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.

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.

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.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

A book review by Madeline Soucie


The Book Thief is told by Death about a girl living in Nazi Germany during World War 2. 

Having Death as a narrator gave this book an interesting point of view. Though his view makes everything confusing at first, Death turned out to be a good narrator.


Liesel Meminger moved to Germany to live with her foster parents during the reign of Hitler, not the easiest time to live in. To make matters worse, Liesel soon learns she loves to read and has a knack for stealing books.  While her father teaches her to read and her parents struggle through hard times, Max -- the wild card -- comes into the picture. Now the family must hide a Jew in their basement and hope to make it through the war alive.



Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Zusak, M.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A book review by Madeline Soucie               

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is told in both words and pictures, making the story more realistic.

After his grandfather dies, Jacob is left wondering about his grandfather's last words and starts looking into his old stories. What Jacob finds leads him to an island -- more specifically an old abandoned orphanage hoping to find answers.

As Jacob explores Miss Peregrine's abandoned home it becomes clear that not only were his grandfather's stories true, but so were the children in them. He also learns that the children were all kept there for a reason. They might have been more than just peculiar -- they might have been dangerous -- and still alive.

   

Read this interesting book to learn more about Miss Peregrine and her peculiar children.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Riggs, 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.

All the Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry

A book review by Madeline Soucie


Judith lives in Roswell Station as an outcast. Four years ago, she and her friend were taken, days apart. Her friend was killed. Judith was held captive, but released after two years, and returned to her home with her tongue cut out. She could talk, but her words were garbled and near impossible to understand. Because of this, her mother told Judith not to speak, ever. Her mother was too ashamed to want Judith to speak, and so she became the mute outcast of the town; everyone knew she existed, but refused to acknowledge her.

Life went on like this for two years until ships were spotted downstream, coming to invade Roswell Station. Judith is now faced with a choice -- keep silent and let people die and her town be taken over, or speak up and face her old captor, the only person who knows how to save the town and more importantly, Judith's family and the boy she loves.

This book is captivating from page one, and I hated having to put it down. It is unlike the historical fiction I have read before and is such a good read! I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a good book to read.

Find it in APL TEEN New Books YA FIC Berry, J.

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

A book review by Kat Seevers

The Book of Blood and Shadow really surprised me in a good way. It’s a little bit murder mystery with some historical fiction. It began slow. We followed Nora as she began going to a new school, met some new people, and became a teacher’s aide. The teacher had an obsession with an ancient manuscript. It was Nora's and her friend’s job to translate and decipher it, only after a while strange things start to happen. The only thing Nora can think is that it all has something to do with what’s in the manuscript, and Nora is determined to figure out the secrets hidden in it. It takes her on a journey deep into Prague where she uncovers secrets that others would prefer to be left undiscovered. Uncovering those secrets

may just get her killed.

Find it in APL Teen New Books YA FIC Wasserman, R.