Teen Corner Blog

Weekly Pick

2012-01-30T06:34:00.000-08:00

The Downside of Being Up
by Alan Sitomer

Thirteen-year-old Bobby Connor is a normal adolescent boy - at least he hopes he is - just trying to survive middle school. But it seems he's being foiled at every turn, and even his own body is conspiring against him. And when his math teacher is seriously injured from the shock and fright of witnessing just how out of control Bobby's changing adolescent body is getting, he starts to worry he's anything but normal.

Faced with expulsion from school for violating the student handbook code, Bobby opts for therapy - Correctional Erectional Therapy. It's official: Bobby Connor is not normal. But in this uproarious and heartfelt novel, he's going to do his darndest to make it seem that he is . . . or maybe just try to make it through middle school.

Weekly Pick

2012-01-23T06:35:00.000-08:00

The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Weekly Pick

2012-01-16T06:32:00.000-08:00

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.

Weekly Pick

2012-01-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

Winter Town
by Stephen Emond

Every winter, straight-laced, Ivy League bound 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 former "girl next door" now has chopped dyed black hair, a nose stud, and a scowl. But Evan knows that somewhere beneath the Goth, "Old Lucy" still exists, and he's determined to find her... even if it means pissing her off.

Garden State meets Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist in this funny and poignant illustrated novel about opposites who fall in love.

Weekly Pick

2012-01-02T06:30:00.000-08:00

Saving June
by Hannah Harrington

Everyone's sorry. But no one can explain why.

Harper Scott's older sister, June, took her own life a week before high school graduation, leaving Harper devastated. So when her divorcing parents decide to split up June's ashes, Harper steals the urn and takes off cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going—California.

Enter Jake Tolan, a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession…and an unknown connection to June. When he insists on joining them, Harper's just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanor and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what Harper needs. Except…Jake's keeping a secret that has the power to turn her life upside down—again.

Weekly Pick

2011-12-26T06:26:00.000-08:00

Why We Broke Up
by Daniel Handler

I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened.

Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.

Weekly Pick

2011-12-19T06:56:00.000-08:00

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour
by Morgan Matson

Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn’t seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she’s coming to terms with her father’s death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road--diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.

Weekly Pick

2011-12-12T06:54:00.000-08:00

Everybody Sees the Ants
by A. S. King

Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He didn't ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War. He didn't ask for a father who never got over it. He didn't ask for a mother who keeps pretending their dysfunctional family is fine. And he didn't ask to be the target of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.

But Lucky has a secret--one that helps him wade through the daily mundane torture of his life. In his dreams, Lucky escapes to the war-ridden jungles of Laos--the prison his grandfather couldn't escape--where Lucky can be a real man, an adventurer, and a hero. It's dangerous and wild, and it's a place where his life just might be worth living. But how long can Lucky keep hiding in his dreams before reality forces its way inside?

Michael L. Printz Honor recipient A.S. King's smart, funny and boldly original writing shines in this powerful novel about learning to cope with the shrapnel life throws at you and taking a stand against it.

Weekly Pick

2011-12-05T06:52:00.000-08:00

How to Rock Braces and Glasses
by Meg Haston

Super-stylish and uber-harsh, Kacey Simon is the social dictator of Marquette Middle School. She's BFFs with the prettiest girls, and she even hosts her own TV segment dispensing advice and the cold, hard truth to her classmates -- whether they want to hear it or not.

But then an eye-infection and a visit to the dentist leave her with coke-bottle glasses, a mouth full of metal, and... a littthp. Dismissed by her popular friends, she falls so far down the social ladder she can barely see the top, even with her magnifying specs.

With nowhere else to turn, Kacey has to hang with her nerdy neighbor and a boy who walks to beat of his own drum -- or rather, to the beat of the drummer in his band. Zander wants Kacey to be their lead singer, but she's determined to reclaim her throne. Will she climb back to the top? Or will she discover that hitting rock bottom kind of... rocks?

Weekly Pick

2011-11-28T06:48:00.000-08:00

Dark of the Moon
by Tracy Barrett

Ariadne is destined to become a goddess of the moon. She leads a lonely life, filled with hours of rigorous training by stern priestesses. Her former friends no longer dare to look at her, much less speak to her. All that she has left are her mother and her beloved, misshapen brother Asterion, who must be held captive below the palace for his own safety.

So when a ship arrives one spring day, bearing a tribute of slaves from Athens, Ariadne sneaks out to meet it. These newcomers don’t know the ways of Krete; perhaps they won’t be afraid of a girl who will someday be a powerful goddess. And indeed she meets Theseus, the son of the king of Athens. Ariadne finds herself drawn to the newcomer, and soon they form a friendship—one that could perhaps become something more. Yet Theseus is doomed to die as an offering to the Minotaur, that monster beneath the palace—unless he can kill the beast first. And that "monster" is Ariadne’s brother . . .

Weekly Pick

2011-11-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

Blood Red Road
by Moira Young

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That’s fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother, Lugh, is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives bearing four cloaked horsemen, Saba’s world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on a quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba discovers she is a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent—and she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.

Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, intense action, and an epic love story—making Moira Young one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction.

Weekly Pick

2011-11-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

The Girl of Fire and Thorn
by Rae Carson

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one. But she is also the younger of two princesses. The one who has never done anything remarkable, and can’t see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs her to be the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.
Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young. And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies, seething with dark magic, are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior, and he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Most of the chosen do.

Weekly Pick

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Daughter of Smoke and Bone
by Laini Taylor

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Weekly Pick

2011-10-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

Dust & Decay
by Jonathan Maberry

Six months have passed since the terrifying battle with Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer in the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin. It’s also been six months since Benny Imura and Nix Riley saw something in the air that changed their lives. Now, after months of rigorous training with Benny’s zombie-hunter brother Tom, Benny and Nix are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future. Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny’s best friend Lou Chong are going with them.

But before they even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town, and as soon as they step into the Rot & Ruin they are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, and insane murderers, and face the horrors of Gameland—where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits. Worst of all…could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?

In the great Rot & Ruin, everything wants to kill you—and not everyone in Benny’s small band of travelers will survive….

Weekly Pick

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein
by Kenneth Oppel

Growing up, twin brothers Victor and Konrad fill their lives with imaginary adventures...until the day they stumble upon The Dark Library, where they discover secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies. When Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor is drawn back to The Dark Library and uncovers an ancient formula, beginning a treacherous search for the ingredients to create the forbidden Elixir of Life. Their success depends on how far they are willing to push the boundaries of nature, science…and love.

Weekly Pick

2011-10-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Isle of Blood
by Richard Yancey

An old friend of Dr. Warthrop’s comes asking for help to track down Warthrop’s colleague, the sociopathic Dr. John Kearns. At first, Warthrop is reluctant to help—until he learns that Kearns may possess information leading to a creature widely regarded as the Holy Grail of monstrumology: an organism so rare and elusive that it has never been killed, captured, or even observed in the wild.
Dr. Warthrop can’t resist the challenge, and soon he and Will Henry are off on another hellish quest, this time to the bizarre island of Socotra, home to some of the strangest flora and fauna in the world. And it’s on Socotra that Will Henry comes face-to-face with the most horrific creature yet—and he just may pay the ultimate price for his master’s ambition.

Weekly Pick

2011-10-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

Edda
by Conor Kostick

Everyone in the virtual universe of Edda is made of pixels-except Penelope. While her body is kept alive in a hospital bed, her avatar runs free, able to go anywhere and do anything, including create deadly weapons for Edda's ruler, her guardian, Lord Scanthax. When Scanthax decides he wants to invade another virtual world, Erik/Cindella from Epic and Ghost from Saga become part of the story-and soon the virtual universes are alive with fighting, alight with bombs, and brought together by three teenagers who want peace and understanding. This is the third and final book in Conor Kostick's trilogy.

Weekly Pick

2011-09-26T06:35:00.000-07:00

Okay For Now
by Gary Schmidt

As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterwork full of equal parts comedy and tragedy from Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt. As Doug struggles to be more than the “skinny thug” that his teachers and the police think him to be, he finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer—a fiery young lady who “smelled like daisies would smell if they were growing in a big field under a clearing sky after a rain.” In Lil, Doug finds the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of a whole town, and the return of his oldest brother, forever scarred, from Vietnam. Together, they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon’s birds, and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage. In this stunning novel, Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery in a story teeming with distinctive, unusual characters and invaluable lessons about love, creativity, and survival.

