Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Charlie had never really spoken to Jasper Jones, the town “troublemaker”, before the night he came to Charlie’s window. He had been looking forward to a lazy summer with his best friend, Jeffrey, but now he is in the middle of a murder mystery. Someone hung the daughter of the shire’s president, and Jasper is sure he will be blamed unless he and Charlie can figure out who did it first. The boys deal with murder, prejudice, incest and first loves. They also get to know each other and themselves much better over the course of this summer. This book takes place in a small Australian town in the 1960s, and while a lot of very serious things happen in the story, it’s also a very funny story. This book had me laughing out loud, quoting it to my friends, on the edge of my seat, and thinking long after I put it down.

Reviewed by Claire, Youth Outreach Coordinator

Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher

Katcher tells an amazing story in Almost Perfect.  It can be difficult to read because it has some very harsh realities in it.  The story centers on Logan and Sage. Logan's still reeling from a painful breakup with his longtime girl friends Brenda, when Sage walks into his life.  He immediately feels drawn to her. While she's amazing, Sage comes with some restrictions.  She's not allowed to date or leave the house by herself at all.  At first this just seems like a case of strict parents- but then it turns about much much more than that.  Once Logan finds Sage's "secret" out - it changes everything. Logan tries to work through his feelings about who he is and how Sage's secret affects that.  While Logan is often caught up with himself and his own feelings there are tons of different things Sage is dealing with and coping with too.  Logan and Sage's parents are often concerned about how Sage will make them look - not about Sage.  Sage is battling with being her true self, whether or not society will ever accept her and whether she can accept all the hardships that come with just being herself or if perhaps it's not worth it.  

Posted by Renee, Teen Outreach Librarian

Legend by Marie Lu

Legend is a book that had a lot of hype surrounding it. So when I sat down to read I wondered if it would live up to all of the hype. Legend wasn’t legendary, but it was pretty good and it stands apart from other dystopian( books similar to The Hunger Games) novels that have come out in the past year.  What makes Legend stand out? First - there's the font - it's gold- I thought that was really cool. I’ve read a LOT of books and none of them so far have had gold colored font. The chapters written from Day's perspective, the notorious teen criminal on the run from the Republic, are in gold. Then the chapters written by June, the genius future star of the Republic's security force, are in black.  Another great element is the action in the book. Right from the beginning you're pulled into one of Day's daring missions to try and help his family.  This mission goes terribly wrong when one of the Republic's security guards tries to stop Day and ends up losing his life.  What makes matter worse is that it security guard was also June's brother. A brother, who was like a father to her, since their parents died a few years back.  June is assigned to track down Day and bring him to justice for killing her brother.  But once June and Day meet face to face it turns out perhaps avenging her brother's death isn't the real answer to her or the Republic's problems.

If you're interested in learning more about the author of Legend, Marie Lu, and her writing process check out Colleen's post here!

Reviewed by Renee, Teen Outreach Librarian

 

All caught up with Twilight or the City of Bones?

Here are some more paranormal romances that might pique your interest and pluck on your heart strings -

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick-Partnered in biology with new student Patch, 16-year-old Nora Gray starts seeing things she cannot explain. At first she's both drawn and repelled by her lab partner, but when she sees V-shaped scars on his back, Nora learns Patch is fighting an ancient battle between the fallen and the immortal.        Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr -Seventeen-year-old Aislinn, who has the rare ability to see faeries, is  drawn against her will into a centuries-old battle between the Summer King and the Winter Queen, and the survival of her life, her love, and summer all hang in the balance.     Evermore by Alyson Noël-Since the car accident that claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras and hear people's thoughts, and she goes out of her way to hide from other people until she meets Damen, another psychic teenager who is hiding even more mysteries.     

Stitches by David Small

Do you ever remember reading Imogene’s Antlers as a child? It’s about a girl who wakes up with an enormous pair of antlers on her head one morning?  Well David Small the author and illustrator of that book, woke up one morning when he was fourteen and found that instead of antlers on his head – he couldn’t speak.  Turns out that his parents had decided not to tell him he had cancer and could die, which is why he had to have surgery to remove one of his vocal cords. 

In his graphic novel memoir David Small reflects on his childhood and how his parents’ unhappiness in their own lives was transferred on to his own, from how they approached his cancer – with his dad, a doctor, trying his very own treatments of radiation for David’s cancer, to his mother’s anger which was often released in angry rages at David.  What’s a boy to do in a family like this? David Small shows how he survived his family, overcame all the craziness life brought him, and how a little artistic expression can work wonders.

