The fault in our stars, by John Green

 Hazel has known she is going to die from her cancer from the day it was diagnosed. But when she meets gorgeous Augustus Waters at a cancer support group her life suddenly takes a new and unexpected turn.   The fault in our stars is a love story about two teens with cancer that they are going to die from, but it never goes for the easy emotionalism of that situation.  The two teens, Hazel and Augustus (Gus), are real - tough and vulnerable at the same time.  They know what it's like to live with terminal illness and still they celebrate being alive and in love.

Green spent 10 years as a chaplain at a children's hospital before not becoming a priest but a YA author instead.  He knows these people and their hearts, and he knows how to write.  This one will be on my top 10 for 2012 without a doubt.

This dark endeavor, by Kenneth Oppel

Kenneth Oppel has taken the Frankenstein legend and written the backstory.  So this is an explanation of who Victor Frankenstein was, and what events in his teen years explain the man whom he will become - the one able to create the legendary Frankenstein's monster.  The story is dark and Victorian, full of suppressed emotions, high ideals, and passionate challenges.  In other words - a hoot to read and enjoy.  I hope Oppel makes this a series.

The Returning, by Christine Hinwood

An introspective look at the aftermath of war.  Cam Attling is the only villager to return from the war between the Uplanders and the Downlanders.  But he cannot return ever to the old life he once knew.  He has lost an arm, his betrothed has broken their engagement, the villagers look on him with suspicion for returning alive when their loved ones are dead.  And he is haunted by memories of the war.  He can only think of one way to survive - he leaves his village in search of the Upland lord who maimed him but spared his life and then saw that he was nursed back to health. 


No one is spared, and everyone changed by the cataclysm of war.  And the people on both sides have to forge new lives in war's wake.  

The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater

Two desperate people are training for the Scorpio Races - races  held on the island beach every November 1st.  The horses are the magical capall uisce - water horses that come from the sea and are monsters in horse form.  Sean Kendrick is the returning champion.  But his job as horse trainer and jockey with the wealthy Malvern's is threatened by the boss's malevolent son.  If he won the race this year he maybe could buy Corr, the water horse he has trained from a colt, and set himself up in his own business.
Puck (Kate) Connolly is desperate too.  Desperate to hold on to what's left of her family since her parents were killed by water horses and her older brother is determined to leave the island for mainland life.   Desperate to hold on to the family home that the wealthy Malverns are about to forclose on. 
The two are thrown together in preparation for the races that take lives as well as transform lives, and they find themselves drawn together emotionally as well.  But there can only be one winner.
Stiefvater once again weaves a magical story- this one of wild magic against the background of the wild November Atlantic Ocean, and the wild hearts of two islanders facing impossible odds.  A magical fantasy that well deserves the Printz Honor Award it won in January.

Rotters, by Daniel Kraus

16-year-old Joey Crouch loses everything - his mother, his friends, his home, even his musical talent.  He becomes an outcast, and in desperation turns to the only person left - his frightening father.  His father draws Joey into a nightmare world of madness and mayhem.  Joey's father is a digger - a grave robber. The story is dark, the subject matter is dark and disturbing, the action is revolting.  But there is truth here about growing up and claiming your own life out of misery.

Anna and the French kiss, by Stephanie Perkins

Anna's life is going well - she has good friends, a great job at the local cinema, and a new relationship with an interesting guy that is close to turning serious.  Then her parents drop a bombshell - they are enrolling her in the School of America in Paris for her senior year.  So Anna's not thrilled to  find herself in France (she doesn't speak French), in a new school, and far away from where she wants to be.  Until she meets Ettienne St. Claire - handsome, funny, smart St. Claire. St. Claire is very much taken - involved in a serious relationship with Elle, a girl at another school, but he's also irresistable and seems to feel the same toward Anna.  So Anna & St Claire become just friends, good friends, best friends, confused friends, angry friends.............

