YA Series 2013

Here's a sneak peek of what's happening in some popular series next year!

Out in January:

Prodigy (Legend Trilogy #2) by Marie Lu
June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request: June and Day must assassinate the new Elector. But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she's haunted by the choice ahead.

Out in February:

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer
Cinder is trying to break out of prison--if she succeeds, she'll become the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive. Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there that Scarlet never knew about the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information about her grandmother's whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must attempt to stay one step ahead of the Lunar Queen.

Sever (Chemical Garden Trilogy #3) by Lauren Destefano
With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn's worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine's memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine's side, even if Linden's feelings are still caught between them.

The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3) by Richelle Mead In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she is struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch--a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought.

Out in March: 

Requiem (Delirium Trilogy #3) by Lauren Oliver
After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven--pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancee of the young mayor. Both girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

Clockwork Princess (Infernal Devices Trilogy #3) by Cassandra Clare
If the only way to save the world was to destroy what you loved most, would you do it? The clock is ticking and everyone must choose. Danger closes in around the Shadowhunters in the final installment of the Infernal Devices Trilogy.



Sadly, the last novel in the Divergent Trilogy won't be released until September but Reached -- the final Matched novel -- is already out!

Kimberly

Books for Winter

Well, we've finally had our first snow and Winter is here! Read these books to help prepare yourself for the season.

After the Snow by S.D. Crockett
The oceans stopped working before Willo was born so the world of ice and snow is all he's ever known. He lives with his family deep in the wilderness, far from the government's controlling grasp. But, suddenly, Willo's survival skills are put to the test when he arrives home one day to find his family missing. It could be the government; it could be scavengers - all Willo knows is he has to find refuge and find his family. It is a journey that will take him into the city he's always avoided, with a girl who needs his help more than he knows.

Winter Town by Stephen Emond
Every winter, Evan looks forward to a visit from Lucy, a childhood pal who moved away after her parent's divorce. But when Lucy arrives this year, she's changed. The 'girl next door' has chopped, dyed-black hair, a nose stud and a scowl. But even though Lucy's changed, Evan and Lucy connect again. And this time, Evan falls in love. Lucy has secrets. She doesn't tell Evan about her mother's abusive boyfriend, her own violent boyfriend and the fights that got her kicked out of her house. She feels guilty and starts to resent Evan's picture perfect (boring) life. Lucy knows she must break his heart and move on.The next winter, after transferring to an art college against his father's wishes, Evan sees Lucy again. And this time, they know the timing is right.

Snow-Walker by Catherine Fisher
From the frozen mists beyond the edge of the world comes Gudrun to rule the people through fear and sorcery. But the enchantress has one weakness -- her son, Kari, banished as a child to Thrasirshall, the forbidding fortress in the desolate, snowbound north. No one has ever set eyes on Kari, but in secret everyone wonders: Are the rumors true? Was he born a monster? Now, two will discover the truth. Because of their fathers' treachery, Gudrun has exiled Jessa and Thorkil . . . to Thrasirshall. The cousins wonder if they can survive the impossible trek to the ruined castle. And if they do, what will they find at the end of their journey? A beast? Or the means to stop Gudrun?

The Devouring by Simon Holt
The Vours: Evil, demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on Sorry Night, the darkest hours of the winter solstice. When Reggie reads about the Vours in a mysterious old journal, she assumes they are just the musings of an anonymous lunatic. But when her little brother, Henry, begins to act strangely, it's clear that these creatures exist beyond a madwoman's imagination, and Reggie finds out what happens when fears come to life. To save the people she loves, Reggie must learn to survive in a world of nightmares. Can she devour her own fears before they devour her?

Winter's End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat
Milena, Bartolomeo, Helen, and Milos have left their prison-like boarding schools far behind, but their futures remain in peril. Fleeing across icy mountains from a terrifying pack of dog-men sent to hunt them down, they are determined to take up the fight against the despotic government that murdered their parents years before. Only three will make it safely to the secret headquarters of the resistance movement. The fourth is captured and forced to participate in a barbaric game for the amusement of the masses -- further proof of the government's horrible brutality. Will the power of one voice be enough to rouse a people against a generation of cruelty?

