New Books!

Novels
Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes -- A girl raised by werewolves must face the horrors of her past to uncover the dark secrets that the pack has worked so hard to hide.
Wide-Awake Princess by E. D. Baker -- Annie, younger sister of the princess who would be known as Sleeping Beauty, is immune to magic and stays awake when the rest of the castle falls into an enchanted sleep, then sets out to find a way to break the spell.
Perfectly Dateless by Kristin Billerbeck -- Entering her senior year at St. James Christian Academy, Daisy has less than 200 days to look stylish, develop social skills, find the right boy for the prom, and convince her parents to let her date.
Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter-- When a terrifying encounter in London reveals that one of her most-trusted allies is actually a rogue double-agent, Cammie Morgan no longer knows if she can trust her classmates, her teachers--or even her own heart.
Time Quake: being the third part of the Gideon Trilogy by Linda Buckley Archer -- Peter and Kate chase the Tar man through 18th Century London streets while sinister Lord Luxon makes himself at home in the 21st Century.
Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror by Jennifer Boylan - Thirteen-year-old Quinn believes he is fairly normal until he is spirited away from his grandmother's house to the Academy for Monsters,where he soon finds himself stirring up a rebellion.
Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti - Lani and Erin have always been best friends, and total opposites. Which was fine, until Erin starts dating Jason. The day she meets him, Lani knows he's perfect for her... but does she dare admit it?
Cool Like That by Nikki Carter -- Gia's been accepted to a summer enrichment program, her friend Ricky will be there too; but when she meets Rashad, who starts flirting, she's not sure where things will go.
It's All Good by Nikki Carter -- Gia gets involved in boy trouble, revenge, and scandals when the upcoming débutante ball turns high school crushes into something more.
Flash by Michael Cadnum -- Relates one momentous day in the lives of five young people in the San Francisco Bay Area, including two teenaged bank robbers, a witness, and a wounded military policeman just back from Iraq.
A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley -- One Australian summer, two very different sixteen-year-old girls--Charlie, a talented but shy musician, and Rose, a confident student longing to escape her tiny town--are drawn into an unexpected friendship, as told in their alternating voices.
Hunting the Dragon by Peter L. Dixon -- Billy's surfing summer is turned on end when, after losing one job, he takes another on a tuna-fishing boat.
The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez -- Lucia and her little brother live in Cuba, soon after Castro has come to power. Then her fearful parents send them to the United States - will she ever see her parents again? Can she adjust to this strange new life?
Princess and the Snowbird by Mette Harrison -- A girl whose magic allows her to take animal form falls in love with a boy who has no magic at all, and together they join forces, trying to defeat an enemy who is out to eliminate all magic everywhere.
Illyria by Elizabeth Hand -- Teenage cousins Madeleine and Rogan, who share twin souls and a sexual relationship, are cast in a school production of Twelfth Night that forces them to confront their respective strengths and future prospects.
Stranger and Stranger by Rob Reger -- After moving to a new town with her mother, Emily the Strange finds her troubles multiplying when she accidentally duplicates herself.
Warriors. Battles of the Clans by Erin Hunter -- Onestar, leader of WindClan, introduces two young kittypets to the warrior code, the history of each of the Clans, and legendary battles that have been fought. Includes a Warriors adventure roleplaying game after the story.
Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson -- A retelling of the Perrault fairy tale set in pre-colonial India, in which two stepsisters receive gifts from a goddess and each walks her own path to find her gift's purpose, discovering romance along the way.
Lifted by Wendy Toliver -- Poppy's new friends introduce her to a powerfully thrilling activity - shoplifting - but soon the girls find themselves in trouble, and Poppy must decide between friends, thrills, and honesty.
Invisible Girl by Mary Hanlon Stone -- Stephanie finds herself trying to blend in with her cousin's hot friends after being dumped in Encino, but isn't sure she wouldn't rather remain invisible.
Outside of a Horse by Ginny Rorby -- When her father returns from the Iraq War as an amputee with post-traumatic stress disorder, Hannah escapes by volunteering to work with rescued horses, never thinking that the abused horses could also help her father recover.
Keepers' Tattoo by Arbuthnott -- Nyssa learns that she is a special member of a legendary clan, the Keepers of Knowledge, as she and her uncle try to escape from Alaric, the White Wolf, who wants to use lines tattooed on her to destroy the rest of her people.
Fallout by Ellen Hopkins -- Written in free verse, explores how three teenagers try to cope with the consequences of their mother's addiction to crystal meth and its effects on their lives.
Fat Vampire by Adam Rex -- After being bitten by a vampire, not only is fifteen-year-old Doug doomed eternally to be fat, but now he must also save himself from the desperate host of a public-access-cable vampire-hunting television show that is on the verge of cancellation.
Spells by Aprilynne Pike -- Summoned to study at The Academy of Avalon, sixteen-year-old Laurel learns about the town with friend Tamani, while honing her long-forgotten skills as a Fall faerie in order to protect her human family and Avalon from trolls.
The Knife That Killed Me by Paul McGowan -- Paul Varderman, a secondary student in an English Catholic School, is a loner until, just as he is becoming friends with "the freaks", the school bully encourages Paul to join his gang and gives him a knife to carry as an incentive.
Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel -- On her first day of boarding school, a thirteen-year-old girl who feels boring and invisible decides to change her personality to match her unusual name.
Secret Speakers by K.C.R. Klingsworth -- After spending nine years of her life in a cellar to avoid being discovered, little does thirteen year-old Fair O'Nelli know she's about to end up in the middle of a dark secret wherein the key to survival is learning to see things as they are.
Love Story: Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner -- As she tries to sort out her feelings of love, seventeen-year-old Cass, a spunky math genius with an introverted streak, finds a way to memorialize her dead best friend.
Summer of the Moonlight Secrets by Danette Haworth -- During the summer of 1988, Allie Jo, whose family runs an antebellum Florida hotel, meets Chase, who is staying there with his father, and they become friends when they discover a mysterious teenager hiding on the grounds of the hotel.
Torment by Lauren Kate -- In a desperate effort to save Luce from the Outcasts, immortals who want her dead, Luce and Daniel are forced to be apart from each other, and as she discovers more about her past lives, Luce starts to suspect that Daniel may have lied to her about their shared past.
Devious by Cecily von Ziegesar -- Everyone at elite Waverly Academy actually looks forward to the freezing month of January: it's Jan Plan, four blissful weeks when cool independent projects replace hectic schedules and boring classes. What Wild activities will the girls dream up to fill their time?
Classic by Cecily von Ziegesar -- Each year at Valentine's Day, the Waverly Academy Computer Society runs Perfect Match, an online personality survey that pairs up Waverly Owls with their supposed soul mates. But this year something odd is happening...
Immortal Fire by Anne Ursu -- As Philonecron plots to destroy the gods, transform the Underworld, destroy humanity, and remodel Olympus, Mr. Metos takes thirteen-year-old cousins Charlotte and Zee to join the Prometheans, who have an age-old weapon that may help protect them.
Unraveled by Gena Showalter -- Since coming to Crossroads, Oklahoma, outcast Aden Stone has been living the good life. Never mind that one of his best friends is a werewolf, his girlfriend is a vampire princess who hungers for his blood, and he's supposed to be crowned Vampire King -- while still a human! Well, kind of...
The Limit by Kristen Landon -- Matt's family have always been fiscally responsible, but when one shopping trip puts them "over the limit", he finds himself sent into debt slavery - where he discovers a systematic scheme of governmental abuse...

