By Nancy FarmerIn a future world that feels very “old world”, the USA and Azatlán (formerly known as Mexico) have struck a deal to curb illegal immigration. Along the length of the border, a new country named Opium has been established. The thousands of miles of drug fields are owned by a handful of very […]
Space CaseBy Stuart Gibbs Dashiell Gibson is only 12 years old, but he has the privilege of being one of the first people to live on the moon. Although that sounds exciting, life on the moon can be pretty boring. Seeing the same people and doing the same things every day can get tedious. And […]
by Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by Sonny LiewHank Chu goes about his life, like most young men in Chinatown. He spends his days working in his family’s store and his spare time playing mahjong with his father and his father’s friends. It’s a quiet life, and Hank enjoys it very much. His world turns a […]
by Matthew QuickEvery Exquisite Thing, about a girl named Nanette O’Hare who grows from popular star athlete into literature-obsessed non-conformist, is an unexpectedly delightful coming-of-age story. Throughout, the story makes a number of unexpected but still believable turns, and in the end Nanette’s journey felt genuine and the twists unforced.Nanette is eighteen, doing well in […]
Paper Towns by John GreenA paper town is a fictional town that mapmakers place on thier maps to prevent copyright infringement. If the paper town shows up on another map, the original makers know it is an illegal copy of their map.This novel uses paper towns in a set of clues that Margo Roth Speigelman […]
by Mary E. PearsonThe rebellious princess runs away from an arranged marriage because she wants to experience normal life. That cliche was enough of a deterrent that The Kiss of Deception was on my shelf for a year before I tried reading it. But honestly, it was actually pretty entertaining.Together with her handmaiden, Princess Lia of Morrighan […]
by Steve Olson I was just a baby when Mount St. Helens blew up. I remember my parents telling me about the ash fall, but I always wondered how that could be: the mountain is 500 km away. After reading Eruption: the Untold Story of Mount St. Helens by Steve Olson, now I get it. […]
by Ali SmithAli Smith’s How to Be Both is not an easy read, but it is a clever and engaging one. Split into two separate sections, one set in the Renaissance and one set in the modern era, the stream-of-consciousness style of writing can make it a challenge to grasp the two separate stories and […]
By Michael Grant In this alternate history set during World War II, a court decision makes women subject to the draft and eligible for service. Not just desk jobs, either – they’re going to be on the front lines. This doesn’t mean that everyone is thrilled with the idea, though – there’s still a huge […]
Passenger by Alexandra BrackenA new YA historical time-travel romance novel where said time travel occurs at the sound of orchestra music and the male protagonist is African-American and our first adventure back in time puts us on a pirate ship in 1776? Was this book written just for me?!Etta is a seventeen-year-old violin prodigy. She […]