Monday, November 25, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
A to Z Survey
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Dust & decay
My review on imagined love (by diamond drake)
Young adult books on the newyork best seller list
Young adult books on the newyork best seller list
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
BEAUTIFUL CREATURES BY : KAMI GARICA & MARGARET STOHL
Friday, August 9, 2013
Books for YA readers and younger
Only two zombie books? Oh, the times, they are a-changing. This list of best horror novels reviewed inBooklist from August 2011 to July 2013 has a particular psychological bent, revealing the minds of damaged survivors, lunatic schoolgirls, and maniacal fathers. Make a copy of this list and never sleep again.
The End Games. By T. Michael Martin. 2013. HarperCollins/Balzer and Bray, $17.99 (9780062201805). Gr. 9–12.
Michael has a unique way of keeping his mentally damaged five-year-old brother protected from the undead apocalypse: pretend like life’s a video game. Possibly the best zombie book published for YAs.
Gravediggers: Mountain of Bones. By Christopher Krovatin. 2012. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen, $16.99 (9780062077400). Gr. 6–9.
For the age range, this is unusually serious stuff: a hiking retreat goes wrong thanks to a witch and a reanimated dance troupe. The tough wilderness survival element gives this real teeth.
Henry Franks. By Peter Adam Salomon. 2012. Flux, paper, $9.99 (9780738733364). Gr. 9–12.
After the car crash, it took 4,317 stitches to put Henry back together—and it takes about 300 pages to piece together his gruesome story, one involving morgues, a fast-food-devouring monster, and a mess of physical and emotional scars.
In the Shadow of Blackbirds. By Cat Winters. 2013. illus. Abrams/Amulet, $16.95 (9781419705304). Gr. 9–12.
The post-WWI Spanish flu epidemic has the spirit photography business booming, an unpleasant development for 16-year-old Mary, who begins suffering the tormented wails of her recently killed true love.
The Isle of Blood. By Rick Yancey. 2011. Simon & Schuster, $17.99 (9781416984528). Gr. 9–12.
The third entry in the acclaimed Monstrumologist series somehow exceeds the high literary standards of its predecessors as Dr. Warthrop and his trusty charge, Will, head after the holy grail of monstrumology: the Unseen One.
Long Lankin. By Lindsey Barraclough. 2012. Candlewick, $16.99 (9780763658083). Gr. 8–11.
Old-fashioned in the richest, moodiest of senses, this is a book to get lost in, as two sisters in 1958 Britain become involved in the witchcraft, exorcisms, and plagues surrounding a legendary murderous creature.
Scowler. By Daniel Kraus. 2013. Delacorte, $16.99 (9780385743099). Gr. 9–12.
In 1981, an Iowa family’s tenuous peace is shattered by two shocking events: a meteorite’s crash arrival and the return of a monstrous father. Kraus’ boldly visceral coming-of-age story explores the darkest spaces in family life and the shocking resilience of the human psyche.
Ten. By Gretchen McNeil. 2012. HarperCollins/Balzer and Bray, $17.99 (9780062118783). Gr. 8–11.
Ten teens at an exclusive house party watch a foreboding message on a DVD, the lights go out . . . and then the bodies begin to pile up, one by one. Worst. Party. Ever?
The Watcher in the Shadows. By Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Tr. by Lucia Graves. 2013. Little, Brown, $17.99 (9780316044769). Gr. 8–11.
In this tale of a young housekeeper hired on by an eccentric toy maker, Zafón hits every gothic note: castles, caves, lighthouses, woods, masked balls, and ventriloquist dummies.
You Know What You Have to Do. By Bonnie Shimko. 2013. Amazon/Skyscape, $17.99 (9781477816424). Gr. 9–12.
Beginning with the protagonist burning her neighbor alive, this novel dares to take us into the numb and only occasionally guilty mind of Maggie, a 15-year-old sociopath. This could be the closest thing out there to a YA American Psycho.
New books coming out in August 2013
August 2013
Hardcover
EgmontUSA | 9781606844410 | Published August 6, 2013
From the moment the Hourglass group violated the rules of the space time continuum to rescue a murdered loved one, time has been in flux. Frantically seeking a way to turn back this tide, the Hourglass begins a search for the legendary Infinityglass, tracking it to the city of New Orleans --- Quiet, reliable Dune, the group's favorite geek, is selected to travel to the Crescent City and somehow retrieve the renowned object. But there's a problem. Because the Infinityglass is not an object, it's a person.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) | 9780374379964 | Published August 6, 2013
Kendall is football town, and Jerry Downing is the high school's star quarterback, working to redeem himself after he nearly killed a girl in a drunk driving accident last year. Carla Jenson, lead reporter for the school newspaper's sports section, has recruited Jerry to co-author a blog chronicling the season from each of their perspectives.
