Paper towns, by John Green

I didn't read this book for a long time after it arrived at CHS, mainly because I couldn't get any kind of take on what it is about. Now I've read it, and loved it, and am at a loss for words to explain what it is about without giving up the entire thing. Hmmm. Love - loss - the things that keep us going and the things that break our hearts. I can't explain it either. But I think John Green is one of the best authors out there writing.

Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi

Set in a not too distant future where the depletion of fossil fuels and climate change have made the Gulf Coast an impoverished, storm wracked region. On the lawless beaches, dirt-poor workers struggle with cut-throat competition for the hellish jobs that mean survival. Here, teenage Nailer works as a light crew member, crawling the ductwork of old rusty oil tankers to salvage copper wire, aluminum staples, anything to make his quota and keep his job. His job is dangerous, but not as dangerous as the level 6 hurricanes which blow from the Gulf regularly nor his vicious father, who with rat-like cunning is willing to sacrifice anything to stay alive. Then one day a hurricane beaches a clipper ship and one occupant is still alive - a wealthy shipping family heiress. Nailer joins forces with her and together they struggle to stay alive long enough to return her to her people.

The story moves along quickly as Nailer and Nita move through an eire swamp of a submerged New Orleans and out onto the gulf waters where a new breed of clipper ship houses the international shipping magnates that are the new wealthy elite of this society.

This is fresh, fast-paced, and leaves the reader with something to think about concerning the choices being made today in regard to fossil fuels, allocation of resources, and distribution of wealth.

Twisted, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak, has written another hard hitting story, this time about just how quickly a person's life can be ruined by today's technology - facebook, texting, cell phones with cameras.

As the story opens Tyler is on probation for a high school prank gone wrong and serving community service hours instead of jail time. His senior year starts with him still getting used to his new bad boy reputation and he finds that reputation comes with a plus side when popular, attractive Brittany starts wanting to spend time with him. But at a drunken party Brittany loses control, and tho Tyler does the right thing and gets her home, someone has taken compromising pictures of her. Tyler's reputation works against him as the gossip mounts that he has taken advantage of Brittany, and the cops, Brittany, his parents, school administrators, basically everybody, are all skeptical of his innocence. With frightening swiftness Tyler's life is going down the tubes, and people's perceptions of reality are far more important than the honest truth.

The Demon's lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan

Nick and Alan Ryves are brothers who have had to live on the run for almost as long as they can remember, since an attack by magicians on their family left their father dead and their mother driven mad. Now the magicians are hunting the brothers and their mother. When a girl and her brother show up at the Ryves home asking for help, the magicians are quickly on their trail, and the brothers are once again on the run, this time with the girl and her brother. Things go from bad to worse when Nick Ryves discovers that the girl's brother has been marked by demons, and suddenly Alan is marked as well. The only chance they have is for Nick to kill the magicians that they have run from for so long. Then Nick learns that his brother knows more than he is telling, and suddenly Nick knows nothing is as he thought it was, and nothing will ever be the same again.

Please ignore Vera Dietz, by A. S. King

Told from many different points of view - Vera (who is haunted by her dead friend/almost boyfriend) ; Charlie (Vera's friend/almost boyfriend who never believed he was good enough for her) ; Ken Dietz (Vera's dad, who would like to see Vera finish high school without self-destructing). Charlie is the heart of the book - Charlie who came from an abusive home but whose worse abuser turned out to be himself. By the time he asked Vera's help it was too late to save his own life or stop the arson at the local animal rescue, but even in death Charlie wants Vera to clear his name, if she can get past her anger with him.

Ender's game & Ender's shadow, by Orson Scott Card

I read Ender's shadow several years ago when it was on the Abe list, and enjoyed it a lot. It's taken a while, but I finally got back to the series, and this time read Ender's game, which is the 1st book in the series. These books essentially tell the same story from the perspectives of two different characters, and both are excellent.

