Category Archives: Young Adult

January 1, 2011 · 7:02 pm

Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy, #6) by Richelle Mead

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Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules.

She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir’s Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir Princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardian to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose- for a crime she didn’t even commit. She’s in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She’ll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose’s life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back… and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your life is about saving others, who will save you? (from Goodreads)

This is the final book in the Vampire Academy series and it does an excellent job of tying up lose ends.  I am very glad to know there will be a spin off series however because I am nowhere near ready to give up this world.  The first book is titled Bloodlines and will be released August 23, 2011.

The last book ended with the murder of the queen and Rose’s arrest.  This book centers around Rose’s escape with the help of her friends and their attempt to discover the real murderer.  Of course, there are several subplots as well, the most important of which is the love triangle between Rose, Dimitri, and Adrian.  Just like the Hunger Games series, there cannot be a happy ending for everyone.

There were a number of surprising revelations in the last few chapters, but the book did not seem rushed.  I would like to go back and re-read the other books in the series to see if there were any clues foreshadowing some of the things that came to light.

I was totally shocked at the identity of the murderer, but I shouldn’t have been.  The motive was there, I just didn’t see it.

All in all, an excellent ending to the series.

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Filed under Contemporary, Mystery, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult

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January 1, 2011 · 7:53 am

2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge

2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge

This is an excellent challenge for me because not only have I fallen behind on my YA reading, I have slacked off on my blogging too.  I am only going to commit to the MINI YA READING CHALLENGE of 12 books, but hope to read more than that.  I am also going to encourage some of the kids in my school to participate.

My first book will be Richelle Mead’s Last Sacrifice.

–cross posted from Irwin County Students Read!—

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December 10, 2010 · 4:34 pm

Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

This is the best book I have read in months.  I actually listened to it on audio which I think made it better because of the music.  You can hear Sixteen Moons on the authors’ website and you really need to listen to it.  I prefer the moody version.

One of the things I liked about the book is the small town.  I swear I have met variations on most of the characters in the book because of the small towns I have lived in myself.

Oh yes.  The dog’s name is priceless.

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Filed under Contemporary, Mystery, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult

December 7, 2010 · 5:06 am

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.

I found this to be a very disturbing book.  Like a lot of women, I would like to lose some weight.  Fortunately, I have never been tempted by anorexia or bulimia, but I can understand how some people’s view of themselves is completely tied up in their appearance.

The main idea I got from this book is that you will probably regret the things you don’t do more than the things that you do.

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Filed under Contemporary, Realistic, Young Adult

November 18, 2010 · 5:56 am

Heist Society (Heist, #1) by Ally Carter

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When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own–scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.

Soon, Kat’s friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help. For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in history–or at least her family’s (very crooked) history. (from Amazon)

I have been wanting to read Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series since she began publishing them.  I just haven’t taken the time.  Heist Society, however, is on this year’s YALSA’s Teens Top Ten list so I went ahead and read it.  I am so glad that I did.

She is an excellent author.  There are all kinds of twists and turns, but none of them seem far fetched.  It was more of a “I should have seen that coming” or “Why didn’t I think of that?” style.

The ending was very satisfying with a definite option for a sequel, but no cliff-hanger.  I am so tired of cliff-hangers!  I found the following information on the author’s blog.

“The title for Heist Society 2 will be Uncommon Criminals.  Look for it in stores on June 21, 2011!” (from Ally Carter’s blog)

And yes, I am definitely moving her Gallagher Girl series closer to the top of my TBR list.

 

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Filed under Contemporary, Mystery, Realistic, Young Adult

November 18, 2010 · 4:18 am

Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

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Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

First of all, I cannot believe I am six months behind in posting my book journal.  I haven’t even kept the list updated since February and this is from November.  I will never get caught up.

Anyway, I love this book.  I have been telling everyone that it is my favorite book from the past year and not just my favorite Young Adult book.  I am recommending it to everyone.  Well, everyone female.  I don’t think the guys would get past the romance in it.

I haven’t read the sequel yet because I have been told it has a real cliff-hanger ending.  I will wait for the sequel to be published first.


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Filed under Contemporary, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult

November 7, 2010 · 3:56 pm

I am Number Four (Lorien Legacies, #1) by Pittacus Lore

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Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—but we are real.

Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. we have lived among you without you knowing.

But they know.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

I am next. (from Goodreads)

This is the first title in a new series that will be written by a group of authors like the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy books have been.  I wish I didn’t know that because I tend to read based on the author rather than the series.  There are several series which are written by different authors . . . 39 Clues is one.  I tend not to read them because I don’t want one author who I might not like to ruin an entire series for me.

