Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Heroes, villains (all though which is which is not always clear), arch nemeses, a corrupt institution, and Nimona. Nimona, a shapeshifter, gets herself a job with Ballister Blackheart, "the biggest name in supervillany" and may be a tad over enthusiastic to help him bring down the hero, Ambrosius Goldenloin and the Institution. It soon becomes clear though that Ballister's and Ambrosius's relationship is more complicated than simply hero and villain (why else are they both still alive?), and Nimona's powers may be greater than anyone bargained for. A fun read with snark and heart and very human complications.

You can find more on Nimona and other comics on Noelle Stevenson's website.

Other Books You May Like
Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff

Lisa

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

19 year old Feyre, the youngest of three daughters, keeps her sisters and father from starving to death by hunting in the nearby forest (that happens to border the lands of the Fae). When she kills a wolf who happens to have been one of the Fae she is brought back to their lands, where she is ordered to spend the rest of her life in order to fulfill a centuries old treaty. Her captor, Tamlin, and his emissary, Lucien, don't resemble the evil, bloodthirsty, Fae she's been raised to fear and despise. As Feyre tries to learn more about the world she has entered, and the terrible blight that has been brought upon their lands (and may be headed for the human territory) she finds herself caring more and more about Tamlin and what happens to his people. A Court of Thorns and Roses is an action filled take on Beauty and the Beast with a scrappy heroine who can't read, but has a love of art. A promising start to a new series by Sarah Maas.  

Other books you may enjoy:
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Throne of Glass by Sarah Maas
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Lisa

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld gives readers two stories. The first is the of Darcy Patel; an 18 year old who completed a 60,000 word novel (also titled Afterworlds) in a month and found herself a publisher who gave her an impressive advance ($300,000). With those in hand Darcy decides to put off college to move to New York and try her hand at being a real adult writer. The other story is Darcy's novel Afterworlds, which opens with Lizzie in a Dallas airport finding herself in the middle of a terrorist attack. In order to survive she plays dead; a bit too well. Lizzie crosses over (still alive) to the otherside, where she meets Yamaraj, whose life began hundreds of years ago, but he has spent so much time on the otherside, referred to as the flipside, that he still resembles a teenager. Once she returns to the world of the living she is the lone survivor of the terrorist attack and now she is left to deal not only with the ramifications of that fact, but she has left the flipside with the ability to see ghosts.

Other than Afterworlds being Darcy's novel the two stories remain rather separate. The Afterworlds novel that the reader gets though is Darcy's finished draft, and it is intriguing to read about Darcy going through the editing process and hearing about scenes and endings that will never be seen. While interesting to hear about Lizzie's development within the larger novel I'm not sure I would have gotten through Darcy's novel (featuring Lizzie's story) on its own. For me Darcy's real life story, and the people she came in contact with, were far more compelling than Lizzie's (even with a terrorist attack and a several centuries old death god). Overall though it read for quickly for a book that is nearly 600 pages long.

Lisa

If you like Darcy's story you may want to checkout:
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

If you like Lizzie's story you may want to checkout:
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Fracture by Megan Miranda

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

When A Monster Calls for Conor it is not the monster he has been expecting. Conor has a lot going on, his mother has been battling cancer for months, this has singled him out to be picked on and treated differently at school, and now he has a monster (taking the form from the yew tree in his backyard) coming to him just after midnight to tell him stories. The monster's stories always sound like folktales, with your typical hero and villain, but they never end how they're supposed to, and who is truly villainous and good is never so cut and dry. The monster is here to force Conor to face truth about his mother and himself and the real monster that Conor has been waiting for.

Ness's book isn't really about monsters or things that go bump in the night, but harsh and heartbreaking realities of life, realizing that "good" and "bad" aren't so easily definable, and that seemingly contradicting things can both be true. A novel that interweaves superb storytelling with raw emotion and denial.

If you like this book you may want to try:
Texting the Underworld by Ellen Booraem
Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel
Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

A Monster Calls is a 2015 Abraham Lincoln Nominee. Check out the book trailer. 

Lisa

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass is the first book in the series of the same name. Celaena Sardothien has spent the last year of her life as a slave in the salt mines of Endovier; imprisoned for her crimes as one of the kingdom of Adarlan's greatest assassins. Then Prince Dorian and his Captain of the Guard, Chaol come to request (or rather demand) that she compete in a contest, against other thieves, assassins, and criminals, to become the King's Champion. If Celaena wins the contest after four years she will have her freedom. With no other options she accepts their offer. However, upon arrival at the castle Celaena discovers that more than just her own freedom may ride on her becoming the King's Champion, and there are dark forces trying to fix the competition for themselves. And in the midst of it all, the assassin, who has a past full of secrets and pain, may even find herself a few friends.

Full of excitement and intrigue Maas has created a story that will keep the reader turning the pages (and immediately reaching for the next book in the series).

