 The
Lost Island of Tamarind
by Nadia Aguiar
Ages 10–14
When a sudden storm hits the
Nelson’s research boat, the parents are swept overboard.
Maya (13) sails the boat to Tamarind, the island setting
for her father’s fantastic tales. Stranded on the island,
Maya, her brother Peter, and baby sister Penny, find
themselves surrounded by pirates and involved in one
exciting adventure after another in this high-energy
fantasy. |
|
 The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean
by David Almond
Ages 14–up
Billy Dean was born the same day terrorists destroyed his town, starting WWIII. Billy Dean’s mother Veronica was seduced by Father Wilfred, the town priest, who convinces Veronica to hide the baby away to preserve his reputation. It’s not until he is 13 that Billy Dean sees the light of day, and begins to exhibit strange gifts like healing the sick and talking to the dead. From far away people arrive to ask for Billy’s help and to worship him. This intense post-apocalyptic novel explores faith, betrayal, reconciliation, and triumph. |
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 Frostborn
by Lou Anders
Ages 8–12
Karn (12) is destined to take over the family farm in Norrøngard, but he is far more interested in imagining adventures while playing the board game Thrones and Bones. Thianna is half human and half frost giantess. She is too tall to blend in with humans but far too short to be taken seriously as a giant. The two become reluctant friends when fate sends them both fleeing into the frozen wilderness, Karn on the run from an evil undead lord and Thianna escaping her human mother’s people who seek an ancient artifact. Cleverness is as valued as strength in this strong opener to the Thrones and Bones series. |
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 The Dungeoneers
by John David Anderson
Ages 8–12
Colm Candorly lives with his parents and eight sisters, helping out the family by picking pockets. Colm’s father insists that he confess to the magistrate, and Finn Argos whisks him away to Thwodin’s Legions, where he is trained to use his talents as part of a guild of dungeoneers who take what they please and live as they like. Colm’s new family includes hunters, druids, and warriors who work together to find treasure while hopefully surviving the quest. |
|
 Sidekicked
by John David Anderson
Ages 8–12
Andrew “The Sensationalist” Bean (13) is part of the H.E.R.O. program for aspiring sidekicks, but the superhero he is paired with has an alcohol problem and rarely shows up for Super duty. When the infamous Dealer returns from the dead and captures most of the superheroes, Andrew leaps to the rescue. Andrew’s self-deprecating and sarcastic humor carries this action-fantasy. |
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 Landscape with Invisible Hand
by M.T. Anderson
Ages 14–up
When the aliens called the vuvv arrive, Adam Costello (15) and the rest of the Earth’s inhabitants are startled. The vuvv offer advanced technology and cures for all diseases, which everyone is eager to purchase. Unfortunately the vuvv products cause the collapse of Earth’s economy since most, including Adam’s parents, are soon out of work and desperate for money to buy food, clean water, and the vuvv medicine to cure Adam’s chronic gastrointestinal illness. The vuvv love “classic” Earth culture like doo-wap music from the 1950s, still-life paintings of fruit, and true love. So Adam and his girlfriend Chloe broadcast an exaggerated pay-per-view nostalgic version of their romance, which the vuvv are eager to purchase. But with every episode Chloe and Adam begin to hate each other a little more, and Adam’s illness gets a bit worse. |
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 Keeper
by Kathi Appelt, August Hall
Ages 8–12
Since her mother swam away and never
returned seven years ago, 10-year-old Keeper, convinced that
her mother is a mermaid, has lived on the Texas coast with
her guardian Signe. Keeper has waited all summer for the blue
moon, when Signe will make a special gumbo, but she accidentally
spoils everything. So Keeper sets out in a small boat into
the sea to find her mother and set everything right. Mermaid
lore, local legends, Cajun superstitions, and natural history
enliven this magical tale. |
|
 Ship
Breaker
by Paolo Bacigalupi
Ages 12–up
In this futuristic adventure,
Nailer, a teenager on the Gulf Coast, works on a crew
scavenging parts from grounded oil tankers. Along with
crushing poverty, Nailer must survive dangerous hurricanes
and his violent and drug-addicted father. When a beautiful
shipping heiress, nick-named Lucky Girl, is stranded
on the beach, Nailer becomes aware of the extremes
of class disparity. Defying both his crew and his father,
Nailer helps Lucky Girl escape toward the ruins of
New Orleans, expanding his understanding of the larger
world around him and working to transcend expectations
of who he is and what he can be. |
|
 The
Drowned Cities
by Paolo Bacigalupi
Ages 14–up
Mahlia and Mouse, two young
refugees from the Drowned Cities that were once Washington
DC, struggle to survive in the jungle. Gangs of marauding
soldiers sweep through the land, recruiting boy soldiers
for half-remembered patriotic and religious causes,
raping and pillaging as they go. Mouse is captured,
and Mahlia makes a foolhardy rescue attempt with the
help of Tool, a wounded bio engineered war beast. This
violent and beautifully written thriller is set in
the same horrific world as Ship
Breaker. |
|
 The Girl Who Drank the Moon
by Kelly Barnhill
Newbery Medal 2017
Ages 10–up
Xan is a kind witch who lives in the woods with Glerk, a swamp monster, and Fyrian, a tiny dragon. Every year the fearful people of Protectorate leave the youngest baby in the woods on the Day of Sacrifice, hoping to appease the witch they believe is vengeful. Xan has no idea why the babies are left in the woods, but carefully feeds them starlight and delivers them to grateful adoptive parents in the Outside Cities. One year Xan accidentally feeds the baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling her with glowing magic. She falls in love with the baby, naming her Luna for the crescent moon birthmark on her forehead, and raises her as her own daughter with the help of Glerk and Fyrian. When Luna is 13 her magic has grown strong, and she is ready to fight the true evil that threatens Protectorate. |
|
 Heck:
Where the Bad Kids Go
by Dale E. Basye, Bob Dob
Ages 9–12
Milton, an innocent 11-year-old
bookworm, and his 13-year-old rebellious sister Margo,
meet their end in a ludicrous accident at the mall. Unfortunately
Margo has been shoplifting and hid her loot in Milton’s
backpack, so they are both sent to Heck, purgatory for
children. Clever allusions (Heck’s ruler is Bea Elsa
Bubb) make this funny book sparkle. |
|
 The
Peculiar
by Stefan Bachmann
Ages 8–12
Bartholomew Kettle and his sister
Hettie are changelings—“Peculiars”—,
and neither humans nor the faery folk want anything to do
with them. Bartholomew and Hettie try hard not to be noticed,
until the day Bartholomew sees a friend abducted by magic
in broad daylight. Arthur Jelliby, a young man who also keeps
a low profile, joins with Bartholomew to save England from
a terrible secret. Part steampunk adventure story, part murder
mystery, and part fantasy, this unforgettable book was written
by Bachmann as a teenager. |
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 The Whatnot
by Stefan Bachmann
Ages 8–12
Bartholomew, a half-fairy changeling, and Pikey Thomas, a street child with a magical eye, search for Bartholomew’s kidnapped sister Hettie through the streets of steampunk Victorian London. This surreal and sometimes violent adventure is best appreciated if read after The Peculiar. |
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 Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo
Ages 12–up
Ketterdam is a hub of international trade where just about anything can be bought for the right price. Young criminal mastermind Kaz Brekker is offered a small fortune to rescue a prisoner from the most secure prison in the world. Kaz assembles a team of six dangerous outcast to help him pull off the heist: a vengeful convict, a sharpshooter addicted to gambling, a spy, a thief, a runaway, and girl who used magic to escape from the slums. Each of the six has ties to Kaz, but no reason to trust anyone else. Told from the perspectives of each of the characters, this thrilling fantasy is the first in a series. |
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 The Witch’s Boy
by Kelly Barnhill
Ages 9–up
When Ned and his identical twin brother Tam fall off their raft into the river, Tam drowns. The villagers are convinced that the wrong boy died, and the stuttering Ned becomes ostracized by the rest of the village. On the other side of the enchanted forest, Áine lives with her widowed father, the Bandit King. Áine is haunted by her mother’s last words, “The wrong boy will save your life and you will save his.” The Bandit King comes to the village to steal the magic that Ned’s mother, the village Sister Witch, guards, and Áine and Ned realize it is up to them to stop the war that threatens to erupt between their two kingdoms. |
|
 Come
Fall
by A.C.E. Bauer
Ages 9–12
This mix of reality and magic
expands on a plot line from A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
a foundling who disrupts the harmony of fairyland. Salman,
a perpetual foster-child new to school, Lu-Ellen, the
buddy assigned to help Salman adjust to 7th grade, and
Blos, a socially-challenged boy who befriends them both,
are just beginning to bond when Salman becomes the target
of the school bully. Then Lu-Ellen’s pregnant mother
develops complications and the three begin to wonder
why bad luck seems to follow them around. Through no
fault of their own, the three have become pawns in a
power struggle between Oberon and Titania, King and Queen
of Faery, when they have more than enough problems in
their own reality. This magically realistic story celebrates
the power of friendship while portraying the dark hazards
of middle school. |
|
 Circus Mirandus
by Cassie Beasley
Ages 9–12
Fifth grader Micah Tuttle has been living with his Grandpa Ephraim since his parents died when he was very young. Micah loves listening to his Grandpa’s stories about the magical Circus Mirandus and the fascinating performers like the Lightbender, an illusionist. When Grandpa Ephraim falls gravely ill, Micah’s strict Aunt Gertrudis comes to live with them, and limits Micah’s time with his grandfather. Grandpa Ephraim tells Micah that the Circus Mirandus is real, and that the Lightbender owes him a miracle. Micah and his friend Jenny set out to find the Lightbender, hoping for a miracle to save Grandpa Ephraim’s life. |
|
 The
Amaranth Enchantment
by Julie Berry
Ages 10–14
Lucinda is a 15-year-old orphan
who lives a life of miserable servitude in her evil aunt’s
jewelry store until the day she finds an unusual gemstone
belonging to Beryl, who just might be a witch. The stone
is stolen and sold to a prince and Lucinda sets out to
get it back. A clever twist on the Cinderella story,
this funny and suspenseful fantasy is also a fast-paced
adventure. |
|
 The Iron Trial
by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
Ages 8–12
Callum Hunt (12) has been raised to distrust magic. His mother was killed by mages, and his father warns him that Magesterium, the training school for young mages, is a death trap. Callum tries to fail the required entrance exam — the Iron Trial — but is selected to apprentice under Master Rufus along with fellow students Aaron and Tamara. As he begins the first of five years of schooling, Callum realizes how little he knows of his own family and heritage. Set in a magical version of present day America, this thrilling coming-of-age fantasy is the first in a planned series. |
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 The Twyning
by Terence Blacker
Ages 12–up
Efren is a young rat living in the sewers of London during the reign of elderly Rat King Tzuriel. Peter (13) lives in a garbage dump and makes a tenuous living catching rats for sportsmen and their dogs and working for Dr. Ross-Gibbon, a scientist who wants to wipe out all the rats in London. Peter captures King Tzuriel for the doctor’s experiments, which Efren reports back to the rat elders. Peter’s gift for understanding animals, including rats, places him in a position of deciding where his true sympathies lie. |
|
 Jinx
by Sage Blackwood
Ages 8–12
Jinx lives in the Urwald, a sentient forest where humans don’t dare stray off the paths. Trolls, werewolves, and dangerous witches and wizards live deep in the forest. Jinx’s cruel stepfather abandons him in the forest, and the boy is taken in by a Wizard named Simon, who uses him as a servant and eventually teaches him a bit of magic. Years later, when he is 12, Jinx sets off with two friends to find the wizard named Bonemaster, hoping they can master enough magic to keep themselves safe. This adventure is full of funny dialog and eccentric characters. |
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 Love in the Time of Global Warming
by Francesca Lia Block
Ages 14–up
Los Angeles has been destroyed by an earthquake and tidal wave, sweeping Penelope’s family. The emergency provisions stored in the house keep Pen alive until men break into the house. Pen escapes and sets out to search for her family, joining up with three other searchers, in a journey that parallels Homer’s Odyssey. Eventually they arrive in Las Vegas, the contemporary land of the dead, and confront the evil genius behind the destruction of the world. |
|
 Chime
by Franny Billingsley
Ages 12–up
Briony (17) believes she is a witch.