Weekly Pick

2011-09-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

The Devil's Paintbox
by Victoria McKernan

It is April 1865. Aiden and Maddy Lynch have barely survived a brutal winter alone on the remains of their family’s drought-ravaged Kansas farm when an unlikely savior appears one morning. Jefferson J. Jackson is looking for strong men to work in the Seattle lumber camps, not a half-starved teenager with a useless girl in tow, but somehow the pair convinces him to let them join his wagon train.

It is a chance at a new life for Aiden and Maddy, but one that is two thousand rough and perilous miles away. "It's said there’s a grave a mile on the Oregon Trail," Jackson tells them bluntly. And Aiden soon learns that the greatest dangers go beyond storms, stampedes, and rattlesnakes. When smallpox, "the devil’s paint," threatens an Indian community Aiden has befriended, his loyalties, wits, and courage are severely tested.

Adventure-filled and historically accurate, Victoria McKernan’s novel captures both the peril and stunning beauty of the frontier West in an epic American story at once sweeping and intimate, heartbreaking and hopeful.

YARP SD Teen Reads list 2011-2012

Weekly Pick

2011-09-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

White Crow
by Marcus Sedwick

Some secrets are better left buried; some secrets are so frightening they might make angels weep and the devil crow.

Thought provoking as well as intensely scary, White Crow unfolds in three voices. There's Rebecca, who has come to a small, seaside village to spend the summer, and there's Ferelith, who offers to show Rebecca the secrets of the town...but at a price. Finally, there's a priest whose descent into darkness illuminates the girls' frightening story. White Crow is as beautifully written as it is horrifically gripping.

Weekly Pick

2011-09-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

Never Sit Down in a Hoopskirt and Other Things I Learned in Southern Belle Hell
by Crickett Rumley

Expelled from thirteen boarding schools in the past five years, seventeen-year-old Jane Fontaine Ventouras is returning to her Southern roots, and the small town of Bienville, Alabama, where ladies always wear pearls, nothing says hospitality like sweet tea and pimento cheese sandwiches, and competing in the annual Magnolia Maid Pageant is every girl’s dream.

But Jane is what you might call an anti-belle—more fishnets and tattoos than sugar and spice. The last thing on her mind is joining the Magnolia Maid brigade and parading around town in a dress so big she can’t even fit through doors. So when she finds herself up to her ears in ruffles and etiquette lessons, she’s got one mission: Escape.

What’s a hipster to do? Will Jane survive Bienville boot camp intact or will they—gasp!—make a Southern belle out of her yet?

Weekly Pick

2011-08-29T06:24:00.000-07:00

You Don't Know About Me
by Brian Meehl

Sixteen-year-old Billy Allbright is about to bust out of his sheltered cocoon and go on a gonzo road trip. He just doesn't know it yet. His ticket to freedom? A mysterious Bible containing two resurrection stories. The second is about a man Billy's never met, and who is supposedly dead: his father. But the road to a risen-from-the-grave dad, and the unusual inheritance he promises, is far from straight. Billy zigzags across the American West in a geocaching treasure hunt. When his journey includes a runaway baseball star, nudists who perform sun dances, a girl with neon green body parts, and con artists who blackmail him into their "anti-action movie," Billy soon realizes that the path to self-discovery is mega off-road.

Weekly Pick

2011-08-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

Ruby Red
by Kerstin Gier

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Weekly Pick

2011-08-08T06:30:00.000-07:00

Killer Pizza: the slice
by Greg Taylor

Four months after they discover that their new place of employment, Killer Pizza, was a front for an underground Monster Hunting Organization, Toby and his fellow rookie Monster Combat Officers, Annabel and Strobe, have been invited to New York City to tour KP Headquarters. But the exclusive tour is cut short when a monster emergency sends the trio off on a secret mission delivering Calanthe, a beautiful 14-year-old, defecting monster with serpent-like abilities, into the Monster Protection Program. It seems like an easy assignment until the teens realize Calanthe is the sacrificial offering in a ceremony set to happen in a few days and her people will stop at nothing to get her back!

Sequel to Killer Pizza by Greg Taylor

Weekly Pick

2011-08-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

I'll Be There
by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Sam Border wishes he could escape. Raised by an unstable father, he's spent his life moving from place to place. But he could never abandon his little brother, Riddle.

Riddle Border doesn't talk much. Instead, he draws pictures of the insides of things and waits for the day when the outsides of things will make sense. He worships his older brother. But how can they leave when there's nowhere to go? Then everything changes. Because Sam meets Emily.

Emily Bell believes in destiny. She sings for her church choir, though she doesn't have a particularly good voice. Nothing, she feels, is mere coincidence. And she's singing at the moment she first sees Sam.

Everyone whose path you cross in life has the power to change you--sometimes in small ways, and sometimes in ways greater than you could have ever known. Beautifully written and emotionally profound, Holly Goldberg Sloan's debut novel deftly explores the idea of human connection.

Weekly Pick

2011-07-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

Department 19
by Will Hill

Jamie Carpenter's life will never be the same. His father is dead, his mother is missing, and he was just rescued by an enormous man named Frankenstein. Jamie is brought to Department 19, where he is pulled into a secret organization responsible for policing the supernatural, founded more than a century ago by Abraham Van Helsing and the other survivors of Dracula. Aided by Frankenstein's monster, a beautiful vampire girl with her own agenda, and the members of the agency, Jamie must attempt to save his mother from a terrifyingly powerful vampire.

Department 19 takes us through history, across Europe, and beyond - from the cobbled streets of Victorian London to prohibition-era New York, from the icy wastes of Arctic Russia to the treacherous mountains of Transylvania. Part modern thriller, part classic horror, it's packed with mystery, mayhem, and a level of suspense that makes a Darren Shan novel look like a romantic comedy.

Weekly Pick

2011-07-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

Top 8
by Katie Finn

Madison MacDonald is seriously freaking out!

Madison MacDonald
16
Putnam, CT

Status: Single?

About Me:
Everything in my life was working out. I had my three best friends, a brand-new boyfriend, and the lead in the school play. Aside from that history paper I hadn't started, things felt perfect.

Then I returned from spring break to find my Friendverse profile hacked. Someone clearly out to ruin me had spilled the most damaging secrets - AND posted the worst photos of me ever taken - online.

Now my boyfriend and I are broken up, half the school hates me, and I'm in deep trouble.

Goals:
Get my boyfriend back, figure out who could have done this, and clear my name!

Also, pass history.

YARP SD Teen Reads List 2011-2012

Weekly Pick

2011-07-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Beauty Queens
by Libba Bray

From bestselling Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray, the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island.

Teen beauty queens. A "Lost"-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to e-mail. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count.

Weekly Pick

2011-07-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

The Seven Serpents Trilogy
by Scott O'Dell

What would you do if everyone thought you were a god?

Young Juliá́n Escobar is traveling to the New World to spread the gospel to the newly discovered Mayan Empire when a hurricane strikes his ship, scattering its contents to the four winds and leaving Julian as the sole survivor. After struggling ashore, he encounters a young Mayan woman who is shocked at his presence.

Soon he learns why. Centuries ago the fair-skinned Mayan god Kukulcá́n— the Feathered Serpent— sailed away with the promise that one day he would return. With his very life at stake, Juliá́n does the unimaginable: he begins to impersonate this returned god.

Includes all three books:
The Captive
The Feathered Serpent
The Amethyst Ring

Weekly Pick

2011-06-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

Notes from the Blender
by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin

Declan loves death metal-- particularly from Finland. And video games-- violent ones. And internet porn-- any kind, really. He goes to school with Neilly Foster and spends most of his classroom time wondering what it might be like to know her, to talk to her, maybe even to graze against her sweater in the hallway.

Neilly is an accomplished gymnast, naturally beautiful, and a constant presence at all the best parties (to which Declan is never invited). She's the queen of cool, the princess of poker face, and her rule is uncontested-- or it was until today, when she's dumped by her boyfriend, betrayed by her former BFF Lulu, and then informed she's getting a new brother--of the freaky fellow classmate variety. Declan's dad is marrying Neilly's mom. Soon. Which means they'll be moving in together.

Weekly Pick

2011-06-20T06:08:00.000-07:00

Why I Let My Hair Grow Out
by Maryrose Wood

Being sent to your room is one thing. But being sent to another country?