Candlewick | 9780763663995 | Published August 6, 2013
The Vietnam War rages overseas, but back at home, in a year that begins with the hanging of one man and ends with the drowning of another, eleven schoolgirls embrace their own chilling history when their teacher abruptly goes missing on a field trip.
Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers | 9781442432680 | Published August 6, 2013
Alenna escaped. It was expected that she would die on the wheel, the island where would-be criminals are sent as directed by the UNA—the totalitarian supercountry that was once the United States, Mexico, and Canada. But Alenna and her boyfriend, Liam, made it to safety. Except safety, they will soon learn, is relative.
Clarion Books | 9780547739649 | Published August 6, 2013
Locked doors are opening, and magical creatures are tumbling through mysterious portals from Mag Mell, the world-between-worlds, into the streets of Chicago. Meanwhile, the romance between seventeen-year-old Teagan, who is part goblin, and the alluring bad boy Finn Mac Cumhaill is heating up...which is awkward, to say the least, considering he is bound by a family curse to fight goblins his entire life.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | 9780316203791 | Published August 6, 2013
Teen rocker Ritchie Sudden is serving 90 days in a juvenile detention center. He tells the story of the week leading up to his arrest: A battle of the bands looms. Dad split about five minutes before Mom's girlfriend moved in. There's the matter of trying to score with the dangerously hot Ravenna Woods while avoiding the dangerously huge Spence Proffer --- not to mention just trying to forget what his sister, Beth, said the week before she died.
Soho Teen | 9781616952631 | Published August 13, 2013
Marina is born of privilege. Her mother, Sveta, is the Soviet Union's prima ballerina. But Sveta is afflicted with a mysterious second sight and becomes obsessed with exposing a horrific state secret. Then she disappears. Fearing for their lives, Marina and her father defect to Brooklyn. Now Marina must navigate the web of intrigue surrounding her mother's disappearance, her ability, and exactly whom she can—and can't—trust.
Disney-Hyperion | 9781423149859 | Published August 13, 2013
All Miranda wants is a normal life. She's determined to move past the horrible truth of her origin as a clone so she can enjoy time with her boyfriend, Peter, and the rest of her friends at school. But when one of Miranda's teammates turns rogue, it begins a war that puts the world in jeopardy. Now, Miranda must follow her instincts-not her heart-in order to save everything she's fought so hard to keep.
Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers | 9781442439924 | Published August 13, 2013
Benny Imura and his friends have found the jet and Sanctuary—but neither is what they expected. With Chong hovering between life and death, clinging to his humanity by a thread, Benny makes a startling discovery: A scientist may have found a cure for the zombie plague. In this riveting conclusion to the Rot & Ruin series, the battle to end all battles is just beginning.
Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers | 9781442440784 | Published August 13, 2013
Lillia, Kat, and Mary had the perfect plan. Work together in secret to take down the people who wronged them. But things didn’t exactly go the way they’d hoped at the Homecoming Dance --- Reeve is still a total jerk. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, burn for a burn. A broken heart for a broken heart. They’ll make Reeve fall in love with Lillia and then they will crush him. It’s the only way he’ll learn.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | 9780316221337 | Published August 13, 2013
HMH Books for Young Readers | 9780547813370 | Published August 13, 2013
The eagerly awaited addition to the series begun with the New York Times best-seller LIFE AS WE KNEW IT, in which a meteor knocks the moon off its orbit and the world changes forever.It's been more than two years since Jon Evans and his family left Pennsylvania, hoping to find a safe place to live, yet Jon remains haunted by the deaths of those he loved. Can Jon risk doing what is right in a world gone so terribly wrong?
Dial | 9780803738898 | Published August 15, 2013
Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White's sleepy, seaside town...until River West comes along. River rents the guesthouse behind Violet's crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more?
