The Last Dragonslayer

by Jasper Fforde

Jennifer Strange is, at age 15,  in charge of running Kazam, an employment agency for magicians. This used to be a great job, but in the Ununited Kingdoms, where magic's power is quickly dwindling, it's quite a challenge. Her employer, Mr. Zambini, has mysteriously disappeared, and Jennifer feels like she's in a little over her head. When one of the precogs (they can see the future) has a vision that the last dragon in the land will be slain the following Sunday, Jennifer's world turns upside down. She finds herself in the middle of a huge fight for the Dragonlands, and learns that the fate of the Ununited Kingdoms is in her hands.

This book took me quite awhile to get into. In fact, I almost abandoned it. I'm so glad I didn't though, because about halfway through, it took a turn for me. For one, I fell in love with Jennifer's sidekick, the Quarkbeast, and I now wish I could have one for my very own! Also, either I got used to Fforde's style of humor, or the second half of the book actually got funnier. Either way, I ended up liking it quite a bit.

The Tragedy Paper

by Elizabeth LaBan

When Duncan goes back to his small private boarding school for his senior year, he can't believe his misfortune. He's been assigned the worst possible room on the boy's hall. Each year, the senior who lived there the previous year leaves a "treasure" for the new resident. Sometimes it's cash, sometimes a puppy, sometimes it's nothing more than junk. Duncan finds a pile of CDs, and thinks his treasure falls into the junk category, until he begins to listen.

Tim, the previous resident of Duncan's room, has recorded his story. How he came to the school in his last semester, and how he fell in love with one of the most popular girls in the class in the airport on the way there.

We hear the story from two viewpoints, Tim's and Duncan's, but it's Tim that I most connected with. He is an albino, which means he has no pigment in his skin or hair. He struggles mightily to not let this condition define him. As a reader, you can feel his love for Vanessa, who unfortunately is in a relationship with a boy who doesn't treat her well. She loves Tim, too, but we wonder if she will ever be able to see past Tim's albinism.

As Duncan listens to the CDs, we begin to realize that something horrible happened at the end of Tim and Vanessa's senior year. The suspense waiting to find out what it is was almost unbearable. I loved this book. The writing, the characters, the story, were all spot-on, and I think it will stick with me for a long, long time.

Tesla's Attic

by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman

When Nick's mom is tragically killed in a house fire, he and his dad and brother move to Colorado Springs to make a fresh start. The attic of their new house seems to be full of junk, so Nick has a garage sale to clear things out. The garage sale attracts more than just the neighbors, though. The Accelerati, a group of mysterious (and not so nice) men in pastel suits want the garage sale items, and will do just about anything to get them. This is no ordinary junk... Nick has found the inventions of Nikola Tesla, and these items do amazing things. Can he and his group of friends save the items, and themselves, from the Accelerati?

Suspenseful and funny, this is a great start to a fun new trilogy!

The 5th Wave

by Rick Yancey

Maybe I'm biased, because I love me some aliens, but this book was SO. MUCH. FUN!

Basically, there's an alien apocalypse. They're wiping out the human race, but they're doing it in stages. We pick up the story at the end of the 4th wave, or, if you prefer, stage of human destruction.We meet Cassie first. She's alone, and trying to survive in this crazy new world. She's being hunted. She doesn't know who she can trust, which makes her very dangerous.

I just don't feel like I can say any more about the plot without stealing away the suspense for you!

This is definitely a thriller. A just for fun, escape from your daily life, get totally absorbed type of book. So the pages turn themselves, and it's awesome when that happens. But it's even greater because it's Rick Yancey. He can tell a killer story, but (shock and awe!) the man can also WRITE!

I hate books that set out to be a series opener, and this clearly is. However...it's so good that I forgive Mr. Yancey. Can't wait to see what happens next!

Counting by 7's

by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Willow is a genius, but not just any genius. One of the off-the-charts, totally weird, super crazy smart about the strangest things type of genius. She's socially awkward, but doesn't care. She's an adoptee, and an only child. She loves her garden and her parents more than anything. But then something terrible happens, and her carefully constructed world falls apart. This is a story about grief, and it's a story about healing, told in the voice of a girl like no one you've ever known.

I loved I'll Be There, Ms. Sloan's other book, so much that I was almost scared to read this one for fear of disappointment, but I shouldn't have been. You'll cry your eyes out and laugh out loud with Willow. One of my favorite books so far this year.

I Hunt Killers

by Barry Lyga

Jazz's dad is a famous serial killer, and has been in prison for the past few years. The murders weren't a secret from Jazz. In fact, his father basically trained him how to follow in his footsteps. Jazz doesn't want to be like his dad, but he isn't sure if he can trust himself, or if anyone else should. And that's where this book gets annoying. Fast. I couldn't get past Jazz's self-doubt to truly enjoy the mystery, even though that part was paced really well, and I did care enough to keep reading. When you finally get to the conclusion, though, you find that it's not really much of a conclusion at all, and that it's all set up for the next book in the installment. Sigh.

This one is only in the high schools, guys, so if you still want to read it, you'll have to find it at a bookstore.

The Fairy Ring

by Mary Losure

This could have been a great book, because it's a fascinating true story. In 1917, Frances moved to England to live with her older cousin Elsie and her family. One day the girls were playing in the field behind the house, and Frances swears that she sees fairies frolicking around. (Interestingly enough, even to her dying day, she maintained that her sightings were real.) On a whim, Elsie, who is an artist, draws a fairy, mounts it on a hat pin, and asks to take the family's camera into the field. (At this time, the camera is a new invention, and it's very complicated to get even one good photo.) They pretend the fairy photo is real, and show the photo to their family.They take a few more in this manner, and it eventually catches the attention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous author of the Sherlock Holmes novels. He believes they are real, and begins communicating with the girls, who are a little freaked out by all this attention. They become known nationwide. Some are believers, but others denounce the girls as frauds.

I loved the story. The fact that these girls caused such a ruckus with a painted fairy on a stick is hilarious. There were just a few areas that I felt needed further clarification from the author. Several times it seemed there had to be more to the story, but we, as readers, weren't getting it. A kind of cool read anyway, just to get the details on this famous hoax.