Crossed, by Ally Condie (November 2011)

I'm standing in a river.  It's blue.  Dark blue.  Reflecting the color of the evening sky.

Far from her safe home in Oria Province, Cassia Reyes is in a work camp looking for Ky. 

If I'm going to find Ky, it has to be soon.

Ky is somewhere in the Outer Provinces.  Young men are sent to abandoned villages so the Enemy thinks the Society still lives there. 

Do you time in the villages and we'll bring you home in six months.  We'll give you Citizen status again.

No one lasts six months.  Ky has been here for 12 weeks.  There isn't any way the boys can defend themselves because the ammunition isn't real.  Replacements are sent, but they are much too young.  Ky is familiar with the area of their new village assignment; he decides it is time to run away.

Can Cassia find Ky?  What is Xander's secret?  Does the rebellion exist?  Who will Cassia choose?

Crossed offers more insight into the history of Society and the Rising.  It's a delicious read, especially if you enjoyed Matched.

Rating:  9 out of 10 stars
To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

The Eleventh Plague, by Jeff Hirsch (2011)

I was sitting at the edge of the clearing, trying not to stare at the body on the ground in front of me. 

Fifteen year-old Stephen Quinn has only known what life is like after the war, the Collapse, and the chaos that followed.  The war with China had started five years before Stephen was born.  Reacting to what should have been a minor incident with American students, the United States launched nuclear weapons at China and its allies; China responded with P11H3, the Eleventh Plague.

The last reliable news anyone heard before the stations went off the air said it had killed hundreds of millions in the United States alone.

The Collapse quickly followed P11; everything just shut down.

Stephen, his father, and his grandfather have survived by scavenging for items to trade, avoiding other people, and staying on the trail.  Danger lurks everywhere.

After Grandfather dies, Stephen and his father run into slavers.  In an effort to save others, Stephen's father makes a decision that will change their lives forever.

Stephen finds himself in the safety and security of Settlers Landing, a place where people live in houses, kids attend school, play baseball and have real friendships. 

"Who are you people?" My voice sounded strange and distant, like pieces of wreckage bobbing along on dark water.  "What is this place?"

Stephen meets Jenny, a Chinese-American girl who is a defiant prankster.

"Jenny, I don't know.  If we get caught - "

Suddenly Jenny and Stephen find themselves in the center of a battle that will change their lives, and the lives of everyone they love, forever.

The Eleventh Plague is an exciting read for students who haven't read many futuristic dystopian books. 

Rating:  7 out of 10 stars

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

How to Save a Life, by Sara Zarr (January 2012)

I am writing in response to your Love Grows post from Christmas Day.

I think I might have what you're looking for.

It should be available on March 1.  Or around March 1.

Six weeks ago Jill's mom announced she was going to participate in an open adoption.  It hasn't been quite one year since Jill's dad was killed in a car accident. 

I've tried convincing myself it has nothing to do with me.  It's Mom's right to do this.  Yet I can't help thinking, Am I not enough?  Mom and I have had our issues...It has occurred to me that she sees the baby as a do-over.  A chance to correct my failings and to finally have a child that's all hers.

Eighteen year old Mandy Madison Kalinowski is eight months pregnant.  She knows she can't ever return to her mom.  She met Jill's mom on an adoption website and agreed to the open adoption.  The only communication they had was through email.  Now that Mandy is in Denver, she's not sure what she should do.

Maybe I should tell her that I have doubts, too, that there are small moments when I remember July and feel sure what this baby is evidence of and want to keep it.  That it's the only evidence I have.  And that's why, in the end, even though there are those small moments, I want to protect it by keeping it far from me and where I've come from.

How to Save a Life eloquently describes how Mandy and Jill arrived at this very moment, which will affect how they deal with this life-changing situation.  I think it's a delicious read that teens should read with a parent to have some important conversations.

Rating:  9 out of 10 stars
*teenage pregnancy, language, issues of sexual abuse

Not available at NOLS...yet!

The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater (October 2011)

It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.

Life on Thisby Island, population 4,000 is quiet, except in November.  The closer it gets to November, the more capaill uisce - water horses - the sea spits out. 

