contradict her domineering mother and her unforgiving aunt. Then she gets a letter―and decides that very day things need to change. For the first time in her life, she does exactly what she wants to and says exactly what she feels.

At first her family thinks she's gone around the bend. But soon Valancy discovers more surprises and adventure than she ever thought possible. She also finds her one true love and the real-life version of the Blue Castle that she was sure only existed in her dreams...
Mary Anne, BPL Southern History

Among the Shadows: Tales from the Darker Side by L.M. Montgomery

These nineteen fascinating stories are unlike any others L.M. Montgomery ever wrote.  Filled with strange and supernatural occurrences, they are peopled with drunkards, embezzlers, and thieves: A woman confesses to murder after she has passed away. . . . A righteous deacon gets a taste of his own bitter medicine. . . . An amateur photographer records a dark deed. . . . The ghost of a woman's sweetheart comes to bid her good-bye. . . . Somber, dark, and brooding, these intriguing stories suggest that love really can last beyond death and that poetic justice does exist.  Each of these wonderful tales is full of the strength of Montgomery's own inner resources.
Mary Anne, BPL Southern History

A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott

"I'd gladly sell my soul to Satan for a year of freedom," cries impetuous Rosamond Vivian to her callous grandfather. Then, one stormy night, a brooding stranger appears in her remote island home, ready to take Rosamond to her word. Spellbound by the mysterious Philip Tempest, Rosamond is seduced with promises of love and freedom, then spirited away on Tempest's sumptuous yacht. But she soon finds herself trapped in a web of intrigue, cruelty, and deceit. Desperate to escape, she flees to Italy, France, and Germany, from Parisian garret to mental asylum, from convent to chateau, as Tempest stalks every step of the fiery beauty who has become his obsession.

A story of dark love and passionate obsession that was considered "too sensational" to be published in the authors lifetime, A Long Fatal Love Chase was written for magazine serialization in 1866, two years before the publication of Little Women. Buried among Louisa May Alcott's papers for more than a century, its publication is a literary landmark—a novel that is bold, timeless, and mesmerizing."
Mary Anne, BPL Southern History

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
    Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
    Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
    Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
    Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
    And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.
Melanie, Leeds

The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost

Will West is careful to live life under the radar. At his parents' insistence, he's made sure to get mediocre grades and to stay in the middle of the pack on his cross-country team. Then Will slips up, accidentally scoring off the charts on a nationwide exam.

Now Will is being courted by an exclusive prep school . . . and followed by men driving black sedans. When Will suddenly loses his parents, he must flee to the school. There he begins to explore all that he's capable of--physical and mental feats that should be impossible--and learns that his abilities are connected to a struggle between titanic forces that has lasted for millennia.
Melanie, Leeds

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

Judith, Homewood

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own. Scythe is the first novel of a thrilling new series by National Book Award–winning author Neal Shusterman in which Citra and Rowan learn that a perfect world comes only with a heavy price.

Judith, Homewood

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Winter 1945. WWII. Four refugees. Four stories. Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies, war. As thousands desperately flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom. But not all promises can be kept . 

Judith, Homewood

Refugee by Alan Gratz

JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world . . .ISABEL is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America . . .MAHMOUD is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe . . .All three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers -- from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end. This action-packed novel tackles topics both timely and timeless: courage, survival, and the quest for home.
Judith, Homewood

Any book by Jason Reynolds!

The Track Series

Ghost

Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him down in this first electrifying novel in a new series from Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award–winning author Jason Reynolds.

Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves.

Running. That’s all Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons—it all started with running away from his father, who, when Ghost was a very little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun, aiming to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing problems—and running away from them—until he meets Coach, an ex-Olympic Medalist who sees something in Ghost: crazy natural talent. If Ghost can stay on track, literally and figuratively, he could be the best sprinter in the city. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed, or will his past finally catch up to him?

Patina

A newbie to the track team, Patina must learn to rely on her teammates as she tries to outrun her personal demons in this follow-up to the National Book Award finalist Ghost by New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds.

Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves.

Patina, or Patty, runs like a flash. She runs for many reasons—to escape the taunts from the kids at the fancy-schmancy new school she’s been sent to since she and her little sister had to stop living with their mom. She runs from the reason WHY she’s not able to live with her “real” mom any more: her mom has The Sugar, and Patty is terrified that the disease that took her mom’s legs will one day take her away forever. So Patty’s also running for her mom, who can’t. But can you ever really run away from any of this? As the stress builds up, it’s building up a pretty bad attitude as well. Coach won’t tolerate bad attitude. No day, no way. And now he wants Patty to run relay…where you have to depend on other people? How’s she going to do THAT?

Sunny (to be published April 10, 2018)

Ghost. Patina. Sunny. Lu. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds, with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics. They all have a lot of lose, but they all have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves. Sunny is the main character in this novel, the third of four books in Jason Reynold’s electrifying middle grade series.

Sunny is just that—sunny. Always ready with a goofy smile and something nice to say, Sunny is the chillest dude on the Defenders team. But Sunny’s life hasn’t always been sun beamy-bright. You see, Sunny is a murderer. Or at least he thinks of himself that way. His mother died giving birth to him, and based on how Sunny’s dad treats him—ignoring him, making Sunny call him Darryl, never “Dad”—it’s no wonder Sunny thinks he’s to blame. It seems the only thing Sunny can do right in his dad’s eyes is win first place ribbons running the mile, just like his mom did. But Sunny doesn’t like running, never has. So he stops. Right in the middle of a race.

With his relationship with his dad now worse than ever, the last thing Sunny wants to do is leave the other newbies—his only friends—behind. But you can’t be on a track team and not run. So Coach asks Sunny what he wants to do. Sunny’s answer? Dance. Yes, dance. But you also can’t be on a track team and dance. Then, in a stroke of genius only Jason Reynolds can conceive, Sunny discovers a track event that encompasses the hard hits of hip-hop, the precision of ballet, and the showmanship of dance as a whole: the discus throw. As Sunny practices the discus, learning when to let go at just the right time, he’ll let go of everything that’s been eating him up inside, perhaps just in time.

My Name is Jason. Mine Too

Our story. Our way.

A poet

An artist

One black

One white

Two voices

One journey

When I Was the Greatest

A lot of the stuff that gives my neighborhood a bad name, I don’t really mess with. The guns and drugs and all that, not really my thing. Nah, not his thing. Ali’s got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there’s a dude looking for trouble—and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy’s gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it’s all small potatoes; it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt.

And then there’s Needles. Needles is Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets these ticks and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It’s cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn’t mean anything by it. Yeah, it’s cool…until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be…somewhere they never should've been—where the people aren’t so friendly, and even less forgiving.

The Boy in the Black Suit

Just when seventeen-year-old Matt thinks he can’t handle one more piece of terrible news, he meets a girl who’s dealt with a lot more—and who just might be able to clue him in on how to rise up when life keeps knocking him down—in this “vivid, satisfying, and ultimately upbeat tale of grief, redemption, and grace” (Kirkus Reviews) from the Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe Award–winning author of When I Was the Greatest.

Matt wears a black suit every day. No, not because his mom died—although she did, and it sucks. But he wears the suit for his gig at the local funeral home, which pays way better than the Cluck Bucket, and he needs the income since his dad can’t handle the bills (or anything, really) on his own. So while Dad’s snagging bottles of whiskey, Matt’s snagging fifteen bucks an hour. Not bad. But everything else? Not good. Then Matt meets Lovey. Crazy name, and she’s been through more crazy stuff than he can imagine. Yet Lovey never cries. She’s tough. Really tough. Tough in the way Matt wishes he could be. Which is maybe why he’s drawn to her, and definitely why he can’t seem to shake her. Because there’s nothing more hopeful than finding a person who understands your loneliness—and who can maybe even help take it away.