Anyway, having said all that, I am Number Four was actually a pretty good book.  It follows the premise that aliens are among us.  As a matter of fact, there are two different groups of aliens from separate planets.  One group invaded the others’ home planet and have followed the survivors to Earth to finish wiping them out.

I will probably have to read the rest of the series because my interest has been caught.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention there is a love story between one of the aliens and a human girl.

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Filed under Science Fiction, Young Adult

October 31, 2010 · 4:05 pm

The Roar by Emma Clayton

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In a bleak future, humans use terrible chemicals to fight The Animal Plague that causes all of the world’s animals to go rabid and renders most of the planet uninhabitable. The population now cowers in overcrowded walled cities. Mika, 12, and his parents live in London in terrible conditions. His twin, Ellie, supposedly drowned a year earlier, but Mika is convinced that she still lives. He’s right. The story begins with Ellie and a tiny monkey named Puck fleeing a spaceship in a stolen Pod Fighter. Sadly, their attempt to escape is foiled by the evil Mal Gorman, who has a plan to co-opt the entire first generation of children born after the Plague and make them into an army for his own nefarious purposes. And Gorman has special plans for kids like Mika and Ellie, whose mutations give them unique abilities. To save his sister, Mika will have to win a contest involving simulator battle games and many deadly challenges, using abilities he never knew he had. The story starts fast and never slows down. (from School Library Journal)

This book could quite possibly be the next Hunger Games.  There is no romance to it . . . the kids are only twelve years old, but it has all the excitement and suspense of Hunger Games.  Once again, the adults have pretty much destroyed the world and it is up to the kids to save it.  The ending is definitely a setup for a sequel (The Whisper, 2011), but it is not a cliff hanger and very satisfying.  I can’t wait to start recommending this book!

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Filed under Post-apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Young Adult

October 28, 2010 · 6:36 pm

Aftershock by Kelly Easton

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TORMENT: EXTREME PAIN OR ANGUISH OF BODY OR MIND

Seventeen-year-old Adam is tormented. His parents have just been killed in a car crash in Idaho, and he has survived. In a speechless state of shock, Adam begins walking home, back to Rhode Island. But he can’t think in a straight line: The past and present blend and merge in his thoughts; the future’s a blank; he’s lost his voice and his money. Memories fling themselves at him like stones, some inflicting great pain.

In Adam’s harrowing journey he faces many challenges. He confronts situations that demand violence or compromise from him, forcing him to question what it means to be a man, even as he tries to find his voice in a world suddenly devoid of meaning. This gripping and haunting novel is the story of one young man’s struggle to survive — literally — on the road, and to propel himself emotionally from despair to hope and freedom. (from Goodreads)

Every now and then, I am forced to read a book due to my responsibilities as a school librarian that is totally out of my preferred areas.  This is one of those books.  And, every now and then, I am happily surprised.  This is one of those times.  I loved this book and could hardly put it down.

This is a book that will appeal to my students who loved Living Dead Girl and If I Stay.  The content is totally different, but the appeal is the same.  The last few lines are some of the best I have ever read.  I rarely write down quotes, but these lines are going into my journal.

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Filed under Contemporary, Realistic, Young Adult

October 16, 2010 · 10:19 am

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

LibraryIn this funny, uncannily wise portrait of the dynamics of a sixth-grade class and of the greatness that sometimes comes in unlikely packages, Dwight, a loser, talks to his classmates via an origami finger puppet of Yoda. If that weren’t strange enough, the puppet is uncannily wise and prescient. Origami Yoda predicts the date of a pop quiz, guesses who stole the classroom Shakespeare bust, and saves a classmate from popularity-crushing embarrassment with some well-timed advice. Dwight’s classmate Tommy wonders how Yoda can be so smart when Dwight himself is so clueless. With contributions from his puzzled classmates, he assembles the case file that forms this novel. (from Goodreads)

I should have been more tempted to read this one because, after all, it has Yoda in it.  Unfortunately, I was afraid it was going to be more of the Captain Underpants type humor which I cannot stand.  I was most happily surprised.

This is one of those books that the kids are going to love because of the humor, but in which adults see an entire different level of growth.  I think it is more like the Wimpy Kids books or Dork Diaries than Captain Underpants.

I have had the book less than two weeks and it has already been checked out three times not counting me.  The kids who have read it have all wanted to tell me about it and one of them even made me my own Origami Yoda.  Thank you Ryne S.

I imagine it will not last a period on the shelf tomorrow morning once I get it back on display.  Who knows, this might be one I need to buy multiple copies of to keep the kids happy.

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Filed under Contemporary, Humor, Young Adult