These are not ordinary horses.  Drape them with charms, hide them from the sea, but today, on the beach: Do not turn your back.

During the month of October, until the first of November, the island becomes a map of safe areas and unsafe areas. 

Puck Connolly understands too well what the capaill uisce ("copple ooshka") are capable of.  Her parents were killed at sea.  Puck lives with her older brother, Gabe, and younger brother, Finn.  Gabe works at the hotel to keep the family together, and Puck and Finn work odd jobs to earn some money.

Suddenly Gabe tells Puck that he's leaving the island.  To make him change his mind, Puck tells him she's going to enter in the annual Scorpio Races - races with the unpredictable capaill uisce.  Gabe finally admits that he'll stay on the island until after the races.  To enter the races, though, Puck needs to find a capall uisce.  Forced to make a choice, she decides to ride her beloved horse, Dove.

Sean Kendrick has worked in Malvern Yard since he was 10 years old.  He has a way with the capaill uisce, he understands their magic.  The capaill uisce can play tricks on the rider, coaxing him to trust and to join the beast in the sea.  Sean knows how to tie knots in the horse's mane, use threes in sevens, track iron counterclockwise on the horse's withers, and make circles in the sand and spit in the center.  Sean and his favorite capall uisce, Corr, have won the Scorpio Races four times.  But Corr belongs to Mr. Malvern, and more than anything, Sean wants to own Corr.

Mr. Malvern is a powerful man on Thisby.  He owns most everything on the island, including Puck's house.  Equally as cold, his son, Mutt, hates Sean and will do anything to hurt him.

Both Sean and Puck must win the races to save what they love the most.  But can they survive?

Even if you don't know anything about horses, The Scorpio Races is an exciting read, full of lovely imagery and strong characters.  And there's even some romance in unexpected places.

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*mild language, some crude British humor, mild violence

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

The Dark and Hollow Places, by Carrie Ryan (2011)

The city used to be something once.  I've seen pictures of the way it gleamed - sun so bright off windows it could burn your eyes.

Winter.  Dark City, once known as New York City, is dying. 

Annah lives in Dark City, waiting for Elias' return.  He's been gone for three long years with the Recruiters.  Annah is a survivor in a dangerous place.  Annah is covered with physical and emotional scars.

It's haunted me.  Tormented me.  It's who I am:  the girl who left her sister behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

Catcher finds Annah in Dark City. 

"Because I promised Elias I'd find you," he finally says.

He has brought Gabry with him.

When Gabry and Catcher travelled to Dark City, they passed a horde, awakening thousands and thousands of Mudo.  Unconsecrated.  Plague rats.  Catcher and Gabry hurried to Dark City to save Annah from the horde.  Millions of plague rats are about to overtake the city.

Catcher is Immune, and the Recruiters need him for their survival.  Catcher can gather supplies and food for the inhabitants on Sanctuary.

"Remember this:  Catcher is what matters.  You're just ancillary to that end."

Annah finds the map room, what's left of the world.  Black push pins mean there's nothing; overrun by the dead. 

I stare at the wall, eyes traveling from pin to pin.  Almost all of them are black.  "That can't be right," I say.  The entire country - the entire world - is covered with black pins.

Annah is filled with questions.  What makes us alive?  What is the difference between the living and the Unconsecrated? 

"That's the question, isn't it?  What's life and what's existence?"

Carrie Ryan's third book in the Forest of Hands and Teeth series is equally as exciting as the others.  The relationships the characters have, the morals they follow will resonate with most young adults.  The imagery is, as always, absolutely delicious.  The scene where Annah is in the subway tunnels at the end of the book is gripping.

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*violence, religion

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

The Dead-Tossed Waves, by Carrie Ryan (2010)

The story goes that even after the Return they tried to keep the roller coasters going. 

Unconsecrated.  Mudo.  The monsters who are infected, dead, and Returned.  They hunger to rip through your flesh, to infect you.

Gabrielle, or Gabry, and her mother live in the sea town of Vista, far from the Protectorate.  They live in a lighthouse, protecting Vista from the Mudo that wash upon the shore.  They have a quiet life. 