Earth has been under alien attack for almost a hundred years, and the next attack is imminent. On earth, humans have genetically engineered children with military genius, and these children are sent to a space station battle school, where they are taught military strategy. Ender Wiggins is the world's best hope to survive, but he is young (six, at the story's opening) and has a lot to learn in a short time. His teachers manipulate behind the scenes, and the older students resent Ender's advancement as Ender struggles to survive the war games that take up most of the battle school curriculum.

Ender's shadow concerns Ender's right hand child commander, Bean.

These are science fiction at it's best - but don't take my word for it. They are on every core collection list I've ever seen and have won numerous awards for Science fiction. Great stuff!

The Replacement, by Brenna Yovanoff

Underneath the town of Gentry lies something evil. Something spoken of in whispers, if spoken of at all. It calls itself Mayhem, and it's citizens are a nightmarish collection of beings, some of whom can pass as human if you don't look too closely.

Mackie Doyle lives in Gentry with a loving family - but Mackie is not what he appears to be. He is from Mayhem, traded as an infant into a human family so Mayhem could take the human baby as a sacrifice. Now at 16, Mayhem wants Mackie back. He is getting sick (Mayhem says dying) because the human environment is slowly poisoning him. Then another baby is taken, and the baby's sister, Tate, turns to Mackie for answers. Relations between Gentry and Mayhem are strained and tense as Mackie finds himself drawn against his will into the eerie world of Mayhem to find answers both he and Tate need.

The book is dark, the imagery straight out of nightmares, but Mackie is such a compelling, strange, and sweet hero that I stayed up half the night reading because I couldn't put this down. This is imaginative and creepy at the same time - not for every reader.

Ingo, by Helen Dunmore

Ingo is a mysterious undersea world only found in old legends - until Sapphire and her brother Connor are called into that world from their ocean side home in Cornwall, England. But the mer folk that inhabit Ingo are not human, and their world is filled with danger for two human teens. Sapphire and Connor find themselves caught between two worlds in the opening book of this series.
The lure of the sea is as real as the tide, and the writing is hypnotic in this romantic adventure series.

Flash burnout, by L.K. Madigan

Blake's favorite subject is photography, and at 15 Blake can hardly keep up with the changes in his life fast enough to get a snapshot. He is negotiating new territory romantically with his girlfriend Shannon. Meanwhile, a photography class project sends him into the city, where he takes a photo of a passed out street person. Back in photography class, his photograph hits like a bombshell when his friend Marissa recognizes the picture as her meth addict mother. Marissa's vulnerability is exposed, and Blake protects her as a true friend. But life with 2 important girls is complicated, and Blake is headed for a crash course in girl trouble.

I liked Blake, the class comedian with girl trouble. I liked his older brother Garrett too, who for all his upperclassman cool, is there for Blake in the crunch. And then there is his Einstein look-alike Dad, the medical examiner who leaves autopsy tools on the kitchen table. And don't leave out his hospital chaplain mother who flies around the kitchen in hot-flash induced states of undress. But mostly it's Blake's memorable voice that the reader will remember - funny and confused and real, trying to do the right thing and bungling it all.

Wake, by Lisa McMann

Janie Hannagan's problem is getting worse and harder to hide. Since childhood, Janie has been getting sucked into other people's dreams, leaving her in an almost seizure like trance. Lots of the dreams are familiar - the naked but nobody notices dreams, the everybody's laughing at the dreamer in their underwear dream, the falling dreams. But someone near her is having nightmares, and they are terrifying, leaving Janie shaken and disoriented when she wakes. She really needs someone she can trust to confide in and to watch over her. But Cabel, the only person she can trust, is the one having those nightmares.

This book, part romance and part horror, sucks the reader in to Janie's nightmare world and doesn't let go until the end.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan

John Green has never written a weak book, and this collaboration with David Levithan works too. Like he did in Boy meets Boy, David Levithan can bring to life an imagined world without prejudice, and the final scene in this book is a dramatic tour-de-force worth reading the rest of the book to get to. The awesome musical theater production - an autobiographical account of gay 300 pound offensive lineman Tiny Cooper's life and loves - is such a feel good scene. John Lennon would have approved that imagined perfect world - Imagine.