All American Boys

A bag of chips. That’s all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad’s pleadings that he’s stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad’s resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad’s every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement?

There were witnesses: Quinn Collins—a varsity basketball player and Rashad’s classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan—and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team—half of whom are Rashad’s best friends—start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before.

Written in tandem by two award-winning authors, this four-starred reviewed tour de force shares the alternating perspectives of Rashad and Quinn as the complications from that single violent moment, the type taken directly from today’s headlines, unfold and reverberate to highlight an unwelcome truth.

As Brave As You

Genie’s summer is full of surprises. The first is that he and his big brother, Ernie, are leaving Brooklyn for the very first time to spend the summer with their grandparents all the way in Virginia—in the COUNTRY! The second surprise comes when Genie figures out that their grandfather is blind. Thunderstruck, Genie peppers Grandpop with questions about how he hides it so well (besides wearing way cool Ray-Bans).

How does he match his clothes? Know where to walk? Cook with a gas stove? Pour a glass of sweet tea without spilling it? Genie thinks Grandpop must be the bravest guy he’s ever known, but he starts to notice that his grandfather never leaves the house—as in NEVER. And when he finds the secret room that Grandpop is always disappearing into—a room so full of songbirds and plants that it’s almost as if it’s been pulled inside-out—he begins to wonder if his grandfather is really so brave after all.

Then Ernie lets him down in the bravery department. It’s his fourteenth birthday, and, Grandpop says to become a man, you have to learn how to shoot a gun. Genie thinks that is AWESOME until he realizes Ernie has no interest in learning how to shoot. None. Nada. Dumbfounded by Ernie’s reluctance, Genie is left to wonder—is bravery and becoming a man only about proving something, or is it just as important to own up to what you won’t do?

Long Way Down

An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestseller Jason Reynolds’s fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds—the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother.

A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE

Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator? Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.

And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if WILL gets off that elevator. Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.

Judith, Homewood

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

This comical, fantastical, romantical, New York Times bestselling, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey is “an uproarious historical fantasy that’s not to be missed” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind YA fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.

At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England. Like that could go wrong. 

Holley, Emmet O’Neal

Far From the Tree by Robin Benway

Being the middle child has its ups and downs. But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including—

Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs.

And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he’s learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can’t hurt anyone but him. Don't miss this moving novel that addresses such important topics as adoption, teen pregnancy, and foster care.

Maura, Trussville

The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid

Red Queen meets The Hunger Games in this epic novel about what happens when a senator’s daughter is summoned to the galactic court as a hostage, but she’s really the galaxy’s most dangerous weapon in disguise.

A Diabolic is ruthless. A Diabolic is powerful. A Diabolic has a single task: Kill in order to protect the person you’ve been created for.  Nemesis is a Diabolic, a humanoid teenager created to protect a galactic senator’s daughter, Sidonia. The two have grown up side by side, but are in no way sisters. Nemesis is expected to give her life for Sidonia, and she would do so gladly. She would also take as many lives as necessary to keep Sidonia safe.

When the power-mad Emperor learns Sidonia’s father is participating in a rebellion, he summons Sidonia to the Galactic court. She is to serve as a hostage. Now, there is only one way for Nemesis to protect Sidonia. She must become her. Nemesis travels to the court disguised as Sidonia—a killing machine masquerading in a world of corrupt politicians and two-faced senators’ children. It’s a nest of vipers with threats on every side, but Nemesis must keep her true abilities a secret or risk everything.

As the Empire begins to fracture and rebellion looms closer, Nemesis learns there is something more to her than just deadly force. She finds a humanity truer than what she encounters from most humans. Amidst all the danger, action, and intrigue, her humanity just might be the thing that saves her life—and the empire.
Laura, Trussville

The Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan

It is the cusp of World War I. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure….One that will change both their lives forever.

Behemoth

The Behemoth is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It can swallow enemy battleships with one bite. The Darwinists will need it, now that they are at war with the Clanker Powers. 

Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory. Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what’s ahead.

