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!