The dark days of Hamburger Halpin, by Josh Berk

When Will Halpin decides to leave his school for the deaf and enter a regular public school, he knows it will be hard. His 1st day teaches him the truth tho. He will never be popular, never be anything but socially invisible. The teachers aren't accustomed to deaf students and don't quite know how to handle him. The other students ignore him. But Will is a keen observer of those around him, and when a student is murdered on a field trip, Will sets out to solve the mystery of who did it.

This is a clever send-up of high school life. All the characters are basic stereotypes - from the boring lecturer American History teacher, to the flirtatious young math teacher reliving her high school glory days, to the ex-marine PE teacher, the pot-smoking insane bus driver, and the tough-guy substitute. Nobody is safe from satire. From the football playing jocks to the homecoming queen princess and the wealthy ugly girl with high social status. And Will doesn't miss a thing, including who among the cast of characters may have murder in their heart.

Right behind you, by Gail Giles

Some books hit you right in your heart when you aren't expecting it, and Right behind you is one of those books. Kip McFarland is a main character who I wasn't sure I wanted to get inside the head of. He's a 14 year old who at the age of nine set another child on fire and killed. As the book opens, he has been in an Alaskan juvenile detention (the youngest inmate ever admitted) for 5 years. Five years of living with other juvenile psychopaths and learning how to survive being around them. Five years of constant psychotherapy. Five years of being locked away from any semblance of normal family life, normal adolescent rites of passage, anything remotely normal at all.

So Kip is released, given a new name of Wade, moves with his dad and stepmom to a new state, and begins a new life. But his old demons are not really gone but are just waiting to sabotage his attempts to build a new life. There are lots of issues here. How does a person rebuild a life with a past that horrific right behind him? How does he build relationships with new people while hiding that kind of past? Does a person with this kind of horror behind him deserve a future at all? And what about the dad, stepmom, psychiatrist also right behind him ready to back him up, and in doing so, opening themselves to being hurt by his self-destructive tendencies.

This is an intensly emotional read, and like all good literature it forces the reader to think about their own prejudices. Lots of people have something to hide (ok-maybe not THIS much to hide) in their pasts. So how do they live with the past, and at what point is it unfair to new people in their lives not to open up about that past? Hard questions.

Perfect chemistry, by Simone Elkeles

Gang member Alex and head cheerleader Brittany are assigned as partners in Chemistry lab, and their personal chemistry sets off a chain reaction that has life changing effects. In less skilled hands, the plot could be ordinary, but Elkeles writes well, and the romantic story becomes one that's impossible to put down as together the two struggle to become the adults they want to be instead of following the paths others expect of them. The secondary characters are interesting as well, from Alex's tough widowed mother, Brittany's handicapped older sister, and their Chemistry teacher, who cares passionately about her students while knowing the difference between being supportive and trying to be a friend to her students.

Trouble, by Gary D. Schmidt

This story is set on the Massachusetts coast, a social setting well removed from central Illinois, and it's important in that the main characters are "old money" - their families have been wealthy for 300 years, living in the same historic house, attending the same snobish prep schools, their lives bound by traditions that extend to what sports they go out for (crewing) and naturally what college they will attend and what professions they will study for. But money can only insulate people to an extent, and trouble can enter anyone's life.

The story follows Henry through the storm of trouble stirred up when his older brother is hit by a truck belonging to a Cambodian refugee, Chaun. Class conflict, racial prejudice, sibling rivalry, and, most of all, grief play a part in Henry's perfect storm of a summer between 8th grade and freshman year.

The book gets off to a slow start as the reader gets to know the personalities of the main characters, but once that's established, the reader is hooked into having to know how the storm will resolve itself and who else will fall victim. And a road trip that includes a lovable clown of a black lab doesn't hurt, either.

