Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

A book review by Madeline Soucie

Will Grayson and Will Grayson live rather close to each other but have never crossed paths until one day they do. Coming from different worlds, one Will Grayson lives a nice life and has his best friend Tiny. The other Will Grayson lives in another part of Chicago with only his mom and sort of friend.

        

The two Wills meet in unusual circumstances one night and befriend each other through Tiny, their not-so-tiny football player of a friend and his struggle to put on the musical he created.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Green, J.

Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

A book review by Madeline Soucie

A year ago Brooklyn's boyfriend, Lucas, died and now their friend, Gabe, has just killed himself a year later by overdosing. Brooklyn can't sleep because every time she closes her eyes, Gabe is there haunting her for reasons she doesn't know. She wonders why she sees him and Lucas.

         

Nico was Lucas's brother. He's not coping well so he just runs and runs wishing he could outrun all the pain. Then Lucas starts sending him messages he doesn't understand to help Brooklyn.

         

As the hauntings continue, Nico and Brooklyn learn that the only way to stop them and make things better is to open up and help each other.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Schroeder, L.

Far, Far Away by Tom McNeal

A book review by Madeline Soucie

This is a story about a boy, a girl, and a ghost. The ghost is someone everyone has heard of at on point or another, but in his afterlife he becomes the protector of the boy.

         

Jeremy Johnson Johnson is quiet and shy and very studious. From time to time he hears voices. One voice in particular is that of his ghost.

         

Ginger is a wild girl always looking for an adventure and getting into trouble along the way. She and Jeremy become friends when she includes him in her next adventure of breaking and entering.

         

As this story unfolds and the trio carry out plans together, they will come upon an adventure they never expected and realize that far, far away can be so much closer than they expected.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC McNeal, T.

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

 A book review by Madeline Soucie

             

The year is 1918. World War One is raging in Europe and the Spanish Flu is killing by storm. Mary Shelly Black (yes, named after the author of Frankenstein) has just moved to San Diego to live with her aunt.

      

It is here that she will be enveloped by the craze of spiritualism - something she doesn't believe in despite the amount of people that flock to get their pictures taken with dead loved ones.

      

Of course that could very well change for Mary Shelly. After all, anything is possible.

      

This historical fiction tells a tale of love, loss, and the fight to live during World War One and the Spanish Flu and the craze of spiritualism that kept hopes and spirits up in desperate times in a story you won't want to put down.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Winters, C.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

A book review by Madeline Soucie

Taking place in the '80s, Eleanor & Park is about two high school students who both stand out and as a result become an unlikely couple. It's a sweet story.

     

Eleanor's new to the high school. She's big and has crazy, unruly red hair. Plus she doesn't try to fit in -- she dresses outside the norm.

     

Park is Asian and isn't quite at the bottom of the social ladder where he gets picked on so survives when others are targeted instead of him.

     

When Eleanor needs a seat on the bus and the only one available is Park's, the two will slowly bond over comic books and music and come  to share a love story neither thought they'd be able to have.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Rowell, R.

The Summoning by Kelly Armstrong

A book review by Madeline Soucie

               

Chloe sees dead people... plain and simple. She learned this the hard way at school and now she's locked up at Lyle House, a home for troubled teens. But Chloe soon learns there is more to Lyle House and its residents than meets the eye.

Is Chloe the only one or are there others? And more importantly can Chloe uncover the secrets of Lyle House or will they get the best of her?

     

The Summoning is the first book in the "Darkest Powers" trilogy and combines different elements of the supernatural scene in a new take. If you like modern supernatural stories try this one out and you may -- like me -- end up rereading it from time to time when you just need a good book to read.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Armstrong, K.

Chime By Franny Billingsley

A book review by Maddie Soucie

Briony believes she is a witch, something she hasn't told anyone despite how much she wants to. She believes that she used her powers to ruin her sister's mind and to kill her mother. But if she tells anyone this she will be hanged, and she wants to live.

Then Eldric arrives.  Eldric who has golden hair and lion's eyes. Eldric doesn't believe anything dark or bad about Briony despite what she says. He is, though, curious about the deep secrets which she refuses to tell him. He also cares deeply for her and makes her want to cry and spill her guts -- if witches could cry that is. Briony wonders about the Old Ones and half-secrets and clues Rose leaves, hoping others will figure them out.

A story of love and secrets and witchcraft, Chime will have you turning page after page.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Billingsley, F.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

A book review by Faith Thompson

Aza has been blessed with a beautiful voice, and a skill called illusing -- or voice manipulation. Her greatest problem is that she is not beautiful. The jealous queen, Ivi, will use Aza’s skills in any way she can to get what she wants -- namely complete control over the kingdom of Ayortha.

Add to the mix a prince whose ears are a smidgen too big and who is interested in Aza. If that’s not confusing enough, a magic mirror is using Ivi for its own ends, and the king -- who didn’t know Ivi’s true nature -- is ill and can no longer speak after a grievous blow to the head. 