Reviewed by Renee, Teen Outreach Librarian

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Gentry, a nice small town in the United States, filled with loving families, friends, community.  Not quite- Gentry has something horrible dwelling underneath it, full of mayhem and misery.  Two feuding sisters lurk just beneath the nicely cut lawns.  One sister, who wants nothing more than to be loved, rules the House of Mayhem and the other sister, who thrives on cruelty, torture and blood, rules over House of Misery. The sisters rule a mash up of people, if you can even call them that, which live in between dead and undead, some with mouths full of maggots and others with horrible scars.  An unspoken agreement between Gentry and these two houses exists- every seven years one child of Gentry is taken a replaced with a child of the House of Misery, the Gentry child is sacrificed to please the House of Misery.  If all goes as planned then both Gentry and the House of Misery live happy and content.  These “replacement” children usually don’t live long in Gentry- the families they're stuck with just can’t bring themselves to love the replacement children – except for one- Mackie. Mackie  is a replacement that has lived longer than almost any other- but now he finds himself in a weakening state- he’s dying and after his sister strikes a deal with the House of Mayhem to get Mackie a cure for what ails him- Mackie must reunite with his real family in the depths of the House of Mayhem.  As Mackie gets more and more involved with the House of Mayhem he begins to uncover secrets about his family, the town of Gentry and how the houses of Mayhem and Misery really began.  This very twisted and disturbing tale is reminiscent of a good horror movie and will keep you on edge as Mackie digs deeper and deeper in the creepiness of Gentry, Misery and Mayhem. 

 

Reviewed by Renee, Teen Outreach Librarian

Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

If you’re not a big fan of blood and gore- then this is not the book for you.  If you like blood, guts, gore, suspense and nightmare provoking monsters- then the Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey is like winning the lottery for you!  It takes place back in 1800’s, where Will Henry is an assistant to Dr. Warthrop- a Monstrumologist- someone who studies and sometimes kills monsters.  The story begins with a knock at the door in late one night revealing a grave robber with a very special delivery…a dead monstrous beast- with its last meal still in its mouth- the beast is known as an Anthropophagi, a headless monster complete with a mouth in its chest full of skull crushing teeth.  Soon the doctor and Will Henry begin to realize that this Anthropophagi appearance wasn’t random- when more gruesome killings are discovered.  Extra hands have to be called in to launch a great hunt for these blood thirsty creatures- and Will Henry finds himself at the dangerous forefront of it all – as the victor – or perhaps just monster bait. 

Reviewed by Renee, Teen Outreach Librarian

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Beatrice lives in Chicago- well actually she lives in Abnegation one factions of Chicago.  Everyone in Abnegation is selfness, there are four other factions, amity (friendship/peace), dauntless (fearless), erudite (intelligence) and candor(always speak the truth).   Beatrice is now 16, which means it’s time to figure out which faction she’ll spend the rest of her life in, if she doesn’t chose Abnegation this choice also means cutting herself off from her Abnegation parents.  A test which is actually a simulation helps decide which faction she would be best suited for, but Beatrice still has the final choice.  Beatrice’s test doesn’t offer an conclusive results, her test proctor informs her that she’s a divergent someone who doesn’t fit in any of the clearly defined factions, a result she must not share with anyone because the consequences could be terrible. 

Which faction does Beatrice settle on? Dauntless- and the action ramps up from that point on.  Beatrice- who now goes Tris finds out that even her though she had chosen Dauntless as her new faction – doesn’t mean they chose her.  Only ten initiates will be accepted in the faction and the newbies must prove themselves by performing well in intense tasks like fighting, knife throwing, shooting and most of all confronting and overcoming their fears.  Tris seems to have the odds stacked against her  since she was an Abnegation and  kind of scrawny but her determination and some support from one of the trainers,  named Four, help her stay in the running for a slot.  While proving her worth to Dauntless- Tris also finds herself questioning the Dauntless and the other factions and their true motives.  Her divergentness starts to become more apparent to not just her but to others who are secretly observing her.  Will she be able to keep her secret and what does her divergence mean for the future of all of the factions?

-Renee, Teen Outreach Librarian

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay is an intense and emotional read. Parts of it almost rip your heart out. Mia finds herself in a situation where she has to decide to whether to stay and return to a life that will forever leave a gaping hole in her soul or to leave it all- never confronting the horribleness.

Mia is a 17 year old musician- a cellist, who might just get into to Julliard- which happens to be across the country from her family and her amazing boyfriend, Shooting Star lead singer, Adam. Music weaves itself into all different parts of Mia's life- it's what brought her punk rock parents together and it’s what drew Adam to her- when they were seemingly opposite. Throughout the book Mia reflects back on her life and dwells in her memories with her parents, younger brother Teddy, Adam, her tough as nails best friend Kim, gram and gramps. As the heart monitor beeps and a machine helps her breath Mia has to make up her mind- to stay or to go

-Reviewed by Renee, Teen Outreach Librarian

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie reviewed by Lexi

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie

by David Lubar

In Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie, a boy named Scott is entering his first year at Zenger High School. While Scott is faced with troubling classes and drifting friends, he balances writing weekly sports reviews for the school paper along with a couple of other extra activities. One day, he gets news that nobody ever expected-he's going to be a big brother! So, with knowing this, Scott writes daily entries to his microscopic brother about how to survive the beginning of high school. No experience at high school is ever complete without a little bit of drama. Scott has had his eye on a girl for a while now and tries many times to get her attention. But a freaky girl with to metal all over face, vomit green hair, and shirts that are indescribable transfers to Zenger, and Scott found her interesting. And who knows, the two people from different worlds that face the same judgmental people five times a week just might be perfect for each other.

review submitted by Lexi