The space between, by Brenna Yovanoff

Daphne has grown up in Hell - literally Hell - a city where heat burns away everything not made of  chrome and steel.  The daughter of a demon and a fallen angel, Daphne wonders what her future will be.  Her sisters are soulless demons.  Her brother Obie is a missionary of sorts on Earth, saving lost souls.  Then Obie drops in with a boy from Earth who is on the brink of death, and the boy,Truman,  forges a bond with Daphne.  When he returns to Earth, Daphne follows and finds herself an innocent demon in a strange and complicated (and cold) world.  Obie is missing, and as she and Truman search for him, she learns what it means to love and be human.

Another strange, quirky,  and wonderful story from an always surprising author.  The replacement may still be my favorite, but this one is well worth reading as well.

The compound, by S.A. Bodeen

Eli and his family have lived in the compound for 6 years, survivors of a nuclear blast that destroyed the United States they knew.  But even the best plans have flaws, and food is running scarce.  Then Eli gets a signal from the internet.  The internet!  What is really going on above ground?

This is a fast paced thriller as Eli discovers that all he knows to be true is questionable - and a wrong decision could be fatal for himself and his family.

Postcards from no man's land, by Aiden Chambers

A Printz Award winner in 2003, this is really two intertwined stories.  The story that takes place in modern times traces 19-year old American Jacob Todd through a visit to Amsterdam that changes everything he ever thought about his family and himself.  The second story is about the Allied liberation of Holland from German occupation during WWII, and the relationships forged in wartime that have consequences to this day.

No man's land.  Politically, geographically, sexually, this is Jacob's journey of discovery, and his understanding of family and of self will never be the same.

Flip, by Martyn Bedford

Alex wakes up one morning in a strange house, in as different part of the country, and feels strange and awkward.  Then the full extent of the nightmare he's woken up to begins to dawn on him as he realizes that he is in a different body - the body of a boy named Flip - Phillip.  The family at the breakfast table are total strangers - as is the face in the mirror.

Trapped in a body and a life not his own, Alex struggles to find out what has happened and how he can escape.  But losing his entire identity, his family, his life, proves too much to cope with and Alex is falling apart.

This one keeps you guessing as the suspense builds.  Hard to put down.

Blade : Playing dead, by Tim Bowler

Blade is a tough, street smart, homeless teen, living by his wits in a dangerous world of crime, gangs, and violence.  His skill with a switchblade has earned him his name, and kept him alive.  Now he's on the run again, this time with a girl and her baby.  He needs to get them safe and get back on his own before his past catches up with him. 

A tough, violent adventure that is hard to put down, and begs for more books to be written in the series.

Why we broke up, by Daniel Handler

From October 5 to November 12, Min and Ed fall in love.  Fall hard, fall in spite of everyone telling them that they don't have anything in common, fall passionately, madly in love.  And when it ends, it hurts both of them.  Min returns a box of memories - two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a love note, a toy truck - each a painful reminder of love and loss, explaining each one by one.

Tender, painful, funny, moving.  If you've ever been in love and had your heart broken, you will recognize the story.

Dust & decay, by Jonathan Maberry

This is the 2nd book in the series, and is every bit as good as the 1st book Rot & ruin.  In this one, Benny Imura, his girlfriend Nix, Lilah the Lost Girl, and Benny's best friend Chong, all led by Benny's older brother Tom,  venture out of the safety of their fenced California hometown into the rot & ruin of zombie infested lands in search of other pockets of civilization.  They don't get far.  Instead, they are trapped into Gameland, where people are pitted against zombies while gamers bet on who comes out the winner.

Lots of action, lots of adventure, and something to say about what it is to be couragous.I hope the next book in this series isn't too far off.

Runner, by Carl Deuker

Chance Taylor should be on the track team, should be enjoying school.  But living with his alcoholic father who can't keep a job, Chance is living just one step from homelessness and is scrambling to make some money to buy groceries and pay the rent.  When he is offered money for an easy job, he knows it is somehow illegal, but he's desperate for the money, and it's easy to not think about the illegal stuff.  At first.

Carl Deuker has written some great sports books that always involve ethical problems.  In this one, the ethical issues take front stage while the athletics play a smaller role.  A good book from a consistently good author.