Morgan's boyfriend dumped her on the last day of school-it seemed the only thing to do was to hack off her hair and dye the stubble orange. Unfortunately, Morgan's parents freaked and decided a change of scenery would do her good. So they're sending her off on a bike tour of Ireland.

But Morgan gets more than she bargained for on the Emerald Isle- including a strange journey into some crazy, once upon a time corner of the past. There, she meets fairies, weefolk, and a hunky warrior-dude named Fergus, and figures out that she's got some growing to do-and she doesn't just mean her hair.

Weekly Pick

2011-06-13T09:06:00.001-07:00

Bitter End
by Jennifer Brown

When Alex falls for the charming new boy at school, Cole -- a handsome, funny, sports star who adores her -- she can't believe she's finally found her soul mate . . . someone who truly loves and understands her.

At first, Alex is blissfully happy. Sure, Cole seems a little jealous of her relationship with her close friend Zack, but what guy would want his girlfriend spending all her time with another boy? As the months pass, though, Alex can no longer ignore Cole's small put-downs, pinches, or increasingly violent threats.

As Alex struggles to come to terms with the sweet boyfriend she fell in love with and the boyfriend whose "love" she no longer recognizes, she is forced to choose -- between her "true love" and herself.

Weekly Pick

2011-06-06T06:01:00.000-07:00

Between Shades of Gray
by Ruta Sepetys

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously - and at great risk - documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

Weekly Pick

2011-05-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

Rosebush
by Michele Jaffe

Instead of celebrating Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore, Jane is in the hospital surrounded by teddy bears, trying to piece together what happened last night. One minute she was at a party, wearing fairy wings and cuddling with her boyfriend. The next, she was lying near-dead in a rosebush after a hit-and-run.

Everyone believes it was an accident, despite the phone threats Jane swears were real. But the truth is a thorny thing. As Jane's boyfriend, friends, and admirers come to visit, more memories surface-not just from the party, but from deeper in her past . . . including the night her best friend Bonnie died.

With nearly everyone in her life a suspect now, Jane must unravel the mystery before her killer attacks again. Along the way, she's forced to examine the consequences of her life choices in this compulsively readable thriller.

Weekly Pick

2011-05-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

The Water Wars
by Cameron Stracher

Welcome to a future where water is more precious than oil or gold...

Hundreds of millions of people have already died, and millions more will soon fall-victims of disease, hunger, and dehydration. It is a time of drought and war. The rivers have dried up, the polar caps have melted, and drinkable water is now in the hands of the powerful few. There are fines for wasting it and prison sentences for exceeding the quotas.

But Kai didn't seem to care about any of this. He stood in the open road drinking water from a plastic cup, then spilled the remaining drops into the dirt. He didn't go to school, and he traveled with armed guards. Kai claimed he knew a secret-something the government is keeping from us...

And then he was gone. Vanished in the middle of the night. Was he kidnapped? Did he flee? Is he alive or dead? There are no clues, only questions. And no one can guess the lengths to which they will go to keep him silent. We have to find him-and the truth-before it is too late for all of us.

Weekly Pick

2011-05-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

Shine
by Lauren Myracle

When her best guy friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover who in her small town did it. Richly atmospheric, this daring mystery mines the secrets of a tightly knit Southern community and examines the strength of will it takes to go against everyone you know in the name of justice.

Against a backdrop of poverty, clannishness, drugs, and intolerance, Myracle has crafted a harrowing coming-of-age tale couched in a deeply intelligent mystery. Smart, fearless, and compassionate, this is an unforgettable work from a beloved author.

Weekly Pick

2011-05-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

Leverage
by Joshua Cohen

The football field is a battlefield

There's an extraordinary price for victory at Oregrove High. It is paid on-and off-the football field. And it claims its victims without mercy-including the most innocent bystanders.

When a violent, steroid-infused, ever-escalating prank war has devastating consequences, an unlikely friendship between a talented but emotionally damaged fullback and a promising gymnast might hold the key to a school's salvation.

Told in alternating voices and with unapologetic truth, Leverage illuminates the fierce loyalty, flawed justice, and hard-won optimism of two young athletes.

Weekly Pick

2011-05-02T06:53:00.000-07:00

A World Without Heroes
by Brandon Mull

Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable--until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything he's ever seen. In the past, the people of Lyrian welcomed visitors from the Beyond, but attitudes have changed since the wizard emperor Maldor rose to power. The brave resistors who opposed the emperor have been bought off or broken, leaving a realm where fear and suspicion prevail.

In his search for a way home, Jason meets Rachel, who was also mysteriously drawn to Lyrian from our world. With the help of a few scattered rebels, Jason and Rachel become entangled in a quest to piece together the word of power that can destroy the emperor, and learn that their best hope to find a way home will be to save this world without heroes.

Weekly Pick

2011-04-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

Chime
by Franny Billingsley

Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.

Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.

Weekly Pick

2011-04-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

Head Games
by Keri Mikulski

Taylor is calm, cool, collected, and ferocious on the basketball court. A total all-star. Not so much in real life. She may be tall, gorgeous, and an incredible catch, but just try telling her that!

And lately, Taylor doesn't know which way to turn: The summer showcase game is almost here. Her BFF Hannah roped her into a fashion show (eek!). And she can't decide between Zach-the super-popular, super-tall, super-off-limits basketball dynamo-and Matt-the sweet boy from her math class (who may just be dating her BFF's older sister). It's enough to make any girl's head spin!

Can Taylor strike a pose, land the boy of her dreams, and win the game?

Weekly Pick

2011-04-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

TimeRiders
by Alex Scarrow

Maddy should have died in a plane crash. Liam should have died at sea when the Titanic sank. Sal should have died in a tragic fire. But a mysterious man whisked them away to safety.

Maddy, Liam, and Sal quickly learn that time travel is no longer just a hope for the future; it is a dangerous reality. And they weren't just rescued from their terrible fates. . . they were recruited for the agency of TimeRiders created to protect the world from those seeking to alter the course of history for personal gain. By reliving the highly documented events in New York City on 9/11, they can closely monitor history for any deviations—large or small. When just such a change is detected, they are alerted that a threat is at hand unleashing the evil of the Nazis to wreak havoc with Earth's present and future. Can Maddy, Liam, and Sal fulfill their destinies as keepers of time to save the world from utter destruction?

An exhilarating adventure that shifts readers back in time to Nazi Germany and then forward into an ever-changing present.

Weekly Pick

2011-04-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

BADD
by Tim Tharp

Ceejay has never been pretty or popular, but she knows who she is: she's younger sister to Bobby, the most charming bad boy in town. Bobby's a bit wild, but with his big heart and sense of fun, everybody loves him. And nobody understands Ceejay like Bobby.

Now, Ceejay can't wait for Bobby to return home from his tour in Iraq. But then he turns up unannounced and seems to be avoiding his family. And he's so different. His wild streak has become reckless. His sense of fun has become desperate. And seeing this, Ceejay's own tough shell begins to crack. How can she believe in being strong when her hero is broken?

As she tries to get Bobby back, Ceejay begins to reexamine her family, her community, and everyone in her life. What she finds is that true strength is not quite what she thought it was.

Weekly Pick

2011-03-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

Hunger
by Jackie Morse Kessler

"Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world."

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old 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 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?

A wildly original approach to the issue of eating disorders, Hunger is about the struggle to find balance in a world of extremes, and uses fantastic tropes to explore a difficult topic that touches the lives of many teens.

Weekly Pick

2011-03-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance
by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin

Fans of romance don't need to look any further than the fauxmance brewing between teen idols Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers-known on their hit TV show as Jenna and Jonah, next-door neighbors flush with the excitement of first love. But it's their off-screen relationship that has helped cement their fame, as passionate fans follow their every PDA. They grace the covers of magazines week after week. Their fan club has chapters all over the country. The only problem is their off-screen romance is one big publicity stunt, and Charlie and Fielding can't stand to be in the same room. Still, it's a great gig, so even when the cameras stop rolling, the show must go on, and on, and on. . . . Until the pesky paparazzi blow their cover, and Charlie and Fielding must disappear to weather the media storm. It's not until they're far off the grid of the Hollywood circuit that they realize that there's more to each of them than shiny hair and a winning smile.