I like to think that somewhere out there is a girl like me who stands in the night and wonders what else exists in the world but who is too terrified to find out. 

As a child, Gabry was proud of her mom's courage, but as she got older, Gabry was embarrassed because her mother didn't quite fit in; her mother grew up in the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

One night Gabry follows some friends over the Barrier to the ruins of an amusement park.  The Barrier separates Vista from the ruins, protects the town from the Mudo.  Gabry is terrified, she's never done anything like this before.  But Catcher makes her feel safe.

Suddenly a breaker runs towards them.  In a mass of confusion, two friends are dead, three are infected and two are missing.  Catcher begs her to leave the ruins, to run home to safety.

"Please, Gabry" is all he says.

"For me," Catcher adds.

Gabry decides to run, leaving her friends to face the wrath of the Militia and the Council.  This one decision fills Gabry's life with many "ifs" and "should haves" - if she would have done this, she should have done that.  Gabry also learns secrets about her past.  Secrets about her mother's past.  Secrets about the Return.  She meets Elias, a Souler, and everything Gabry once knew, changes.  Gabry learns too well that every choice has a consequence.

If I could choose the life I would have wanted to lead, which one would I pick?

The companion novel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth is terrifyingly delicious.  The imagery is rich, the characters are strong, and the plot is filled with twists and turns. 

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*violence, religion

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!


Next:

Rip Tide, by Kat Falls (2011)

Easing back on the throttle, I slowed the submarine's speed.  The light-streaked ocean around us seemed vast and empty, but I knew better.  We were heading into the biggest trash vortex in the Atlantic. 

Fifteen year-old Gemma has been living with almost sixteen year-old Ty Townsend and his family in their subsea home in Benthic Territory for three months.  While diving in the biggest trash gyre in the Atlantic, Ty finds a township, home to at least four or five hundred people.  Although most townships stay on the ocean's surface, this township, Nomad, was anchored and the hatches were chained shut from the outside.


Everyone on board was dead.

Settlers in Benthic Territory are now allowed to pay their property taxes in cash instead of in produce, and Ty's parents have made a deal to see their crops to a surf township, Drift.  All of the settlers are nervous.  Perhaps the rumors about the ruthlessness of the surfs are true...

When Ty's parents meet Drift's sachem, Hadal, Ty suddenly realizes the danger.

"Pa!" I hollered as I took aim at Hadal. 

"They've got your surrounded!"

Ty's parents are taken.

Gemma is terrified of the ocean, and she moves to the Trade Station.  She is paralyzed by fear when she's in the ocean.

Three townships have disappeared in the past nine months.  Can Ty and Gemma save his parents?  Can they find the missing townships before their sunk beneath the sea?  Can Gemma live in the sea with Ty and his family?

Rip Tide is an excellent second book to this series.  If you like creative action and adventure books, you'll really enjoy this read.

Rating:  9 out of 10 stars

This book isn't at NOLS...yet!

Forever, by Maggie Stiefvater (2011)

* Plot spoiler if you haven't read Shiver or Linger.

I can be so, so quiet.

Sam Roth has been cured.  He doesn't change into a wolf anymore, but the love of his life, Grace Brisbane, is lost to the woods.  Grace has been a wolf for two months and Sam is lost without her.  Former rock star Cole St. Clair lives with Sam and he wants to study the wolves more. 

"I'm only going to say this once, so you better believe me the first time.  I'm looking for a cure."

Isabel's father, Thomas Culpepper, wants revenge for the death of his son, Jack.  His influence and power in Minnesota is evident.

"My father is meeting with a congressman about getting the wolves taken off the protected list.  Think helicopers and sharpshooters."

The wolf pack in Mercy Falls is about 20 - 30 wolves and in two weeks aerial shooters will hunt and kill every single wolf.

Grace's dad is sure that Sam killed Grace.  And the police want some answers after Olivia's mutilated dead body appears on the Culpepper's property.