Her step-mother blamed her for all the family’s hardships,
including her twin sister’s disabling fall from a swing years
earlier. Briony also blames herself for her step-mother’s death
and often escapes to the swamp to tell her secrets to the Old
Ones. New technology has arrived in her tiny town of Swampsea,
England, with the turn of the 20th century, and a new pumping
station is built to drain the bog. But the supernatural Old
Ones have sent a fever to punish Swampsea. Then Eldric arrives,
and Briony is torn between her attraction to Eldric and her
overwhelming guilt. |
|
 The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
by Holly Black
Ages 15–up
Vampires have gone public, and are in constant pursuit of new victims. Tara was only six when her mother was infected by a vampire, turning on her own daughter in a desperate quest for blood. Now 17, Tara awakes one morning after a wild party, to discover that almost everyone else at the party has been killed by vampires, leaving only Gavriel, a vampire, and Aidan, her newly infected ex-boyfriend. Tara decides to take them to Coldtown, a walled city for vampires and their infected human pets, even though crossing the barricades into Coldtown may mean Tara can never return to the world outside. |
|
 White
Cat
by Holly Black
Ages 14–up
Cassel Sharpe (14) comes from
a family of curse workers, people who have to power
to change luck, emotion, or memories with the touch
of a finger. Curseworking is illegal, so all curse
workers are mobsters or con artists, and everyone wears
gloves to avoid being taken advantage of. But Cassel
doesn’t seem to have the family power, except for the
fact that he killed his best friend three years earlier.
Cassel has tried to bury that event in the past, but
now he is having dreams of a white cat that wants to
tell him something, and he fears that he may be in
the middle of the biggest con ever. |
|
 Red
Glove
by Holly Black
Ages 14–up
Cassel Sharpe (17) is a transformation
worker, the rarest type of curse worker who can transmute
people and objects into whatever he wishes. Growing
up in a crime family, Cassel is used to being on the
wrong side of the law, but now the mob boss wants him
to become a hit man, and US agents want him to become
an informant. Cassel’s mother has put a love curse
on the mobster’s daughter Lila, and Cassel can't trust
that she really loves him. This dark fantasy is the
second in the Curse Workers series, following White
Cat. |
|
 Zombies
vs. Unicorns
edited by Holly Black & Justine
Larbalestier
Ages 14–up
The writers featured in
this clever anthology defend either Zombies or
Unicorns as the superior creature. Hilarious editorial
prefaces introduce the excellent stories by Diana
Peterfreund, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot,
Carrie Ryan, Scott Westerfeld, and Alaya Dawn Johnson. |
|
 Antigoddess
by Kendare Blake
Ages 12–up
Cassandra Weaver (18) is an ordinary teenager Kincaid, New York, except for her clairvoyance. Cassandra is haunted by visions of dying gods as the Greek gods are living out their final days in war and suffering. The gods realize that Cassandra has a connection to their world, and reach out to her for help. This eerie thriller is the first in a planned series. |
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 Above
by Leah Bobet
Ages 14–up
Safe is an underground refuge for the
misfits and the sick who have escaped from Above. Matthew is
the Teller of Safe, responsible for remembering and guarding
the stories of all who live in Safe. Then the only person ever
to have been exiled from Safe returns with an army of shadows
and Matthew escapes with Jack Flash, who can generate electricity,
and Ariel, who turns into a bee when stressed. As the three
try to reclaim Safe they must grapple with long-hidden secrets
and truths. This magical fantasy blends the real and the fantastic
into a complex and heartbreaking whole. |
|
 An Inheritance of Ashes
by Leah Bobet
Ages 12–up
Set in a future North America where civilization has reverted to a 19th century level, Hallie (16) and her older sister Marthe wait on the family farm for whoever will return from the distant battlefield to the south. The battle is against the Wicket God Southward, who arrived through a rent in the universe along with its Twisted Things. Hallie hires Heron, a strange veteran, to help with the farm when her brother-in-law doesn’t return, but comes to realize that Heron may have brought remnants of the war back with him. |
|
 The
Compound
by S.A. Bodeen
Ages 12–up
Ellis, the 15-year old son of
a billionaire, has spent the last six years in the massive
underground shelter his father built to shelter the family
from the nuclear war that destroyed the world above.
With nine years to go before the air above is safe, the
food begins to run out, and Ellis is caught in an ethical
and moral dilemma as he becomes increasingly suspicious
about his father’s choices and actions. |
|
 The Witch Hunter
by Virginia Boecker
Ages 15–up
Elizabeth (16) and her best friend Caleb hunt witches for the Inquisitor, Lord Blackwell, in an alternative medieval England where witchcraft of any kind is banned. Elizabeth firmly believes that witches are evil and deserve to be burnt at the stake, until her own innocent possession of herbs causes Lord Blackwell to arrest her and sentences her to death. Elizabeth is rescued by Nicholas Perevil, a wizard who hopes Elizabeth can rescue him from a deadly curse. Elizabeth doesn’t trust the band of pirates, witches, and other healers in Perevil’s band, and worries what will happen when they discover she is a witch hunter. |
|
 Small
Persons With Wings
by Ellen Booraem
Ages 10–up
When Mellie was five, she told
her Kindergarten class about the fairy living in her
bedroom. Her classmates teased her unmercifully, and
the Parvi Pennati (a Small Person with Wings who hates
to be called a fairy) moved out. Now 13, Mellie and
her family move into an inn inherited from her grandfather.
Before long Mellie finds that she has not left her
problems behind. The inn is infested with Parvi, and
Mellie learns that her family must honor a thousand-year
old agreement to provide a home for the Parvi. Themes
of bullying and alcoholism are explored in this clever
and humorous fairy story. |
|
 The Scorpion Rules
by Erin Bow
Ages 14–up
Four centuries after an AI known as Talis took over the world to prevent humanity from destroying itself, peace is maintained by keeping one child of each world leader hostage. If a war is started, the child of that leader will be killed. Greta is the Crown Princess of the Pan Polar Confederacy, a superpower formed of the former Canada. Greta is used to her role, but the arrival of Elian, a new hostage from the American Alliance who has no intention of playing by the rules, changes everything. Greta has been content waiting for her release on her 18th birthday, but Elian’s rebellion makes her view her situation with new eyes. Then the American Alliance declares war on the Pan Polar Confederacy, putting both of their lives at risk. |
|
 The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket
by John Boyne, Oliver Jeffers
Ages 8–12
Barnaby Brocket is a perfectly normal boy in a perfectly normal family in New South Wales, Australia, except for one thing — Barnaby is not restrained by gravity. His parents try confining him inside the house and weighting him down, but when he is eight his mother lets him float away. In his journey around the world Barnaby meets people of all ages who have accepted their own uniqueness and found happiness. |
|
 The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding
by Alexandra Bracken
Ages 8–12
Prosperity “Prosper” Redding and his twin sister Prue are approaching their thirteenth birthday. While their parents are away, their grandmother holds a family meeting, and they learn their many great-grandfather made a contract with a demon named Alastor who has reawakened after many many years determined to get revenge. Prosper is unwittingly host to the demon, and has only days to break the curse and banish Alastor back to the demon realm. His uncle Barnabas and cousin Nell, a witch-in-training, are his only hope of defeating the demon. |
|
 The Last Kids on Earth
by Max Brallier, Doug Holgate
Ages 8–12
When the apocalypse hit, Jack Sullivan (13) moved into his tree house to escape the hordes of Zombies, Winged Wretches, Vine Thingies, and especially the intelligent monster known as Blarg. Armed with his catapult and supplied with Oreos and Mountain Dew from abandoned stores, Jack plays video games and builds a moat. Determined to slay the monster Blarg, Jack gathers a support team consisting of his best friend Quint, reformed middle school bully Dirk, the girl he adores, and his loyal pet monster Rover. Narrated with both text and black & white illustrations, this funny graphic novel is the first in a series. |
|
 Going
Bovine
by Libba Bray
Ages 14–up
Cameron Smith (16) is coasting
through high school in the shadow of his perfect sister.
While working at Buddha Burger, Cameron comes down
with mad cow disease and the prognosis isn’t good.