Dial | 9780803737044 | Published August 15, 2013
Perpetual scaredy-cat Conor O'Neill has the fright of his life when a banshee girl named Ashling shows up in his bedroom. Ashling is---as all banshees are---a harbinger of death, but she's new at this banshee business, and first she insists on going to middle school. As Conor attempts to hide her identity from his teachers, he realizes he's going to have to pay a visit to the underworld if he wants to keep his family safe.
Dial | 9780803734722 | Published August 20, 2013
Alcatraz Island in the 1930s isn't the most normal place to grow up, but it's home for Moose Flanagan, his autistic sister, Natalie, and all the families of the guards. After a fire starts in the Flanagan's apartment, Natalie is blamed, and Moose bands with the other kids to track down the possible arsonist. Then Moose gets a cryptic note from the notorious Al Capone himself. If Moose can't figure out what Capone's note means, it may be too late.
HarperCollins | 9780062220967 | Published August 20, 2013
ASYLUM is a thrilling and creepy photo-novel perfect for fans of the New York Timesbestseller MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN. Featuring found photos of unsettling history and real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux's teen debut is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity.
Algonquin Young Readers | 9781616202514 | Published August 20, 2013
Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend, Nasrin, since they were six. But Iran is a dangerous place for two girls in love. So they carry on in secret --— until Nasrin’s parents announce that they’ve arranged for her marriage. Nasrin tries to persuade Sahar that they can go on as they had before, but Sahar dreams of loving Nasrin exclusively --— and openly.
Amulet Books | 9781419707933 | Published August 20, 2013
For as long as she can remember, Wren Gray’s goal has been to please her parents. But as high school graduation nears, she finds herself questioning what she truly wants. Charlie Parker, on the other hand, is painfully aware of his heart’s desire. Charlie has loved Wren since the day he first saw her. But a girl like Wren would never fall for a guy like Charlie—And yet certain things are written in the stars. And in the summer after high school, Wren and Charlie’s souls will collide.
Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers | 9781442474185 | Published August 20, 2013
Destined for greatness...tormented by demons. The epic story of Henry VIII’s transformation from a handsome, gifted youth to a murderous, cruel king.
Candlewick | 9780763660093 | Published August 27, 2013
In a savage land sustained by wizardry and ruled by vendetta, Lina is the enchanting but willful daughter of a village lord. She and her childhood companion, Damek, have grown up privileged and spoiled, and they’re devoted to each other to the point of obsession. But Lina’s violet eyes betray her for a witch, and witches are not tolerated in a brutally patriarchal society. Whether drawn by the romantic, the magical, or the gothic, readers will be irresistibly compelled by the passion of this tragic tale.
Feiwel & Friends | 9781250008466 | Published August 27, 2013
Hailey Harper has always felt invisible. Now her dad has a new job and the family is moving to Hollywood. Just what Hailey needs: starting a new high school. As she’s packing, Hailey finds a journal that belonged to her older sister, Noel, who is away at college. Called "How to be a Hater," it’s full of info Hailey can really use. Has Hailey found the Bible of Coolness? Will it help her reinvent herself at her new school?
Bloomsbury USA Childrens | 9781619630628 | Published August 27, 2013
Bloomsbury USA Childrens | 9781619630628 | Published August 27, 2013
HarperTeen | 9780062063106 | Published August 27, 2013
The last thing Mason Starling remembers is the train crossing a bridge. An explosion . . . a blinding light . . . then darkness. Now she is alone, stranded in Asgard—the realm of Norse legend—and the only way for her to get home is to find the Spear of Odin, a powerful relic left behind by vanished gods. The Fennrys Wolf knows all about Asgard. He was once trapped there. And he’ll do whatever it takes to find the girl who’s stolen his heart and bring her back—even if it means a treacherous descent into the underworld.
HarperCollins | 9780062102935 | Published August 27, 2013
Noa Torsen is on the run. Having outsmarted the sinister Project Persephone, Noa and her friend Zeke now move stealthily across the country, protecting runaways before they become test subjects for the Project’s horrific experiments.
Random House Books for Young Readers | 9780449815977 | Published August 27, 2013
Margaret K. McElderry Books | 9781442481411 | Published August 27, 2013
Colonial settler John Wakely is only ten when his father dies, but he has already experienced the warmth and friendship of the nearby tribes. When he is apprenticed to a barrel-maker, John sees how quickly the relationships between settlers and natives are deteriorating. His friendship with Little Hawk will put both boys in grave danger.