Grace, Cole and Sam need to move the pack to safety.  But how?  Beck holds the answers to this question and more.  But Beck is now a wolf and he can't shift anymore.  Sam needs to find Beck for answers, and he needs Cole's help.

Beck had decided to take me.  Long before my parents decided they didn't want me, he had planned to take me...I didn't understand how someone could be both God and the devil.  How the same person could destroy you and save you.



The last person Sam could ever expect for help comes up with a solution.  A location to move the wolves to avoid the aerial hunt.  But Sam and Cole have to make the most difficult decision of their lives.

If you like romantic stories that include humans and wolves, this is a good series for you.  This is the last one in the series, and I only wish I knew what happened with Cole and Isabel.

Rating:  6 out of 10 stars

* Some sexual references, language

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

Divergent, by Veronica Roth (2011)

There is one mirror in my house.  It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs.  Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair.

In the beginning of the great peace, factions that embraced a particular virtue were formed: Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (courage), Erudite (knowledge), and Amity (peace).  Their motto:  Faction before blood.

"In our factions, we find meaning, we find purpose, we find life."

Beatrice Prior is 16 years old.  She and her brother are about to take the aptitude test to find out which of the five factions each of them would best be suited for.  After Beatrice's test, she finds out that she displays aptitude for Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite:  She is Divergent.

"This is different.  I don't mean you shouldn't share them now; I mean you should never share them with anyone, ever, no matter what happens.  Divergence is extremely dangerous.  You understand?"

Beatrice is forced to choose a faction at the Choosing Ceremony.  If she chooses Abnegation, she gets to stay with her family, but she has trouble living the life of selflessness because it doesn't feel genuine.  She is drawn to Dauntless, but choosing a different faction means leaving her family forever.  And failing to complete the initiation into a faction would make her factionless, living a life of misery and poverty.

Beatrice makes a startling decision at the Choosing Ceremony.  Her entire world changes and she doesn't know who to trust.  She is thrust into a competitive initiation where only the top 10 will be accepted; in the beginning there are 19 initiates.  She also is forced to keep her Divergent identity hidden from everyone.  In the midst of this, she discovers a that society may not be as perfect as she once thought. 

When I first started reading it, I thought, This is The Giver and Matched.  Then I read about the fence and I thought, This is Forest of Hands of Teeth.  There are times when Tris feels like Katniss and I think the lights of the games should come on.  But I quickly realized that even though some great authors may have influenced her story, this is all Veronica Roth and it's delicious.  I cannot wait for her second book, Insurgent, to be released.  Hopefully she's a super-fast writer!

Rating:  9 out of 10 stars

* mild sexual references

To check this out at NOLS, click HERE!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan (2009)

My mother used to tell me about the ocean.  She said there was a place where there was nothing but water as far as you could see and that it was always moving, rushing toward you and then away.

Maria's father is missing and her mom is now dead.  They live in a small village that is surrounded by a deadly forest, the Forest of Hands and Teeth.  The village is surrounded by fence, protecting the inhabitants from the Forest, which is filled with Unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once dead.  The Unconsecrated are driven by the desire for human flesh, spreading the infection.  Maria's village is an enclave of hundreds of survivors in the middle of the vast Forest.  Lost to them is who they are and why they're here.  Life before the Return is a mystery.

The Sisterhood governs the village, the Guardians protect the village, and the Unconsecrated are insatiable.  The secrets the Sisters hold abound.

Unmarried women don't have a lot of freedoms in the village.  They can live with their family.  A man may speak for her, court her, and marry her in the spring ceremonies.  Or she can join the Sisterhood.  But the village is about survival, and all healthy young adults are encouraged to marry.  After their mother dies, her older brother rejects her and Maria is forced to live with the Sisters in the Cathedral. 

"I hear you are to join the Sisterhood," he says.  His words hit me like a slap.  I don't know what I was expecting - anger, pain, regret, but not for him to turn me away.  Not for him to cast me out and leave me to the Sisters before I've even had a chance to speak with him.

While Maria lives in the Cathedral, she notices a gate that leads to a path stretching into the Forest, forbidden by the Sisters and the Guardians.  She notices a set of footprints. 