Bliss, by Lauren Myracle

Bliss is a naive girl, raised on a commune, and is not prepared to deal with the mean girls she finds at the new school she attends now that she is living with her grandmother.  But it gets worse.  Bliss hears voices, and seems to be in touch with the ghost of a girl murdered long ago on the school grounds. 

This one was recommended to me as a great spooky read, but it's too creepy for me.  So there you are - if you like scary stuff this might be just your story!

Adam Baye lost his best friend to suicide, and his parents are frightened as he drops off the hockey team and withdraws from his family, school,  and friends, spending hours in his room on his computer.  So they make a fateful decision to install spyware on his computer to secretly monitor every website, every e-mail and message Adam sends or receives.  And what they learn is that Adam is in deep trouble - and from there the web of lies, deceit, violence and danger grows till it threatens every member of Adam's family.  Nothing is as it first appears, and this one will keep the reader guessing trying to figure out the twists and turns of the action packed plot.

Reality check, by Peter Abrahams

Cody, a small town quarterback has big dreams for a football scholarship. When his smart, hot girlfriend is sent away to boarding school by her father and he suffers a torn ACL, Cody’s life begins to spiral out of control. He drops out of high school and gets a job at the local lumber yard. But when his ex-girlfriend Clea disappears in Vermont, Cody travels from Colorado to join the search for her. Out of place in the wealthy privileged private school there, Cody doesn't know who he can trust and nothing is as it first seems.
This is full of fast action and mystery - hard to put down.

Daughter of smoke & bone, by Laini Taylor

"Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well."

The 1st words in this romantic fantasy warn the reader.

Blue haired Karou , 17 year old art student in Prague, has mastered the art of disguising her magical upbringing from her friends and others. Avoid talking about herself, and when forced, tell the truth with a faint sardonic smile. No one believes that her hair just grows that color; or that the monsters she draws in her sketchbooks are real; or that she travels the world via magic to collect teeth for the chimaera Brimstone who raised her from a baby.
But Karou has questions, because hideously ugly Brimstone has always refused to explain how he came to raise her, or where the door behind his desk leads, or why he needs the unending supply of teeth it is her job to acquire for him. And why although he is obviously a powerful magician, he refuses Karou any wishes but the smallest, most inconsequential ones. Then the angel Akiva attacks Karou from out of nowhere, nearly killing her before the attack stops as suddenly and mysteriously as it began. Akiva knows more about Karou than she does herself, but both have shocking things to learn in store for them.

This is a mystery, a fantasy, but most of all a love story. Well written and hard to put down once begun. The first of a planned trilogy, and among Amazon's top 10 books for 2011.

Magic and misery, by Peter Marino

TJ has never had a boyfriend and falls hard for the new boy in school, Pan, who is funny, classy, beautiful - and gay, as TJ learns when he outs himself in the course of a class discussion one day. The two become close friends. But when TJ starts dating Caspar, things get complicated. Pan is jealous of her time with Caspar, and Caspar is confused about TJ and Pan's friendship.

While I liked the story, there are things I really didn't like. The concept of a "new" emotion - fago - just seems to me to be something a little silly. Do we really need a new emotion? Then there is the matter of sex. For a book about relationships, it is treated way too casually. Readers would be better off reading Sarah Dessen and Alex Sanchez.

13 reasons why, by Jay Asher

On tape, Hannah explains that there are 13 reasons why she decided to commit suicide. Clay is one of them. If he listens to the tapes, he'll find out why. So over the course of one long, terrible night, Clay listens to all 13 taped stories.

This is a heartbreaking book to read as it follows Hannah's descent into despair. If you ever doubted that your simple small acts of kindness can make a difference, this book is an emotional arguement that they matter. A powerful story well told.

Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher

Eric Calhoun (Mobe) survived his early teen years as a fat boy with the help of another social outcast, Sarah Byrnes, whose face and hands are terribly scarred from burns suffered as a small child. Sarah is the bravest, toughest person he's ever known. Now in high school, joining the swim team has changed Mobe's body, but not his fierce loyalty to Sarah. But now Sarah sits unresponsive in a mental ward, and Mobe, at a loss as to how to help her, enlists the help of an old school enemy, his best friend, and even his swim coach. And he discovers that Sarah is still that brave, tough friend, caught in the crosshairs of her abusive dad. Love, loyalty, and courage come in the least expected people as Sarah and Mobe figure out how to keep her safe.

Wow - this author isn't afraid to face tough topics - abuse, abortion, religion, disfigurement, bullying - and he does it without losing perspective and a sense of humor.

Chain Reaction, by Simone Elkeles

This is the 3rd book Elkeles has written about the Fuentes brothers. The oldest brother Alex's story is Perfect chemistry, which was followed by Rules of attraction about Carlos, the middle brother. And this is the story of Luis, the youngest brother. All good romances, and if you like one you will probably like them all. But I'm kind of glad there aren't any more Fuentes brothers, because all three books are pretty much alike and I would like to read something different by Elkeles.

Putting makeup on the fat boy, by Bil Wright

Carlos Duarte has a dream of making the big time as a makeup artist, and when he gets hired at one of the Macy's makeup counters, he has a chance to take some real steps toward the dream. But life is never simple, and just as Carlos gets his big break, he has to deal with the jealous diva boss who could undermine his dream plans; his sister's abusive boyfriend; and a fantasy (or is it?) crush on his punk-rocker classmate.

Dash & Lily's book of dares, by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Christmastime in New York for two teens is livened up when Lily leaves a red notebook full of challenges on a shelf in her favorite bookstore and Dash (short for Dashiel) finds it and takes up the challenge. Both start to think a real life romance may be possible..........

This is good fun - I still like this pair of authors' other romance better tho. Nick and Nora's infinite playlist is worth reading and WAY better than the movie version!

Rot & ruin, by Jonathan Maberry

In a future post-zombie apocalypse United States, Ben Imura has lived his entire 15 years in the isolated community of Mountainside, where at 15 everyone must begin working or face their food ration cut in half. After losing half a dozen jobs, Benny reluctantly agrees to join the "family business" of his older 1/2 brother Tom who is a zombie killer. When the brothers venture out into the Rot & Ruin outside Mountainside, Benny discovers how wrong he has been about many things - from the "coolness" of more flamboyant bounty hunters to the inhuman nature of "zoms", and especially the real nature of the family business. Then Benny's potential girlfriend is kidnapped by Charlie Mathias - a cruel bounty hunter, and the Imura brothers have to work together to try and rescue her before it is too late.

There is lots of adventure, violence, and action balanced with thought provoking questions about bravery and honor and about survivors and victims. And who would have guessed that I would love a zombie book, anyway?

The Marbury lens, by Andrew Smith

Leaving a party at his best friend Connor's, Jack is kidnapped, drugged, tortured and nearly raped. He narrowly escapes his tormentor and returns to Connor's house where he confides all that happened. The boys decide to keep it a secret, but they have fallen into the dark, and will need each other's help to survive.

A mysterious man gives Jack a pair of glasses, through which Jack finds himself in a different, surreal world - one of violence and destruction. Worst of all, a world where Connor is trying to kill him and the 2 younger boys entrusted to Jack's care.

This is a dark and disturbing nightmare of a story that packs an enormous emotional punch. Scary, creepy, and hard to forget.

Nickel Plated, by Aric Davis

From Goodreads:
"Nickel is a twelve year old runaway who's gone to ground. He disappeared from the foster care system two years earlier, after years of abuse, and now he's on his own. Now, if there's a job to be done, whether it's spreading counterfeit money around or tracking down your son, he's your guy. Carefully camouflaged as a typical kid, he's rarely noticed and often underestimated. A survivor, he's observant, paranoid, well-armed, and prone to lucky hunches. He's also a risk-taker, with no compunction about blowing up a telephone pole with a pipe bomb if he thinks it will get him the information he needs. Nickel also blackmails pedophiles to pay the bills. Since he has this money to support himself, he can take on the case when Arrow asks him to search for her missing sister. For Nickel, rescuing other kids from bad situations, and especially sexual predators, is personal."