Graphic Novels:
Vampire Kisses. Blood Relatives vol. 2
Last Airbender (Avatar)
Real vols 2-3 by Inoue
Slam Dunks vols 10-11 by Inoue
Chi's Sweet Home vols 1-2 by Konami
King of the RPGs by Thompson
FairyTail vols 7-11 by Mashima
Chimpanzee Complex vols 1-2 by Marazano
Kitchen Princess vols 6-10 by Kobayashi
Fruits Baskets vols 11-14 by Takaya
Library Wars. Love and War. vols 1-3 by Yumi
Cirque du Freak vols 5-6 by Shan
D-N-Angel vols 3-4 by Sugisaki
Maximum Ride the manga vol. 3
St. Dragon Girl vol. 8 by Matsumoto
Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei vols 2-3 by Kumeta
Resistance. Book 1 by Jablonski

Book Review

I just finished reading Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien. This is a wonderful novel about Gaia, the sixteen-year-old, scarred, daughter of a midwife in a dystopian future world, where something like global warming has caused a serious change in the climate. The only civilization she knows is "the enclave", but when her parents are arrested as traitors, she begins to understand that all is not right in her world. As she struggles to define her own concept of right and wrong, she must take actions that will affect many lives; her own, her parents', and even the unborn children of her society.

This book is written in an honest, forthright tone; Gaia is likeable and understandable. Her fears and joys are very real. The decisions she makes are not always the best ones, but they're HER decisions, and the reader will root for her each time. The secondary characters are mostly well-drawn, with rational motivations and distinct personalities. Even the villain has a sort of "right" on his side, and Gaia can see what he believes in, even if she disagrees.