Someone from Outside has come to our village. 
     Which means that there is an Outside - something beyond the Forest.

Maria begins to ask questions, to wonder about what else is out there.  Her mother always told her stories of life before the Return, especially about the ocean.  Maria's curiosity turns into a desire to know the truth.

There is a breach in the village and Maria is forced to use the forbidden gate to leave the village.  Unconsecrated are everywhere, infecting hundreds of friends and family members.  Can Maria find the truth?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a fascinating read, but I was disappointed with the ending.  There is a lot about religion and Maria rejects God.  The premise of the book is interesting, but I was dissatisfied with the resolution of the story.  The imagery, however, is gorgeous.

Rating:  6 out of 10 stars
*Mild language, sexual references, violence, religion

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

The companion to this book:

Linger, by Maggie Stiefvater (2010)

Mercy Falls, Minnesota, looked different when you knew you'd be human for the rest of your life.  Before, it has been a place that existed only in the heat of summer, concrete sidewalks and leaves curved up toward the sun, everything smelling of warm asphalt and dissipating truck exhaust.

*Plot spoiler if you have not read Shiver.

Isabel and Grace were able to save one and kill the other; Sam was saved and Jack was killed.  Not only was Sam saved, but he doesn't shift into being a wolf anymore.  And more than anything, he wants to believe in his cure.  He wants to spend his life with Grace.

Before Beck's final shift, he "recruited" three new members to add to the pack.  One of them is Cole St. Clair, a famous rock star in the band NARKOTIKA.  Cole is wild and dangerous, and could put the whole pack in jeopardy with his wrecklessness. 

Suddenly Grace begins to feel sick and has a recurring fever.  Doctors can't find anything wrong with her, but she continues to get sicker and sicker.  Sam knows something is wrong because he can smell a familiar wolf scent on her, one that reminds him of the wolf they found dead in the woods.

Why is Grace so ill?  Will she die?  Who is Cole and why would he choose this life?  Is Sam really cured?  Can Grace and Sam stay together forever?  The resolution to this book will leave you wondering about these characters and what will happen in the next book.

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

Rating:  6 out of 10 stars
*Some inappropriate language, sexual content, and drug use

Next:  Forever - out July 12, 2011

Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater (2009)

I remember lying in the snow, a small red spot of warm going cold, surrounded by wolves.  They were licking me, biting me, worrying at my body, pressing in. 

Six years ago, Grace Brisbane was attacked by wolves while she was swinging on the tire swing in her backyard.  She was 11 years old.  She didn't struggle or fight.  She remembers one wolf, the one with yellow eyes.  And somehow, she survived.

Grace is now 17-years old, and she has never forgotten the wolf, her wolf.  She can't wait for each Minnesota winter, when the wolves return to the woods in back of her house.  Her wolf comes to watch her, too.  For six years, Grace watches her wolf, and her wolf watches her.

The people of Mercy Falls don't know that a pack of werewolves live in their woods.  But problems begin to happen when Jack Culpepper is killed and the citizens of Mercy Falls want to kill all of the wolves.  One wolf is shot, wounded.  Graces searches for her wolf and finds him on the deck in her back yard.  It's Sam Roth, a 17-year old boy.

Grace learns about Sam's pack.  She learns how they change from human into wolf form when the weather gets cold.  She learns that new ones change rapidly, without warning.  She also learns that this is the last time Sam will be human.  It is late fall, and the temperature is dropping.

How can Sam and Grace be together?  Why didn't Grace change into a wolf after she was bitten six years ago?  And what will happen with the pack as a result of Jack Culpepper's recklessness?

Maggie Stiefvater's love story between a girl and a wolf reads a lot like the Twilight series.  Each chapter is narrated by either Sam or Grace, and the temperature is indicated.  If you like romantic books, you'll enjoy Shiver.

Rating:  6 out of 10 stars
*Mild language, sexual inference

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

The next book:

The newest book in the series will be released on July 12, 2011.

I Am Number Four, by Pittacus Lore [James Frey and Jobie Hughes] (2010)

In the beginning there were nine of us.  We left when we were young, almost too young to remember. 