Goliath

Alek and Deryn are on the last leg of their round-the-world quest to end World War I, reclaim Alek’s throne as prince of Austria, and finally fall in love. The first two objectives are complicated by the fact that their ship, the Leviathan, continues to detour farther away from the heart of the war (and crown). And the love thing would be a lot easier if Alek knew Deryn was a girl. (She has to pose as a boy in order to serve in the British Air Service.) And if they weren’t technically enemies.

The tension thickens as the Leviathan steams toward New York City with a homicidal lunatic on board: Secrets suddenly unravel, characters reappear, and nothing is as it seems in this thunderous conclusion to Scott Westerfeld’s brilliant trilogy.
Holley, Emmet O’Neal

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

A remarkable young woman blazes her own trail, from the backwoods of Russia to the court of Moscow, in the exhilarating sequel to Katherine Arden’s bestselling debut novel, The Bear and the Nightingale.

Katherine Arden’s enchanting first novel introduced readers to an irresistible heroine. Vasilisa has grown up at the edge of a Russian wilderness, where snowdrifts reach the eaves of her family’s wooden house and there is truth in the fairy tales told around the fire. Vasilisa’s gift for seeing what others do not won her the attention of Morozko—Frost, the winter demon from the stories—and together they saved her people from destruction. But Frost’s aid comes at a cost, and her people have condemned her as a witch.

Now Vasilisa faces an impossible choice. Driven from her home by frightened villagers, the only options left for her are marriage or the convent. She cannot bring herself to accept either fate and instead chooses adventure, dressing herself as a boy and setting off astride her magnificent stallion Solovey.

But after Vasilisa prevails in a skirmish with bandits, everything changes. The Grand Prince of Moscow anoints her a hero for her exploits, and she is reunited with her beloved sister and brother, who are now part of the Grand Prince’s inner circle. She dares not reveal to the court that she is a girl, for if her deception were discovered it would have terrible consequences for herself and her family. Before she can untangle herself from Moscow’s intrigues—and as Frost provides counsel that may or may not be trustworthy—she will also confront an even graver threat lying in wait for all of Moscow itself.
Laura, Trussville

Harrison Squared by Daryl Gregory

Harrison Harrison-H2 to his mom-is a lonely teenager who's been terrified of the water ever since he was a toddler in California, when a huge sea creature capsized their boat, and his father vanished. One of the "sensitives" who are attuned to the supernatural world, Harrison and his mother have just moved to the worst possible place for a boy like him: Dunnsmouth, a Lovecraftian town perched on rocks above the Atlantic, where strange things go on by night, monsters lurk under the waves, and creepy teachers run the local high school. On Harrison's first day at school, his mother, a marine biologist, disappears at sea. Harrison must attempt to solve the mystery of her accident, which puts him in conflict with a strange church, a knife-wielding killer, and the Deep Ones, fish-human hybrids that live in the bay. It will take all his resources-and an unusual host of allies-to defeat the danger and find his mother.
Jon, Avondale

Father Gaetano’s Puppet Catechism by Mike Mignola

From the creator of Hellboy, Father Gaetano's Puppet Catechism by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden is an illustrated novella that brings Twilight Zone originality to the written page.

In the aftermath of a critical World War II battle, Father Gaetano is assigned as the sole priest at the Church of San Domenico in the small, seaside Sicilian village of Tringale. The previous pastor has died and there is a shortage of clergy at the moment, so until another can be spared, the young priest must say all of the masses himself.

Mass is not Father Gaetano's only responsibility, however. The war has created many orphans, and thus the San Domenico rectory has been converted into an orphanage which is also his domain. The children are a joy to him, but they have lost so much, and many have begun to question their faith and their God, and his attempts to teach them catechism are in vain . . . until he finds an old puppet theatre and an ornate box of puppets in the basement. Handcrafted by the building's former caretaker, now absent, the puppets seem the perfect tool to get the children to pay attention to their lessons. But after dark the puppets emerge from that ornate box, without their strings. While the children have been questioning their faith, the puppets believe Father Gaetano's Bible stories completely. But there is such a thing as too much faith. And the children's lives will never be the same again.

