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Thirteen Days to Midnight, the latest from Patrick Carman, is a thriller from page one.  Being indestructible may seem like a fantastic super power to have, but as Jacob Fielding quickly learns, the addictive allure of testing the limits of fear, the thrill of escaping harrowing accidents unscathed, and even saving another person from certain death, aren’t what they seem to be.  With every heroic act Jacob and his 2 thrill-seeking friends accomplish, the strange power that inhabits Jacob seems to grow stronger, darker, and more like a curse.  He knows something terrible is about to happen, but he can’t convince himself, or his friends,Read More →

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Jill Jekel is devastated by the murder of her father. When the police discover that he had been involved in illegal activities they lose interest in finding his murderer. Jill discovers that her father had been secretly working in his laboratory in the middle of the night and used her college savings account to fund his experiments!  Now with her mother falling apart, Jill tries to find “normal” again. When the mysterious, handsome Tristen Hyde gives Jill attention and support she finds herself curiously drawn to him. And when their chemistry teacher suggests they work together in a competition for a chance to win a 30K scholarshipRead More →

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Summer always meant the beach house at Cousins Beach with Conrad, Jeremiah and Susannah. But now that Susanna’s died, her romance with Conrad has ended, and she’s estranged from Jeremiah, Belly faces an empty, lonely summer unlike any she’s ever had. Conrad disappears from college and Jeremiah calls Belly to help find him. They go right to where they know Conrad must be: the summer house on Cousins Beach. Belly has to face the truth about her short-lived romance with Conrad; the tensions and pent up anger between the brothers; and a future that’s uncertain now that the boys’ mom has died.  Jenny Han’s second book featuringRead More →

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Mackie Doyle doesn’t belong here; he doesn’t fit in; he’s a monster hiding in our midst; and he wants more than anything to fit in and be accepted.  When debut author Brenna Yovanoff’s fabulously eerie, engaging novel, The Replacement, opens, 16 year old Mackie tells us his recurring dream: it’s a dark night; he’s carried through tunnels; brought through an open window; a shadowy man telling him to wait quietly; and he knows in the crib of a human boy who’s been taken. Mackie is a replacement; a cast-off offspring of the age-old race of faeries (the Good Neighbors, the Others) meant to stand inRead More →

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Do you know what it’s like to have a best friend? In Smells Like Dog, you will meet an interesting twelve- year- old boy who doesn’t exactly have that privilege. At least until an unexpected event takes place. The morning started just like any other. Homer Winslow Pudding woke up on his family’s goat farm in Milkydale and finished his chores. He ate breakfast. And he thought about his most favorite thing in the whole entire world: treasure hunting. Just like his famous Uncle Drake Pudding, Homer wanted to be an amazing treasure hunter, working along Drake to find lost jewels and maps. Most ofRead More →

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Let me start by saying I looooove Louis Sachar’s books! All of his work until now has been for an intermediate audience, 4th – 6th grade. Sideways Stories, There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom and Holes all read as if someone is telling the reader a good story. Sachar’s latest, The Cardturner, doesn’t disappoint in that regard. Alton is volunteered by his parents to work for his wealthy uncle over the summer after his junior year in high school. His mom hopes he’ll get into the old man’s good graces and leave the family part of his fortune. Alton’s job 4 days a weekRead More →

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Tell Us We’re Home, a fresh new book from Marina Budhos, has an interesting plot line, making a book full of mystery, friendship, and hardship. This new novel kept me reading for hours. Jaya, Maria, and Lola are just ordinary girls living in the town of Meadowbrook, New Jersey. Ordinary, that is, until you see that the girls have two things in common; they are all the daughters of maids and nannies, and they have all emigrated from a foreign country. Besides the obvious problem that they go to school with the people their mothers work for, all three also have many issues they mustRead More →

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Australian author Richard Harland’s newest book, Worldshaker, is an action-packed, fast-paced thrill ride that grabs the reader from the first page and keeps you riveted until the satisfying conclusion. Col Porpentine is the grandson and heir to the supreme commander of the juggernaut Worldshaker. A technological marvel, Worldshaker carries over 10,000 people, including the nobility from the Old Country (formerly England) on an endless trip around the world, consuming resources and leaving a trail of destruction behind.  Col is a privileged member of the upper decks and has never questioned the order of things, the mastery of his people, and the mission of Worldshaker.  But then he meetsRead More →

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 Sophie Masson’s Elizabethan romantic mystery, The Madman of Venice (Aug 2010), is the perfect companion for a summer trip, poolside escape, or as an enjoyable journey from the summer doldrums. The canals of Venice in 1603 are exciting, mysterious, and dangerous.  Celia, the spunky, smart daughter of a prosperous London merchant, and Ned, her father’s like-able but somewhat stubborn clerk, find themselves quickly caught up in two mysteries: the deadly pirate attacks that have been plaguing English ships; and the search for Sarah Tedeschi, a Jewish girl who has vanished from the Venetian Ghetto after being accused of witchcraft by the powerful Countess of Montemoro. As Celia and Ned, alongRead More →