Notes from the midnight driver, by Jordan Sonnenblick

Alex Gregory is pretty much mad at everybody when this story opens, and he has the smart mouth to let everybody know it. His parents are divorcing (spending his college fund on lawyers), Mom is going out on a 1st date (gross), Dad is shacking up with Alex's third grade teacher (oh so gross), his best friend Laurie is giving him mixed signals about taking their relationship to another level (frustrating). Left alone at home on a Saturday night, Alex decides to show them all how he feels - downing a pint of vodka, he jumps in Mom's car and heads over to Dad's where he hopes to catch him and his lover together and give them a piece of his mind. Bad plan - after the crash he winds up losing his driving priveleges for 2 years and is sentenced to 100 hours of community service at a nursing home where he is to spend the time with an old man who is more than a match for Alex's smart mouth.

Alex's first person narrative is witty and entertaining as he spends the school year grounded, his time taken up trying to cope with his parents, his girlfriend (or is she?), and Solomon Lewis - old crank extraordinaire. I thought the author could have left out the bit about the old man's daughter's identity - life is never that neatly wrapped up. But that is a minor flaw in an otherwise good story - one that made me both laugh and cry.

Geektastic; stories from the nerd herd, edited by Holly black and Cecil Castellucci

A collection of short stories from some impressive authors - Holly Black (Tithe), Cassandra Clare (City of Bones), John Green (Looking of Alaska), David Levithan (Nick & Norah's infinite playlist), Garth Nix (Abhorsen), Scott Westerfeld (Uglies, Peeps) - and there are more.

All the stories relate to geeks defined as 1.a person often of an intellectual bent who is disliked 2. a person who is so passionate about a given subject as to occasionally cause annoyance among others.

The result is as varied as the authors included - a mix of humor, romance, and sharp insights that are easy to enjoy.

City of bones, City of Ashes & City of glass, by Cassandra Clare

This is a trilogy that weaves a complicated fantasy. Clary has been raised in New York by her artist mother and her mother's circle of friends. But as she turns 16 she learns that all is not as it appears. An evening in a club with her friend Simon is the lifechanging moment when a whole new world opens up to Clary and she learns that she is a shadowhunter - a race gifted with the ability to see demons and trained to battle them. But Clary has no such training, and as events spiral out of control she needs to learn fast how to survive. Children of the moon (werewolves), of the night (vampires), of Lilith (witches), and of Faerie all have their roles and must unite with the help of angels to defeat the army of demons being raised by Clary's own father, Valentine. Loyalties are forged and tested, and always there is love. The love between Clary and shadowhunter Jace, love between Clary and her best friend Simon, whose life takes a tragic turn when he is bitten by a vampire. Love between Clary's mother and Lucian, an ex-shadowhunter now turned werewolf. A powerful story well told.

(See September blog of City of Bones)

A big little life; a memoir of a joyful dog, by Dean Koontz

If you have ever had the company of one of those special dogs - the dignified, intelligent, lovely ones - you will appreciate Dean Koontz's memoir of his good dog Trixie. I've enjoyed sharing my home with four dogs, all special in their own way, and one of the four was one of those rare ones that considered it her duty to care for her human family. So I enjoyed reading about Koontz's Trixie, even if I'll admit to skimming bits and doing some picking and choosing among the chapters. I suspect the proceeds of this book will go to a canine charity tho I could not find that it actually said so anywhere in the book. Or maybe the entire book said that.

Front and center, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

This is the third book in the series that began with Dairy Queen and continued with The off-season. D.J. Schwenk is a junior now, and the year is complicated by college scouts, by a new romantic turn in her old, comfortable friendship with Beaner, by her brother Win's expectations for her. And then ex-boyfriend Brian Nelson comes around. And suddenly D.J. is being pressured from all sides, and she's forced from her comfort zone in the back row, out of the limelight right into the limelight - front and center.

Reading this was like visiting an old friend and I loved seeing how D.J. handled the pressure (besides throwing up). This one is for fans of the first two books tho.