Almost. 

John Smith has been hiding on Earth for 10 years.  He's moved at least 21 times, each move required a different name, a new identity.  He is an alien.  And he's being hunted.

"We came to Earth ten years ago from a planet named Lorien.  We came beause it was destroyed by the inhabitants of another planet named Mogadore.  They destroyed Lorien for its resources because they had turned their own planet into a cesspool of decay.  We came here to hide until we could return to Lorien, which we will one day do.  But we were followed by the Mogadorians.  They are here hunting us.  And I believe they are here to take over Earth..."

It took a year to arrive to Earth and now the 9 Garde are scattered around the globe.  The Lorien charm protects them; they can only be killed in order of their numbers, so long as they stay apart.  But the charm is broken when they are together.  When one is killed, a circular scar wraps around every Garde's right ankle. 

John's first scar appeared when he was 9 years old, the first sign the Mogadorians had finally arrived.  His second scar appeared when he was 12 years old.  The third scar appeared only an hour ago.  He is now 15 years old.

John is number four.

The only hope Lorien has for its survival is in the 9 Garde hiding on Earth.  Each time one is killed, Lorien's chances diminish.

John and his Cêpan, Henri, are hiding in Paradise, Ohio - population 5,243.  For the first time in his life on Earth, John has a friend and has fallen in love.  His legacies finally arrive, super-powers that will help him defeat the Mogadorians.  He must prepare for war.

Pittacus Lore is the greatest Elder of Lorien.  When the Mogadorians invaded Lorien, where did the Elders go? 

Join the saga of the Lorien Legacies!

To check the book out at NOLS, click HERE!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

* Some inappropriate language.

Next in the series:  Released August 23, 2011

Matched, by Allie Condie (2010)

Now that I've found the way to fly, which direction should I go into the night?  My wings aren't white or feathered; they're green, made of silk, which shudders in the wind and bends when I move - first in a circle, then in a line, finally in a shape of my own invention.  The black behind me doesn't worry me; neither do the stars ahead.

On her 17th birthday, Cassia Maria Reyes is called up to attend her Match Banquet and finally learns who is her Match.  The Society chooses your perfect Match so that the Society can achieve maximum results:  happy, strong, healthy Citizens.  People are Matched when they're 17, Contracted at 21, and have babies before their 35th birthday. 

In the Society, you are called up to attend a Matching Banquet when you are 17 years old.  On the 15th day of each month, in every City Hall across the country, the Matches are announced in alphabetical order according to the girls' last names.

For one night, Cassia sheds her plainclothes for a gorgeous green silk dress and eats unregulated portions of savory foods and dessert.  When it's her turn, she stands to see her Match on the screen - it is dark and stays dark.

Your match is here this evening.

Xander Thomas Carrow.  Cassia's best friend.  Even though it's very unusual to know your Match, Cassia is happy to be matched with Xander.  But this moment marks when everything begins to change.

When Cassia finally gets an opportunity to see the information on the microcard she was presented at the Match Banquet, she is stunned.  Xander's face darkens on the screen and disappears.

"Cassia Reyes, the Society is pleased to present you with your Match."  My heart stops, and I can't believe what I see.  A face comes back into view on the port in front of me.  It is not Xander.

The Society controls everything.  Where you work.  Who you'll marry.  When you'll die.  To unclutter people's minds, many things have been simplified - 100 songs, 100 paintings, 100 stories, 100 poems; everything else has been elminated.  Cassia believed that the Society did not make mistakes.  She knows what it means to be a sorter, and she's one of the best sorters.  But she recognized the second face on her microcard - Ky Markham. 

Encourged by her grandfather as he died on his 80th birthday, Cassia begins to wonder.  Is the Society perfect?  Who is her perfect Match: Xander or Ky?  She loves one, but is in love with the other.  And most importantly, Cassia wants to know why people can't make their own choices?

Matched feels a lot like the society in Lois Lowry's The Giver, but Matched probably a more exciting read for teens and young adults.  It's romantic, but very appropriate for teens and young adults. 

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

The second book in this series will be released on November 1, 2011.