Weekly Pick

2011-03-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

Draw the Dark
by Ilsa Bick

There are things in Winter, Wisconsin, folks just don't talk about. The murder way back in '45 is one. The near-suicide of a first-grade teacher is another. And then there is 17-year old Christian Cage. Christian's parents disappeared when he was a little boy, and ever since he's drawn and painted obsessively, trying desperately to remember his mother. The problem is Christian doesn't just draw his own memories. He can draw the thoughts of those around him. Confronted with fears and nightmares they'd rather avoid, people have a bad habit of dying. So it's no surprise that Christian isn't exactly popular. What no one expects is for Christian to meet Winter's last surviving Jew and uncover one more thing best forgotten--the day the Nazis came to town. Based on a little-known fact of the United States' involvement in World War II, Draw the Dark is a dark fantasy about reclaiming the forgotten past and the redeeming power of love.

Weekly Pick

2011-02-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

A Matter of Magic
by Patricia Wrede

When a stranger offers her a small fortune to break into a traveling magician’s wagon, Kim doesn’t hesitate. Having grown up a waif in the dirty streets of London, Kim isn’t above a bit of breaking-and-entering. A hard life and lean times have schooled her in one lesson: steal from them before they steal from you. But when the magician catches her in the act, Kim thinks she’s done for. Until he suggests she become his apprentice; then the real trouble begins.

Kim soon finds herself entangled with murderers, thieves, and cloak-and-dagger politics, all while trying to learn how to become both a proper lady and a magician in her own right. Magic and intrigue go hand in hand in Mairelon the Magician and The Magician’s Ward, two fast-paced novels filled with mystery and romance, set against the intricate backdrop of Regency England.

Weekly Pick

2011-02-21T06:52:00.000-08:00

The Rise of Renegade X
by Chelsea M. Campbell

Sixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she's been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father's too moral for his own good, so when he finds out Damien exists, he actually wants him to come live with him and his goody-goody superhero family. Damien gets shipped off to stay with them in their suburban hellhole, and he has only six weeks to prove he's not a hero in any way, or else he's stuck living with them for the rest of his life, or until he turns eighteen, whichever comes first.

To get out of this mess, Damien has to survive his dad's "flying lessons" that involve throwing him off the tallest building in the city--despite his nearly debilitating fear of heights--thwarting the eccentric teen scientist who insists she's his sidekick, and keeping his supervillain girlfriend from finding out the truth. But when Damien uncovers a dastardly plot to turn all the superheroes into mindless zombie slaves, a plan hatched by his own mom, he discovers he cares about his new family more than he thought. Now he has to choose: go back to his life of villainy and let his family become zombies, or stand up to his mom and become a real hero.

Weekly Pick

2011-02-14T06:54:00.000-08:00

Cupid

by Julius Lester

This is the story of Cupid- the god responsible for heartache, sleepless nights, and all those silly love songs-finally getting his comeuppance. When the god of love falls in love himself, things are bound to get interesting. And when he crosses his mama, Venus, in the process . . . Well, things could get downright messy.

The much-lauded author of Pharaoh's Daughter and When Dad Killed Mom brings his renowned storytelling skills to one of the world's most famous tales. In doing so he weaves a romantic, hilarious drama brought to life with a bold new voice that's loaded with sly wisdom. Julius Lester's retelling is sure to draw new readers to classic mythology while satisfying old fans as well.

Weekly Pick

2011-02-07T09:50:00.000-08:00

Shutout
by Brendan Halpin

Amanda and Lena have been soccer stars and best friends for years, but now, when Amanda makes the junior varsity team and Lena makes the varsity, Amanda finds herself increasingly shut out of her friend’s life. Suddenly, everything Amanda took for granted is changing--but she's about to discover that might not be bad. Brendan Halpin’s new novel is about friendship, family, soccer, and the confusing time when everything that used to feel simple suddenly feels complicated.

Weekly Pick

2011-01-31T06:15:00.000-08:00

The Freak Observer
by Blythe Woolston

The Freak Observer is rich in family drama, theoretical physics, and an unusual, tough young woman--Loa Lindgren.

For eight years, Loa Sollilja's world ran like one of those mechanical models of the solar system, with her baby sister, Asta, as the sun. Asta suffered from a genetic disorder that left her a permanent infant, and caring for her was Loa's life. Everything spun neatly and regularly as the whole family orbited around Asta.

But now Asta's dead, and 16-year-old Loa's clockwork galaxy has collapsed. As Loa spins off on her own, her mind ambushes her with vivid nightmares and sadistic flashbacks¯a textbook case of PTSD. But there are no textbook fixes for Loa's short-circuiting brain. She must find her own way to pry her world from the clutches of death.

The Freak Observer is a startling debut about death, life, astrophysics, and finding beauty in chaos.

Weekly Pick

2011-01-24T06:12:00.000-08:00

Nothing
by Janne Teller

"Nothing matters."

"From the moment you are born, you start to die."

"The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. You'll live to be a maximum of one hundred. Life isn't worth the bother!"

So says Pierre Anthon when he decides that there is no meaning to life, leaves the classroom, climbs a plum tree, and stays there.

His friends and classmates cannot get him to come down, not even by pelting him with rocks. So to prove to him that there is a meaning to life, they set out to build a heap of meaning in an abandoned sawmill.

But it soon becomes obvious that each person cannot give up what is most meaningful, so they begin to decide for one another what the others must give up. The pile is started with a lifetime's collection of Dungeons & Dragons books, a fishing rod, a pair of green sandals, a pet hamster -- but then, as each demand becomes more extreme, things start taking a very morbid twist, and the kids become ever more desperate to get Pierre Anthon down. And what if, after all these sacrifices, the pile is not meaningful enough?

A Lord of the Flies for the twenty-first century, Nothing is a visionary existential novel -- about everything, and nothing -- that will haunt you.

Weekly Pick

2011-01-17T06:10:00.000-08:00

Please Ignore Vera Dietz

by A. S. King

Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.

So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?

Edgy and gripping, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.

Weekly Pick

2011-01-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

Revolver
by Marcus Sedgwick

A loaded gun. Stolen gold. And a menacing stranger. A taut frontier survivor story, set at the time of the Alaska gold rush.

In an isolated cabin, fourteen-year-old Sig is alone with a corpse: his father, who has fallen through the ice and frozen to death only hours earlier. Then comes a stranger claiming that Sig’s father owes him a share of a horde of stolen gold. Sig’s only protection is a loaded Colt revolver hidden in the cabin’s storeroom. The question is, will Sig use the gun, and why?

Weekly Pick

2011-01-03T06:01:00.000-08:00

The Thin Executioner

by Darren Shan

In a kingdom of merciless tyrants, Jebel Rum's family is honored as royalty because his father is the executioner. But Rashed Rum is near retirement. And when he goes, there will be a contest to determine his successor. It is a contest that thin, puny Jebel has no chance of winning.

Humiliated and ashamed, Jebel sets out on a quest to the faraway home of a legendary fire god to beg for inhuman powers so that he can become the most lethal of men. He must take with him a slave, named Tel Hesani, to be sacrificed to the god. It will be a dark and brutal journey filled with lynch mobs, suicide cults, terrible monsters, and worse, monstrous men. But to Jebel, the risk is worth it.

To retrieve his honor . . .
To wield unimaginable power . . .
To become . . .
The thin executioner.

Weekly Pick

2010-12-27T06:11:00.000-08:00

The Things a Brother Knows
by Dana Reinhardt

The story of a young marine’s return from war in the Middle East and the psychological effects it has on his family.

Finally, Levi Katznelson’s older brother, Boaz, has returned. Boaz was a high school star who had it all and gave it up to serve in a war Levi can’t understand. Things have been on hold since Boaz left. With the help of his two best friends Levi has fumbled his way through high school, weary of his role as little brother to the hero.

But when Boaz walks through the front door after his tour of duty is over, Levi knows there’s something wrong. Boaz is home, safe. But Levi knows that his brother is not the same.

Maybe things will never return to normal. Then Boaz leaves again, and this time Levi follows him, determined to understand who his brother was, who he has become, and how to bring him home again.

YARP Spotlight: North of Beautiful

2010-12-23T06:07:00.000-08:00

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Describe the book in ten words or less:
Tall, blonde, beautiful… with a flawed face.

First line...
Not to brag or anything, but if you saw me from behind, you’d probably think I was perfect.

The longer description:
As he continued to stare, I wanted to point to my cheek and remind him, But you were the one who wanted this, remember? You're the one who asked-and I repeat- Why not fix your face?