Going bovine, by Libba Bray

This is a wild road trip - kicked off when teen slacker Cameron gets the bad news that he is going to die from Creutzfeldt-Jacob's (mad cow) disease. Every anti-hero needs a sidekick, and Cameron's sidekick is germ-phobic dwarf, Gonzo. And then there's punk angel (or maybe halucination) Dulcie - pink hair, torn black fishnets, and attitude to spare. The lines between reality and halucination are never clear, and in the end it doesn't really matter. Because Cameron really needs to LIVE before he dies, and live he does - reality be damned.

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

This is book 2 of the Hunger Games Trilogy, and it is just as good as the 1st book, Hunger Games. I hated the cliffhanger ending, only because it is going to be August 24th before book 3 is out, and I hate waiting so long to know how this is going to get wrapped up.

Vast fields of ordinary, by Nick Burd

I've put off writing about this one - it has made me think about the nature of relationships, and the hard truth that just because it's real love doesn't mean it's a healthy relationship. Dade Hamilton proves that not once, but twice as he goes from being abused in one relationship to being adored by another who leads him into a dangerous lifestyle. The characters are gay, but the issues are universal, and thoughtfully portrayed in this coming of age/coming out story.

Candor, by Pam Bachorz

Everything is perfect in the planned community of Candor, Florida. People are happy and upbeat, children are obedient and clean cut - and subliminal messages are beamed to the residents 24/7 to keep residents brainwashed and under mind control.

Oscar Banks is the son of the town's founder(and the head brainwasher), and his model student perfection is a calculated act. He's the only teen in town who knows about the messages, and Oscar fights the messages with his own counterprogramming. For a price, he will help the troubled teens whose parents have moved them to town escape brainwashing long enough to get out of Candor. It's a risky game, and sooner or later there is bound to be trouble. Trouble arrives in the person of Nia. When Nia moves to town, Oscar is attracted to her intelligence and attitude. And Nia sees right through Oscar's good-boy image. But if he helps her escape, he'll lose her forever; and if he lets her stay she will be brainwashed into a "perfect child", and he'll lose what he loves about her forever too.

The author wrote this while living in a "model" Florida town - it's creepy and suspenseful and keeps the reader guessing as Oscar and Nia get further and further into trouble.

Hunger games, by Suzanne Collins

In an ultimate game of Survivor, 24 young people are chosen annually to compete in the Hunger Games. And the residents of Panem (formerly the U.S.) are forced to watch as their children are pitted against one another in a contest that ends with only one contestant still alive.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen watches in horror as her little sister's name is drawn to compete and steps in to take her place in the games. The other contestant from their district is Peeta, a boy she barely knows. Now Peeta is professing that he has loved her secretly since grade school, and Katniss doesn't know if he's being truthful or playing a clever game to win sympathy with the audience and survive the games. But joining forces with Peeta will give them an edge in the contest if Peeta is on the level. And as the games advance, Katniss needs all the advantage she can get to stay alive.

This is an original and well written suspense story. Readers are telling me that the sequel, Catching fire, is as good or better than this one. And the third book of the trilogy is due out next year. A great futuristic, dystopian vision of our country gone horribly wrong.

Leaving Paradise, by Simone Elkeles

Caleb Becker has just served a year in juvenile detention for a hit and run accident in which the girl next door was critically injured.

Maggie Armstrong has just spent a year in hospitals and rehabilitation trying to recover use of her leg after being struck by Caleb's car.

Both are returning to school and trying to put their lives back together and are dreading having to see one another. But both are fighting for their lives, and no one understands that as well as each other.

Told in alternating chapters, the stories of these two damaged people struggling with the after effects of a devastating accident is moving and complicated as it becomes a love story with no happy ending in sight.

