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.

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.

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.

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

A book review by Madeline Soucie

Claire is super smart. As in the girl who graduated high school and is starting college at sixteen. She could have gone to schools like MIT or Caltech, that type of thing. Instead she is attending Texas Prairie University, a small school in a small town that everyone either transfers out of or disappears from. She didn't want to go here, but her parents were against her going far away at such a young age. 

From the beginning Claire had it rough, but it only got worse when she accidentally got on the wrong side of the mean queen bee of school.  Now Claire is looking for a place to live off campus and finds the Glass House and its tenants Shane, Eve, and Michael. Though they are hesitant to take her in, after seeing how she is attacked at school, they let her in and her world soon turns upsidedown.

To start, the town is run by vampires. Secondly, there is more to her new

roommates than meets the eye. Lastly, Claire just signed on to a ride with no end without even realizing it.

Glass Houses is the first book in the Morganville Vampire series. The books are

short and quick, but really good, especially if you like vampire/supernatural stories. This series takes a new turn on the vampire legend.

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

Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper

A book review by Madeline Soucie


Little Hawk is a young Native American boy living in his tribe in Massachusetts in the 1600s during the time that the first settlers came over to America. His tribe has not really had any problems with the white colonists nor have they had much interaction with them. Little Hawk hears stories though, and wonders about the white men sometimes. Mostly he focuses on his tribe and the fact that he will soon have to venture on a three month journey into the wild with nothing but his tomahawk and knife in the dead of winter. This journey is something all boys must go on as it is the journey into manhood.
Little Hawk does not realize how big of a deal the white men will be in his life or how it will be changed by them. 

Read Ghost Hawk to find out what happens to Little Hawk on his journey and about the white men encroaching on his land. It is a good historical fiction book about what happened to the Natives when the colonists first came to America.

Find it in APL TEEN New Books YA FIC Cooper, S.

Frost by Marianna Baer

A book review by Madeline Soucie



Leena Thomas is starting her senior year at her boarding school, and everything should be great. She and her best friends are staying in the very cute Victorian dorm, Frost House. But Leena finds out last minute that she and her friends have an unexpected roommate, Celeste Lazar. Celeste isn't Leena's first choice for a roommate, but it's just one semester right? Besides, Celeste has a brother that's perfect for Leena. 


As her senior year starts, Leena finds out its not all it's cracked up to be. She soon has to play peacemaker between her friends and Celeste, which could cost her. Not to mention the strange happenings in Frost House -- falling pictures, locking doors, and trashed rooms behind locked doors. Leena finds herself struggling to keep the peace with her housemates -- and within her own mind -- as Frost House might become Haunted House.


Find it in APL Teen Fiction YA FIC Baer, M.