It's hard not to notice Terra Cooper.

She's tall, blonde, and has an enviable body. But with one turn of her cheek, all people notice is her unmistakably "flawed" face. Terra secretly plans to leave her stifling small town in the Northwest and escape to an East Coast college, but gets pushed off-course by her controlling father. When an unexpected collision puts Terra directly in Jacob's path, the handsome but quirky Goth boy immediately challenges her assumptions about herself and her life, and she is forced in yet another direction. With her carefully laid plans disrupted, will Terra be able to find her true path?

Written in lively, artful prose, award-winning author Justina Chen Headley has woven together a powerful novel about a fractured family, falling in love, travel, and the meaning of true beauty.

YARP Spotlight: Ways to Live Forever

2010-12-21T06:47:00.000-08:00

Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls

Describe the book in six words or less:
I am Sam. I am dying.

First line...
This is my book, started 7th January, finished 12th April.

The longer description:
Living through the final stages of leukemia, Sam collects stories, questions, lists, and pictures that create a profoundly moving portrait of how a boy lives when he knows his time is almost up.

Weekly Pick

2010-12-20T06:04:00.000-08:00

Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris-- until she meets Etienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Etienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.

YARP Spotlight: The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez

2010-12-16T06:22:00.000-08:00

The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Describe the book in ten words or less:
Sonia’s biggest dream… to finish high school.

First line...
I was born in the United States of America.

The longer description:
Sonia Rodriguez was born in the United States, but her parents are Mexican immigrants who came to California before she was born. Her father has three Social Security numbers, her mother is pregnant (again), and neither of them speak English. Sonia's mother spends most of her time in bed, watching soap operas, and letting Sonia clean up after her brothers. Sonia's father works dutifully to support his family, but he knows that his daughter's dreams are bigger than making tamales for family get-togethers. When Sonia attempts to put school work before her familia, her mother decides that it's time for Sonia to visit her grandmother in Mexico to learn "the ways of the old world." While in Mexico, Sonia spends time with her wise grandmother and her cousin Maria who teach her that while familia is important, the most important thing is to follow your heart. Sonia returns to the States determined to succeed in school, but the birth of her new twin siblings, inappropriate advances from her drunk uncle (Drunkle), and a forbidden relationship with an El Salvadorian boy push school to the back burner. If only Sonia can find the time to cook dinner, secretly meet with her boyfriend, avoid her Drunkle, and finish her homework, she just might be able to graduate from high school...

YARP Spotlight: Defying the Diva

2010-12-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

Defying the Diva by D. Anne Love

Describe the book in ten words or less:

Friends one second. Bullies the next. Who can Hayley trust?

First line...

I slid into my chair a nanosecond before the tardy bell and checked out the discussion-slash-quiz question scrawled on the chalkboard.

The longer description:
For Haley Patterson, freshman year of high school boils down to having a good time with her two best friends and making a name for herself at the school newspaper. But when Haley reveals one too many juicy details in her gossip column, superdiva and queen bee Camilla Quinn makes sure that Haley's life changes...for the worse. Completely ostracized by everyone at school, including her best friends, Haley finds herself alone and miserable.

Reprieve comes in the form of a summer job at an exclusive mountain resort, where Haley forges new friend-ships, snags a cute lifeguard, and learns how to trust again. But her newfound hope is not bought without some heartbreak.

As the summer draws to a close, an unexpected confrontation with Camilla forces Haley to face her fears. Will she continue to let Camilla control her life? Or will Haley find the confidence and courage to stand her ground?

Weekly Pick

2010-12-13T06:36:00.000-08:00

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

YARP Spotlight: Artichoke's Heart

2010-12-09T06:18:00.000-08:00

Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Describe the book in ten words or less:
A sweet confection of southern charm and gentle humor. -VOYA

First line...
Mother spent $700 on a treadmill “from Santa” that I will never use.

The longer description:
It’s not so easy being Rosemary Goode and tipping the scales at almost two hundred pounds— especially when your mother runs the most successful (and gossipiest!) beauty shop in town. After a spectacularly disastrous Christmas break when the scale reaches an all-time high—Rosemary realizes that things need to change. (A certain basketball player, Kyle Cox, might have something to do with it.) So begins a powerful year of transformation and a journey toward self-discovery that surprisingly has little to do with the physical, and more to do with an honest look at how Rosemary feels about herself.

YARP Spotlight: Beanball

2010-12-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

Beanball by Gene Fehler

Describe the book in six words or less:
One pitch straight to the head.

First line...
“This is your year, Andy. I’m sure of it. I had this dream last night.”

The longer description:
It's the last inning of a high school baseball game between arch-rivals Oak Grove and Compton. Center fielder Luke "Wizard" Wallace steps up to the plate—and is hit by a beanball, a wild pitch that shatters his skull, destroys the vision in his left eye, and changes his life forever.

In this riveting novel, the events surrounding this pivotal moment are recounted through free-verse monologues by 28 different voices, including those of Luke and his Oak Grove teammates; the pitcher, Kyle Dawkins, and other Compton players; the two coaches; Luke's family members and teachers; and Sarah Edgerton, a new classmate who seems more affected by Luke's injury than his girlfriend is.

With its unusual format, gripping subject matter, and economy of language, Beanball is a thought-provoking, fast-paced read.

Weekly Pick

2010-12-06T06:07:00.000-08:00

Pegasus
by Robin McKinley

A gorgeously written fantasy about the friendship between a princess and her Pegasus.

Because of a thousand-year-old alliance between humans and pagasi, Princess Sylviianel is ceremonially bound to Ebon, her own Pegasus, on her twelfth birthday. The two species coexist peacefully, despite the language barriers separating them. Humans and pegasi both rely on specially-trained Speaker magicians as the only means of real communication.

But its different for Sylvi and Ebon. They can understand each other. They quickly grow close-so close that their bond becomes a threat to the status quo-and possibly to the future safety of their two nations.

YARP Spotlight: The Knife of Never Letting Go

2010-12-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Describe the book in ten words or less:
What if everyone heard your every thought…

First line...
The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don’t got nothing much to say.

The longer description:
Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him— something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World?

Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

YARP Spotlight: Walking on Glass

2010-11-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

Walking on Glass by Alma Fullerton

Describe the book in ten words or less:
Could you really help your own mother die?

First line...
I begin this
under protest.

The longer description:
Your mother's suicide attempt has left her in a coma from which she's never waking up. You know that she wouldn't want to live like this, but could you really help her die? Here you are, making the hardest decision of your life and there's no one to help you: Your father has disappeared into depression. Your best friend is becoming someone you no longer want to know. There is a girl who could help, maybe, if you'd let her. But in the end, it's all up to you.

A free-verse novel from debut author Alma Fullerton plunges deep inside the psyche of a young man faced with a life-and-death decision.

Weekly Pick

2010-11-29T06:11:00.000-08:00

Black Hole Sun
by David Macinnis Gill

Durango is playing the cards he was dealt. And it’s not a good hand.

He’s lost his family.
He’s lost his crew.
And he’s got the scars to prove it.
You don’t want to mess with Durango.

Sixteen-year-old Durango and his crew of mercenaries are hired by the settlers of a mining community on Mars to protect their most valuable resource from a feral band of marauders.

“Rockets readers to new frontiers . . . action-packed.” (Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games )

“Black Hole Sun grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go until the last page. In the best tradition of Heinlein and Firefly, Black Hole Sun is for readers who like their books fast-paced, intense, and relentless. Buy it, read it, pass it on!” (Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Wintergirls and Speak )

“Readers will have a hard time turning the pages fast enough as the body count rises to the climactic, satisfying ending, which will leave new fans hopeful for more adventures.” (Booklist, starred review )

YARP Spotlight: If I Stay

2010-11-25T06:17:00.000-08:00

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Describe the book in ten words or less:
In a coma. Make a choice. Stay. Or… go.

First line...
Everyone thinks it was because of the snow.

The longer description:
A critically acclaimed novel that will change the way you look at life, love, and family.

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen ¬year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heart wrenchingly beautiful, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.

YARP Spotlight: Chasing Lincoln's Killer

2010-11-23T06:40:00.000-08:00

Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson

Describe the book in six words or less:

Twelve day manhunt.

First line...
From 1861 through 1865, the United States endured a bloody civil war between Northern and Southern states.