If I stay, by Gayle Forman

Don't start reading If I stay until you have time to finish it. If you are like me, you won't want to put it down. Several of you told me that I needed to read this one, and you were so right, I do love this story. The story concerns Mia, a 17-year-old girl and classical musician, who is the sole survivor of a car crash that takes the lives of her entire family. Badly wounded in the crash, the story takes place in the space of 2 days while Mia is hovering between life and death. In flashbacks we get to know her parents, little brother, her best friend, and her indie-rock boyfriend, among others. Yes, it's a sad story, but it is more than that. The relationships are real and interesting - her parents relationship, her friendship with Kim, and especially the romance between her and Adam - all are important to the story. The end is hard hitting. I won't give it away here though.

The movie rights have been sold for this book, and Catherine Hardwicke, the director of Twilight, will be directing this movie. Bring hankies.

Bait, By Alex Sanchez

Alex Sanchez dedicated this book "To the one in six boys and one in four girls". He is refering to current national statistics that say this is how many suffer childhood sexual abuse. Sanchez worked as a youth counselor and probation officer for years before becoming a writer, and his experiences are put to good use in Bait - writing a believable story of a high school boy who is struggling to move on to adulthood haunted by past abuse. Sanchez brings understanding and hope to a tough subject that is well worth thinking about. Read that dedication again.

Outlaw : the legend of Robin Hood, by Tony Lee

This is the backstory of Robin Hood, beginning with his childhood when he meets a friend of his father who is a famous outlaw. When that friend is arrested, his father is helpless to save him, and in front of a horrified young Robin his father does the best he can do - shooting his friend to death and thereby saving him from torture and humiliation. The child witness to this drama, young Robin, vows to grow up a master with a bow and sword - to never be as helpless as his father. And so he does grow up, setting the stage for his future as the rebel leader of a band of outlaws who defy the false King John and live by their own law.

The graphic novel illustrations add an emotional depth to the telling of this legendary tale of integrity versus law. For a more in depth telling, take a look at the Raven King Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead - also new to CHS library this year.

Gentlemen, by Michael Northrop

I liked the voices in this one - these 4 boys are from troubled families, failing in school, sometimes violent, distrustful of everyone except each other. Then one of the four disappears without a trace, and parents, then police, begin questioning the remaining three. The three have questions of their own, and their suspicions begin to fall on one suspect. Could their English teacher really have killed their friend? And if so, who can they tell - would ever believe their suspicions?

Pressures mount to unbearable levels, and soon even the bonds of friendship and loyalty begin to fray. The mystery is enough to keep the reader involved in this book, and the ending won't disappoint.

Shiver, by Maggie Steifvater

I wouldn't say this book is better than Twilight, but I will go out on a limb here - the werewolf in this book, Sam, is more appealing than Twilight's Jacob.

In Shiver, the werewolves become human in warm weather and wolves in cold. Some of the werewolves love the wolf life. Sam, however, loves his humanity. When he saves the life of a human child from death by the pack, they form a bond. He watches her grow up, and she too watches for him, both denying deeper feelings until those feelings can no longer be hidden. Once their feelings are shared, they must fight. Sam fights to remain human, and Grace fights to keep him with her.

This is a terrific story of love and nature and what it means to be human. Not to be missed!

Movie rights have been sold, and this will eventually be a trilogy, so there is a lot of promise with this one.

Redwall, by Brian Jacques

This is the 1st book in a long series of fantasy/adventure books. The Guys Read website recommends this for high school level, and this book's checkout rate will help decide whether or not to get more of these. The rest of the series is available from the Jr. High library, so anyone who asks for sequels won't have long to wait.

Newes from the dead, by Mary Hooper

Based on a true incident, this is the story of Anne Green, a servant in a wealthy household in 1650 England who was seduced by a young member of the family she served, miscarried his child, and when she threatened to name him and damage his reputation, was put on trial for the murder of her miscarried baby. She was found guilty and hanged, only to awaken on the disection table surrounded by medical men about to begin the disection.

The story is told in flashbacks as Anne lies on the table paralysed, and from the perspective of a young medical student present to observe his first disection. The rigid class system of 17th century England is so different from the world we live in today, and stories like this remind me how grateful we should be for not being born to that era.

