The Only Girl in Town

 

by Ally Condie

This is a beautifully written book that I absolutely loved until the very end. So much suspense, so much fun with the main character's awesome cat, a love story, a friendship story, an ode to running, and more. So much potential. I loved the short chapters and alternating timelines. But the ending was a little disappointing. I enjoyed the reading experience so much, but certainly wish there had been more.

The Windeby Puzzle

 by Lois Lowry

When a body was found in Germany in the early 50's in a peat bog, it was so well preserved they thought it was a recent murder. They soon realized it was the body of a young person from several thousand years earlier. There was still skin, and hair, and pieces of cloth on the body. They assumed it was a girl, but years later, realized it was a young man. Lowry took this actual event, and told the story of how the body ended up in the bog from two perspectives--a young girl, and then, a young boy. The stories are sad, because you know how they end, but fascinating and rich in historical detail. She even figures out a way to somehow connect the two tales seamlessly.  

A quick, emotional, and highly engaging read from one of the kid lit greats.

The Lake House

by Sarah Beth Durst

Claire, Revya, and Mariana are strangers on their way to summer camp on a remote Maine island. When their boat driver drops them off, he directs them half a mile up a path to the Lake House, ensures them that they'll be greeted by the camp director, and leaves. When the girls reach the camp, they find to their horror that the house has recently burned down. It’s still smoking, and there are no signs of life. A run back to the dock reveals that the boat is long gone. There’s no cell service, there’s very little food, and they soon discover that whatever happened wasn’t an accident, which means they could be next. Part survival tale, part horror story, part coming-of-age tale–this book has a lot going for it. The action starts immediately, and doesn’t let up. The cast of characters is diverse and multi-faceted. Claire has crippling anxiety, Mariana is gifted at fixing cars and tinkering with machines, and Revya has a background in MMA fighting. Readers will enjoy watching these complex characters grow and change when confronted with unimaginable challenges. A plot twist takes the story in an unexpected direction, with plenty of nail-biting and chills-inducing moments. 
 

Scary Stories for Young Foxes: The City

by Christian McKay Heidicker

I'm so sad this series is over! All the magic of the first book, with lots of wonderful new characters to love, and lots of references to our old friends, Mia and Uly. Just like the first, much of the suspense of this book comes from trying to guess who the storyteller is. This one was a wonderful and emotional reveal at the end that I won't soon forget. 
 

Sweet

by Emmy Laybourne

Laurel is nervously excited about getting to go on a celebrity cruise paid for by her wealthy friend's dad. Nervous because it's a cruise designed to promote a new weight-loss product, and because her childhood tv crush is hosting the footage of the trip, Ryan Seacrest-style. The product, Solu, is a sugar substitute touted to bring on rapid weight loss, and it works. Laurel, due to an extreme bout of sea-sickness, doesn't partake. Neither does Tom, her celebrity crush, because he's already in great shape and doesn't want to mess up his process. These two, and the few other cruisers who don't take the product, very quickly see that there's something a little off about Solu, and things take a dark and dramatic turn.

The characters in this book are a little shallow and one-dimensional, but the story is so fun you won't really care. And endings to books like this are hard to do right--this one is total greatness, down to the very last line. Lots of fun!

Scary Stories for Young Foxes

by Christian McKay Heidicker

Just the kind of book I would have devoured as a kid! Is it really scary? Yes, because the life of an animal is dangerous and frightening, and this guy is really, really, good at somehow making the reader feel connected and engaged with a bunch of baby foxes. Glad it got some Newbery love, too. This is the kind of book that makes readers, and I can't wait to share it with students, and read it to my son when he's a little older.

The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly

by Rebecca K. S. Ansari

In this beautifully inventive debut, Charlie O’Reilly has lost his little brother. He wished him away the night before his birthday, and now he is missing. The worst part is that no one, including his parents, believe Liam ever existed. Every trace of Liam is gone, and Charlie’s insistence that he was real has driven his mother into a deep depression. His only solace is his friend Ana, who vows to help him find Liam, even though she can’t remember him either. When Charlie finds a note in his room suggesting they talk to Jonathan, his new assistant baseball coach, they discover there might be hope to save Liam after all. However, the quest won’t be without risks, and they may have to give up more than they expected to find him. Readers will bite their nails and cheer for Charlie and his friends every step of the way. A sympathetic villain adds depth and complexity to the story, and plot turns abound, both delightful and heartbreaking.