In the hospital he is visited by Dulcie, a neon pink
angel who just may be a hallucination. Dulcie convinces
Cameron to go on a quest to find a cure and save the
world with the help of Gonzo, a neurotic dwarf, and
Balder, a Norse god who is trapped in the form of a
garden elf. This wacky fantasy adventure will appeal
to fans of The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. |
|
 The Hawkweed Prophecy
by Irena Brignull
Ages 12–up
Poppy Hooper and Ember Hawkweed have completely different realities. Poppy is a troubled teen, causing trouble wherever she goes. Ember is a young witch, struggling to make a place for herself within the coven. Both girls are outsiders, feeling they don’t fit in and searching for a way out. After a chance meeting in the woods they become friends, they share knowledge of their different worlds and discover the reason for their uneasiness — the evil witch Raven Hawkweed switched the babies at birth. A homeless boy named Leo captures both of their hearts and drives them apart, just as they are trying to come to terms with their true identities. (first in a series) |
|
 The Many Lives of John Stone
by Linda Buckley-Archer
Ages 12–up
Stella Park, known as Spark, takes a summer job cataloging John Stone’s historical archives in his isolated and beautiful Stowney House in Suffolk, England. Spark is horrified to discover that Stowney House has no modern conveniences, not even a telephone or electricity. The handwritten notebooks begin in the court of Louis XIV in Versailles and continue to the present, all written in the same handwriting. John Stone is a 350-year-old semperviven, both blessed and cursed with very long life, who hopes that Spark will help him and the other sempervivens hide their true nature. |
|
 Felix Yz
by Lisa Bunker
Ages 10–up
Felix Yz (13) has a secret crush on Hector, but that’s not his main worry. At the age of three Felix was accidentally fused with Zyx, a hyper-intelligent being from the fourth dimension. Felix and Zyx have co-existed well for ten years, but Felix can’t grow into adulthood while they are fused together. A risky procedure to separate them is scheduled in 29 days. If it works Felix will have to say goodbye to his constant companion, if it doesn’t they may both die. Luckily Felix is supported by his loving parents, his piano prodigy older sister, and his gender-fluid grandparent who alternates between Vera and Vern. Narrated by Felix in a secret blog, this captivating book is a celebration of the wonders of being “different.” |
|
 Entangled
by Amy Rose Capetta
Ages 14–up
The scattered remains of the human race live as second-class citizens on alien worlds, weakened by a sickness brought on by space travel. Cade (17) lives on the desert planet of Andana, playing her guitar for other “spacesicks” as a distraction from the Noise, a jumble of sound that fills her head. When the Noise suddenly stops, Cade learns she is the product of an experiment and has been entangled since birth with a boy named Xan, now held captive in an area of space infested with black holes. With the help of a human smuggler, an alien captain, and his sentient ship, Cade sets out to rescue Xan. |
|
 Pathfinder
by Orson Scott Card
Ages 12–up
Two stories intertwine in this complex
fantasy. Rigg (13) lives a quiet life with his father in the
backwoods, using his ability to see the trails left by animals
and people anywhere from minutes to thousands of years earlier.
When his father dies suddenly, Rigg becomes an outcast with
his friend Umbo, wrongly blamed for Umbo’s brother’s death.
The second story is that of starship captain Ram Odin, whose
interspacial jump to a new colony planet causes a paradox with
far-reaching consequences. The twin stories stretch across
centuries in this fascinating series opener. |
|
 Heap House
by Edward Carey
Ages 10–up
The Iremonger family of Filching has made a fortune from junk, and the extensive family lives in a mansion constructed from salvaged materials. It’s 1875 and young Clod Iremonger is about to officially become an adult, and is unhappily betrothed to his cousin Pinalippy. Each Iremonger possesses a birth object (like a sink plug or mustache cup) that they must always keep close or face death or transformation. Clod is considered strange because he can hear the birth objects speak. Orphaned Lucy Pennant comes to Heap House as a servant, and Clod finds himself falling in love as he and Lucy uncover dark Iremonger family secrets. (first in a projected trilogy) |
|
 The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #1: Magic Marks the Spot
by Caroline Carlson, Dave Phillips
Ages 8–12
Hilary Westfield, the daughter of an admiral, longs to be a pirate but is sent to finishing school to learn to embroider and faint gracefully. Running away from school, Hilary joins an enchanted gargoyle, an arrogant boy named Oliver, and her former governess as the crew of “freelance” pirate Jasper Fletcher. A race to long-lost magical treasure pits the pirate boat against Hilary’s father in this delightful first in a swashbuckling new series. |
|
 Etiquette & Espionage
by Gail Carriger
Ages 12–up
Sophronia (14) is now growing into the lady her mother hopes for, so she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. But Sophronia quickly realizes that the school, a giant dirigible floating above the moors, is not quite what her mother envisioned. Along with the other young ladies, Sophronia learns the skills of deceit, espionage, and assissination along with etiquette. This skillful blend of paranormal and steampunk is the first in the Finishing School series. |
|
 Curtsies & Conspiracies
by Gail Carriger
Ages 12–up
After six months in Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, Sophronia is earning top marks in her classes, and doing especially well in portion allotment, puddings, and preemptive poisonings. The floating school travels to London to witness a technological breakthrough: a new guidance valve that makes travel through the aetherosphere possible. Sophronia discovers a plot to steal the valve while being courted by two young men from Bunson & Lacroix’s Polytechnique. This clever steampunk adventure is the second in the Finishing School series, following Etiquette & Espionage. |
|
 The
Girl of Fire and Thorns
by Rae Carson
Ages 12–up
Princess Elisa (16) is a disappointment
to her parents. She is plain, overweight, and has never
done anything remarkable, though she does hold the
rare and mysterious Godstone embedded in her stomach.
Offered a safe marriage with a handsome neighboring
king, Elisa agrees, but is surprised when she arrives
to her new home and discovers that her husband wants
to keep their marriage a secret. Then Elisa is kidnapped
by an invading army and realizes she is also being
hunted by dark magicians. Instead of crumbling in the
face of danger, Elisa grows in strength and resourcefulness.
This engaging fantasy is the first in a planned trilogy. |
|
 The Crown of Embers
by Rae Carson
Ages 13–up
Queen Elisa (17) fears there is a possible traitor in her palace and is being pressured by her council to either marry or give up her power to a regent. She also has the Inviernos to deal with, who threaten to destroy her people if she doesn’t surrender to them. Evading assassination and kidnapping, Elisa is guided by the mysterious Godstone embedded in her navel to search for the zafira — the soul of the world and the source of all magic. This gripping romantic novel is the sequel to The Girl of Fire and Thorns. |
|
 The Bitter Kingdom
by Rae Carson
Ages 13–up
Queen Elisa (17) heads off to enemy territory with her companions to rescue the man she loves. Meanwhile, a traitor at home plots to overthrow her. The journey takes the young sorcerer queen through the bitterly cold land of Invierne, where she she hopes to destroy the source of their magic and win peace, and to the Basajuan desert where peace will be even more difficult to attain. This thrilling fantasy is the concluding volume in the trilogy that includes The Girl of Fire and Thorns and The Crown of Embers. |
|
 Walk on Earth a Stranger
by Rae Carson
Ages 13–up
Leah (15) lives in an isolated part of Georgia with her ailing parents in the early 1800s. Leah has the ability to know when gold is near, and uses her talent to support her parents. When a gold rush hits Dahlonega, her parents are murdered, and Leah flees her uncle who wants to utilize her talents. Disguises as a boy, Leah joins a wagon train headed to California with her friend Jefferson, who is half-white and half-Cherokee. This exciting adventure is the first in the Gold Seer trilogy. |
|
 Graceling
by Kristin Cashore
Ages 14–up
People with special talents, called
Gracelings, are identified by their unusual eyes. Katsa has
one green and one blue eye, but it is not until she is eight
that her special talent is discovered—killing. By age
18 she is henchwoman to the king. Hating her job, Katsa creates
a secret council to work against corrupt power. Teens (and
adults) struggling to put their own talents to good use will
enjoy this riveting novel. |
|
 Fire
by Kristin Cashore
Ages 14–up
Fire, an orphan with hair as red as
her name, can control the minds of everyone around her. Young
King Nash is barely holding on to his throne, while rebel lords
in the north and south build armies in hopes of taking over
the throne. This suspenseful and romantic companion volume
(prequel) to Graceling,
shares one pivotal character. |
|
 Bitterblue
by Kristin Cashore
Ages 14–up
Now 18, Bitterblue, the Queen of Monsea
is ready to take control of her kingdom. Her advisors, who
have run the kingdom since her psychopathic father King Leck
died, want to pardon anyone who committed crimes during Leck’s
rule and forget the past. Bitterblue sneaks out of the castle
in disguise, and realizes that her father’s evil influence
lives on, and that the only way to prepare for the future is
to face the past. (companion to Graceling and Fire) |
|
 Happenstance
Found
by P.W. Catanese
Ages 8–12
Happenstance, a boy with weird
green eyes, wakes up in a cave with no memories of
his past life or his present surroundings. He meets
Lord Umber, who seems to know as much about our world
as his own. They discover that Hap has strange powers—he
can see in the dark, speak many languages, and leap
high in the air. First in a new series (Books of Umber),
this strange tale is action-packed and surprising. |
|
 The Radiant Road
by Katherine Catmull
Ages 12–up
After years in America, Clare Macleod and her father return to live in the ancient stone house In Ireland where she was born. The house is build into a green hillside, and has a yew tree as one wall. Clare discovers that the tree has a door, and Finn, a sort-of-human boy, lives on the other side. both Finn and Clare’s worlds are threated by an frightening enemy. This luminous fantasy is often quite scary. |
|
 The Testing
by Joelle Charbonneau
Ages 12–up
Cia Vale (16) hopes to be chosen for the annual Testing as a way out of a rural farming life to the University in Tosu City. The Testing is an intensive mental and physical trials to choose the best and the brightest youth to attend the university and work to repair the damage to their world by the Seven Stages of War. Exactly 80% of those tested will be eliminated in the trials, and Cia is warned to trust no one, but can’t resist her attraction to Tomas. (first in a planned trilogy) |
|
 The Reader
by Traci Chee
Ages 12–up
Sefia’s father is murdered, and she flees into the wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to track hunt, and steal. When Sefia is 15, Nin is kidnapped, leaving her completely alone. None of her survival skills help her discover where Nin has been taken. The only clue is the strange rectangular object her father left behind. She learns that the strange object, bound paper covered with symbols, is called a book. Reading and writing are unheard of in the land of Kelanna, but Sefia is determined to decipher the hidden secrets of the book. With the help of a mute boy she rescues, Sefia sets out to rescue Nin and discover the truth of her father’s murder. |
|
 Oh.