The longer description:
Based on rare archival material, obscure trial manuscripts, and interviews with relatives of the conspirators and the manhunters, CHASING LINCOLN'S KILLER is a fast-paced thriller about the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth: a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia.

"This story is true. All the characters are real and were alive during the great manhunt of April 1865. Their words are authentic and come from original sources: letters, manuscripts, trial transcripts, newspapers, government reports, pamphlets, books and other documents. What happened in Washington, D.C., that spring, and in the swamps and rivers, forests and fields of Maryland and Virginia during the next twelve days, is far too incredible to have been made up."

So begins this fast-paced thriller that tells the story of the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth and gives a day-by-day account of the wild chase to find this killer and his accomplices. Based on James Swanson's bestselling adult book MANHUNT: THE 12-DAY CHASE FOR LINCOLN'S KILLER, this young people's version is an accessible look at the assassination of a president, and shows readers Abraham Lincoln the man, the father, the husband, the friend, and how his death impacted those closest to him.

Weekly Pick

2010-11-22T06:38:00.000-08:00

Twelfth Grade Kills
by Heather Brewer

As a teenage vampire, Vlad has spent the last four years trying to handle the pressures of school while sidestepping a slayer out for his blood. Now he's a senior, and in this final, action-packed book in the series, Vlad must confront the secrets of the past, unravel the mystery of who he really is, make decisions about his future, and face his greatest enemy. It's a senior year that totally bites.

YARP Spotlight: Here Lies Arthur

2010-11-18T06:55:00.000-08:00

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve

Describe the book in ten words or less:
A girl and a bard make Arthur into a legend.

First line...
Even the woods are burning.

The longer description:
Gwynna is just a girl who is forced to run when her village is attacked and burns to the ground. To her horror, she is discovered in the wood. But it is Myrddin the bard who has found her, a traveler and spinner of tales. He agrees to protect Gwynna if she will agree to be bound in service to him. Gwynna is frightened but intrigued-and says yes-for this Myrddin serves the young, rough, and powerful Arthur. In the course of their travels, Myrddin transforms Gwynna into the mysterious Lady of the Lake, a boy warrior, and a spy. It is part of a plot to transform Arthur from the leader of a ragtag war band into King Arthur, the greatest hero of all time.

YARP Spotlight: Satchel Paige: Striking out Jim Crowe

2010-11-16T06:48:00.000-08:00

Satchel Paige: Striking out Jim Crowe by James Sturm and Rich Tommaso

Describe the book in six words or less:
More than just a baseball player.

First line...
1929: Ain’t easy leavin’ your wife and child, but you can’t be a ballplayer unless you willin’ to travel.

The longer description:
Baseball Hall of Famer Leroy "Satchel" Paige (1905? - 1982) changed the face of the game in a career that spanned five decades. Much has been written about this larger-than-life pitcher, but when it comes to Paige, fact does not easily separate from fiction. He made a point of writing his own history...and then re-writing it. A tall, lanky fireballer, he was arguably the Negro League's hardest thrower, most entertaining storyteller and greatest gate attraction. Now the Center for Cartoon Studies turns a graphic novelist's eye to Paige's story. Told from the point of view of a sharecropper, this compelling narrative follows Paige from game to game as he travels throughout the segregated South.

In stark prose and powerful graphics, author and artist share the story of a sports hero, role model, consummate showman, and era-defining American.

Weekly Pick

2010-11-15T06:36:00.000-08:00

Revolution
by Jennifer Donnelly

BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.

PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape.

Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.

YARP Spotlight: Eon: Dragoneye Reborn

2010-11-11T06:32:00.000-08:00

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman

Describe the book in ten words or less:

Eon has a secret. He’s a girl.

First line...

No one knows how the first Dragoneyes made their dangerous bargain with the twelve energy dragons of good fortune.

The longer description:

Sixteen-year-old Eon has a dream, and a mission. For years, he's been studying sword-work and magic, toward one end. He and his master hope that he will be chosen as a Dragoneye- an apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune.

But Eon has a dangerous secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been masquerading as a twelve-year-old boy. Females are forbidden to use Dragon Magic; if anyone discovers she has been hiding in plain sight, her death is assured.

When Eon's secret threatens to come to light, she and her allies are plunged into grave danger and a deadly struggle for the Imperial throne. Eon must find the strength and inner power to battle those who want to take her magic...and her life.

YARP Spotlight: The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones

2010-11-09T06:25:00.000-08:00

The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones by Helen Hemphill

Describe the book in six words or less:

A rollicking good adventure, Cowboy.

First line...

“Halleloo!” Omer grins, wide and proud. “That sure is some fine riding, Prometheus!”

The longer description:
When Prometheus Jones wins a horse with a raffle ticket he got from Pernie Boyd and LaRue Dill, he knows things won't go smoothly. No way are those two rednecks going to let a black man, even a freeman from the day of his birth, keep that horse. So as soon as things get ugly, he jumps on the horse, pulls his cousin Omer up behind him, and heads off. They hook up with a cattle drive out of Texas heading for Deadwood, South Dakota. Prometheus is a fine hand with a horse and not so bad with a gun, and both skills prove useful as the trip north throws every twist and turn imaginable at the young cowpokes.

Weekly Pick

2010-11-08T06:22:00.000-08:00

The Nine Pound Hammer
by John Bemis

What if John Henry had a son?

Twelve-year-old Ray is haunted by the strangest memories of his father, whom Ray swears could speak to animals. Now an orphan, Ray jumps from a train going through the American South and falls in with a medicine show train and its stable of sideshow performers. The performers turn out to be heroes, defenders of the wild, including the son of John Henry. They are hiding the last of the mythical Swamp Sirens from an ancient evil known as the Gog. Why the Gog wants the Siren, they can’t be sure, but they know it has something to do with rebuilding a monstrous machine that John Henry gave his life destroying years before, a machine that will allow the Gog to control the will of men and spread darkness throughout the world.

YARP Spotlight: Perfect Chemistry

2010-11-04T06:21:00.000-07:00

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Describe the book in ten words or less:
Urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers

First line...
Everybody knows I’m perfect.

The longer description:
When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.

YARP Spotlight: Paint the Wind

2010-11-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan

Describe the book in six words or less:
Girl and horse save each other.

First line...
Artemisia knew it was time to drop the foal.

The longer description:
Maya lives like a captive. At Grandmother's house in California, everything is forbidden: friends, fun, even memories. And her life is built on lies: lies Grandmother tells her about her dead mother, lies Maya tells to impress or manipulate. But then she moves to the vast Wyoming wilderness where her mother's family awaits - kind, rugged people who have no tolerance for lies. They challenge Maya to confront the truth about who she is. And a mysterious mustang called Artemisia waits, too. She holds the key to Maya's freedom. But to find it, Maya will have to risk everything, including her life.

Weekly Pick

2010-11-01T06:11:00.000-07:00

Butterfly
by Sonya Hartnett

Plum Coyle is on the edge of adolescence. Her fourteenth birthday is approaching, when her old life and her old body will fall away, and she will become graceful, powerful, and at ease. The strength of the objects she stores in a briefcase under her bed —a crystal lamb, a yoyo, an antique watch, a coin —will make sure of it. Over the next couple of weeks, Plum’s life will change. Her beautiful neighbor Maureen will begin to show Plum how she might fly. The older brothers she adores will court catastrophe in worlds that she barely knows exist. And her friends, her worst enemies, will tease and test, smelling weakness. They will try to lead her on and take her down.

Butterfly is a gripping, disquieting, beautifully observed coming-of-age novel by an acclaimed author at the top of her form.

YARP Spotlight: Bonechiller

2010-10-28T06:11:00.000-07:00

Bonechiller by Graham McNamee

Describe the book in ten words or less:
Windigos: big, ugly things… with ice for a heart

First line...
Don’t look for it on the map. This place is so small it doesn’t even get a dot.

The longer description:
WELCOME TO NOWHERE.

Danny’s dad takes a job as caretaker at a marina on the shore of a vast, frozen lake in Harvest Cove, a tiny town tucked away in Canada’s Big Empty. If you’re looking for somewhere to hide, this is it.

It’s the worst winter in years. One night, running in the dark, Danny is attacked by a creature so strange and terrifying he tries to convince himself he was hallucinating. Then he learns about Native American legends of a monster that’s haunted the lake for a thousand years. And that every generation, in the coldest winters, kids have disappeared into the night. People think they ran away.

