Inside Out & Back Again

by Thanhha Lai

Ha and her family live in Vietnam, and love their beautiful home. But the Vietnam War is raging, and begins to get closer and closer to their town. She has already lost her father. He's missing in action, but her family maintains hope that he will someday return. As the war rages on, it suddenly becomes clear that it's not safe for them to stay. They become refugees, boarding a navy ship headed to America, with only what they can fit in a small backpack. They finally arrive in Alabama, and a family takes them in. Ha deals with bullies at school, struggles to learn a new language, and deeply misses the fresh papayas that once grew in her yard. This is a story about adapting when you don't want to, figuring out who you are, and learning to accept the difficult things in life.

The Naturals

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Seventeen-year-old Cassie has a rare gift. She can read people instantly-- what kind of car they drive, where they shop, even how they eat their eggs. She thinks she inherited the skill from her mom, who made her living as a psychic. Unfortunately, her mom disappeared five years ago, and is presumed dead, due to the amount of blood at the crime scene. One day, at her waitressing job, a handsome young man leaves a business card for her, asking her to call. The number is for an FBI agent. She has been recruited for the Naturals, an elite group of teens with special gifts, working for the FBI. She's told her recruitment has nothing to do with her mother, but when gruesome packages begin to arrive with her name on them, it's obvious the killer thinks otherwise.

I couldn't stop reading this book! It's fun, fast-paced, and full of twists and turns!

Rat Life

by Tedd Arnold

It's 1972, and life in Todd's small New York town is pretty boring, until the police find a body in the river. Then he meets Rat, a mysterious guy who's just a little older than Todd, but has already fought in Vietnam.When Rat offers Todd a job at the drive-in movies where he works, Todd accepts, and gets to know the odd boy called Rat a little better. The more he learns, the more he wonders about Rat, the body in the river, and if they could be connected.

This is great writing, and I think this book is highly under-rated. The first few chapters are completely unforgettable, and immediately make you feel connected to Todd. (Warning--it's unforgettable because it's super sad.)

A Snicker of Magic

by Natalie Lloyd

Felicity's mama is a wanderer. She has a hard time staying in one place for very long, so Felicity and her little sister don't get too comfortable anywhere. When they wind up in Midnight Gulch, where mama grew up, Felicity falls in love with the town, where there is a little bit of magic, but there used to be more. She wonders where all the magic has gone, because Felicity carries a little bit of magic around with her. She sees words like auras--they float around a person's head and tell her a bit about what they are thinking or feeling. She's so happy in Midnight Gulch, living with her no-nonsense aunt Cleo, meeting her uncle for the first time, and helping out the town's mysterious benefactor, The Beedle. But mama's already got the travel bug brewing again. Can Felicity settle her mama's heart down enough to finally make a home?

If you like books like Savvy, or A Tangle of Knots, you'll eat this one up, too!

Cold Calls

by Charles Benoit

Three teens, Eric, Shelly, and Fatima only have one thing in common. They're all getting some very disturbing phone calls. The caller demands that they bully another kid at their school. If they don't, the caller claims to be able to reveal their deepest, darkest secret to the world. In order to keep the caller from talking, all three bully another student just as they were told, and end up in an anti-bullying program together. When they realize they're all there for the same reason, they team up to try to solve the mystery of the caller's identity.

It's kind of  far-fetched story, but there are two mysteries, so you have to keep reading. First, you're dying to know what the secrets are that these teens are so desperate to hide, and second, you want to know who's calling and why.

The Amulet of Samarkand

by Jonathan Stroud

Nathaniel is an apprentice to a magician in a sort of magical modern day London. As an apprentice, he's not supposed to perform magic on his own, but he sneaks around and summons a djinni, a very difficult and dangerous task. Half of the story is narrated by Bartimaeus. He's sassy, and funny, and arrogant, but he's been around for thousands of years so he thinks he's entitled. When Nathaniel forces Bartimaeus to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from a very evil magician, they are both launched into an epic adventure.

This is a must for fantasy and Harry Potter fans!

The Perfectionists

by Sara Shepard

I've never read the Pretty Little Liar books, but I am a huge fan of the show, so thought I'd try it out. Not bad--it's very, very, similar to PLL. The cute girls, the high fashion, the hoodies, the burying stuff in the yard. Yep, all there. And she took her time setting up the background of all the characters. It was awhile before I could keep them all straight. I totally enjoyed it, though, in a brainless, I don't have to think while I read this kind of way. Don't expect an ending, though, because there's not any semblance of a conclusion. We'll have to read book two to find out how it ends, apparently.

Note: This will be published in October 2014. I'm guessing it will probably only be at the high schools.