My. Gods.
by Tera Lynn Childs
Ages 12–up
Phoebe is shocked when her widowed
mother returns from a Greek vacation not only engaged to a
man she has just meet, but determined that Phoebe will complete
her senior year of high school at her future stepfather’s private
academy. The twist is that the school caters to the descendents
of the Greek gods and goddesses, cleverly mixing mythology
into the usual high school cliques. |
|
 The Goblin’s Puzzle: Being the Adventures of a Boy with No Name and Two Girls Called Alice
by Andrew Chilton
Ages 8–12
A nameless young slave escapes from his master and becomes tied to a mischievous goblin. Plain Alice is the bookish daughter of a sage who longs to continue in his footsteps but is kidnapped by a dragon in a case of mistaken identity. Princess Alice, heir to the kingdom of West Stahope is pursued by the treacherous Duke Geoffrey who hopes to take over the kingdom by marrying her. Together the three fight against their dangerous foes, learning that a combination of logic and bravery is the best defense. This alternative fairy tale is great fun. |
|
 The Bone Witch
by Rin Chupeco
Ages 12–up
When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, Tea learns she is a bone witch, able to raise and control the dead. Her fearful power cause her to be ostracized by her community. An older bone witch takes Tea and her brother to another land for training. As she trains to be an asha, a witch who can wield elemental power, Tea learns that bone witches don’t live long. This dark fantasy is the first in the Bone Witch series. |
|
 A Shadow Bright and Burning
by Jessica Cluess
Ages 12–up
Henrietta Howel (16) can start fire with her mind, but keeps her talent secret since women aren’t permitted to practice magic. Henrietta teaches at the Brimthorn School for girls in an alternative Victorian England, and is noticed by a visiting sorcerer who offers to train her as one of Queen Victoria’s royal sorcerers. (first in the Kingdom on Fire trilogy) |
|
 Witchlanders
by Lena Coakley
Ages 12–up
When Ryder’s father dies, he struggles
to keep up the family’s remote farm in the Witchlands. Ryder
isn’t sure that the annual payment of one quarter of the crops
to the witches is worth it, especially since his people’s old
enemy the Baen has been defeated. His mother, a lapsed witch,
had mocked the power of the coven, and Ryder is pretty sure
she was right. But a terrifying new magic threatens the village
and the coven, and Ryder must confront all his beliefs, even
his hatred of the Baen. |
|
 The Kingdom of Little Wounds
by Susann Cokal
Ages 16–up
Ava Bingham is a young seamstress in the palace in 16th century Skyggehaven, ruled by the mad Queen Isabel and the weak King Christian. On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the prick of a needle sets off a series of events that will change everything, especially for Ave and the mute African nursery slave. Frank depictions of violence are set in a dark fairy tale world. |
|
 The Reluctant Assassin
by Eoin Colfer
Ages 10–up
Riley is a teen-aged orphan in Victorian London, apprenticed to Albert Garrick, a magician turned assassin. Chevron Savant (17) is an FBI agent sent to London as punishment after a bungled mission. Cherie’s job is to babysit a metal capsule, one end of a wormhole that connects the present to the year 1898. Riley is tasked by his master to perform his first killing, but luckily for the reluctant assassin, his victim is a scientist from the future, part of the FBI’s Witness Anonymous Relocation Program (WARP). This blend of horror, humor, and science fiction is the first in the W.A.R.P. series. |
|
 The
Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
Ages 12–up
In this future world the United
States is gone and North America has become Panem, a
TV-dominated dictatorship. Every year 24 teenagers are
chosen by lottery to fight in the Hunger Games, a reality
TV show where the only rule is that you cannot eat the
dead contestants. Katniss takes the place of her younger
sister and is soon being groomed for maximum camera appeal.
As Katniss struggles to win both the Games and audience
approval, the reader is forced to confront the question:
What happens if we choose entertainment over humanity?
(1st in a projected trilogy) |
|
 Catching
Fire
by Suzanne Collins
Ages 12–up
Katniss Everdeen and won the
annual Hunger Games against all odds and should be
enjoying the new prosperity their win brought to their
district. But President Snow is angry about being outsmarted
and rumblings of uprisings inspired by Katniss’s defiance
of the rules are heard across the land. And the upcoming
Hunger games will be the 75th anniversary so there
are sure to be some extra-special challenges for the
next round of Hunger Game contestants. (sequel to The
Hunger Games) |
|
 A
Banquet for Hungry Ghosts:
A
Collection of Deliciously Frightening Tales
by Ying Chang Compestine, Coleman Polhemus
Ages 12–up
This collection of eight gruesomely
delightful tales feature hungry ghosts—the spirits of those
who died hungry or unjustly and have returned to seek vengeance.
The chilling tales are illustrated with lurid images of the
ghosts and their victims. |
|
 Matched
by Ally Condie
Ages 14–up
In Cassia’s world, the Society makes
all the decisions: what to wear, where to work, when to die,
and who to marry. When Cassia turns 17 she is Matched with
her best friend Xander. But her neighbor Ky also shows up on
her Match disk. Cassia is told that was an error, but can’t
resist getting to know Ky better. She is amazed to find that
Ky has a unique secret—creativity. As Cassia begins to understand
that their are options other than being controlled by the Society,
things get uncomfortable. |
|
 Reached
by Ally Condie
Ages 12–up
Cassia, Ky, and Xander are separated, each doing their part as agents of the Rising rebellion, working against the repressive Society. An introduced plague saps the resources of the Society, allowing the Rising to step in with a cure and prove itself the better choice for the people. But the plague mutates out of control, and the trio work together to fight it. This finale in the Matched trilogy follows Matched and Crossed. |
|
 The
Gates
by John Connolly
Ages 12–up
While doing some early trick-or-treating
with his dog Boswell in Biddlecombe, England, 11-year-old
Samuel Johnson witnesses a strange happening at 666 Crowley
Road. Experimenting with one of the spells in a
old book, Mrs. Abernathy inadvertently opens
the Gates of Hell and allows a powerful demon through.
Horrified, Samuel tries to convince various adults of
the mounting danger, but finds they don’t believe him.
Billed as an “adult
book for children,” this
whimsical fantasy features a quirky and imaginative hero,
an amusingly incompetent subdemon named Nurd, and accessible
explanations of quantum mechanics, wormholes, and black
holes. |
|
 Of Fire and Stars
by Audrey Coulthurst, Jordan Saia
Ages 13–up
At the age of seven, Princess Dennaleia of Havemont discovers that she has a magical “affinity” for fire. Unfortunately, she is already betrothed to Prince Thandilimon of neighboring Mynaria, where the practice of magic is banned. Dennaleia’s mother believes that if she ignores her gift it will fade away, but her affinity grows stronger, and she almost causes a fire when she arrives in Mynaria at the age of 16. She tries to hide her affinity from the prince’s family, especially his prickly older sister Amaranthine, for whom she feels an unexpected attraction. |
|
 Vivian Apple at the End of the World
by Katie Coyle
Ages 14–up
The leader of the Church of America has declared that the Rapture will occur in late March of an unspecified year. While some Believers follow instructions for preparing for the Rapture, others, like Vivian Apple (16) and her best friend Harpreet Janda have Rapture Eve parties. Returning home from a party, Vivian finds her parents missing, and two person-sized holes in the roof. Certain that her parents haven’t really been “raptured,” Vivian, Harp, and the mysterious Peter who attended the Rapture Eve party, set out in search of them through a post-rapture America that has become paranoid and dangerous. |
|
 Invisibility
by Andrea Cremer & David Levithan
Ages 12–up
Stephen was born invisible, not even his parents have seen him. Now 16 Stephen is alone in his Manhattan apartment, his father long gone and his mother dead. Then Elizabeth (16) and her family move into the building, having left Minnesota after her younger brother Laurie was badly beaten for being gay. Amazingly Elizabeth can see Stephen. Learning that Stephen’s invisibility is the result of a curse, Elizabeth and Laurie join Stephen in a quest to reverse the curse. |
|
 The Awesome
by Eva Darrows
Ages 15–up
Maggie Cunningham (17) has been raised by her monster-hunting single mother to be skilled in the art of combat, but not so good at social relationships. Maggie wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps, but in order to graduate to hunting the more dangerous monsters (like vampires), Maggie must lose her virginity (since virgins are the favorite food of vampires). Maggie has successfully battled ghosts and goblins, but finding herself a boyfriend may just be a task beyond her skills. Trying to fit in with normal girls, Maggie discovers that cleaning a gun blindfolded is not a valued attribute, but she is unprepared for long conversations about shoes. Maggie’s narration is crass, snarky, and hilarious. |
|
 The Odds of Lightning
by Jocelyn Davies
Ages 14–up
During a party on a rooftop in New York City the night before they are to take their SATs, four students are struck by lightning and transformed in ways connected to their insecurities. Nathaniel is a science whiz living in the shadow of his older brother, Will has conquered a weight problem to become a soccer star, Lu hides herself behind a theater persona, and Tiny feels so insignificant he might as well be invisible.
|
|
 The Cats of Tanglewood Forest
by Charles de Lint, Charles Vess
Ages 8–12
Lillian Kindred, an orphan living with her beloved aunt, spends her days exploring Tanglewood Forest, befriending the feral cats and imagining how wonderful it would be if the forest were full of fairies. One day Lillian is bitten by a snake, and the magical cats turn her into a kitten to save her life. Now Lillian must journey through the forest to negotiate with Old Mother Possum to restore the balance. |
|
 Truthwitch
by Susan Dennard
Ages 13–up
In the Witchlands there are many different kinds of magic. Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to distinguish truth from lies, and Iseult, is a Threadwitch, able to see the invisible ties that connect the people around her. Safiya is born to the nobility while Iseult comes from the despised outcasts. Safiya hides her gift, aware that if revealed she would be pressed into service by those seeking power. The two become friends, Threadsisters bound by their shared experiences. The Twenty Year Truce is coming to an end, and the renegotiation threatens to end in war. Prince Merik, a Windwitch, joins forces with the Threadsisters, determined to fight for freedom against those who would do just about anything to capture a Truthwitch. This exciting novel is the first in the Witchlands series. |
|
 Wither
by Lauren DeStefano
Ages 14–up
War has destroyed most of the continents,
and a virus has killed all females by age 20 and males by age
25 for generations. Healthy teenaged girls are prized as breeding
stock, and Rhine is kidnapped and forced into a polygamous
marriage in a lavish Florida home where Gabriel is a servant.