Jon, Avondale

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

Twelve year-old Ren is missing his left hand. How it was lost is a mystery that Ren has been trying to solve for his entire life, as well as who his parents are, and why he was abandoned as an infant at Saint Anthony’s Orphanage for boys. He longs for a family to call his own and is terrified of the day he will be sent alone into the world.

But then a young man named Benjamin Nab appears, claiming to be Ren’s long-lost brother, and his convincing tale of how Ren lost his hand and his parents persuades the monks at the orphanage to release the boy and to give Ren some hope. But is Benjamin really who he says he is? Journeying through a New England of whaling towns and meadowed farmlands, Ren is introduced to a vibrant world of hardscrabble adventure filled with outrageous scam artists, grave robbers, and petty thieves. If he stays, Ren becomes one of them. If he goes, he’s lost once again. As Ren begins to find clues to his hidden parentage he comes to suspect that Benjamin not only holds the key to his future, but to his past as well.
Jon, Avondale

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

A sharply honest and moving debut perfect for fans of ThePerks of Being a Wallflower and Ask the Passengers. Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. But Riley isn't exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in über-conservative Orange County, the pressure—media and otherwise—is building up in Riley's life.

On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it's really like to be a gender fluid teenager. But just as Riley's starting to settle in at school—even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast—the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley's real identity, threatening exposure. And Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created—a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in—or stand up, come out, and risk everything.

From debut author Jeff Garvin comes a powerful and uplifting portrait of a modern teen struggling with high school, relationships, and what it means to be human.

Holley, Emmet O’Neal

Young Adult Fiction with Appeal for Adult Readers

At yesterday's meeting we heard from the lovely and talented Chandra Sparks Taylor, author of YA novels Spin It Like That, The Pledge, and the recently published The Promise. She shared with us her very inspiring story of the road to publication. Chandra is a freelance copy editor in addition to writing and shared that she is also available for teen writing workshops. Visit her website and book a speaking engagement with her today!

www.chandrasparkstaylor.com

Our blog is doing fairly well with 47 visits and 71 total page views in the past 30 days but we aren't stopping there! The JCLC Reader's Advisory Roundtable will soon have a presence on Facebook!

April found a provocative article discussing the idea of book ratings for children's and teen materials. In this article a passage from John Green and David Levithan's book, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, is mentioned out of context and used as an example to make the author's case.


On to the list! There is truly something for every reader, serious to silly, on this list so have a look and consider a display of these materials at YOUR library!

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Mondretta Williams, Leeds Library

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Sometime in the future , a 16-year old girl names Katniss Everdeen lives with her older sister and mother in North America in a place called District 12. People in District 12 are poor, and since her father’s death in a coal-mining accident , Katniss has had to hunt game with a bow and arrow to supplement her family’s meager supplies. District 12 is far from the Capitol City, Panem, a place Katniss never expects to visit .

Then comes the day of “reaping” when her beloved sister Prim is randomly chosen to represent District 12 in the annual Hunger Games. Immediately, Katniss steps forward and volunteers to take her sister’s place in the Games, which are held each year in the capitol. The Hunger Games have elements in common with the Olympics (coaches, training, and a spectacular opening ceremony) and with reality TV shows (constant cameras, obstacles, a manipulated environment in the arena.)

The purpose of these games is far more gruesome and terrifying. Of the 24 young people who compete, only one will survive. To win at the Hunger Games you must kill all your opponents, even if they become your friends.