The Whispers

by Greg Howard

Oh my goodness. This book. It's funny, sweet, sad, shocking, moving, suspenseful, heart-breaking and heart-warming.

Riley. He's an 11 year old South Carolina southern boy. He loves his dog, his mama, Jesus, being outside, and his grandma's cooking. He also has a major crush on the farm boy down the road, but only his best friend Gary knows about that. Life is pretty good, until his mama goes missing. Riley's world is turned upside down. It doesn't help that his older brother is a real jerk, and since his mama went away, he can't think of the last time his daddy even said his name. He thinks it's his fault his mama is gone, and he's convinced the cops are idiots and it's up to him to bring her home. He remembers a story she used to tell him about creatures called the whispers. If you bring them a tribute, they will give you your heart's desire. Riley thinks if he can just find the right offering, maybe the whispers can help him bring mama home.

Elizabeth and Zenobia

by Jessica Miller

Elizabeth is sort of a sad little girl. No mom, and a dad who seems to care more about his career than his only daughter. She does have a friend, Zenobia, but unfortunately no one else seems to be able to see her. When Elizabeth's father moves them to Witheringe House, his childhood home, Zenobia is fascinated by its history, and wants to explore places that are forbidden, hold seances, and basically get Elizabeth into trouble.

I agree with other reviewers who advise to skip reading the description of this book. Part of the fun for me was finding out what mystery the east wing held. If you read the intro, unfortunately you basically already know.

I enjoyed the sassy Zenobia character, and the little mystery from Elizabeth's father's past.

The Hazel Wood

by Melissa Albert

Alice and her mother Ella are as close as can be, mostly because it seems they can only rely on each other. They're plagued by a lifetime of terrible luck, and it only gets worse when they find out Ella's mother, Althea, has passed away at her home, the Hazel Wood. Alice has never met Althea, and Ella doesn't really speak of her. All Alice knows is that Althea was the author of Tales from the Hinterland, a book of dark fairy tales that has developed a creepy cult following. When Ella is kidnapped, Alice is determined to find her, and knows it must have something to do with the Hinterland. She soon meets Ellery Finch, a Hinterland groupie, and lets him help her against her better judgment. Can they navigate this dark world to find Ella and make it out alive?

I love all things fairy tale, and magical realism, and creepy stuff, so this one checked a lot of boxes for me! I think it's a pretty original concept, which is difficult to do in the fairy tale genre. The "twist," while not altogether shocking, was satisfying. Alice's bitter musings were a little over the top, and I'm truly surprised this is a YA novel.. As a middle school librarian, I read a lot of those, and this has a distinctly adult vibe, not because of content, but because of the way the characters speak and interact.

All in all, I enjoyed this different, dark, and edgy tale!

*This is a high school book, so it isn't in our library, but you can find it at the public library or bookstore!

The Lie Tree

by Frances Hardinge

This was my first Frances Hardinge book, but I'm about to go gobble up everything else she's ever written. I'm not quite sure how I missed her, this being my ninth year as a middle grade librarian, but shame on me. It's not often that I come across a completely original premise, but I can truly say this isn't like anything I've read before.

Faith (who is cleverly and ironically named) has moved to a tiny island community with her mother, father, and brother. Her father has recently been shunned from the tight-knit natural science community for allegedly faking a fossil find. When he is found dead, most on the island are convinced it's a suicide, but after finding his journals, Faith suspects foul play. Her father has been hiding a dark secret, and had in his possession a very special tree. Faith thinks she can use the tree to help her discover the truth about her father's death, but it's a dangerous game.

The mystery is utterly and completely compelling, and the writing strikes just the right balance of atmospheric mood-setting. In a book like this it's easy to go overboard with flowery historical details, but it's perfectly done here. Faith's relationship with her father is richly detailed. She wants desperately to be a scientist and follow in his footsteps, but is constantly reminded that as a girl, there is no place for her in that male-dominated world. Her mother, who is desperately trying to find a way to protect her family, is also multi-faceted in the most wonderful ways.

Suspense, action, historical drama, a peek into 19th century thoughts on science and evolution, and a feminist manifesto. Amazing.

Noggin

by John Corey Whaley

Travis Coates, 16 and dying of cancer, is approached by a scientist who wants to use him for an experiment. The pitch? Let us remove your head, cryogenically freeze it, and try to bring you back to life at some point in the future. Ready to die, and seeing it as a way to end his suffering, he goes for it. And wakes up five years later attached to a donor body. I don't think Whaley really expects us to believe the science here. He's simply using it as a vehicle to tell his story about humanity--people's ability or inability to move on, transform, recover from trauma, and experience love. Where Things Come Back is one of my favorite books ever, and after reading Noggin, I wait impatiently for a third from this amazing author.