Though pampered in her luxurious prison, Rhine wants to get
back to her twin brother Rowan, and infects Gabriel with her
dreams of escape. (1st in a planned trilogy) |
|
 Entwined
by Heather Dixon
Ages 12–up
Azela, the heir to the throne, and
her 11 sisters live in the half-magical world of Eathesbury.
When their mother dies after a long illness, their father the
King banishes the girls from his sight and goes off to war
without even saying good-bye. The sisters find a secret passageway
to an enchanted pavilion under the castle, where they dance
all night, breaking the rules of mourning. This magical tale
is based on “The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes" by the
Brothers Grimm. |
|
 Illusionarium
by Heather Dixon
Ages 13–up
Jonathan Gouden is the son and apprentice to the second-best scientist in the empire. The king demands that Dr. Gouden find a cure for the Venen plague, mysterious illness that kills women six days after being exposed. Fantillium, a new drug that allows illusionists to create a reality that others can share, offers a hope of discovering a cure before the Queen dies of the plague. But fantillium causes one’s conscience to whither away, and has already destroyed the moral compass of Lady Florel, the best scientist in the empire. This suspenseful and humorous steampunk adventure is set in an alternate London. |
|
 Little
Brother
by Cory Doctorow
Ages 13–up
Set in near-future San Francisco
after a terrorist attack, 17-year-old Marcus and his
friends (guilty only of cutting school) are arrested
and interrogated by the Department of Homeland Security.
Released, techno-geek Marcus and his crew fight against
the oppressive police state. |
|
 The Letter for the King
by Tonke Dragt
Ages 12–up
Tiuri (16) is about to earn his knighthood when he takes on the task of delivering a vitally important letter to King Unauwen of the neighboring kingdom. His trek is long and dangerous, and he meets both friends and foes along the way. This exciting adventure is the first US publication of the 1962 Dutch classic. |
|
 Otherbound
by Corinne Duyvis
Ages 14–up
The doctors treating Nolan Santiago, a high school student in Arizona, believe he is suffering from epilepsy and hallucinations. The truth is that for the past few years whenever Nolan closes his eyes he is transported into the mind of Amara, a mute servant girl with healing powers living in the magical realm of Dunelands. Amara was chosen as a child by a mage to protect Cilla, a princess in exile after a violent revolution. Nolan, an amputee, overdoses on his pain medications and discovers he can leave Amara’s body. But when he goes, so do Amara’s healing powers, leaving Cilla in danger. Finally able to communicate, Nolan and Amara to work together to find the truth behind the revolution. |
|
 The Transatlantic Conspiracy
by G.D. Falksen, Nat Iwata
Ages 14–up
It’s 1908, and Rosalind Wallace (17) is having a wonderful visit in England with her best friend Cecily de Vere. She is furious when her father decides that it is time for her to return home to America, booking her on the maiden voyage of his amazing Transatlantic Express, the world’s first underwater railway. Cecily and her brother Charles offer to accompany her to New York, but Charles disappears and Cecily and her maid are found stabbed to death in their train stateroom. Trapped on the underwater train, Rosalind must overcome her grief to clear herself of suspicion and find Cecily’s murderer. |
|
 Jessica’s
Guide to Dating on the Dark Side
by Beth Fantaskey
Ages 14–up
Jessica Packward, 17-year-old
mathlete, is flabbergasted when a Romanian named Lucius
Vladescu appears and informs her that they are vampire
royalty and pledged to be wed since infancy. When her
adoptive parents confirm that her real parents claimed
to be vampires, Jessica is stunned. But Lucius is attractive,
and armed with Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s
Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica
begins to transform herself into a Vampire Princess.
Funny, satirical, and suspenseful, this vampire novel
is a cut above the competition. |
|
 The Lord of Opium
by Nancy Farmer
Ages 12–up
Matteo Alacrán (14), originally created as an organ donor for drug lord El Patrón, is now the ruler of Opium, the land between the United States and Mexico. As well as drugs, Opium is the source of food plants and animals that grow in Opium’s protected ecosystem and nowhere else in the polluted world. Matt’s goal is to stop the drug trade, grow crops, and help the eejits, micro-chipped mindless robots who provide the manual labor, become fully-functioning humans. This sequel to The House of the Scorpion is best understood if the previous volume is read first. |
|
 The
Sea of Trolls
by Nancy Farmer
Ages 9–up
Jack (11) is a scrawny medieval Saxon
boy who has never been much good at anything until the Bard
of his village makes him an apprentice. Jack is slowly learning
to call on magical powers when the Bard realizes that Viking
berserkers are about to attack the village. They raise a fog
to hide the village, but Jack and his sister Lucy (5) are kidnapped
by by Ivan One-Brow and his crew. Jack impresses Ivan with
his ability to control the weather and things aren’t nearly
as bad as they could be until Lucy is given to King Ivan the
Boneless and Frith, his evil half-troll wife. By mistake, Jack
detaches Frith’s hair and is sent on a quest with Ivan and
Thorgil to the Troll kingdom to find Mimir’s Well and the secret
to restore Frith’s hair. This skillful amalgam of history,
myth, and humor will appeal to fantasy lovers of all ages. |
|
 The
Land of Silver Apples
by Nancy Farmer
Ages 9–up
Jack (13) and his sister Lucy (7) are
safely back home with their parents, and Lucy is even more
spoiled than ever. When her behavior grows too bad to ignore,
the family takes her to a monastery for an exorcism. Jack’s
father admits that their real baby was stolen at birth, and
Lucy left in her place. Lucy is stolen by the Lady of the Lake
and Jack’s mother insists that her real daughter be found,
and Jack is off on another quest. Assisted by Pega, a slave
girl, and Thorgil, the ex-berserker, Jack journeys through
the lands of hobgoblins, kelpies, yarthkins, and elves in this
thoroughly satisfying sequel to The
Sea of Trolls. |
|
 The
Island of the Blessed
by Nancy Farmer
Ages 9–up
Jack, 14-year old apprentice
bard, is now living with Thorgil, shield maiden, and
the Bard. A draugr, the undead spirit of a wronged
mermaid, is roused by the village priest’s mystical
bell, sending Jack and his friends to the kingdom of
the fin folk seeking a way to bring the draugr peace.
(conclusion to The
Sea of Trolls and The
Land of Silver Apples) |
|
 The Vengekeep Prophecies
by Brian Farrey, Brett Helquist
Ages 8–12
For generations the Grimjinx clan has produced the most talented thieves in Vengekeep, and Jaxter (12) is determined to uphold the family tradition. Unfortunately his first attempt results in a house fire and lands his family in jail. His family has already put their biggest con ever in motion, replacing the tapestry that predicts the events of the coming year in Vengekeep with one that portrays the Grimjinx clan as heroes. The family discovers that the tapestry is enchanted, the disasters depicted are really happening, and the Grimjinxs must destroy the tapestry before it destroys Vengekeep. |
|
 Once
Upon a Marigold
by Jean Ferris
Ages 9–12
Chris runs away from home when
he is six and is raised in the forest by trolls. After
spotting Marigold in her castle through his telescope,
he sends a p-mail (pigeon mail) and they become friends.
When he learns her life may be in danger, he heads off
to save her. This fast-paced fantasy, romance, comedy,
and coming-of-age novel is a lot of fun. |
|
 Twice
Upon a Marigold
by Jean Ferris
Ages 9–12
This hilarious warping of fairy-tail
conventions continues the story of Marigold, her new
husband, her father the king, and her evil step-mother
who is not as dead as they hoped. |
|
 The Last Dragonslayer
by Jasper Fforde
Ages 12–up
The bottom has fallen out of the magic market — drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell and magic carpets are used for pizza delivery. Jennifer, 15-year-old foundling, has taken over Kazam Mystical Arts Management, an employment agency for wizards and magicians, since the Great Zambini disappeared six months earlier. Jennifer has just started mentoring another foundling, Horton “Tiger” Prawns, when she discovers that she is the Last Dragonslayer, and that Maltcassion, the last dragon on Earth, is due to die from her hand at noon on Sunday. This comedic adventure is the first in the Chronicles of Kazam. |
|
 Incarceron
by Catherine Fisher
Ages 12–up
In this complex and inventive fantasy,
civilization was frozen in late-medieval development to save
the world from dangerous technology. All of the madmen and
malcontents were sealed into a huge and sentient prison named
Incarceron. Claudia, the brilliant daughter of the prison warden,
is doomed to a loveless marriage with the simpleminded heir
to the throne. But when Finn, a prisoner without a past, finds
a crystal key that lets him communicate with Claudia, each
decides to escape their own prison with unexpected consequences. |
|
 On
the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave
by Candace Fleming
Ages 11–14
Mike Kowalski (16) discovers
an abandoned Chicago cemetery where nine teenaged ghosts
tell him how they died from the 1860s to the present.
From all classes, the teens die from supernatural causes
against the backdrop of Chicago’s rich history, including
the Great Depression, the World’s Fair, and Al Capone.