Trapped by Michael Northrop
The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. For those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive. Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, until the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision. . . .

Just Like That by Marsha Qualey
Things change so suddenly. One day Hanna has a long-term boyfriend; then she realizes she doesn't have strong feelings for him and breaks things off. One day Hanna trusts her two best friends completely; the next, all of that trust is toppled. And then Hanna finds herself the bearer of a major secret: she was the last to see two teenagers before they died in an accident on the icy lake. She can't tell anyone, so when she finds herself drawn to Will, the kind of boy who'd increase any girl's pulse, she doesn't hold back. What she learns about him will astonish her. What she learns about herself--her friendships, her family, her life--will affect her more.

The Survivors by Will Weaver
Two years ago, the ash started falling like gray snow. The volcanoes had erupted. For Miles and his sister, Sarah, the real disaster started in the violent aftermath--when they were forced to leave their cushy suburban home and flee to the north woods for safety. Miles got them to a cabin, but now winter is setting in. All they have to get them through is the milk from Sarah's goat and Miles's memory of wilderness survival skills. When Sarah tries to regain some normalcy by attending the local school, she realizes she is no longer quite the person she used to be. Now she is Goat Girl, a Traveler, and it's hard to pretend she isn't. And when a horrific twist of fate robs Miles of his memory, he discovers the heart of his true identity. They knew the volcanoes would change the world. Now, in order to survive, they must change with it.

Kimberly

Apocalypse Now

So the world may be ending today. Read the following novels to prepare yourself for the coming disaster.

The End: 50 Apocalyptic Visions From Pop Culture That You Should Know About--Before It's Too Late by Laura Barcella
From the Mayan calendar to sandwich-boarded, loud-speakered prophets, there's never been a shortage of people willing to proclaim that the end is nigh. This fun, fact-filled book explains fifty of the most important doomsday scenarios.

Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler
Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she's been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home--her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go to places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power--and the courage to fight her own inner demons?  First in the Riders of the Apocalypse series.

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris
Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed--except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school, leaning over her. Ben has somehow brought her back to life. Her revival is only the first puzzle she must solve. Everything that is happening--her accident, a murder of a friend, a strange clock counting down to something, the appearance of Ben--points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, Janelle realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets.

Armageddon by James Patterson
Daniel must face an alien whose origins appear nearer to the depths of Hell than the outer reaches of the galaxy. Number Two on the List of Alien Outlaws is an unstoppable criminal that's slowly been amassing an underground army of dangerous aliens to help him enslave Earth's population. And it's all in preparation for the arrival of Number One, the most powerful alien in the universe and Daniel's arch-nemesis. But for the first time in his life, Daniel isn't alone in his fight. He's connected with several military and intelligence groups--including the daughter of a prominent FBI agent. Be prepared for a truly epic battle that evokes the ancient prophecies of Armageddon!

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules. Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone--one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship--tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next. Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. 

So This Is How It Ends by Tui Sutherland
In New York, Kali wakes to an empty subway car, and an even emptier city. Venus and Gus survive an earthquake in Los Angeles and realize they have to deal with more than just the aftershocks. In Chile, Tigre finds himself in an unfamiliar jungle, and strangely not alone. And Amon, in Egypt, can see his path but is blind to the full picture. They are suddenly trapped in a deserted world, five teenagers with no hope of escape. Why have they survived? What force-or intelligence-connects them? Drawn inexorably toward one another, they only know their future involves an experience outside anything they could have imagined. 

And check out our dystopian novels for what happens after the world (as we know it) has ended.

Kimberly

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

Gabrielle Zevin’s All These Things I’ve Done combines a mob family drama with the type of dystopian world readers of The Hunger Games and Matched will be familiar with. Set in 2083, the book takes place in New York City where things have taken such a sad turn that most of the Statue of Liberty has been sold off for scrap metal. Water is rationed, paper is scarce and chocolate and caffeine are illegal. Anya Balanchine, the book’s narrator, comes from the Balanchine crime family, which has made much of its fortune illegally selling chocolate. Both her parents are dead, her mother from a bullet intended for her father and her father from the bullet of an assassin who has never been caught. Anya lives with her grandmother, her younger sister Natty, and her intellectually disabled brother Leo. Due to her grandmother’s poor health and her brother’s condition, she ends up being the de facto head of the family even though Leo is older.