Aza is determined to make herself beautiful, and will stop at nothing… Not even the chance of death. 

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Levine, G.

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

A book review by Madeline Soucie

Bea has been friends with Quinn for ages. Despite the fact that he's a premium and she's not, they've stuck together. When Quinn invited her on a camping trip outside the pod, she was excited and hoped he'd finally see her and realize that she likes him.

        

Quinn should be worried about Alina -- and himself for that matter -- she's dangerous. Imagine how much trouble he could get in... But she wants him to help save her and he likes her...when does that ever happen?

       

Alina has been stealing for a long time. She's part of a resistance group that wants to regrow trees. Right now all she needs to focus on is staying low and not getting caught.

       

Everything has died in the world -- the plants, trees, animals  -- gone. As is the oxygen. The surviving humans live in a pod that is generated by Breathe - a corporation that generates oxygen-rich air for people to breathe.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Crossan, S.

Paper Towns by John Green

A book review by Madeline Soucie

Quentin Jacobs and Margo Roth Spiegelman used to be best friends when they were little but have grown apart over the years.  Though they went their separate ways, they haven't forgotten each other. Quentin has, not-so-secretly-to-his-best-friends, been in love with Margo for years.

        

As they get ready to graduate high school, Margo disappears again (as she has before), only this time for real. It's not a weekend disappearance with an awesome story to tell Monday morning. No -- she's gone and has left a trail of clues only Quentin can find, decipher, and follow to Margo. Of course he doesn't realize they are clues at first. They take time to be found and lead Quentin to wonder if he really knew the Margo he's chasing after. Or if anyone did.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Green, J.

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

A book review by  Madeline Soucie

                                

Mac and Amy were best friends until Amy was killed by a werewolf. She was one of multiple attacks in Hemlock. Now Amy haunts Mac in her dreams and the Trackers -- a group that hunts werewolves -- has come to town to find the white werewolf that killed Amy and the others.

        

Lupine Syndrome has spread and become an infectious disease in the last decade. Efforts to fight it aren't going well, despite the fact that the disease is hard to hide, especially the bloodlust.

        

Mac decides that in order to stop her nightmares about Amy she has to find her killer. A highly dangerous task, Mac will recruit her friends Jason and Kyle and will stop at nothing to find the werewolf who did this.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Peacock, K.

Trust Me, I'm Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summer

A book review by Madeline Soucie

Julep Dupree is a con artist. It's how she pays her tuition at St. Agatha's, the private school she attends. She runs little jobs for the students.

       

When she comes home one day to a trashed apartment and her father missing, things take a turn for the worst. Add to her stress, Tyler Richland -- a senior and the guy every girl wants.  Tyler takes an interest in Julep and wants to help her in any way possible. Following a trail of secrets and clues and stalkers won't be easy, but when is life ever easy.

       

Julep will soon find that she may be in over her head this time and that no amount of tricks will help her.

Find it in APL TEEN New Books YA FIC Summer, M.

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

  A book review by Madeline Soucie

            

In this first book, Fellsmarch is one of seven realms ruled by kings and queens, at war or held together by treaties. Chima is a great fantasy writer and I highly recommend her. If anyone has read the heir chronicles try this new series.

       

Hans Alister had grown up on the streets, a former thief, and only wants to be able to support his mother and sister. No matter what he does, he can't do enough. The silver cuffs he wears on his wrists are the only things he could sell, but they've been stuck on him since birth.

       

One day while hunting with his friend, Dancer, Hans runs into a couple of wizards and ends up with an old amulet that once belonged to the demon king -- an old wizard so powerful he almost destroyed the world a millennium ago. An amulet, Hans soon discovers, that isn't worth its trouble.

       

Princess Raisa is the heir to the Fells. She is returning after spending three years in the mountains cooped up in the castle like a bird in a cage on display with the clans she hates. She wants to rule her own life and be a great ruler like the first queen Hanalea -- the warrior queen. Sadly her mother has other plans, one that includes a marriage to a suitor that will break an ancient agreement and spark a war.

This is book 1 in the Seven Realms series.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Chima, C.

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

 A book review by Madeline Soucie

               

Haley has spent the second half of her life on the road with her dad, Andy, trucking from place to place and learning as she went. Then her dad decides to move back to the town where he grew up so that Haley can have a normal senior year and prepare for college and the rest of her life.

But her dad's past haunts him and Haley can't do anything about it but watch. She struggles to fit in and get by. Soon the past will come out for all to see.

      

When Finn comes into the picture -- a sweet boy who cares about Haley -- he makes her think about the future for the first time in a way she has never been able to see it.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Anderson, L.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

A book review by Madeline Soucie

Dante and Aristotle (Ari) become friends the summer of their 15th year over swimming lessons. Dante is very open, into drawing and poetry and introduces Ari to poetry. Ari is quiet and angry about a brother in jail he can barely remember and no one will talk about.