The tenth story describes the death of the narrator. |
|
 City of a Thousand Dolls
by Miriam Forster
Ages 13–up
Nisha Arvi (16) has grown up in the walled estated known as the City of a Thousand Dolls with other orphaned or unwanted girls trained in six Houses to be wives, courtesans, artists, entertainers, healers, or soldiers. As assistant to the Matron, Nisha doesn’t belong to a House, and dreams of being Redeemed by a handsome young courier who can pass outside the walls. One by one, girls inside the walls begin to die, and Nisha knows she has to figure out what is happening before she becomes the next victim. This fantasy set in a world with a strict caste system, a two-child limit, and telepathic cats is the first in a planned series. |
|
 Dragonborn
by Toby Forward
Ages 8–12
Sam (12) is a half-trained wizard when
his beloved master Flaxfield dies unexpectedly. Sam doesn’t
know that he has great untouched powers, but he does know that
he needs a new master if he wants to become a wizard. With
his dragon Starback, Sam sets out to find a way to continue
his education. This adventure story told with a touch of humor
is the first in a new series. |
|
 The Midnight Dress
by Karen Foxlee
Ages 14–up
Rose Lovell (17) ends up in a little Australian beach town with her alcoholic father in the mid 1980s. Rose doesn’t expect to like living in the beach town, but finds herself befriended by exuberant Pearl Kelly. Pearl persuades Rose to ask Edie Baker, the local dressmaker and possible witch, to help her make her a dark blue dress for the upcoming Harvest Parade. The unforgettable dress is destined to have far-reaching consequences in this complex tale of friendship, magic, and murder.
|
|
 The
Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
Ages 10–up
When a murderer kills the rest of his
family, the toddler escapes to the graveyard next door where
the ghosts take him in and raise him as their own. The boy,
called Bod (short for Nobody) grows up fairly normal despite
his ghoulish guardians and the fact that the killer is still
stalking him. This gothic fantasy is downright terrifying at
times. |
|
 Maggot Moon
by Sally Gardner, Julian Crouch
Ages 12–up
Standish Treadwell (15) lives in the Motherland, a totalitarian society determined to be the first to the moon no matter what the cost to the people. The Motherland has taken away Standish’s parents and he lives with his grandfather. Standish is dyslexic, and when his best friend who protected him at school vanishes, his life becomes nearly unbearable. Standish discovers a secret the government would like to keep hidden, and determines to reveal the truth, no matter what the risk to himself. This violent novel, narrated in short chapters with frightening illustrations, does a masterful job of presenting the realities of dyslexia. |
|
 Operation Bunny
by Sally Gardner, David Roberts
Ages 7–10
Emily Vole (9) inherits an abandoned shop and discovers a magical world she never knew existed. Her kindly neighbor Miss String is willing to help, along with Miss String’s talking cat Fidget. Harpella, a fairy-hating witch, is determined to turn the town into rabbits. Emily joins Buster, a grumpy fairy detective, to save the day. This clever and witty book is the first in the Wings & Co. series. |
|
 The
Museum of Mary Child
by Cassandra Golds
Ages 11–up
Heloise is kept secluded by
her stern god mother. When the lonely girl discovers
a beautiful doll, Maria, hidden under the floorboards,
she hides the doll from her godmother who prohibits
play, beautiful things, and talk of love. When Maria
is discovered, Heloise learns the dreadful truth about
the museum adjoining her godmother’s cottage. This
mysterious and creepy novel is enthralling. |
|
 The Dark Days Club
by Alison Goodman
Ages 14–up
Lady Helen Wrexhall (18) is about to make her debut at the court of King George III in 1812. The Duke of Selburn, the most eligible bachelor of the season, is interested in Helen, as is the disreputable Earl of Carlston who does not seem to have marriage in mind. Helen is dissatisfied with her life of endless parties and vapid conversation. When one of her maids disappears, Helen is drawn into the investigation. Lord Carlston introduces her to the Dark Days Club, a secret organization working to preserve English society from the dark forces that threaten it. Lord Carlston believes that Helen has the talents to join the fight, but she isn’t sure she can trust a man whose existence is shrouded by lies and rumors of scandal. This supernatural adventure novel is the first in a series. |
|
 Eon:
Dragoneye Reborn
by Alison Goodman
Ages 12–up
In a world where women are
forbidden to study Dragon magic, Eona (16) disguises
herself as a 12-year-old boy (Eon) to enter a competition
to become an apprentice Dragoneye. Against all odds,
the crippled Eon is selected and is soon fighting against
the corrupt Lord Ido in this compelling fantasy. |
|
 The
Other Side of the Island
by Allegra Goodman
Ages 12–up
Honor (10) and her parents are
brought to Island 365 by the Corporation led by Earth
Mother. Using memory-altering substances and misinformation,
the Corporation lulls its citizens into believing that
the rest of the world is uninhabitable. Honor’s parents
rebel and are captured and Honor and a friend must rescue
them. |
|
 Front Lines
by Michael Grant
Ages 14–up
In this alternative history, a court decision makes women subject to the draft. In 1942, three young women enlist after Pearl Harbor. Small town girl Rio Richlin wants to honor her older sister who died in the war, African-American Frangie Marr needs the money to support her disabled father, and Jewish New Yorker Rainy Schulterman is determined to kill Nazis. The three go through basic training together, struggling together against sexism and racism, and are sent to North Africa. This gripping tale of three heroic young women promises a sequel to continue their adventures. |
|
 Invictus
by Ryan Graudin
Ages 15–up
Farway Gaius McCarthy is the son of a time traveler from 2354 and a gladiator living in ancient Rome. When he was seven, his mother Empra disappeared during a mission for the Corps of Central Time Travelers. Now 17, Far hopes to join the corps and find his mother, but fails the entry exams. Instead he accepts an offer to pilot the Invictus, a pirate ship that steals lost treasure. He is aboard the Titanic searching for a priceless book when a girl named Eliot gets to the treasure first. She trades the book for a berth on the Invictus, but Far soon discovers she has brought a destructive force known as the Fade with her. Snarky humor pervades this intricate science fiction. |
|
 Wolf by Wolf
by Ryan Graudin
Ages 15–up
It’s 1956 in an alternate reality where the Axis powers won the war, and the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule. Concentration camp experiments to alter Jewish features to Aryan ones, have given Yael, a Jewish born 17-year-old, the secret power to alter her appearance like a shape-shifter. The five wolves tattooed on her arm are a constant reminder of the loved ones she lost. Now a member of the resistance, Yael enters the Axis Tour, a motorcycle race with the opportunity to meet the elusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor’s ball in Tokyo, by by impersonating last year’s only female racer, Adele Wolfe. |
|
 Defy the Stars
by Claudia Gray
Ages 15–up
In this future world resources are scarce and humans have settled on multiple planets. Genesis, a colony world, is fighting a war of independence with Earth. Noemi Vidal (17) is a Genesis fighter pilot on a training run when her squadron is attacked by an Earth army of mechs, humanoid robots. Noemi is separated from her squadron and takes refuge on an abandoned research vessel occupied by Abel, the first mech ever created. After years of lonely abandonment, Abel has begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. Noemi views all mechs as abominations and works to destroy him, until she begins to wonder if he has transcended his programming and become something new. As they spend more time together, both Abel and Noemi begin to question their own beliefs about what is true and right. |
|
 Half Bad
by Sally Green
Ages 12–up
In modern-day England witches live among normal folk. White Witches are good, Black witches are evil. Nathan (16) is the son of the worst of the Black witches and a White witch, who has died. Rejected by both the Black and White witches, Nathan is imprisoned and trained to kill his own father. Just before his 17th birthday Nathan escapes, and has only months to find someone willing to help him utilize his own magical gifts. This dark fantasy is the first of a trilogy. |
|
 Half Wild
by Sally Green
Ages 12–up
Nathan (17) is an outcast in a modern day Britain where the White and Black Witches war for control. The son of a White Witch, Nathan struggles to control his new-found magical Gifts and the prophecy that foretells that he will kill his father Marcus, the most powerful Black Witch in Europe. With a few trusted allies, Nathan sets out to rescue Annalise, who is trapped in a death-like coma. Readers will want to read Half Bad, the dark fantasy series opener, before this exciting sequel. |
|
 Half Lost
by Sally Green
Ages 14–up
Nathan Brynn, a 17-year-old witch, is obsessed with tracking down his former lover Annalise, who was responsible for his father’s death. As part of the Alliance, Nathan is working to end the tyrannical rule of the Council of White Witches in England, but despite his recent killing spree, the Alliance is still losing. The amulet protected by the powerful witch Ledger may tip the scales, but it is not easy to capture. This final installment in the Half Bad trilogy brings the series to a powerful conclusion. (follow-up to Half Bad and Half Wild) |
|
 The Glass Sentence
by S.E. Grove
Ages 10–up
In the Great Disruption of 1799 time itself broke apart and reassembled stranding countries and continents in different time periods, some thousands of years apart. A century later, Sophia (13) lives with her Uncle Shadrack in New Occident Boston, where Shadrack specializes in the science and magic of maps. One day Sophia returns home to find their secret map room emptied of all their treasured maps, and Uncle Shadrack kidnapped by religious zealots searching for a legendary map that records the memories of the whole world from the distant past to the present. With the help of her friend Theo and bunch of pirates, Sophia sails to Nochtland, a kingdom in the former Mexico, searching for traces of her uncle. This exciting adventure story is the first in the Mapmakers series. |
|
 A Creature of Moonlight
by Rebecca Hahn
Ages 12–up
Marnie lives in a hut at the edge of the wood with her Gramps, tending flowers. As she grows older, the woods begin to expand into the neighboring villages, but keep their distance from their hut. The dangerous woods are ruled by a powerful dragon who lured Marnie’s princess mother away from the castle. After giving birth to half-human half-dragon Marnie, her mother died and Marnie and her grandfather were banished from the castle. When her grandfather dies, Marnie is sent to live with her uncle the king, but cannot escape the lure of the woods. |
|
 Unearthly
by Cynthia Hand
Ages 12–up
Clara (16) is a Quartarius, a quarter-angel.