Danny knows better. Because now the beast is after him.

YARP Spotlight: If the Witness Lied

2010-10-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

If the Witness Lied by Caroline Cooney

Describe the book in six words or less:
Family tragedy exploited on TV

First line...
The good thing about Friday is— it’s not Thursday.

The longer description:
Jack Fountain knows that what’s happened to his family sounds like the most horrible soap opera anyone could ever write. But it’s all true. It happened—to his parents; to his sisters, Smithy and Madison. And to his baby brother, Tris. What made it worse was that the media wanted to know every detail.

Now it's almost Tris’s third birthday, and everything’s starting again. Aunt Cheryl, who’s living with the Fountain children, has decided that they will heal only if they work through their pain—on camera. It will be a field day for the media, and no one, except Cheryl, wants that. Jack and his sisters gear up to keep Tris’s adorable face off-screen, but they quickly realize that there is more at stake than their privacy. The very identities they’ve created for themselves are called into question. What really happened the day of their father’s accident?

The Fountain siblings have less than twenty-four hours to change their fate. Together, they will ask questions no one asked at the time of the tragedy. And together, they vow that this time, they will not be exploited.

Weekly Pick

2010-10-25T06:15:00.000-07:00

Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking: Book Three)

by Patrick Ness

In the riveting conclusion to the acclaimed dystopian series, a boy and girl caught in the chaos of war face devastating choices that will decide the fate of a world.

As a world-ending war surges around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions. The indigenous Spackle, thinking and acting as one, have mobilized to avenge their murdered people. Ruthless human leaders prepare to defend their factions at all costs, even as a convoy of new settlers approaches. And as the ceaseless Noise lays all thoughts bare, the projected will of the few threatens to overwhelm the desperate desire of the many. The consequences of each action, each word, are unspeakably vast: To follow a tyrant or a terrorist? To save the life of the one you love most, or thousands of strangers? To believe in redemption, or assume it is lost? Becoming adults amid the turmoil, Todd and Viola question all they have known, racing through horror and outrage toward a shocking finale.

YARP Spotlight: Me, the Missing and the Dead

2010-10-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

Me, the Missing and the Dead by Jenny Valentine

Describe the book in six words or less:
A boy. An urn. A mystery.

First line...
The minicab office was up a cobbled alley with little flat houses on either side.

The longer description:
Me: Lucas Swain— I'm nearly sixteen years old and live in London. I was fairly normal until the night I found Violet. Then everything changed.

The missing: Dad. He disappeared five years ago. Nobody knows what happened to him, and nobody cares except me. It's enough to drive you crazy.

The dead: That's Violet . . . in the urn. Speaking of crazy— I know she's trying to tell me something, and I think it's about my father. . . .

I may have met Violet after she died. But it didn't stop me from getting to know her. . . .

YARP Spotlight: The Winter Road

2010-10-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

The Winter Road by Terry Hokenson

Describe the book in six words or less:

Plane crash. Can Willa survive?

First line...
Willa Raedl walked into her fifth-period shop class at Sioux Lookout high School, took her knight’s helmet from the rack, and placed in on the steel bench where she’d been welding it together for the past two weeks.

The longer description:
Willa Raedl hates the knight’s helmet that she made in shop class. After brooding a moment, she fetches a sledge-hammer and smashes it. Since her brother Ray died, her mother is never around and her father ignores her. She needs to prove herself to them, and to Ray. So when Uncle Jordy's drinking threatens to strand her mother in a remote native village, Willa jumps in his plane and flies the wintry route alone. A storm hits Willa's flight and she crash-lands in the frozen wilderness.

This gritty survival story pits Willa against both arctic temperatures and her own self-doubt. She’ll need more than a good parka and her multi-tool if she ever wants to see home again.

Weekly Pick

2010-10-18T06:08:00.000-07:00

Wicked Girls: a novel of the Salem Witch Trials

by Stephanie Hemphill

What started out as girls' games became a witch hunt. Wicked Girls is a fictionalized account of the Salem witch trials told from the perspectives of three of the real young women living in Salem in 1692.

Ann Putnam Jr. plays the queen bee. When her father suggests that a spate of illnesses within the village is the result of witchcraft, Ann grasps her opportunity. She puts in motion a chain of events that will change the lives of the people around her forever.

Mercy Lewis, the beautiful servant in Ann's house, inspires adulation in some and envy in others. With a troubled past, she seizes her only chance at safety.

Margaret Walcott, Ann's cousin, is desperately in love and consumed with fiery jealousy. She is torn between staying loyal to her friends and pursuing the life she dreams of with her betrothed.

With new accusations mounting daily against the men and women of the community, the girls will have to decide: Is it too late to tell the truth?

A Printz Honor winner for Your Own, Sylvia, Stephanie Hemphill uses evocative verse to weave a nuanced portrait of one of the most chilling and fascinating times in our nation's history.

YARP Spotlight: Wintergirls

2010-10-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Describe the book in six words or less:
Body. Image. Anorexia. HELP. help.

First line...
So she tells me, the words dribbling out with the cranberry muffin crumbs, commas dunked in her coffee.

The longer description:
Lia and Cassie were best friends, wintergirls frozen in fragile bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. But then Cassie suffered the ultimate loss—her life—and Lia is left behind, haunted by her friend's memory and racked with guilt for not being able to help save her. In her most powerfully moving novel since Speak, award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia's struggle, her painful path to recovery, and her desperate attempts to hold on to the most important thing of all-hope.

YARP Spotlight: Boost

2010-10-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

Boost by Kathy Mackel

Describe the book in six words or less:
Basketball is everything to Savvy.

First line...
I stood at the free throw line, all eyes on me.

The longer description:
Thirteen-year-old Savvy’s three-point shot is deadly. But she gets pushed around on the basketball court. Her older sister, Callie, is on varsity cheerleading, but she’s not light enough to be a flier— her coveted position. Both girls need to boost their level of competition to get into the action. How far are they willing to go to be the best?

Weekly Pick

2010-10-11T06:06:00.000-07:00

Reckless

by Cornelia Funke

Beyond the mirror, the darkest fairy tales come alive. . . .

For years, Jacob Reckless has enjoyed the Mirrorworld's secrets and treasures.

Not anymore.

His younger brother has followed him.

Now dark magic will turn the boy to beast, break the heart of the girl he loves, and destroy everything Jacob holds most dear. . . .

Unless he can find a way to stop it.

If you're looking for happily ever after, you've come to the wrong place.

YARP Spotlight: Two Parties, One Tux and a Very Short Film about The Grapes of Wrath

2010-10-07T06:23:00.000-07:00

Two Parties, One Tux and a Very Short Film about The Grapes of Wrath by Steven Goldman

Describe the book in six words or less:
Title says it all.

First line...
We are standing at a party, a still, quiet eddy in the swirl of motion and noise.

The longer description:
Mitchell Wells may not survive eleventh grade. He really only has one friend. His normally decent grade point average is in limbo due to a slightly violent, somewhat inappropriate claymation film. And girls . . . well, does hanging out with his sister count? Then his friend reveals he's gay, one of the most popular girls in school decides she must date Mitchell, and— oh, right— prom's coming up . . .

With a wickedly funny voice and a colorful cast of characters, Steven Goldman has written a novel for every reader— even those who like high school!

YARP Spotlight: Tunnels

2010-10-05T06:13:00.000-07:00

Tunnels by Roderick Gordon

Describe the book in ten words or less:
Digging up the truth. Digging up trouble.

First line...
SCHLAAK! The pickax hit the wall of earth and, sparking on an unseen shard of flint, sank deep into the clay, coming to a sudden halt with a dull thud.

The longer description:
14-year-old Will Burrows has little in common with his strange, dysfunctional family. In fact, the only bond he shares with his eccentric father is a passion for archaeological excavation. So when Dad mysteriously vanishes, Will is compelled to dig up the truth behind his disappearance. He unearths the unbelievable: a secret subterranean society. "The Colony" has existed unchanged for a century, but it's no benign time capsule of a bygone era--because the Colony is ruled by a cult-like overclass, the Styx. Before long— before he can find his father— Will is their prisoner....

Weekly Pick

2010-10-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

You

by Charles Benoit

This wasn't the way it was supposed to go.

You're just a typical fifteen-year-old sophomore, an average guy named Kyle Chase. This can't be happening to you. But then, how do you explain all the blood? How do you explain how you got here in the first place?