The author goes into dark territory here. Nickel is a warrior, part of a loosely organized underground network at war against child predators and if the reader needs to suspend disbelief that anyone that young can act like Nickel, the payoff is a story that can't be put down and will haunt you long after it's been read.

Carter finally gets it, by Brent Crawford

Will Carter - freshman, ADD, stutterer, and add immature, clueless, too eager, clumsy, and earnest. You have to love a guy like that. Carter bungles his way through his freshman year trying way too hard to be cool and together and even though he misses the mark by a mile, the trip is, well, a trip.

Boot Camp, by Todd Strasser

Garrett is kidnapped in the middle of the night, handcuffed, and driven for 8 hours to a remote camp for troubled teens, Lake Harmony. His parents are paying $4000.00 per month for the chance that boot camp will turn Garrett into the son they want him to be. His crime? Garrett fell in love with the wrong girl. No anger issues, no school issues, no maturity issues. But in boot camp he is subjected to brutal physical and psychological abuse, and with his parents behind it, there is no way out until he is 18. Then he's asked to join an escape with two others. The risk is enormous, but staying is dangerous too.

I'd like to think camps like Lake Harmony are fictional and the product of the author's imagination, but Todd Strasser has added a bibliography of the sources he used to research the subject, and that may be the most unsettling part of the book.

Pretty dead, by Francesca Lia Block

Charlotte Emerson is a startlingly beautiful 17 year old, and has been so for nearly 100 years. She became a vampire way back then while in mourning over the death of her twin brother Charles, while searching for a way to dull the pain of that devastating loss. But a hundred years of immortality has brought it's own loneliness and loss, and when Charlotte loses her mortal friend Emily to suicide, she is again devastated. She turns to Emily's boyfriend Jared seeking comfort. At first he is bitter and angry with her, but she opens up to him telling about her past, and they begin to fall in love. Then William, the vampire who originally turned Charlotte turns up, and Charlotte is forced to face a horrific mistake from her past that may cost her the future.

This is an original take on vampire stories, and a better story than that cover art might lead you to believe.

The book thief, by Marcus Zusak

The narrator of this story is Death, and if it seems strange and awkward at the opening of the book, just try to stay with it for a while till it starts to work. It's a Holocaust story, and Death plays a large role and his perspective is interesting as well. This is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl trapped in the ever tightening noose of Nazi control. As her world becomes more dangerous she finds solace in books and the only way to get them is to steal them. Her books and her courage are haunting.

Wolves of Mercy Falls series

The 1st book of this trilogy is on this year's (2012) Abe list, and has been a favorite love story at CHS for a couple of years. Now the

whole trilogy is in print, and it was worth the wait. It's a solid story that keeps up the quality of the 1st book. The werewolves are very different from the Twilight variety, switching from human to wolf with no supernatural abilities. Sam and Grace's love story has the center stage as they struggle to stay together even as their wolf/human identities tear them apart. But new characters are introduced, and angry, disolute rock star/werewolf Cole is a great story line that starts in Linger and continues thru Forever.

Water for elephants, by Sara Gruen

This won an Alex Award in 2006 as a book written for adults with special appeal to teens. I don't know that there needs to be to much of a line drawn between teen and adult books - every reader on either side of that line just needs to find their own loved books.

This tale set aboard a depression era circus train has lots going for it. It is first of all a romance, but the circus is full of memorable characters, not the least of which are Rosie the elephant, Bobo the chimp, horses, big cats. As the circus vet, Jacob Jankowski knows and loves them all. His love for Marlena, the beautiful (and married) equestrian star sets them all - humans and animals alike - on a dangerous path.