Nineteen minutes, by Jodi Picoult

The story opens with a school shooting incident - the nineteen minutes of the title. But after those nineteen minutes in Sterling, New Hampshire, nothing is ever the same for anyone. Lives of victims are over. Lives of surviving victims are irrevocably altered. And then there are other, indirect victims. And one more, the shooter, who has lived his entire life a victim.

Shift, by Jennifer Bradbury

This is part mystery, part road trip, and all about friendship, both the good parts and the not so good stuff. Chris and Win have been friends since the 3rd grade. The day after high school graduation they take off on a cross-country bike trip from their homes in West Virginia to the West coast. But Win has a private agenda that Chris is unaware of until the day in Montana that Chris gets a flat tire and Win doesn't stop riding. That is the last time Chris sees Win, who completely disappears. Back home, Chris starts college in the fall when an FBI agent shows up courtesy of Win's manipulative father. It becomes clear to Chris that no one is going to find Win unless Win wants to be found, and Chris is the only one who has any chance to find out what happened to his best friend. Bradbury clearly is a biker - no one could write so well about it unless they had put some road miles on a bike. The mystery at the center of the story is intriguing, and her insight into the relationship between friends rings true as well.

Avalon High, by Meg Cabot

This one is fun to read if you like the King Arthur tales. It is set in modern times at a high school in Annapolis, Maryland, where many of the students bear uncanny resemblances to the characters in the Arthurian stories. Ellie (whose real name is Elaine), moves to town and even before school begins she meets and is instantly drawn to Will (Arthur William Wagner), and he is attracted to her too. Will is dating Jennifer (modernization of Gueneviere), and best friends with Lance (Lancelot). The old triangle has just become a foursome, and things don't work out like in the middle ages, but it's lots of fun to figure out just how things are going to go this time around. Meg Cabot (author of The princess diaries) keeps this re-telling fresh and quick-paced, and a fun romance.

Graceling, by Kristin Cashore

Katsa was born with eyes of two colors, which means that she has been "gifted" with a grace - an extreme skill, and must live in the palace and serve the king as he sees fit. At the beginning of the book Katsa is feared and despised - her skill is killing. The king uses her skill as a weapon to torture and execute his subjects and his enemies alike. Katsa is wild and willful and unhappy. When she meets Po - prince of a neighboring kingdom and another graceling, and her life is about to change. She begins to see that she can take charge of her own life, and soon she and Po set off on a mission full of political intrigue and personal danger.

This is fantasy that will keep the reader guessing what is coming next and is full of action and touched with romance. There will be sequels, and I hope they are as good as this 1st book promises.

Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson doesn't shy away from tough topics, and Wintergirls tackles the subject of anorexia with characteristic grit and understanding. The story concerns Lia and her friend Cassie who have competed to lose weight, spiraling into the winter of the illness and obsession that characterize anorexia. As the book opens Cassie has died of anorexia, and her death adds the burden of guilt and loss to Lia's already fragile hold on life. This is tough reading, and the author does a great job of exploring the problems of anorexia with understanding.

The last exit to Normal, by Michael Harmon

Ben Campbell is angry and rebellious after his dad announced that he was gay and his family blew apart. Ben has gotten in some serious trouble with the law, and as a result Dad and his boyfriend Edward move with Ben to live in Rough Butte, Montana with Edward's mother. Rough Butte isn't friendly toward gays or skateboarders either. The reader knows where this is going with Ben coming to terms with life, but the book is well written with both attitude and insight.

Hood, by Stephen R. Lawhead

Stephen Lawhood has taken the Robin Hood legends and set them in medieval Wales, where Norman invaders are picking off tiny kingdoms one by one. Bran ap Brychan, heir to the throne of Elfael, has gone into hiding after the ambush and massacre of his father, the king, along with most of the able-bodied men of the kingdom. Pursued and hunted, Bran makes his way deep into the ancient forest where he finds others who have also found safety there. And from hiding he finds ways to secretly help the people of his kingdom who are suffering under the heavy yoke of the Norman invaders. This is a fresh re-telling of the old legends, and a compelling adventure story too.