Young adults and older adults will be riveted by Collins’ novel. The Hunger Games combines elements of an intense survival adventure with a story of friendship and love. But the book is more than a page-turner with a strong appealing heroine. The Hunger Games is a powerful and often disturbing story that is sure to spark intense discussion not just about Katniss Everdeen’s world, but about our own.
Mondretta Williams, Leeds Library

Jason Baker, Trussville Library

If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser
This story begins with a 12 year old boy, who lives in the projects surrounded by guns, drugs and violence. Readers will find themselves drawn to DeShawn’s story and hoping for a positive outcome by the end of the book.
April Wallace, Irondale Library

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Wintergirls is a gut-wrenching story that I highly recommend to anyone who knows someone who has/is struggling with an eating disorder. While reading this book you will live life through the eyes of an anorexic teenager whose thoughts and body image are so deluded she is on the road to permanently destroying her body.
April Wallace, Irondale Library

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
Elizabeth Scott’s previous books are much lighter reads – this book takes is a disturbing look at a broken girl. It will haunt you, reading the story of “Alice,” a 15 year old girl who was abducted at the age of ten and has been living with her abusive captor even since.
April Wallace, Irondale Library

Looking for Alaska by John Green
Miles arrives to an Alabama boarding school (based on Pelham, AL’s Indian Springs school that John Green attended as a teen) looking for something to shake up his boring existence. Miles’ life is indeed changed when he meets Alaska Young, an adventurous, beautiful, charismatic yet somewhat self-destructive girl. John Green’s books are very clever and sophisticated; older teens may strongly relate to the stories, but adults can appreciate his writing, too.
April Wallace, Irondale Library

After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
This is a great story of a three 11 year old girls who become close friends in the Bronx in the mid 1990s. This title is a lovely story about friendship that will appeal to adults who themselves grew up in the 90s.
April Wallace, Irondale Library

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell
Sex & the City fans will be thrilled to get their hands on this! This is a YA book that tells about Carrie Bradshaw’s teenage years growing up in a small town. It is a cute story that fans of the show will love but non-SATC viewers would enjoy, too.
April Wallace, Irondale Library

Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
Gina Robertson, Gardendale Library
Jason Baker, Trussville Library

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson
Gina Robertson, Gardendale Library

The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney
Gina Robertson, Gardendale Library

Vampirates series by Justin Somper
Gina Robertson, Gardendale Library

Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
Gina Robertson, Gardendale Library

Dragonback Adventures series by Timothy Zahn
Fourteen year old Jack Morgan has been on his own for years and is now on the run after being framed for a crime he did not commit. During his escape attempt, he comes across a crashed spacecraft. Unbeknown to Jack, the only survivor is the K'da warrior Draycos. Draycos can only survive if he finds another host IMMEDIATELY and Jack becomes that host. He agrees to help Jack clear his name if Jack will help him find out who betrayed Draycos' people. Excitement, adventure, and great world building!
Holley Wesley, Emmet O'Neal Library

C.S.I. Intern At Your Own Risk manga series by Sekou Hamilton
Maya Jones, BPL West End Library

Vampire Knight manga series by Matsuri Hiro
Maya Jones, BPL West End Library

Maximum Ride manga series by James Patterson
Maya Jones, BPL West End Library

Dragon Jouster series by Mercedes Lackey
Maya Jones, BPL West End Library

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
To the outside world, Ed is not much to look at. He is 19 (though his employer thinks he’s 20), unathletic, ambivalent, unmotivated, and drives a taxi for a living. He has three good friends (Marv, Richie, and Audrey) with whom he plays cards occasionally. He has one exceptionally smelly dog, The Doorman. His more successful siblings have all moved out of this tiny Australian town, leaving him to the very strained relationship he maintains with their mother. He works, he sleeps, and he drinks coffee with The Doorman. That’s about it…until the first ace arrives in his mailbox. Three addresses are written on the playing card. Four aces equal twelve mysteries and Ed will find the answer to his questions only after he visits each one. This book, along with all Markus Zusak’s novels, is in our young adult collection but, for this one especially, I would recommend for mature readers only (language, sexual situations, violence, mature theme...does that sound too much like the MPAA?). I have avowed since my first reading of this book that I would place an "I Love Ed Kennedy" bumper sticker on my car just to see who got the reference. A perfect blend of reality and magical realism, I am the Messenger is a feel-good book though the ending does seem a bit forced, like Zusak got all the way to the last couple of pages and just wasn't sure what to do with it. Until that point, I was mesmerized. The language is gorgeous, even the angry bits, and littered with Australian...lingo? Colloquialisms? Whatever the word is. There are beautiful turns on phrase like "their voices slammed and the door shouted shut". I'm pulling that from memory so please allow for mistakes :-) Anyway, imagine a virtual standing ovation sound effect overlaying this discussion and you'll have my opinion!
Holley Wesley, Emmet O'Neal Library