Deadline, by Chris Crutcher

This book was one of the 2011 Abe books, but I delayed reading it because it concerns a dying teen - emotional stuff. But in the hands of a writer like Chris Crutcher, there are themes worth the inevitable tears here. The main character, Ben Wolf, learns he has terminal cancer during a routine sports physical at the opening of his senior year. Being 18, he refuses to let his doctor tell anyone else and refuses treatment. Instead, he sets about making his last year count for a whole lifetime. In the hands of a lesser writer this could be unbearable. But there is no sentimentality, no unnecessary pulling of heartstrings as smart-ass Ben meets his mortality on his own terms and touches the lives of everyone around him.

Before I fall, by Lauren Oliver

Samantha Kingston dies in a fiery car crash, but before she knows what is happening she is allowed to re-live her last day on earth several times before she learns how to make every minute count not only for herself but for others her life impacts. She tries desperately to change that fatal course of events, and with each try, the lives of others are changed for better or for worse, until she finally finds the way.

The forest of hands and teeth, by Carrie Ryan

Tho set in a future US, this world is unrecognizable as a virus plague has turned most people worldwide into zombies. Those humans remaining live in isolated pockets like Mary's village, where a chain-link fence protects the living from the living dead. the village is under constant seige from zombies, and when the fence is breached, Mary and Harry (her betrothed), Travis (her lover) and his betrothed, as well as her brother and his wife choose to escape into a fenced maze of paths, hoping to find a place they can survive.

The action is fast-paced and never predictable as the fugitives struggle against all odds to survive in a world where death is the only constant. This is the 1st of a trilogy, and CHS has them all.

Stay, by Deb Caletti

Clara's relationship with Christian became serious almost as soon as it began, and in spite of her father's and her best friend's reservations, Clara falls in love hard. But what starts out as a fairy tale romance soon shows a dark side as Christian's obsession and jealousy begin to show and Clara knows that Christian will stop at nothing to make her stay with him.

Now Clara and her Dad have rented a cabin on the beach, lied to everyone about their wherabouts, changed Clara's phone number, and are hoping that a summer away will convince Christian that their romance is truely over. But Clara knows Christian, and knows that she has reason to be afraid.

Ending relationships is seldom easy. Ending unhealthy ones can be dangerous. This story is well told, and one to think about.

How to say goodbye in robot, by Natalie Standiford

Bea is tired of moving every year to follow her Dad's career. Isolated from her career obsessed father and her depressed (unhinged?) mother, Bea is reluctant to even try making new friends at her new school. But the daily morning assembly finds her sitting next to Jonah, who is even more isolated than Bea. And the two soon find common interests that include late night talk radio, where Jonah (Ghost boy) and Bea (Robot girl) can communicate. Their relationship grows with shared secrets and stunts, and their friendship runs deep, though never quite into romance.

Senior year becomes an adventure Bea never expected, but life after high school looms as a big unknown.

Amy & Roger's epic detour, by Morgan Matson

This may be the best road trip story ever. Amy has been living alone in California since her Dad's death and her Mom's new job forced Mom to relocate to Connecticut a month before school was out for the summer. One of Mom's friends has a son, Roger, who has agreed to drive Amy to Connecticut, since Amy can't bear to drive since the car accident that took her father's life. Roger has his own motives for agreeing to the trip - like catching up with the girl who just dumped him without any explanation. So the two who barely know each other set out across country on an adventure that quickly hits detours as the planned cross-country itinerary gets tossed out the window and two good people start getting back on their feet with each other's help.

Summer romance, yes, but also friendship and healing, humor, and a good time.

Gemini bites, by Patrick Ryan

Kyle and Judy Renneker are twins with an uneasy relationship. They have been bickering and competing with one another for years, and their 16th year brings new complications as Kyle comes out of the closet and Judy pretends to be a born again Christian to land a new boyfriend who leads his own bible study.

The twins already thorny relationship is further complicated by the arrival of Garret Johnson - a strange loner about whom there are all kinds of hushed rumors - including one that he is a vampire. Garret's family is moving again, and the Rennekers have offered to let Garret stay at their home to finish out the school year. The twins are both attracted and intruiged, and the competition goes into high gear.

This isn't going to satisfy anyone who loves the high drama supernatural stories. But the low key, realistic family drama here is a nice change of pace and the story is well told.