At the beginning of the book, Anya breaks up with her manipulative boyfriend Gable and soon becomes friends with Win, a new kid at school and the son of the assistant district attorney. She soon starts to think about Win as more than a friend. Everything goes off track for Anya when the police accuse her of intentionally giving Gable poisoned chocolate, and she ends up at a juvenile detention facility called Liberty.

There is a lot going on in this book and things move along at a nice pace. The combination of organized crime and science fiction is original, though I wondered how likely it was that chocolate would really be so coveted in a world running out of resources such as water. I was also a little annoyed by how great Win seems to be. It’s obvious that he is the good guy in the book, but it seems like he could at least have a few faults. Despite these problems, the good parts of All These Things I’ve Done far outweigh the bad. This is the first book in a trilogy and I look forward to reading Because It Is My Blood, the second book in the series.

John 

I Swear by Lane Davis

In Lane Davis's new novel, I Swear, a very serious question is posed: Who is to blame when bullying leads to suicide? Leslie Gatlin just cannot take the abuse her once long ago friends are inflicting on her. For the past two years, she has suffered alone through what should be her happiest high school years. So finally one night, she ends it. Her pain is over. But what about those she left behind?

There's Macie, the queen bee who has always been the instigator. And Beth, who just wants to feel normal. And Katherine, the new girl who just wants to fit in. And finally there's Jillian, twin sister of Jake, Leslie's only true friend. We all know these girls, they are in every high school across the country. They are not bad girls, they just want to be pretty and popular. And everyone knows that to be in the right crowd, you have to do and say what is expected of you. No matter who gets hurt. Right???

Well, Leslie's parents do not think so. Nor do the authorities. Someone needs to pay for Leslie Gatlin's suicide. The pretty and popular find themselves in some real trouble, and will do just about anything to get out of it. Will there be justice done?

Find out in this sad, scary story.

Karen

Read-alike: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Zombies!

Come help us celebrate the Zombie Apocalypse next week! Stay after hours at the library on Friday, December 14 from 5:30-7:30. You'll be transformed into a member of the undead and we'll be playing games, making crafts, watching zombie flicks, and eating brains. Register at the Reference Desk.

Help set the mood for the apocalypse by reading one of these novels!

Zombies vs. Unicorns
Which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? This all-original anthology, edited by Holly Black (Team Unicorn) and Justine Larbalestier (Team Zombie), makes strong arguments for each side with eerie and amazing short stories from an all-star lineup of contributors, including  Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Kathleen Duey, Garth Nix, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. Discover how unicorns use their powers for evil, why zombies aren’t always the enemy, and much more in this creative collection that showcases zombies and unicorns as you have never seen them before.

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris
Someone's been a very bad zombie. Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steroids are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate! She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town  . . . and stay hormonally human.

Dead Reckoning by Mercedes Lackey
Jett is a girl disguised as a boy, living as a gambler in the old West as she searches for her long-lost brother. Honoria Gibbons is a smart, self-sufficient young woman who also happens to be a fabulous inventor. Both young women travel the prairie alone - until they are brought together by a zombie invasion! As Jett and Honoria investigate, they soon learn that these zombies aren't rising from the dead of their own accord ... but who would want an undead army? And why?

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn’t want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash--but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human. This is a detail-rich depiction of a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has fallen, the dead have risen, and danger is always imminent.

I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It by Adam Selzer
Ali, the high school newspaper's music critic, meets an intriguing singer, Doug, while reviewing a gig. He's a weird-looking goth, but he seems sincere about it. She introduces herself, asking if he lives in Cornersville, and he replies, in a slow, quiet murmur, "Well, I don't really live there, exactly. . . ." Ali falls so hard for Doug that she doesn't notice a few odd signs: he never changes clothes, his head is a funny shape, and he says practically nothing out loud. Finally the paper's fashion editor, points out the obvious: Doug isn't just a goth. He's a zombie. Horrified, Ali breaks up with Doug, but learns that zombies are awfully hard to get rid of. . .

This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as days crawl by, the motivations for survival change and soon the group’s fate is determined less by what’s happening outside and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside.

Kimberly