The Dead and the Gone

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

After a meteor hits the moon and sets off a series of horrific climate changes, seventeen-year-old Alex Morales must take care of his sisters alone in the chaos of New York City.

My Thoughts - This was a gripping, tradgic story! It was frightening in that the reader began to wonder if this was possible and how would people really survive.

If you like this title read Life as We Knew It also by Susan Beth Pfeffer. It is the story of the same event from the point of view of someone living in a rural community!

*Summary taken from CIP data.

Secrets of My Hollywood Life

Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita

Kaitlin Burke is a Hollywood star! She has a starring role in a weekly tv show and a blooming movie career. But all she wants is to experience life as a normal teenager. Is that even possible with her famous face? Kaitlin and her best friend Liz hatch a plan for Kaitlin to have that normal teenage life. She will enroll in Clark Hall, the high school Liz attends, in disguise! Will anyone believe that mousy Rachel Rogers isn't really Kaitlin Burke?

If you like this book, try the others in the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series: On Location, Family Affairs and Paparazzi Princess!

My Thoughts - This was a great story about Hollywood and high school! If you liked Meg Cabot's Airhead you will love this series!

Ranger's Apprentice

Ranger's Apprentice: Book One - The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan

When fifteen-year-old Will is rejected by battleschool, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and winds up protecting the kingdom from danger.

My Thoughts - This was a great adventure story! I loved getting to know Will and seeing his special talents develop. This is just the first in a series, so look for the other stories to follow.

*Summary taken from CIP data.

Unwind

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs--and perhaps, save their own lives.

My Thoughts - Great book! I couldn't put it down!

*Summary taken from CIP data.

The Boy Who Dared

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

In October 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hubener, imprisioned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.

My Thougts - A powerful story that makes me think about bravery, what it means to stand up for the truth and what it can cost. Read this book with Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler's Shadow, also by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.

*Summary taken from CIP data.

The Compound

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen

Fifteen-year-old Eli, locked inside a radiation-proof compound built by his father to keep them safe following a nuclear attack, begins to question his future, as well as his father's grip on sanity as the family's situation steadily disintegrates over the course of six years.

*Summary taken from CIP data.

The Rag and Bone Shop

The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier

Could you confess to something you didn't do? Could somebody make you admit that you did something horrible even if it wasn't true? Jason learns one day that little Alicia was murdered one hot summer afternoon. He was the last person to see Alicia alive...except for the killer. The police want his help to find the murderer or do they? Do they think Jason killed Alicia because he was the last one to see her alive? Jason knows he didn't hurt Alicia, but can the interogator get him to confess?

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

It all begins with the murder of a family, except that a little toddler escapes. He walks off into the night and into a graveyard. A ghostly couple take him as their own son to raise and he is given the Freedom of the Graveyard by all of its inhabitants. He becomes Nobody Owens, Bod for short and grows up surrounded by ghosts and other denizens having many a hair-raising adventure!

Graceling

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace of killing and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

My Thoughts - This book was fabulous!!! I loved the adventure and suspense! I loved how Katsa discovers the power of her Grace and how to be her own person!

*Summary taken from CIP data.

The Breakup Bible

The Breakup Bible by Melissa Kantor

After a breakup with her boyfriend, school newspaper features editor Jen Lewis receives a book from her grandmother that provides basic commandments for getting over an ex and sets out to recover from the loss of the romance.

My Thoughts - This was a great story about getting over a boyfriend and a breakup with lots of funny moments thrown in!

*Summary taken from CIP data.

Suite Scarlett

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

Scarlett Martin lives with her mother, father, brother and two sisters at the Hopewell, a small family owned hotel in New York City. On her fifteenth birthday she receives a special gift that is part of the family's tradition: a key to the Empire Suite and a job. Scarlett is in charge of the Empire Suite and is responsible for serving any guest who stays in the grand old suite. When Mrs. Amberson arrives, life picks up for Scarlett who has been left in the city while all of her school friends pursue jobs outside of the city for the summer. Mrs. Amberson appropriates Scarlett as her personal assistant and so begins the wild ride that is Scarlett's fifteenth summer complete with a-far-off-Broadway production starring her brother, a financial crisis and a possible boyfriend. What could go wrong?

Artichoke's Heart

Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

When she is almost sixteen years old, Rosemary decides she is sick of being overweight, mocked at school and at Heavenly Hair--her mother's beauty salon--and feeling out of control, and as she slowly loses weight, she realizes that she is able to cope with her mother's cancer, having a boyfriend for the first time, and discovering that other people's lives are not as perfect as they seem from the outside.

My Thoughts - Rosemary is wonderful! She will stay with me for awhile! I liked the way she learned how to handle her problems throughout the story. She taught me some things too!

*Summary taken from CIP data.

North of Beautiful

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Terra, a sensitive, artistic high school senior born with a port-wine stain, struggles with issues of inner and outer beauty with the help of her Goth friend Jacob.

My Thoughts - This was a powerful story that challenged me to think about what it means to be yourself, what makes something beautiful and how to deal with the hard things in life. There were some characters in the story that I hated and some that I loved dearly!

*Summary taken from CIP data.

Dead is the New Black

Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez

While dealing with her first boyfriend and suddenly being pressed into service as a substitute cheerleader, sixteen-year-old Daisy Giordano, daughter and sister of psychics but herself a "normal", attempts to help her mother discover who is behind a series of bizarre attacks on teenage tirls in their little town of Nightshade, California.

My Thoughts - This was a fun, quick read! I liked Daisy! This is the first of a series so look for more titles: Dead is a State of Mind and Dead is so Last Year!

*Summary taken from CIP data.