If you like this you may want to try:
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

Throne of Glass is also one of this year's Abraham Lincoln Nominees. Check out the book trailer.

Lisa

More Than This by Patrick Ness

More Than This by Patrick Ness opens with Seth drowning, fighting for his last breath. Then he dies. But then he wakes up. Seth doesn't wake up in the same place he died though. He wakes up in England, in a childhood home he's tried to forget, covered in a strange tape, and completely alone. Is he dead? Is this desolate, abandoned, run-down version of the town he was born in, hell?

The story of who Seth was when he was alive, and the mystery surrounding his family's sudden and hurried move to the States, and the mystery of where he is in the present are interwoven expertly, keeping the reader turning the pages even when present Seth is just acclimatizing to his strange surroundings.  The possibilities of Seth's present range from hell to a post-apocalyptic world, and as more is uncovered, more questions are raised. Once the book really starts gaining momentum it's hard to put down. Just as you think you have a grasp on what is going on it makes you question everything.

Lisa

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

Teen Read Week

 It Came from the Library...and into a movie theater!

You can find these great books at the library...and you can find the movie (and other media) adaptions here too. 

Batman Series

Graphic novels, video games, and DVDs.

Wealthy businessman Bruce Wayne leads a double life as the caped crusader: Batman. He must battle a variety of evil villains--and his own inner demons--in order to keep peace in Gotham City.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

On book, DVD, and e-audio. 
Kyle Kingsbury has enjoyed being the most popular guy at school with the meanest and most egotistical attitude; however, he is punished by a witch in his English class and turned into a beast. Kyle now must find his true love and make her accept him as he is in order to break the curse and return him to the man he once was.

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

On book and DVD.

She flipped the first time she saw him. He ran the first time he saw her. That was second grade but not much has changed by seventh. She says: "My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss." He says: "It's been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort." But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down. And just as he's thinking there's more to her than meets the eye, she's thinking that he's not quite all he seemed.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

On book, audiobook, and DVD.

In a wondrous parallel world where people's souls manifest themselves as animals and talking bears and witches fight wars, one special girl is destined to hold the fate of the universe in her hands. Lyra sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North.

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

On book, DVD, and e-audio.
John Smith tries to be a normal American teenager in rural Ohio but he's actually been hiding for ten years developing the Legacies, or powers, he will need to fight the Mogadorians who destroyed his planet Lorien. But the Mogadorians have begun hunting the nine fugitives from Lorien. They have already killed Number One, Number Two and Number Three and now they are after Number Four: John Smith.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

On book, DVD, and soundtrack.

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. An American bioengineering firm erects a theme park on a Caribbean island and creatures once extinct now roam the soon-to-be opened Jurassic Park. Until something goes wrong...and science proves a dangerous toy....

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn

 On book and DVD.

It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who's just walked in to his band's show with a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City. This is a story about one date over one very long night, with two teenagers, both recovering from broken hearts, who are just trying to figure out who they want to be--and where the next great band is playing.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

 On book, audiobook, and DVD.

Ponyboy and his two brothers struggle to stay together after their parent's deaths. Ponyboy knows he can count on his brothers and his friends, but not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids who get away with everything, including beating up greasers like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect--until the night someone takes things too far.

Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam

On book, DVD and soundtrack.

NASA engineer Homer Hickam paints a warm, vivid portrait of the harsh West Virginia mining town of his youth, evoking a time of innocence and promise, when anything was possible, even in a company town that swallowed its men alive. A story of coming of age at the end of the 1950s, it is the story of a mother's love and a father's fears, of a group of young men who dreamed of launching rockets into outer space . . .and who made those dreams come true.

Scott Pilgrim Series by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Graphic novels, DVD, and soundtrack.

Scott Pilgrim's fantastic life takes an unforseen turn when rollerblading delivery girl Ramano Flowers makes her appearance. The only catch to winning Ramona? Her seven evil exes are coming to kill him.  If Scott hopes to win his true love, he must vanquish them all.



Kimberly

Fairy Tale Romances

Looking for some fairy-tale romance this Valentine's Day? While you're waiting for your prince (or princess) to come, read some of these great fairy tale retellings!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future. The first book in the Lunar Chronicles offers a futuristic take on the Cinderella story.

Beastly by Alex Flinn
Beastly is a modern retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" told from the point of view of the Beast, a vain Manhattan private school student. Kyle Kingsbury has enjoyed being the most popular guy at school with the meanest and most egotistical attitude; however, he is punished by a witch in his English class and turned into a beast. Kyle now must find his true love and make her accept him as he is in order to break the curse and return him to being the man he once was. Also read Cloaked by Flinn. Cloaked is a modern romantic adventure with elements of The Shoemaker and the Elves and The Frog Prince. 

Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson
A retelling of the French fairy tale set in pre-colonial India, Diribani meets a goddess at the village well and is granted a remarkable gift: flowers and precious jewels drop from her lips whenever she speaks. It seems only right to Tana that the goddess judged her kind, lovely stepsister worthy of such riches. And when Tana encounters the goddess, she is not surprised to find herself speaking snakes and toads as a reward. Blessings and curses are never so clear as they might seem, however. Diribani's newfound wealth brings her a prince--and an attempt on her life. Tana is chased out of the village because the province's governor fears snakes, yet thousands are dying of a plague spread by rats. As the sisters' fates hang in the balance, each struggles to understand her gift. Will it bring her wisdom, good fortune, love . . . or death?

Ash by Malinda Lo
In this variation on the Cinderella story, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother in the wake of her father's death. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted. The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt. Kaisa reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
In this story loosely based on Sleeping Beauty, Rose has been appointed as a healer's apprentice at Hagenheim Castle, a rare opportunity for a woodcutter's daughter. While she often feels uneasy at the sight of blood, Rose is determined to prove herself capable. Failure will mean returning home to marry the aging, disgusting bachelor her mother has chosen for her. When Lord Hamlin, the future duke, is injured, it is Rose who must tend to him. As she works to heal his wound, she begins to understand emotions she's never felt before and wonders if he feels the same. But falling in love is forbidden, as Lord Hamlin is betrothed to a mysterious young woman in hiding. Also by Dickerson: The Merchant's Daughter based on Beauty and the Beast.

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
The body of a young girl is discovered in a field of wheat. Her flesh mutilated by telltale claw marks. The Wolf has broken the peace. When Valerie learns that her sister has been killed by the legendary creature, she finds herself at the center of a dark mystery, one that has plagued her village for generations. It is revealed that the werewolf lives among them, and everyone in the village immediately becomes a suspect. Could her secret love Peter be behind the attacks on her town? Is it her betrothed, Henry? Or someone even closer to her? As the men in the village hunt for the beast, Valerie turns to her grandmother for help. She gives Valerie a handmade red riding cloak, and guides her through the web of lies and deception that has held her town together for so long. Will Valerie discover the werewolf's identity before the town is ripped apart?

Beauty by Robin McKinley
Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage. When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?" Also check out Spindle's End for McKinley's adaption of Sleeping Beauty.

Kimberly

Best Adult Books for Teens

All of the following books you'll find in our Adult Fiction & Sci Fi collections but they're good reads for teens too!

Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch
Jaffy leaves behind his life on the streets of 19th century London for an adventure to the Pacific Islands aboard a whaling ship in search of a mythical - yet far too real - dragon in this enormously satisfying novel of friendship, survival, and redemption.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Imagine if Willie Wonka had been a video-game designer. Now imagine a world in which most people spend their time as avatars in a virtual reality. The founder of this virtual reality leaves his fortune to the first to win a contest, comprised of puzzles and tasks based on 1980s popular culture. Three teens compete to win against an evil conglomerate.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Alternate chapters weave Victoria's past as a foster child and her present as a semi-homeless 18-year-old. Victoria finds her first job in a florist shop, putting to use the language of flowers she first learned from her only real family, the foster mother she lost 10 years earlier.

The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Fillory is a magical utopia. With little for a monarch to do, Quentin goes on a quest. Alternating chapters relate his old friend Julia's backstory. While the king enjoys life at Brakebills, Julia learns magic on the streets. Her journey is powerful and horrifying in this followup to The Magicians.

Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington
Alice's idyllic small-town life is interrupted when her father's army reserve unit is called up for active duty in Iraq. After he is declared missing in action, she turns to her best friend, the boy next door, for support.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Le Cirque des Rêves appears without warning on the outskirts of cities around the world. Only open at night, it is filled with magic and theater, each tent a sensory experience, manipulated and sustained by two young people locked in a mysterious competition.

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Mere months after their mother dies, the Bigtree family's alligator-wrestling theme park and cafe, Swamplandia!, goes out of business, sending the abandoned siblings on individual perilous journeys away from home in this dazzling, affecting, funny novel.

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
In this artificial intelligence blockbuster, the heroic actions of a handful of characters are told in the form of briefing reports recovered after the Robot Wars that nearly exterminated humanity. This format with its emphasis on survival in battle and full-throttle action will appeal particularly to those who enjoy science-gone-wrong thrillers.



Kimberly

From School Library Journal

Where The Mountain Meets The Moon by Grace Lin

This is a must read!!!

                In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man of the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer.

                This is a wondrous novel with an epic journey and memorable characters in the tradition of The Wizard of Oz. From the beautiful design and the breathtaking full-color illustrations throughout, to the gentle humor and touching prose, this book is truly a gem.