*Note that we don't have this book at our library. It is only at the high schools.

Echo

by Pam Munoz Ryan

Incredible. Unforgettable. Beautifully written. Just a few of the things that went through my mind as I put down this lovely book.

This is really three (arguably four) short stories with a common thread, but at the end of each, you're left wanting more. As Freidrich's story came to a close, I really, really, didn't want to leave him and start Mike's story. I was too invested in Freidrich! But by the end of Mike's, I didn't want to leave him to join Ivy. And, of course, as tears streamed down my face while finishing Ivy's tale, I couldn't wait to see how everything came together.

We are all connected in this human experience, and this book brings that to light in a way that might possibly change you forever.

The Nest

by Kenneth Oppel

I started this book yesterday, and I finished it yesterday. Talk about intense.

Steve's parents have a new baby, but he's sick. He's in and out of the hospital, and his parents say it's something very rare that the doctors don't know much about. And then one day, Steve gets stung by a wasp and has an allergic reaction bad enough that the ER doctor prescribes him an Epi-pen. That night, he has a dream. A very strange looking angel tells him that she and the other angels will fix the baby. Steve knows it's just a dream, but it makes him feel better, until he meets the "angels" again, and realizes that maybe their intentions are not what they first seemed.

As Steve becomes more aware of what is actually happening, the story gets more and more frightening. Kids will just be terrified of the wasps; adults, and especially parents, will want to give the kids they love an extra hug. Shudder. What a strange and unforgettable ride.

Sorta Like a Rock Star

by Matthew Quick

Amber Appleton is a strange girl, but to be fair, she has a strange life. She lives on a school bus with her alcoholic mom, and believe it or not, that living situation is an improvement over bouncing from house to house every time her mom changes boyfriends. Somehow, Amber manages to keep her positive attitude, until something happens that might shatter even the princess of hope. This book isn't really about plot, though. In fact, it kind of felt like nothing much happened until halfway through. Still, the characters are so wildly off the wall that you can't help but love them. Just a few include: a mild-mannered marketing teacher, a PTSD-ravaged Vietnam vet, a group of teen boys who would go to the ends of the earth to protect Amber, an autistic boy raised by a hard-driving lady lawyer, and Bobby Big Boy, a scruffy little mutt aka B Thrice. While Amber's sticky sweetness does grate from time to time, her self-centered but well-meaning persona was pretty right on as far as real teenage girl goes.

The Imaginary

by A.F. Harrold

Amanda, sassy and adventurous, has an imaginary friend named Rudger. She found him in her wardrobe, and he has become her constant companion. It's all fun and games until Mr. Bunting shows up, a grown-up who can still see Imaginaries. (This is not the natural order of things, and Mr. Bunting is bad... very bad.) When Rudger and Amanda are separated, Rudger is led to meet other Imaginaries, but they're all in danger unless he can stop Mr. Bunting. Suspenseful, creative, original, and amusing--this book will appeal to a wide audience. The illustrations are absolutely necessary and totally integrated into the story. One in particular scared me so bad that I screamed when I turned the page and it was staring me in the face!

Heap House

by Edward Carey

Welcome to Heap House, a sprawling, dark, dingy mansion, situated in the middle of a vast pile of junk. It's home to the Iremongers, a strange and reclusive extended family. They intermarry to preserve their bloodlines and consider themselves almost royalty. People with partial Iremonger blood are their servants. Their identities are tied to "birth objects," commonplace things that represent and shape who they are from birth. Clod Iremonger is 15, with a bath plug for a birth object. He is unhappily engaged to his cousin Pinalippy. Clod has a skill that makes him seem odd in the eyes of the other Iremongers; he can hear the birth objects speaking. They only speak their names, but their voices are always with him. He is resigned to his dreary life until he meets Lucy Pennant, an orphan who is told she has a little Iremonger blood and forced to work at Heap House. Lucy changes the way Clod sees his world, but her arrival sets off a chain of events that might mean the end of Heap House. Black-and-white illustrations are as deliciously unsettling as the text. Characters are rich with personality, from Clod's frightening Granny who has never left her bedroom, to his bath plug, who manages to be sassy even though the only thing he says is "James Henry Hayward." Stories don't get much weirder, but that's precisely what makes it so magical.