There had to have been signs, had to have been some clues it was coming. Did you miss them, or ignore them? Maybe if you can figure out where it all went wrong, you can still make it right. Or is it already too late? Think fast, Kyle. Time's running out. How did this happen?

You is the riveting story of fifteen-year-old Kyle and the small choices he does and doesn't make that lead to his own destruction.

In his stunning young-adult debut, Charles Benoit mixes riveting tension with an insightful—and unsettling—portrait of an ordinary teen in a tale that is taut, powerful, and shattering.

YARP Spotlight: Need

2010-09-30T06:08:00.000-07:00

Need by Carrie Jones

Describe the book in ten words or less:
Vampires? Done. Werewolves? Over it. Pixies! Hand to Twilight fan.

First line...
Everybody has fears, right?

The longer description:
Zara collects phobias the way other high school girls collect lipsticks. Little wonder, since life’s been pretty rough so far. Her father left, her stepfather just died, and her mother’s pretty much checked out. Now Zara’s living with her grandmother in sleepy, cold Maine so that she stays “safe.” Zara doesn’t think she’s in danger; she thinks her mother can’t deal.

Wrong. Turns out that guy she sees everywhere, the one leaving trails of gold glitter, isn’t a figment of her imagination. He’s a pixie—and not the cute, lovable kind with wings. He’s the kind who has dreadful, uncontrollable needs. And he’s trailing Zara.

With suspense, romance, and paranormal themes, this exciting breakout novel has all the elements to keep teens rapidly turning the pages.

YARP Spotlight: Black Box

2010-09-28T06:42:00.000-07:00

Black Box by Julie Schumacher

Describe the book in ten words or less:
Elena. Dora. Sisters. One depressed. One lonely. Both need saving.

First line...
We can hear someone screaming as soon as we get off the elevator.

The longer description:
When Dora, Elena’s older sister, is diagnosed with depression and has to be admitted to the hospital, Elena can’t seem to make sense of their lives anymore. At school, the only people who acknowledge Elena are Dora’s friends and Jimmy Zenk— who failed at least one grade and wears black every day of the week. And at home, Elena’s parents keep arguing with each other. Elena will do anything to help her sister get better and get their lives back to normal— even when the responsibility becomes too much to bear.

Weekly Pick

2010-09-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

What I Wore to Save the World
by Maryrose Wood

Third in the fabulous series that started with Why I Let My Hair Grow Out.

Senior year's coming up fast and Morgan still has no clue about college, or a career-the whole rest of-her-life thing is basically a blank. Maybe it's because she spent her junior year obsessing about Colin, the hot Irish guy she fell for last summer (that was right around the same time she discovered she's a half- goddess from the days of Irish lore... you had to be there). She even saved Colin from a nasty enchantment, but he doesn't know that. Colin doesn't believe in magic, not even a little.

But then a mysterious message reunites her with Colin, who turns out to be caught up in the biggest faery-made disaster ever. We're talking the end of reality-not just reality TV. To save the world, she's going to have to tell Colin the truth about her half-goddess mojo. But if he doesn't believe in magic, how will he ever believe in her?

YARP Spotlight: Tweaked

2010-09-23T06:16:00.000-07:00

Tweaked by Katherine Holubitsky

Describe the book in six words or less:

Addiction rips Gordie's family apart.

First line...
When my brother, Chase, was twelve and I was eleven he built a tepee in the ravine behind our house.

The longer description:
“Life is challenging enough for a teen without the pressure of a family member who is dying from drugs. Gordie Jessup knows this firsthand as he watches his seventeen-year-old brother Chase collapse under the weight of alcohol and crystal meth. Told from Gordie’s perspective, the story portrays a suburban middle class family that involuntarily becomes a part of the addiction. Their path takes them on a series of futile attempts to gain control, from denial of the problem to enabling behaviors that they hope will rescue Chase from his nightmare. Gordie, meanwhile, is trying to preserve his own life, which includes friends, school, and a fledgling rock band.” - VOYA

YARP Spotlight: The Juvie Three

2010-09-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman

Describe the book in six words or less:

Three boys. No second chances.

First line...
Gecko Fosse is behind the wheel of a powder blue Infiniti M45 sedan, enjoying the thrum of the idling engine and not thinking.

The longer description:
Gecko Fosse drove the getaway car.

Terence Florian ran with the worst gang in Chicago.

Arjay Moran killed someone.

All three boys are serving time in juvenile detention centers until they get a second chance at life in the form of Douglas Healy. A former juvenile delinquent himself, Healy is running an experimental halfway house in New York City where he wants to make a difference in the lives of kids like Gecko, Terence, and Arjay.

Things are going well, until one night Healy is accidentally knocked unconscious while trying to break up a scuffle among the boys. Terrified of the consequences, they drop him off at a hospital and run away. But when Healy awakes, he has no memory of them or the halfway house. Afraid of being sent back to Juvie, the guys hatch a crazy scheme to continue on as if the group leader never left. They will go to school, do their community service, attend therapy, and act like model citizens until Healy's memory returns and he can resume his place with them.

But life keeps getting in the way...like Gecko finding romance. Or Arjay getting famous. Or Terence reverting to his old ways. And the woman from social services is determined to catch them at something. If the boys are discovered, their second chance will be their last.

Weekly Pick

2010-09-20T06:12:00.000-07:00

The Hard Kind of Promise
by Gina Willner-Pardo

Sarah promised Marjorie when they were five years old that they would be best friends forever. But that was before seventh grade, when everything changed—everything except Marjorie. While Sarah wants to meet new people and try new things, Marjorie still likes doing the same things they always did. It seems the more time the two girls spend together, the more time Sarah wants to spend apart. How did a promise that was so easy to make become so hard to keep?

With beautifully drawn characters and vivid details, this incisive novel portrays middle school in all its complexity—both the promise of what is to come and the pain of what must be left behind.

YARP Spotlight: How Not to be Popular

2010-09-16T05:44:00.000-07:00

How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler

Describe the book in six words or less:
Being unpopular… harder than it looks.

First line...
Oh crap. What did I just do?

The longer description:
Maggie Dempsey is tired of moving all over the country. Her parents are second-generation hippies who uproot her every year or so to move to a new city. When Maggie was younger, she thought it was fun and adventurous. Now that she’s a teenager, she hates it. When she moved after her freshman year, she left behind good friends, a great school, and a real feeling of belonging. When she moved her sophomore year, she left behind a boyfriend, too. Now that they’ve moved to Austin, she knows better. She’s not going to make friends. She’s not going to fit in. Anything to prevent her from liking this new place and them from liking her. Only... things don’t go exactly as planned.

YARP Spotlight: Finding Stinko

2010-09-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

Finding Stinko by Michael De Guzman

Describe the book in six words or less:
Stinko is a dummy. Literally.

First line...
The girl, who was no more than fifteen and maybe younger, stood beneath an overhang watching the back entrance to the apartment building.

The longer description:
Newboy has lived in 11 foster homes over the last 12 years, but the Knox home is the worst he's experienced. It’s run like a military establishment, and Newboy is determined to escape. Trying to avoid trouble, he hasn't spoken in three years, but when he does finally run off, he finds a ventriloquist's dummy in a Dumpster and discovers that he can speak by pretending it's the damaged doll doing the talking. Finding his voice again, even through Stinko, as he names the dummy, helps Newboy find hope. He meets other street kids and makes friends. Together they have various dangerous adventures, trying to avoid exploitation and find food and a warm place to sleep. Though their lives are grim, Newboy manages to avoid the wiles of a bully named Silverquick and capture by the Knoxes, and in the end he and his friends—and Stinko—head out to look for a better future.

Weekly Pick

2010-09-13T06:07:00.000-07:00

Pagan's Crusade

by Catherine Jinks

Down on his luck and kicked in the pants one too many times, Pagan Kidrouk arrives on the doorstep of the Templar Knights in medieval Jerusalem, looking for work as a squire. Expecting only a respite from life on the street and a few square meals, the sarcastic sixteen-year-old finds himself hard at work for Lord Roland de Bram — a not-so-exciting life of polishing Lord Roland's armor, laundering his garments, and even training to fight by his side. But as the Infidel Saladin leads his army to Jerusalem, it becomes more and more difficult for Pagan and Lord Roland to decide what action to take or whom to trust. Is a bloody battle for control of the Holy City inevitable?