Marie, Dancing by Carolyn Meyer
Fourteen-year-old Marie van Goethem is only truly happy on the ballet stage. Her family is starving because of her mother's constant drinking and her older sister's chronic selfishness while Marie works herself to the bone to make a living as a dancer. With her little sister coming up the ballet ranks behind her, Marie is desperate to provide both a better example than her older sister AND some income for the family. Her luck just may be changing now that she is posing for a sculpture for Edgar Degas. As she stands before him, Marie dreams of all that she desires from the world: a life without poverty, of being with her one true love, and of becoming a star of the ballet. Will Marie be able to overcome the obstacles before her and rise to fame and fortune on the ballet stage? This wonderful book tackles many of life's toughest choices while still leaving room for hope and dreams. Meyer also brings 19th century Paris to life for her readers, making this an apt choice for fans of Tracy Chevalier and Susan Vreeland.
Holley Wesley, Emmet O'Neal Library

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
Helen has drifted around for the last 150 years haunting various humans for the length of their lives, yet never really bothering them. Today, for the first time in the great span, she feels someone looking at her. No one has EVER seen her since she died and the sensation of his eyes upon her is uncomfortable and disturbing. Helen - terrified, but intrigued - is drawn to the young man. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess. Dark, heartbreaking, gothic, and sexy...this is a great book for older teens and any adult reader, AT ALL, who enjoyed the Twilight books or Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books.
Holley Wesley, Emmet O'Neal Library

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Sally Sizemore, Hoover Library

Eli the Good by Silas House
Eli, 10, spends the summer of 1976 riding bikes with his friend Edie, reading Anne Frank's diary, talking with his Aunt Nell, and watching his Vietnam-vet father experience flashbacks. He observes his mother trying to ride out various storms: 16-year-old Josie's rebellious attitude; the anger between her husband and his sister, Nell (who protested the war); and the flashes of violence and despair that wrack her spouse. Eli is curious, thoughtful, and not above eavesdropping or snooping through personal letters to find out things that his family would prefer to keep private. He learns that Nell came home with cancer; that he and Josie do not share a biological father; and how his father felt after killing a man in the war. Nell nicknames him Eli the Good, and he is. He is a decent kid, just trying to understand his family and the world around him. He makes mistakes, but he learns from them, and simply wants the best for those he loves. Silas House writes as beautifully and evocatively as he did in earlier adult novels. Atmosphere is lovingly described, the sights and sounds of the summers you experienced in your youth abound. He puts you there physically into the setting of each and every story. He lays out Eli's world in exquisite detail. A Bicentennial celebration, along with mentions of pop songs and clothing styles, sets the stage,and the story flows along, carrying readers and Eli to the end of summer and beyond, into a brief glimpse of his life as an adult.
Leslie West, Vestavia Library

House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Theresa Davis, Hoover Library

Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
Theresa Davis, Hoover Library

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Theresa Davis, Hoover Library

Angels Trilogy by Lurlene McDaniel
The Angels Trilogy is three stories (Angels Watching Over Me, Lifted Up By Angels, Until Angels Close My Eyes) in one volume by one author. Each story has angels, life issues, English and Amish.