    

As Ari and Dante spend the summer hanging out, they will learn new things and Ari will come to terms with his feelings and things about his brother's past that he didn't know will be revealed.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Saenz, B.

No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

A book review by Madeline Soucie

    

Friendship, Wisconsin, is a small town, population now 688. Everyone knows everyone else, no one locks their doors at night, and people are always smiling. Even the police cars have smiley faces on them. In the town of Friendship, there aren't many problems besides missing pets until high school student Ruth Fried turns up dead in a cornfield.

    

Since the police are convinced they have the case closed and the suspect locked up, best friend Kippy Bushman takes it upon herself to find her friend's real killer. The only problem is in a town this small, everyone seems innocent, even the killer.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Hale, K.

When We Wake by Karen Healey

A book review by Madeline Soucie

Tegan Oglietti lived her first life until 2027 when she was killed by a would-be assassin. But instead of dying, she wakes up a century later, much to her surprise.

    

It's hard to believe at first, especially when the footage is so crappy and could be anyone, but it's her. Life in the future is hard for Tegan to adjust to -- so much has changed. Tegan is supposed to be part of a government project, but she's not exactly on board with that. How could she go from her normal life of playing the guitar with her brother and going to environmental protests with her friends to the future she woke up in? Tegan is faced with the choice to keep her head down and go along with everything or make some big waves.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Healey, K.

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming

A book review by Madeline Soucie

The Romanov family rules Russia for 300 years. Tsar Nicholas II was its last. He turned a blind eye to the poverty of his country during its time of need.

    

Empress Alexandra was a shy religious woman believed to rule behind her husband.

    

Their daughters, the Grand Duchesses, were isolated from the world, taught by tutors and had very little interaction outside the palace. They were dependent on their parents.

    

Tsarevich Alexi was the son and heir to the throne of Russia. He was a hemophiliac, which was kept a secret to the world, as he was often sick and bed-ridden.

    

This book tells the tale of the Romanov family, life at the palace and during their rule, and their eventual murder during unrest and the start of a civil war.

Find it in APL TEEN Nonfiction YA DK 258 .F5725 2014

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

A book review by Madeline Soucie

If you have read Marie Lu's Legend series or are reading it, try this book next. The Young Elites is a good book that looks like the beginning of a series that could go in multiple directions if you know what I mean.

     

Adelina Amouteru survived the blood fever that swept through her land a decade ago, killing many people, but like so many children, she was left with a unusual markings. Her black hair turned silver and she lost an eye. Her father believes she is no good and wants her gone. Some children who survived the fever are rumored to have mysterious powers and call themselves the Young Elite.

     

Teren works for the King as part of the Inquisition Axis hunting down the Young Elites and will stop at nothing until he sees them all put to death.

     

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society, a group of Young Elites who look for others like them and try to save them before the Inquisition Axis gets them, which is how he finds Adelina. Adelina, whose powers are unlike any he has ever seen before, could be the group's demise if they aren't careful.

Find it in APL TEEN New Books YA FIC Lu, M.

Far From You by Lisa Schroeder

A book review by Madeline Soucie

Alice's mother died and her father has since remarried and has a new baby. Alice doesn't like her stepmother or that her father is creating his perfect family without her. Trapped in her life she can't wait to move out and get away from her family. The only people that keep her sane are her best friend and her boyfriend, and of course her music.

When Alice gets stuck in the car in a snowstorm with no way out and no help, she will not only learn the true meaning of lonely, but will learn that hope isn't that far away; that she has an angel watching out for her.

     

Far From You is a quick, but really good book that may tug on your heart-strings a bit. It's a lot of loss and hope and new beginnings.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Schroeder, L.

"The President Has Been Shot!": the Assassination of John F. Kennedy by James l. Swanson

A book review by Madeline Soucie

       

Like history or just want a good book? Take a step back a few decades to when Kennedy was president. Read a quick overview of his life and important achievements, learn about his wife and family, and then his presidency. "The President Has Been Shot!" not only gives an overview of Kennedy's life and presidency, but also tells about his assassination and how it was believed to have been carried out. And of course his impact and how the country and his family went on after his untimely death.

    

Using historical information, this book retells the assassination of JFK and how it is believed that his assassin planned out and set in stone his actions. 

Find it in APL TEEN Nonfiction YA E 842.9 .S95 2013

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

A book review by Madeline Soucie                

Based on an idea by Siobhan Dowd, who died before she could write a story, this was finished by Patrick Ness. A Monster Calls is like Miss Peregrines's Home for Peculiar Children if anyone has read it. It's not like most books and has events that could be real or happen to anyone but has a fictional twist to it.

Conor has nightmares about his mother that have been going on ever since she got sick, and he has been waiting for them to come to life. So when a new monster comes to visit one night, it's not what Conor was expecting. This monster is worse; he wants the truth -- something Conor won't admit.

Conor is haunted by a monster who won't stop until he gets the ultimate truth that in the end will put Conor at peace with himself.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Ness, P.