Simon Pulse | 9781442472716 | Published August 27, 2013
Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) | 9780805096279 | Published August 27, 2013
Seventeen-year-old Penelope (Pen) has lost everything—her home, her parents, and her ten-year-old brother. Like a female Odysseus in search of home, she navigates a dark world full of strange creatures, gathers companions and loses them, finds love and loses it, and faces her mortal enemy.
Katherine Tegen Books | 9780062217134 | Published August 27, 2013
Varsity Tennis captain Ezra Faulkner was supposed to be homecoming king, but that was before—before his girlfriend cheated on him, before a car accident shattered his leg, and before he fell in love with unpredictable new girl Cassidy Thorpe.
Greenwillow Books | 9780062026545 | Published August 27, 2013
The third book in Rae Carson's award-winning THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS fantasy trilogy. Elisa, the seventeen-year-old sorcerer-queen, will travel into an unknown enemy's realm to win back her true love, save her kingdom, and uncover the final secrets of her destiny. Full of sorcery, adventure, sizzling romance, and secrets that challenge everything she believes, this is a bold and powerful conclusion to an extraordinary trilogy.
Atheneum Books for Young Readers | 9781442497818 | Published August 27, 2013
Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only 10 years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto. Ultimately, it was the generosity and cunning of one man named Oskar Schindler, who saved Leon Leyson’s life, and the lives of his mother, his father and two of his four siblings, by adding their names to his list --- a list that became world renowned: Schindler’s List.
Knopf Books for Young Readers | 9780375867026 | Published August 27, 2013
At the turn of the twentieth century, Spiritualism and séances are all the rage—even in the scholarly town of Cambridge, England. While mediums dupe the grief-stricken, a group of local fringe scientists seeks to bridge the gap to the spirit world by investigating the dark corners of the human mind.
HarperCollins | 9780061974618 | Published August 27, 2013
THE FALL OF FIVE is the fourth novel in the New York Times bestselling I Am Number Four series by Pittacus Lore. The Garde are finally reunited, but do they have what it takes to win the war against the Mogadorians?
Arthur A. Levine Books | 9780545430999 | Published August 27, 2013
In 1945, at the end of World War II, Adolf Eichmann, the head of operations for the Nazis' Final Solution, walked into the mountains of Germany and vanished from view. Sixteen years later, an elite team of spies captured him at a bus stop in Argentina. THE NAZI HUNTERS is the thrilling and fascinating story of what happened between these two events.
Atheneum Books for Young Readers | 9781442432895 | Published August 27, 2013
In the conclusion to the bestselling Secret Language of Girls trilogy, Marylin and Kate find that boys can be just as complicated as friendship. Marylin knows that, as a middle school cheerleader, liking the student body president is unacceptable. Kate, meanwhile, has been spending time with Matthew Holler, but she's not sure they see eye-to-eye. Can either girl make it work?
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) | 9780374380670 | Published August 27, 2013
When Ruby Jolene Hurley sees the shadow of her dead pet goat Jethro dancing on his grave, that's the first hint that something strange is going on in Way Down Deep. Ruby thinks the answer to their problems is the treasure that Archibald Ward, the town's founder, supposedly buried more than two hundred years ago. Most people say the treasure is just a myth, but Ruby is determined to prove the naysayers wrong and save the day.
Atheneum Books for Young Readers | 9781416957843 | Published August 27, 2013
From the absurd to the wish-I’d-thought-of-that clever, writing professor Catherine Lewis blends Mother Goose with Edward Gorey and Queneau, and the result is learning a whole lot more about three not so helpless mice, and how to fine tune your own writing, bildungsroman and all.
Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers | 9780689876042 | Published August 27, 2013
Knopf Books for Young Readers | 9780307931900 | Published August 27, 2013
New York Times bestselling author David Levithan tells the based-on-true-events story of Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record—all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS.
Chicken House | 9780545536721 | Published August 27, 2013
Just when you think you're out...it's the morning after the night of the return of the living dead. Or something like that. Bobby thought she'd found the antidote to the Carrot Man Veggie Juice that had turned the rest of their classmates into zombies. But this time, zombies aren't the only evil stressing her out. The brain-dead are bad enough, but how can Bobby stop the big pharma business behind the epidemic? Especially when her own mom works for the company?
Dial | 9780803738553 | Published August 29, 2013
Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn't kept her from leading a quietly happy life...until now.