Leah was very alone in her hospital room. Her mother and Leah's new step dad were in Japan on their honeymoon. Even though she just had a broken finger, Leah's doctor admitted her to the hospital. While there sixteen year old Leah met five year old Rebekah, her sister Charity and teenage brother Ethan. Her new friends were Amish -people she had heard of and maybe had seen but did not know. This "chance" meeting would change her world. To them, Leah was "English." Rebekah and Leah were roomies in the hospital and supported each other through difficult times. Both also met Molly and Gabriella. Molly was the nurse who cared and listened to her patients. Gabriella came to them at night and was with them when needed. But no one else knew her. She just was and they liked her. Leah liked Ethan very much as soon as she met him. He was also there when Leah had no family present during medical testing and trying news. Ethan was trying on the English ways but yet knew he was Amish. His identity was blurred and yet not. Leah was unsure of her identity, too, with divorce and abandonment family problems. They were from two very different worlds but both were having similar crises in their lives. When Leah spent a summer visiting Ethan's world she understood even more about being on the edge of Amish and English. Where did she belong? Where did he belong? Could they be together in one world or the other? Cancer appeared in two lives in these stories. This was a truly scary prospect for both and for those who loved them. Plans made were suddenly on hold. Lives were turned upside down. Ethan was there in the English world being a good worker and a calm voice of love and caring. And he must decide where he belongs and what he wants to do with his life. Ethan and Leah are two people very much in love and both searching for meaning and belonging.
Beth Hutcheson, Homewood Library

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
According to our narrator, Death, Liesl first became a book thief at the gravesite of her younger brother. On the way to the home of her fosterfamily, her brother dies and is buried. Liesl spots a book on the ground in the cemetery and steals it. Life with her foster family in Nazi Germany is certainly not easy. With all the deprivations war brings, not to mention the added drama of a young Jewish man hiding in their basement and her father already not in good standing with the Nazi party, Liesl must continually face challenges. Ultimately, this is a story of human survival amidst very difficult circumstances and a reminder thoughout of the power of words.
Marylin Sessions, Springville Road Library

Feed by M.T. Anderson
Set in the future, Anderson’s novel follows a group of teens in a world where almost everyone has been implanted with a computer chip at birth, a feed, which links their brains to the Internet; along with its constant advertisement-information barrage. The book’s two main characters are Titus, whose personality is like vanilla ice cream – he is easy-going and follows mainstream culture. Then he meets Violet, a home-schooled girl who shows Titus that “the feed” is watching him and he should analyze the feed, his life, and be much more critical of the media and consumerism. Adults will appreciate Feed’s satire, and its Orwellian (Big Brother) and Brave New World (Cloning) overtones. Anderson does a very good job mimicking teen dialogue and inventing his own, futuristic slang (unit = dude, mal = bad, really = meg, a pretty girl is "youch"). As the story progresses, Titus must reconcile his old perceptions of the “truth” and his world views with what he sees as Violet’s reality. The audio book version does an excellent job of re-creating the feed’s “broadcasts” in the character’s brains. The story is plausible enough that the possibility of some of its aspects becoming reality is quite unsettling, highly recommended for mature teens and adults.
Chris Roddy, East Ensley Library

The Navigator by Eoin McNamee
Leigh Wilson, North Birmingham Library

the Alex Awards, in reverse!

YALSA has a wonderful award for books published for adults which have appeal for young adult readers, the Alex Awards. At our next meeting, April 28, 2010 at 9am at the Emmet O'Neal Library, the RA Roundtable will be turning the Alex Awards upside down and discussing books published for young adults that have appeal for adult readers.

Look to J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer if you don't believe this crossover takes place!

If you'd like a bit of assistance in finding a suitable title, here are a couple of lists!

Publisher's Weekly online, "Adult Readers in the Kids' Section"

About.com: Bestsellers, "Top 7 Young Adult Books for Adults"

Amazon.com, "YA Books that Adults Can Appreciate"

SF Signal: MINDMELD, "Young Adult SF/F Books That Adults Will Like Too"

I'm having a hard time narrowing down my selections! A lot of these I've already read, but I love a good reread! Have you read any of the titles on these lists?

Happy reading!

Holley