Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

This is the first book of the Reckoners series by the co-author of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.  Currently in its 8^th week on the New York Times bestseller list, this is the story of the Epics and the Reckoners – and of David.  The Epics were created when a burst in the sky gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers.  But with these powers came a desire to rule – at all costs.  The Reckoners, the group of ordinary humans, spend their time studying the Epics in an effort to destroy them.  David knows that Steelheart is the Epic who is responsible for killing his father, and he’s out for revenge.

Find it in: APL Teen New Books YA FIC Sanderson, B.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba

 

This is the autobiographical account of William Kamkwamba's life in drought-stricken Malawi.  When William was 14, his family -- who farmed for a living -- began to feel the impacts of the drought and the lack of food as a result.  William felt he should do something and was curious about "electric wind."  Thus began his quest to discover all he could about this form of energy.  Using borrowed library books and items from junk piles, he began to build a windmill.  This is a story of his determination and perseverance to do something to change the life of his family and the lives of those in his village.

Find it: APL Teen Nonfiction YA BIO Kamkwamba, William .K35 2010

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai

 

Malala is a young woman who is wise beyond her years.  She had been outspoken about her belief that Pakistani women should have the same access to education as their male counterparts.  As a result, on October 9, 2012, she was shot by a member of the Taliban while riding the bus home from school.  Miraculously, she survived and is the youngest nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.  This is her story.

 

To place this book on hold, click here:  http://minerva.maine.edu/record=i6269922

 

 

The Ashleys by Melissa de la Cruz

a book review by Sydney Abbott

Meet the Ashleys, who rule the school and make life miserable for non-SOA (Seal of Approval) girls.  The three of them are gorgeous, wealthy, and have all the best clothing. This year, the three Ashleys watch one girl step out of her limo looking like a movie star.  Lauren has arrived at a new state, or so she hopes.  Her plan is to infiltrate the Ashleys and then destroy them.  With her father's newfound wealth, she's gone from bargain shopper to having her own personal shopper.  Lauren Page, tired of being a loser, has received a makeover in an attempt to fit in at Miss Gamble's Preparatory School for Girls, so she can wriggle her way into the inner circle of the most popular girls at school, the Ashleys.  She plans to break them apart and take charge as the new queen bee at Miss Gamble's.

I would really recommend this book.  It's a great book if you enjoy an easy-to-read, girly book.  The book keeps you interested throughout the entire story. 


The Ashleys is a page turner, also funny and enjoyable. The Ashleys sets its background on the social scene of a high-end society.  The Ashleys took place in San Francisco, and the characters were narrowed down to a group of pre-teens within an all-girl school.  You're definitely going to enjoy this book if you're interested in this genre!



Find it in YA FIC de la Cruz, M.

Haven (Winterhaven #1) by Kristi Cook

a book review by Sophie Messina

 

Haven by Kristi Cook is about Violet McKenna going to a school for gifted people. But she doesn’t realize this until her friends show her their powers. Violet’s visions are becoming stronger and now she thinks she can see the future. She sees visions of her father’s murder, and she wants to control them with the help of her new friends and Aidan.

This book was like Twilight goes to boarding school because Aidan turns out to be vampire, and he and Violet have a romance. Violets friends ( Kate, Sophie, Cece, and Marissa) have to learn to use their powers to face a group of vampires who are plotting to kill Aidan. Violet's visions help her learn about the killers and what’s coming up. They end up killing the vampires at the end of the year.

There are questions that pop up in the book. What do these vampires want? Is there someone on the inside of the school giving away information? What’s going to happen with Violet and Aidan? What will happen in the next book? Read this book and you decide.

Find it: YA FIC Cook, K.

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

a book recommendation by Lily Russell

 

A Stolen Life: a memoir by Jaycee Dugard is a true story of a girl who was kidnapped for 18 years. Jaycee had walked out of the house thinking she would be back in a short eight hours to greet her parents and tell them how her day was, but the opposite is true. Jaycee was walking to school when, out of the blue, she was knocked out and thrown into the trunk of a car.

Jaycee rode to the kidnapper, Mr. Garrido’s, house with her head down, refusing to lay her eyes on this terrible man. She was thrown into Garrido’s basement, given little food, or necessities.

Find it: BIO Dugard, Jaycee Lee

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

a book review by Sydney Abbott

 

Fifteen-year-old Charlie is about to begin his freshman year of high school without his best friend, Michael, who committed suicide one month before the  story begins. In an attempt to cope with Michael’s death and his own anxiety of entering high school alone, Charlie begins writing letters to an anonymous stranger. Charlie does not feel that he can lean on his parents or older siblings for support because they never truly understand him. He feels that the only relative that he ever felt close to was his Aunt Helen, who was killed in a car accident on his seventh birthday.