If you enjoyed "The Maze-runner" or "Uglies", you will probably enjoy "Birthmarked" as well.

Printz Awards announced

The Printz Award winner for the year is Going Bovine by Libba Bray!

Runners-up were Punkzilla by Adam Rapp, Charles and Emma: the Darwin's Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman, the Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey, and Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes.

All these great books are or soon will be available in your YA collection.

Book Review

I just finished reading the Stones of Abraxas by K. Osborn Sullivan - I have to say, I had very mixed feelings about this novel. I would give it a three-star rating out of five, and here's why:

The plot was interesting, and I wanted to know how the story concluded. Unfortunately, I was right in EVERY single guess I made early in the plot. I recognized the spy the first time he came on scene, I knew that a certain road would play a critical part, and I even guessed immediately when the hero and heroine were being led astray. The author could learn not to foreshadow his plot QUITE so heavily, next time!

I felt that the characters (teens David and Amanda, and their parents) were fun to read about, but not very memorable (I had to refresh my memory of their names on Amazon for this review!). Amanda's only really memorable feature was her affection for her cats, for example. The real reason they felt undeveloped was the whole style of the book's narration. It was written in a choppy, simplified fashion. It almost felt as if the author had gone back over a longer and more complex work, trimming and removing all description and editing the vocabulary. If so, the author did his readers a real dis-service; this book had the potential to be much better than it was.

Anyway, if you love teen escape fantasy (and have always wanted to enter a magical world), this series opener has some real potential; just don't expect too much!

Book Review

I read "Odd and the Frost Giants" by Neil Gaiman over the weekend, and wanted to comment on it. This is a very short book, more of a novelette than a full-length work, so if you like quick reads, it will be just right for you; it is also based on Norse mythology. If you liked the Percy Jackson stories and want to learn about some other culture's myths than just the Greeks, this one is a good place to start. Odd is a fairly ordinary boy living in a small, isolated village. His father dies, and his home situation isn't great. When things get too much to bear, he takes off into the woods. Soon, he stumbles into an adventure. I won't reveal any more than that, but if you want a story about talking animals, the gods, giants, and a very clever ending, this one is for you. And it is told in Gaiman's trademark language - beautifully elegant, concise, and almost poetic. Well worth dipping into!

Oh, and a little tidbit I found on another blog - if you liked Hunger Games, you may appreciate this tidbit of fan art.

Teen Top Ten Winners Announced

The Teens' Top Ten 2010 winners are:

1. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
2. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
3. Heist Society by Ally Carter
4. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
5. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
6. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
7. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
8. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
9. Fire by Kristin Cashore
10. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Enjoy reading them all! There are some great books here. I've only read about half of them, but I fully intend to get to them all before the end of the year. How about you? Which ones have you read, and which would you like to read?

Virtual Teen Author Visits

Houston Public Library is celebrating Teen Read Month this year by sponsoring 4 LIVE Teen Author Programs. The cool thing is that they're broadcasting them on their own Library Channel on UStream so you can watch them, too, as they happen. If you don't have a UStream account, you won't be able to chat, but you can watch. Set up a free account if you want to participate. (Sorry we missed the first two!)

The four Author Programs will be as follows:
Monday, Oct 18

Cecil Castellucci 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM(central time)

Chat with Cecil Castellucci, author of Boy Proof, Queen of Cool, Beige, The Plain Janes, Janes in Love, Rose Sees Red, and Grandma's Gloves, and editor of Geektastic!

in less than 9 hours

Tuesday, Oct 26

Libba Bray 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM(Central Time)

Chat with Libba Bray, author of A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing, and Going Bovine!

in less than 8 days

Book Review

Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones - this is part of her usual "slightly wacky" magical world series, in which odd things happen to the most seemingly ordinary people. Andrew is a university professor who inherits his grandfather's home when the old man dies, and soon makes the discovery that all is not as he remembered there...

His household is soon augmented by young Aidan, who is being stalked by otherworldly enemies, a very odd near-giant boy named Shaun, a secretary who is as lovely as she is batty (or is she?) and a were-dog. But the real danger may lie elsewhere. Who is Mr. Brown, what is he up to, and why is he suddenly willing to accept a role as member of the Fete Committee when for years he has been a total hermit?

In her usual masterfully understated style, Jones tells a tale of ordinary people in extraordinary situations, and makes me wish I could be there myself. If you enjoy Robin McKinley, Hilari Bell, or Nancy Farmer, you should give her wonderful stories a try.

Books I want to read...

I was peeling "new" stickers off a stack of books today (and shelving books, too), when I found a number of things that I'm just dying to read!