Her half-angel single mother helps Clara interpret the visions
that will reveal her purpose, the reason that each angel exists
on Earth. Clara’s visions lead them from California to Jackson
Hole, Wyoming, where she meets the boy in her visions at the
local high school. Clara negotiates the normal perils of high
school cliques while also learning to use her wings. (first
in a projected trilogy) |
|
 Radiant
Days
by Elizabeth Hand
Ages 14–up
In 1978 painter and graffiti
artist Merle Tappitt is in her first year of art school
at the Corcoran School of Art, struggling to make the
adjustment between her impoverished Appalachian past
and the sophisticated and dissipated art scene in Washington
DC. In 1870 16-year-old Arthur Rimbaud, on the verge
of writing the poetry that will make him famous, sets
out for Paris. Both end up spending the night in a
lockhouse and wake up together in 1978. The two gay
misfits form a mystical bond, slipping back and forth
in time and influencing each other to produce great
art. |
|
 Cuckoo Song
by Frances Hardinge
Ages 12–up
Triss (11) lives in England just after WWI with her protective parents and younger sister Pen. After falling into the pond, Triss barely escapes with her life and wakes up to find her world changed. Dolls and store mannequins turn their heads to follow her movement, her dreams are strange and overwhelming, and she is constantly hungry yet unsatisfied by the food she loved in the past. Her parents whisper behind closed doors, her sister seems frightened of her, and Triss fears she is no longer human. |
|
 Fly
Trap
by Frances Hardinge
Ages 10–up
Mosca Mye, her con man friend
Eponymous Clent, and her fierce goose Saracen have
barely escaped from the revolution, which they helped
start, in the city of Mandelion. But the new town they
find themselves in isn’t much safer. Toll is a wealthy
town, but transforms into a dangerous place after dark,
known as Toll-by-Night. Mosca and her companions are
soon involved in a plot to kidnap the Mayor’s beloved
daughter while trying to escape the clutches of Goshawk,
who wants vengeance for their deeds in Mandelion. This
humorous and inventive fantasy novel is the sequel
to Fly
by Night. |
|
 The
Lost Conspiracy
by Frances Hardinge
Ages 10–up
On the enchanted island of
Gullstrick, Arilou is proclaimed to be a mystic, the
next Lady Lost of the Lace people. Her younger sister
Hathin acts as her translator and guardian. But neither
sister is exactly what she seems, and when a Lost Inspector
arrives to authenticate Arilou’s claim, the sisters
and the Lace people are in danger. This complex tale
is an entrancing story. |
|
 Well
Witched
by Frances Hardinge
Ages 8–12
Stranded in a forbidden place, three
friends steal coins from a wishing well for bus fare. To their
horror, they find themselves possessed by powers they cannot
control: Chelle voices the thoughts of others, Josh conducts
electrical currents, Ryan grows warts with eyes. Told from
Ryan’s point of view, this chilling supernatural thriller is
distinguished by the vivid imagery of its language. |
|
 13
Treasures
by Michelle Harrison
Ages 8–12
Tanya (13) is tormented by
evil fairies that no one else can see. Tanya’s mother
blames Tanya for the fairies’ pranks, and sends Tanya
off to visit her unloving grandmother at the isolated
Elvesden Manor on the edge of a mysterious wilderness.
In partnership with Fabian, the son of the groundskeeper,
and Red, a girl wanted by the police for kidnapping
a changeling, Tanya becomes involved in the decades
old mystery of the disappearance of children from the
nearby town. This appealing modern-day fairy tale will
keep readers enthralled. |
|
 Steeplejack
by A.J. Hartley
Ages 13–up
Ang Stonga (16) works as a steeplejack, cleaning and maintaining the towers and spires of Bar-Selehm, an alternative 19th-century South African city. On the same day her young apprentice is murdered, the city’s Beacon, an incredibly valuable piece of luxorite that shines a bright light from the highest tower, is stolen. A secret government agency hires Ang to find the killer, sure that the murder is connected to the theft. Ang’s investigation reveals a far-reaching conspiracy that could destroy the city. This intense thriller is the first in the Alternative Detective series. |
|
 Seraphina
by Rachel Hartman
Ages 12–up
Seraphina Dombegh (16) lives in an
alternate medieval world where mathematically talented dragons
live among humans in human form. The dragons could easily crush
humans, but luckily find it fascinating to study them instead.
A gifted musician, Seraphina joins the royal court just as
a member of the royal family is murdered in a very draconian
fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, helping
Prince Lucian Kiggs, while trying to keep her own dangerous
secret hidden. Seraphina is half-dragon, the source of her
musical talent as well as misshapen personalities that inhabit
her mind. This fantasy debut is enthralling. |
|
 Shadow Scale
by Rachel Hartman
Ages 12–up
In Goredd, the uneasy peace between humans and dragons breaks out into war. Seraphina, part girl and part dragon, begins to search for others like herself who have been hiding their dual nature as ituasaari, hoping they can pool their talents to end the war. Seraphina and her fellow ituasaari are pursued by both humans and dragons, but their most powerful foe is an ituasaari who would like them to work toward her own purpose. (sequel to Seraphina) |
|
 The
Ghost’s Child
by Sonya Hartnett
Ages 12–up
One day 75-year-old Maddy comes
home to find a peculiar young boy waiting for her.
The boy is eager for stories so she tells him of her
past, her imaginary best friend, and her lost love—a
feral man of the sea. Beautiful prose supports this
tale of magical realism. |
|
 The Castle Behind Thorns
by Merrie Haskell
Ages 8–12
Sand (13) is an apprentice blacksmith who wakes up trapped in a castle with no idea how he got there. Sundered Castle, now surrounded by a thicket of impenetrable thorns, was believed destroyed by an earthquake 20 years earlier. Sand begins to repair pieces of the castle, and the ruined building begins to come back to life. Then Perrotte, the long lost heir to the throne, appears, and the two work together to restore the castle and hopefully free themselves. |
|
 Slide
by Jill Hathaway
Ages 14–up
High school junior Vee Bell, her younger
sister Mattie, and her father have not recovered from her mother’s
death five years earlier. Vee’s life is further complicated
by the fact that whenever she holds an object another person
has touched, she unwillingly slides into that person’s mind,
leaving her own body vulnerable. When Vee finds herself next
to the dead body of a cheerleader, she realizes that she is
in the mind of a killer. When a second cheerleader dies, Vee
decides to stop fighting against her secret power, and use
her gift to find the killer before her own sister becomes the
next victim. |
|
 The
Obsidian Blade
by Pete Hautman
Ages 12–up
Tucker Feye (13) lives a completely
normal life in a small town in Minnesota until his
father, a preacher, disappears through a mysterious
disk above their roof. When his father reappears an
hour later he has lost his faith and gained a strange
young woman named Lahlia who claims to be from Bulgaria.
When both of Tucker’s parents vanish a year later,
he sets out to find them with Lahlia and his uncle
Kosh. They discover that the diskos allow travel through
time and space and visit some very unpleasant moments
in human history. This fascinating science fiction
novel is the first in a planned trilogy. |
|
 School Spirits
by Rachel Hawkins
Ages 12–up
Izzy Brannick (15) comes from a family who has hunted monsters for centuries. When Izzy’s older sister vanishes while on a hunt, Izzy’s mother decides they need to take a break and moves with Izzy to a small Mississippi town to investigate a simple haunting. Unfortunately the ghost is more powerful than expected, and home-schooled Izzy finds it difficult to take on the persona of a normal high school student. Snappy dialog and clever plotting enliven this stand-alone spin-off from the Hex Hall series. |
|
 Magonia
by Maria Dahvana Headley
Ages 13–up
Since birth Aza suffered from a terminal lung disease that made it difficult for her to breathe. When she tells her parents she hears someone calling her name from a spaceship, her parents think the hallucination is a side effect of her medication. Only her friend Jason believes her. Then Aza finds herself aboard a Magonian airship able to breathe normally for the first time in her life. The captain declares she is Aza’s true mother and demands her help in the upcoming war between Magonia and Earth. |
|
 The
Shattering
by Karen Healey
Ages 12–up
Keri (17) always likes to be
prepared for the unexpected. She knows how to give
first aid and what to do in case of an earthquake.
But her brother’s unexplained suicide takes her by
surprise, especially when her friend Janna tells her
there might be a reason for Jake’s death. Keri learns
that her small town of Summerton, New Zealand, may
have a magical history that compels a teenaged boy
to kill himself. Unsure who to trust, Keri and her
friends take on the dangerous task of uncovering the
truth. |
|
 Beastkeeper
by Cat Hellisen
Ages 12–up
Sarah (13) has never lived anywhere very long. Her mother hates the cold, so every winter her parents pack their bags and move the family somewhere warm. Sarah is lonely, and it only gets worse after her mother leaves following a late-night argument. Sarah’s grief-stricken father undergoes a strange transformation, and sends Sarah to live with her grandmother, who lives in a ruined castle deep in the woods. Even stranger is meeting a talking white raven and learning that her grandfather has been changed into a terrifying beast. Sarah discovers that her family is cursed, and that she herself will become a beast the first time she falls in love. This dark re-telling of Beauty and the Beast is complex and magical. |
|
 The
Black Book of Secrets
by F.E. Higgins
Ages 10–14
Young Ludlow Fitch, fleeing a
terrible past, arrives in a peaceful village. Ludlow
becomes the assistant to the mysterious pawnbroker who
trades cash for people’s deepest, darkest secrets. It’s
Ludlow’s job to record the secrets in the leather bound Black
Book of Secrets. The vaguely Dickensian late 1800s
atmosphere is the perfect backdrop for this historical
fantasy. |
|
 The
Bone Magician
by F.E. Higgins
Ages 10–14
Young Pin Carpue is left to survive
on his own in the crime-ridden city of Urbs Umida when
his father, a suspected murderer, disappears. Pin gets
a job as a corpse watcher, standing guard in the morgue
for three days to ensure that the deceased really are
dead and not just sleeping. There he meets the Bone Magician
who claims to be able to reanimate the dead to answer
last questions from the living. This dark and funny fantasy
is a companion volume to The
Black Book of Secrets. |
|
 The
Eyeball Collector
by F.E. Higgins
Ages 10–14
Young Hector finds himself alone,
homeless, and penniless when his father dies after being
blackmailed and disgraced. Hector sets out to find revenge
against the man he thinks is responsible for the blackmail—Gulliver
Truepin, a one-eyed con artist who steals jewels to make
a different jeweled eyeball for each day of the week.
The two end up at Withypitts Hall, home of the cruel
Lady Mandible and all plots come together on the night
of an extravagant feast. (Companion volume to The
Black Book of Secrets and The
Bone Magician) |
|
 Department
19
by Will Hill
Ages 14–up
Jamie Carpenter’s father died
a traitor when Jamie was 14. Now 16, Jamie is rescued
by Frankenstein from vampires and taken to Department
19, the top-secret government organization founded
by Dracula’s killers, dedicated to protecting mankind
from the supernatural. When Jamie’s mother is kidnapped
by vampires, Jamie sets off with Frankenstein and an
untrustworthy vampire girl to rescue her. This non-stop
adventure is part mystery, part classic horror story,
and all thriller. |
|
 Soonchild
by Russell Hoban, Alexis Deacon
Ages 14–up
Sixteen-Face John is a former shaman
in an Arctic world where humans, animals, and underworld
spirits share magical powers. His wife is expecting their
first child—a “soonchild”— but Soonchild
refuses to be born. So John sets out to find the World Songs
that will coax the child to leave the womb. Hoban’s distinctive
mix of humor and horror permeates this last book completed
before his death in 2011. |
|
 Green
Witch
by Alice Hoffman
Ages 12–up
A year after losing her family
in the destruction of the city, Green (16) finds that
tending her garden and collecting the stories of other
survivors helps the healing process. But she can’t
stop thinking of her beloved Diamond, a mute boy who
stole her heart, and her former schoolmate Heather.