MaryBeth

Max: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson

Max is the fifth book in the Maximum Ride fantasy/thriller series by James Patterson. Fast-paced thrills await Max and her flock of genetically engineered human/bird hybrids as they help the Navy find out why fish are dying off in large numbers off the coast of Hawaii.

Maximum Ride fans will be happy to know that Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) says there is a movie in development for possible release in 2013.

Book_Buddy

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, the first book in the Mortal Instrument prequels called Infernal Devices, just came out recently.

Basic premise of book: Tessa's brother disappears, and she is kidnapped by the Dark Sisters. The Dark Sisters try to get her to use a power that she did not know she possessed. When the sisters' home is raided by shadowhunters, Tessa learns about a world she did not know existed. The shadowhunters take her in and promise to help her find her brother. There are two possible love interests Will and Jem
- both harbor secrets.

The book is set in the Victorian era and is more steampunk than the other series. I enjoyed the story overall although the some of the characters were too much like characters from Mortal Instruments.
Will is very much like Jace.

Natalie

Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud

Echoing Norse folktales, this humor-filled tale follows prankster Halli Sveinsson who longs to be a hero like his forefathers. To prove himself, he vows to avenge the murder of his uncle. Readers will not want for monsters and heroic challenges - there are plenty here!

KC

Do identical twins really share something special?

Do identical twins really share something special?

Meredith and Mallory Brynn are mirror twins born on either side of midnight one New Year's Eve. They have always been inseparable. However, in many ways they are very different. One is shy and the other outgoing. One is athletic and the other is delicate. It is as if they are each half of a perfect whole. And they share everything…

But just before the girls’ 13th birthdays, Mallory dreams about dying in a house fire—a vision her sister doesn’t share. After they are nearly killed in this mysterious fire, the bond that has always joined them unravels. They begin to have visions and dreams that reveal the deep secrets kept by the people around them.

Meredith and Mallory realize they have each been given a gift: Mallory can see deep into the past, Meredith can see the future. But when they discover that one boy is not what they imagined, they know their lives will be changed forever. If they survive...

Find out what happens to the twins in the first of a new series, The Midnight Twins, by Jacquelyn Mitchard.

Karen

Midnight Twins by Jacquelyn Mitchard Young Adult MIT

Fantasy

If you had the power to kill with your bare hands, what would you do with it?
Graceling takes readers inside the world of Katsa, a warrior-girl in her late teens with one blue eye and one green eye. This gives her haunting beauty, but also marks her as a Graceling. Gracelings are beings with special talents—swimming, storytelling, dancing. Katsa's Grace is considered more useful: her ability to fight (and kill, if she wanted to) is unequaled in the seven kingdoms. Forced to act as a henchman for a manipulative king, Katsa looks for the moral courage to stand up to evil rulers and fight for what is right.

Cashore, Kristin. Graceling. Gr 7-up Young Adult CAS

Nation by Terry Pratchett

“One person is nothing. Two people are a nation.”

The Wave comes while Mau is returning to his home. He should have come home to his family and friends; he should have become a man. Instead, there is no one, after the wave. Mau is no longer a boy; he left his boy soul on the Boy’s Island. And there is no one left in the Nation to give him his man soul. Mau is alone.

Ermintrude’s journey back to her father aboard the Sweet Judy stops abruptly during the terrible storm at sea. A great wave lifts the vessel and sends it crashing into the forest of an island. Ermintrude is lucky to survive, but no one else aboard does. Except for a parrot which knows some very filthy language indeed.

Mau begins to wonder if the gods have abandoned the Nation, or even existed at all, when he meets the ghost girl, Ermintrude. And soon the two of them together must help the survivors from other nearby islands who are drawn to the fire that Mau keeps burning on the beach. But what if the fire draws the violent Raiders too?

Nation is Terry Pratchett’s most recent novel, and explores ideas of survival and belief with the wit and humor readers of his other books have come to expect.

Jason

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

In an age filled with instant messages, social networks, and spam emails, imagine a world where you can hear everyone’s thoughts --- even the dog’s. This is the dystopian world where Todd Hewitt realizes, as he approaches his birthday, that the men in town are hiding something sinister and disturbing from him. As secrets begin to unfold, Todd is forced to run, fight, and survive in the wilderness of a newly colonized planet in his search for safety and truth. But can he do it? Find out in The Knife of Never Letting Go.

Karen

Shoppers will love this!

Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall by Wendy Mass. Young Adult MAS
It could be the end for Tessa when she's hit in the head playing dodge ball in her PE class. Strangely, she finds herself at the mall where she is given a shopping bag full of items she has bought there over the years. Then, in each chapter she tells about what happened with each item - for example, Tessa was jealous of the barrette her friend bought at Claire's, so she stole it and threw it in the trash. All the chapters lead to the one involving the prom dress. Is tessa's life over or does she have a chance to change her life? If you're a shopper, you'll enjoy this one.

KSP