Herbie Brennan's newest book is The Shadow Project. I know I'm not supposed to judge by the cover, but this one has an action-blurred silhouette of a teen boy emerging from a mysterious blur of light. It looks science-fictiony, which I love. Herbie Brennan's Faerie Wars Chronicles was a favorite of mine, so I'm eager to find out who Danny Lipman is, and what happens to him as he joins "the Project"...

The second really interesting looking title is Player's Ruse by Hilari Bell. It's in her Knight and Rogue series - Gallant Sir Michael and streetwise Fisk run around in a post-medieval world trying to be a knight errant and his squire; sometimes they do well, and sometimes not so much. The previous books have been funny, silly and poignant. I look forward to watching Michael fall in love, and Fisk rescue him - and vice versa.

And last but not least, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly - on audio. Calpurnia is a little girl growing up in a sleepy Texas town in 1899. She longs for cool weather, goes out to the river with her grandfather, who is a naturalist, and navigates life with her six older brothers. It sounds like a sweet coming-of-age story, and might even be like another favorite of mine, Anne of Green Gables.

I'll try to remember to post a comment or two about each of these stories, after I've read them...and feel free to share if you've read any; or better yet, what novel are you most interested in reading next?

New Books!

Caught Up in the Drama by ReShonda Tate Billings - When Camille starts to appear in Rap Music videos, her relationships with her friends are endangered by her quest for fame.
Fool's Girl by Celia Rees - Violetta and Feste have come to London to rescue a holy relic taken from Illyria by the evil Malvolio; when there, he tells their tale to Shakespeare, who turns it into a play.
Vampire High: Sophmore Year by Douglas Rees - When Cody's Goth cousin Turk moves into his house, enrolls at Vlad Dracul, and decides to turn an abandoned nineteenth-century mill into an art center, the vampire (Jenti) students are not pleased, and Cody's hopes for a great sophomore year are blighted.
Hothouse by Chris Lynch - Teens D.J. and Russell, life-long friends and neighbors, had drifted apart, but when their firefighter fathers are both killed, they try to help one another come to terms with the tragedy and its aftermath.
Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock - During her junior year basketball season, D.J. faces the dual challenges of college recruiting and romance.
My Little Phony by Lisi Harrison -- A Clique Novel - As the holidays approach, Massie, Alicia, Dylan, Kristen, and Claire deal with budget woes, boyfriends, and each other in the continuing adventures of the Clique.
Three Black Swans by Caroline Cooney -- When sixteen-year-old Missy Vianello decides to try to convince her classmates that her cousin Claire is really her long-lost identical twin, she has no idea that the results of her prank will be so life-changing.


Graphic Novels:
Batman. Bat and the Beast - A Russian crime kingpin known as the Tsar threatens to take over the Gotham City mob, and Batman must travel to Moscow to face this strange foe on his home turf.
Shonen Jump vol 8, issue 11
Unsinkable Walter Bean - Walter Bean is happiest when he gets to spend time tinkering on his inventions in his grandfather's workshop, but when his grandfather acquires a curse, Walter must embark on dangerous quest to return a pearl skull to the witches who made it.
Usagi Yojimbo. Yokai by Sakai -- Usagi must face many Yokai when an old woman begs him to find and rescue her kidnapped daughter.
InuYasha vol. 51

Book Review

The Hermit Thrush Sings - by Susan Butler -- an unwanted girl with a strangely webbed hand finds that she can succeed beyond her dreams, in this exciting adventure. Perhaps a hundred years ago, a natural disaster destroyed civilization, and now Leora's people survive in isolated, fenced-in villages, struggling to grow enough food, to fight off the Bimba's (horrible ape-bear creatures) and to weed out the mutations that sometimes appear in their own children.

Leora is such a mutant, despised by her stepmother ever since the deaths of her father and elder sister. But when she finds that a tiny baby bimba has been caught by the soldiers, she finds herself rescuing it, setting in motion a chain of events she could never have predicted.

My only complaint about this story is that Leora's gift, which comes to her as she makes her first attempt at independent action, is so powerful that her own choices, decisions and free will seem totally irrelevant. She never has to choose to act, to trust, or to rely on her own courage; instead, her magical power of foretelling, often expressed through drawings, gives her all the answers she ever needs.

Otherwise, this is a tightly plotted, well-written adventure story. Leora's world is lightly-sketched, but believable; secondary characters are not deep, but are nicely portrayed. The plot takes several nice twists, but is ultimately predictable, though satisfying. It does leave itself open for a sequel, which I look forward to reading.