Paperback
Candlewick | 9780763664541 | Published August 6, 2013
Coop is cooking up another sure-misfire scheme: to make a cheapo horror movie guaranteed to make Coop, Sean and Matt filthy rich. It's a terrible idea, and Sean knows it. But he actuallyis desperate for cash --- and for a way to wipe that big fat L off his girlfriend-less forehead. But when he agrees to write a script about the attack of zombie-vampire humanzees, he has no idea just how powerful a chick magnet this movie will be.
Ember | 9780440240198 | Published August 6, 2013
At 7:45 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving break, a bomb goes off at Edison High. Nine people die instantly. Fifteen are critically injured. Those who survive, struggle to cope with the loss and destruction. All must find new meaning for their lives as a result of something they may never understand.
Roaring Brook Press | 9781596438163 | Published August 6, 2013
Enter an elite New Hampshire prep school, and define yourself by making your way amidst the various dramas, challenges, and temptations of this competitive, high stakes world, starting with the most exciting party of the year --- Midwinter’s Night Dream. In the frosty woods just off campus --- with your roommates and best friends Annabel Snow, Spider Harris, and Libby Monroe, choices unfold quickly as you’re faced with deciding which risks to take in pursuit of social status, adventure, success, and love.
Ember | 9780385739672 | Published August 6, 2013
Caroline B. Cooney investigates a number of different perspectives in THE LOST SONGS, giving readers an in-depth portrayal of a Southern community. As the book progresses, all of the characters’ lives intertwine as they each face their own different, but related, problems.
Ember | 9780307931009 | Published August 6, 2013
Sethie Weiss has managed to get down to 111 pounds and knows that with a little more hard work --- a few more meals skipped, a few more snacks vomited away --- she can force the number on the scale even lower. This is the portrayal of one girl's withdrawal, until she is sinking like a stone into her own illness.
HarperCollins | 9780062114884 | Published August 13, 2013
Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else--two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren't they settling? Why isn't one of them fading? Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn't...
Speak | 9780142422953 | Published August 20, 2013
American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England...but the next morning he's gone. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.
Arthur A. Levine Books | 9780545434171 | Published August 27, 2013
Sarah Parsons has never seen her family's estate - its hedge maze, secret chambers, ghosts, or lost diamonds. But when her grandmother dies, everything is about to change.
Square Fish | 9781250034212 | Published August 27, 2013
The summer before his senior year, Jude gets his first job, falls in love for the first time, and starts to break away from his parents. Jude’s house is kept dark, and no one talks much --- it’s been that way since his little sister drowned in a swimming pool seven years ago when Jude was supposed to be watching her. Now, Jude is finally starting to live. Reallylive. And then, life spins out of control. Again.
Reagan Arthur / Back Bay Books | 9780316097789 | Published August 27, 2013
Addy Hanlon and Beth Cassidy are the cheerleaders all the other girls fear and admire, but everything changes when the new coach arrives. Coach Colette French instantly overturns the girls’ pecking order and gains their fierce alliance --- until a shocking event shakes their fragile peace.
EgmontUSA | 9781606844953 | Published August 27, 2013
Mirabelle's past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents' tragic deaths to her guardians' half-truths about why she can't return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her 16th birthday --- and discovers a world she never could have imagined.
Scholastic Paperbacks | 9780545327879 | Published August 27, 2013
A spine-tingling steampunk tale of spies, intrigue and heart-racing romance.
Speak | 9780142425039 | Published August 29, 2013
Kyla has been Slated --- her memory and personality erased as punishment for committing a crime she can’t remember. The government has taught her how to walk and talk again, given her a new identity and a new family and told her to be grateful for this second chance that she doesn’t deserve. It’s also her last chance --- because they’ll be watching to make sure she plays by their rules.
Soho Teen | 9781616954369 | Published August 13, 2013
The Chronicle. Nothing is more vital to the resolve of the inhabitants of the New North, the last inhabitants of an Earth flooded by the Healing. But not all Chronicles are deemed True. And not all Testors are Gallants. One year there was a Maiden, Madeline, the first but not the last. Braving the perils of the Testing, she discovered a Relic that, if Chronicled, would be the New North’s downfaVote in Our PollWhen you aren't in the middle of your latest page-turning YA book, which of the following hobbies or crafts do you enjoy? (Select ALL that apply.)TAKE OUR POLL » | September