At school, Charlie befriends two seniors, Sam and her stepbrother Patrick. He soon develops feelings for Sam, but he believes that he has no chance with her. Sam and Patrick introduce him to many new experiences and a group of upperclassmen friends. Charlie writes about situations that he gets into with his new friends, including going to parties, driving through his town's tunnel and feeling "infinite," seeing and performing in Rocky Horror Picture Show, going on his first date, and trying various drugs. After one party, the police find Charlie passed out in the snow. In a conversation with the police and his parents, Charlie reveals that he often has visions, which means that he is not mentally well.

Despite his feelings for Sam, Charlie briefly dates Mary Elizabeth, another girl in their clique. She takes him to their school's Sadie Hawkins Dance, and they go on a few dates. At first, Charlie does not mind how one-sided their conversations are. Even so, after Mary Elizabeth buys him a book of poems, he senses a change in their relationship that he does not like. In a game of Truth or Dare at a party, Charlie is dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room. He kisses Sam, which officially ends his relationship with Mary Elizabeth. Patrick decides that Charlie should stay away until their relationship drama calms down.

Sam also starts a relationship with an attractive older boy named Craig. Charlie does not think that Craig appreciates Sam. Sam and Craig soon break up, after Sam learns that Craig had been cheating on her with numerous girls. Read this book to see how things turn out!

 Find it in YA FIC Chbosky, S.

 

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

a book review by Paige Boehk

Katniss and Peeta have won the 74th annual Hunger Games and have returned to district twelve with Haymitch.  Katniss should be celebrating for even being alive, but she has upset the leaders in the Capitol by rebelling against their decision to only have one victor and forcing them to take both her and Peeta.  Katniss goes on the victor's tour through all the twelve districts, seeing all the parents of the kids they either killed or helped out in the game.  There were uprisings because of Katniss and her rebel ways.  When she gets home, back to district twelve, life is much different.  She's in the victor's village eating all the food she'd ever need, feeling bad because the rest of her district barely has food and she's set for life.

Things change when Katniss is thrown back into the arena -- the girl in the ring, the girl on fire.  The second book in The Hunger Games trilogy really shows how desperate the Capitol is to hold off a revolution.  Suzanne Collins has written a sequel which is better than the first book, which you rarely see. You'll read an awesome book and wait patiently for the sequel; when you finally read it, it's just not as good as the first book.  As the reader, I was excited and hopeful for Katniss, just rooting her on as the book went along.  For such a tragic and horrible world they live in, Katniss is real, even without a special gift like all the other books, except maybe her talent with a bow and arrow.  And not because she was a victor in the Hunger Games but because she was poor before the games and needed to hunt to survive.

Katniss is more grown up in this book, just by seeing how hard it is to kill people that she has gotten to know.  She also shows a lot of uniqueness and independence when she criticizes the people of the Capitol for stuffing their faces and then taking pills to make themselves throw up.  Or with her realization that this isn't just about her but about the good of the people in all the districts.

Just because this book is intended for a younger audience doesn't mean anyone other than young adults can read it.  Be hip -- read Catching Fire, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy.


Find it in YA FIC Collins, S.

ALONG FOR THE RIDE by Sarah Dessen

A book review by Paige Boehk

Auden West is the best kid you could ask for, although she has a weird schedule -- she stays up all night and sleeps half the day.  She's been doing her own thing for awhile.  She uses her free time to study and take notes for college, even though she's 18 years old and hasn't  gone to college.  She is very mature and isn't like all the other girls her age.  She doesn't care about the latest fashion or who's dating who -- she just wants to do her own thing.  When Auden was 16, she saw her parents nasty divorce.  A couple years after, her father met Heidi, got married and had a baby -- a little girl named Thisbe. Auden also has an older brother named Hollis, who was backpacking around Europe.  Auden's mother was busy with her own life, having dinner parties with scholarly students every night.  That's when Auden chose to move in with her dad for the summer.

The beautiful beaches, the bright shining sun, and clear skies -- this was Colby in the summer.  Auden wanted to spend time with her dad and stay away from her new step-mom, Heidi.  She'd always seen Heidi as the girl who wears pink and high heels, though she found out this was not the case.  Heidi was very tired and emotional from just having her baby.  It was hard on her with no help from her husband.  Auden saw all the popular girls in miniskirts and the popular guys all riding bikes and doing tricks, seeing them all happy.  She still felt left out, like she did at home.

Auden realizes she will have to spend her whole summer with her dad in Colby and knows she needs to meet the kids there.  This is when she meets Jake Stock, a major player who has his eyes on her.  Colby is so small that Auden ends up getting together with Jake, who happens to be Maggie's boyfriend.  Maggie also works at Auden's step-mom's boutique, Clementine's.  After Auden apologizes, Auden and Maggie are able to become friends.  That's when Auden meets Eli, a boy with nocturnal habits and a past like her own.  They form a strong relationship throughout the book. 

Every character in the book needs to face his or her own fears and grow up.  They all make mistakes and have their own problems, which underscores the fact that no person is perfect though at first they may look that way.

Find it in YA FIC Dessen, S.

THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins

A book review by Paige Boehk


The book is based in Panem, which has 12 districts, and is governed by the capitol. The people who live in the capitol do little to nothing and are concerned only with the latest fashions and entertainment.  Each district is responsible for something, whether it be mines, agriculture, seafood, energy, material goods, peacekeepers. 

The Hunger Games is an annual "game" in which every year tributes from each district are picked.  One boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 are selected at random and are forced to fight till the death against each other until one victor stands alone.  If one of your tributes from your district wins the Hunger Games, it's an honor.  The district gets more food and a few luxuries.  It's basically a big reality show that no one really wants to watch but is forced to until it is over.

The main characters are Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.  They are the tributes from district 12.  Katniss is a miner's daughter whose father died in a mine explosion.  To get food, she and her friend, Gale, go out of district 12 to hunt and gather food for their families.  While Peeta is a baker's son who helps out in the bakery, frosting cakes and baking bread.  They are both sent to the capitol and are put together by their mentor, Haymitch, and are sent into the arena. 

The book has lots more twists and turns.  You are going to have to read it to find out more!


Find it in YA FIC Collins, S.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

A book review by Aisha Ali

              This book deals with an Indian Boy who lives on a small reservation. All his life he has lived there, and nothing seems to change. He starts his freshman year in high school, only to find out that the textbooks being used in class are books from the time his mother wen’t to school. His anger flourishes, and even though he doesn't mean to, he ends up throwing the textbook at his teacher.

                This was a crucial moment that would define his life forever. His teacher saw the potential he had, and sought to take action. The teacher told Junior (the main character'’s name) to leave the reservation. At first this was an unthinkable, never heard of decision, but it would be the one that would map out his future.

                Junior did leave the reservation. This came with a price. The people in his reservation turned their backs on him. His Indian people saw it as a form of betrayal to leave their reservation and go to a school where only white kids attended.They considered him a traitor. If this wasn’t bad enough, he had to come home everyday to deal with rude remarks from the people that lived in his reservation.

                At first it was hard to fit into this new school full of white kids, but soon after Junior's arrival he made friends who helped him make his time worth while. In the new school he went to, people were more welcoming, and most of all nonjudgmental. Back at the reservation, he would constantly get bullied. He only had one best friend on the reservation, Rowdy. Soon after leaving, Rowdy, too, turned his back on Junior.

                With the help from his new friends and coach, Junior was able to realize who he truly is. Through all the troubles he faced, he still kept going. His motivation and hardworking spirt is what makes this book inspiring.

Find it in YA FIC ALEXIE, S.

How To Save A Life by Sara Zarr

This book is centered around two girls whose lives are completely different. The story is written from two points of view, Jill's and Mandy's.

 

Jill grows up with heart warming parents, but when her dad passes away her life is turned upside down. To make it worse, her mom's thinking about adopting a baby. Jill pushes away everyone who cares about her. It’s not until she reunites with a friend from school that she realizes she doesn’t have to push people away, she opens up about her fathers death.

Mandy’s life is different. She didn’t grow up with such loving parents like Jill. Mandy becomes pregnant and makes a promise that her baby won’t end up living like this. She decides on putting the baby up for adoption. Here in the midst of looking for a baby to adopt and in the process of giving up her baby for it to have a chance in life, Jill's and Mandy’s life collide.

Jill's mother decides to adopt Mandy's baby. Mandy soon comes to live with Jill and her family for the last months of her pregnancy. Months go by and Mandy starts to think about her life after she has the baby. She hopes that she too can find a home as welcoming as Jill's.

 

Find it in YA FIC ZARR, S.

 

Reviewed by Aisha