Green consults a series of women believed to be witches
whose advice leads her to the island of prisoners where
she finds old acquaintances and strangers who share
her grief and suffering. Together they to try to change
the future. This poetic and haunting novel is the sequel
to Green
Angel. |
|
 The
Chaos
by Nalo Hopkinson
Ages 14–up
Sojourner “Scotch” Smith
(16) is finding it hard to fit in with her Canadian
peers. Her mixed Jamaican, black, and white heritage
makes it hard to know who she really is. Plus weird
black dots are growing on her skin and she keeps seeing
floating horse heads. The whole planet seems to have
gone crazy and Scotch must find her friends and family
and come to terms with her own changing reality. |
|
 Rootless
by Chris Howard
Ages 14–up
Banyan (17) is an artist who builds trees from scrap metal for rich patrons longing for a glimpse of the past in their desolate locust infested landscape when he is not searching for his missing father. Banyon has never seen a real tree, and when he discovers a map to the rumored last trees on Earth he sets out on a perilous search for the mythical land. This post-apocalyptic adventure is the first in a planned series. |
|
 Thirteen Days of Midnight
by Leo Hunt
Ages 14–up
Luke Manchett (16) discovers that his estranged father was a necromancer when he dies and leaves Luke millions of pounds and a Host of eight restless ghosts. The Host supposedly is required to follow Luke’s orders, but the malevolent spirits hope to become free by arranging the deaths of Luke and his disabled mother. Halloween is approaching, the time when the Host is strongest. With the help of Elza Moss, an outsider with second sight, Luke tries to find a way to release the Host while protecting himself and his mother. This gripping novel is both terrifying and funny. |
|
 ghostgirl
by Tonya Hurley
Ages 12–up
Charlotte Usher is determined to join
the ranks of the popular when she enters Hawthorn High, but
she chokes to death on a gummi bear the first day of school
and is sent to Deadiquette School instead. This witty satire
of a teen who refuses to stay dead will appeal to teens and
adults alike. |
|
 The Abominables
by Eva Ibbotson, Fiona Robinson
Ages 8–12
For a hundred years Lady Amanda has befriended a family of yeti in a secret Himalyian valley, which has become overrun with tourists. With the help of siblings Con aqnd Ellen Bellamy, Lady Amanda sets off on a cross-continental trip to move the excitable yeti family to her London estate. After Ibbotson’s death in 2010, this captivating read-aloud was completed by her son and longtime editor. |
|
 The
Ogre of Oglefort
by Eva Ibbotson
Ages 8–12
When Princess Mirella is captured
by the dread Ogre of Oglefort, the young orphan boy
Ivo sets out to rescue her with the help of a hag,
a wizard, and a troll. But when they arrive at Oglefort
castle, they realize that it’s not the princess that
needs rescuing, but the poor ogre. To avoid being forced
to marry a nitwit of a prince, Mirella has been badgering
the ogre to turn her into a bird for so long that he
has sunk into a sickly depression. This hilarious book
has a great time poking fun at fairy tale stereotypes. |
|
 Genius
Squad
by Catherine Jinks
Ages 12–up
Cadel Piggot and his disabled
friend Sonja Pirovic join the Genius Squad, hoping that
the superhuman Brainiacs and their technology will be
powerful enough to protect them from Prosper English.
[sequel to Evil
Genius] |
|
 Rise
of the Wolf
by Curtis Jobling
Ages 10–up
Drew lives in a world ruled
by Werelords, men and women who can shift at will into
the form of creatures like bears and serpents. When
Drew’s mother is attacked by a monster, Drew’s true
nature as a werewolf is unleashed. As the last of the
royal werewolves, Drew is hunted by the current ruler
of the Seven Realms, Leopold the werelion. With the
help of a wereboar and werefox, Drew tries to escape
death and accidentally sparks a revolution against
the corrupt leaders. This exciting and action-filled
book is the first in the Wereworld series. |
|
 The Summer Prince
by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Ages 14–up
June Costa (18) lives in Palmares Tres, a vertically structured city in the former Brazil. The rich live at closer to the top, and the poor live on the lower levels. June and her friend Gil live on Tier Eight. Enki is a bottom level resident who will live for a year as the Summer Prince before his ritual sacrifice. Their friendship influences June’s political art, and causes the trio to challenge their world’s injustice. |
|
 The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim
by E.K. Johnston
Ages 11–up
Owen Thorskard (16) lives in a world where dragons, attracted to the carbon emissions of cars and campfires, are a persistent threat. Owen and his dragon-slaying family move to Siobhan McQuaid’s small Ontario town, and she agrees to become the bard for the young dragon-slayer-in-training. This clever alternative Earth imagines a very similar world, which the exception of the dragons who have influenced art, music, and history. |
|
 Earwig
and the Witch
by Diana Wynne Jones, Paul O.
Zelinsky
Ages 8–12
The orphaned Earwig has
been at the St. Morwald’s Home for Children since
she was a baby. Everyone does whatever Earwig says,
and she is happy there with her best friend Custard.
When adoptive parents arrive, Earwig make sure
that none pick her. But then Bella Yaga, a strange
woman with one blue eye and one brown, adopts Earwig
and sets her to the daily task of grinding up disgusting
things to use in spells. But the determined Earwig
is more than a match for the evil witch and her
grouchy assistant Mandrake. |
|
 House
of Many Ways
by Diana Wynne Jones
Ages 12–up
When bookish, self-centered Charmain
leaves home to care for her great-uncle’s magical house,
she surprises herself by discovering her own hidden talents.
The flamboyant Wizard Howl (from Howl’s
Moving Castle) appears mid-way through the book,
yet Charmain manages to hold her own. |
|
 The Islands of Chaldea
by Diana Wynne Jones, Ursula Jones
Ages 8–12
Aileen just turned 12, but the ceremony at the Palace doesn’t reveal the magical talent needed to secure her place in her family’s long line of Wise Women. Her Aunt Beck assures her the magic will reveal itself eventually, and takes her on a quest to break the Logra barrier that is draining the magic from three of the islands of Chaldea. On the journey Aunt Beck’s sharp tongue gets her into trouble, and Aileen is forced to take charge. This enchanting novel was finished by Diana Wynne Jones’s sister after her death in 2011. |
|
 The
Man in the Moon
by William Joyce
Ages 4–8
MiM (Man in the Moon) grows
up in a derelict ship orbiting the Earth. When he becomes
aware of the hopes and dreams of the children on the
planet below him. MiM gathers a team of fellow guardians
to protect and console them. This steampunk fairyland
fantasy is the first in the Guardians of Childhood
series. |
|
 Illuminae
by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Ages 14–up
It’s 2575 on the tiny planet Kerenza, and Kady Grant has the typical teenage problems; school, parents, and the fact she has just broken up with her boyfriend Ezra Mason. Then her planet is attacked, a victim of the war between two rival mega-corporations. Kady and Ezra end up on two different ships in the fleet fleeing the destruction. A plague breaks out, and it’s possible that the fleet’s AI is working for the enemy. This visually powerful novel, first in a trilogy, is narrated through instant messages, email, interview transcripts, memos, security footage, and a host of other documents. |
|
 The
Clockwork Three
by Matthew J. Kirby
Ages 8–14
Giuseppe, an orphaned street
musician, dreams of freedom from his oppressive master
and returning home to Italy. Hannah, who works as a maid
to help support her family, longs for a cure for her
dying father. Frederick, apprenticed to a clockmaker,
wants to discover the identity of his mother. Each of
the three children begin their searches independently,
but discover they have more power when they team up to
work together. This urban steampunk fantasy is a captivating
and exciting adventure story. |
|
 Stuck
on Earth
by David Klass
Ages 11–14
Ketchvarr III, an alien snail,
is sent to Earth to inhabit the body of an average
teenager and decide if the human race should be annihilated.
Ketchvarr chooses Tom Filber, an average 14-year old,
and at first believes that humans should be wiped out
before they destroy themselves and the environment.
But Ketchvarr begins to sympathize with Tom, who is
ostracized by his peers, and wonders if humans might
be worth saving after all. This wry and funny look
at teen life and human flaws is surprisingly thoughtful
and affecting. |
|
 Grave
Mercy
by Robin LaFevers
Ages 14–up
Ismae, a badly scarred 17-year
old peasant girl, is taken in by the convent of St.
Mortain when she runs away from her abusive husband
in 15th-century Brittany. The convent’s patron saint
is the pre-Christian god of death. Believed to be Death’s
daughter, Ismae is trained as an assassin, proficient
with both weapons and poison. She is sent to the court
of Anne of Brittany to watch Duval, the duchess’s allegiant
older brother. Despite the fact that she may one day
be called to end his life, Ismae finds herself falling
in love with Duval. This complex and powerful novel
is the first in the His Fair Assassin series. |
|
 Mortal Heart
by Robin LaFevers
Ages 14–up
Annith (17) has been waiting for her turn to leave the convent of St. Mortain in 15th-century Brittany to serve as a Handmaiden of Death. Instead, the Abbess appoints her Seeress, which will require a life of celibacy and isolation within the convent walls. With the help of the Helloquins (damned souls seeking redemption) and the Arduinnites (protectors of women and innocents), Annith escapes to the Breton court, where Duchess Anne and her followers are preparing to fight off the invading French. This powerful novel is the conclusion of the His Fair Assassin trilogy, following Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph. |
|
 Beautiful Blue World
by Suzanne LaFleur
Ages 8–12
Fictional Sofarende is at war. For Mathilde (12) the war means not enough food and bombings. The army is recruiting children and paying their families well, and Mathilde’s best friend Meg is determined to take the entry test and join in order to save her family. Mathilde reluctantly takes the test to support Meg, and is horrified when she is accepted while Meg is not. Frightened by the what might be expected of her, Mathilde is relieved to discover that the Adolescent Army is comfortably housed in a huge mansion where they are trained to decode messages and predict bomb strikes. This suspenseful novel is the first in a series. |
|
 The
Brides of Rollrock Island
by Margo Lanagan
Ages 14–up
Misskaella, a lonely and bitter
young woman living on a wind-swept island, discovers
that she has the power to pull humans from seals. After
first making herself a lover, Misskaella takes her
revenge on the men of Rollrock Island, who never valued
her, by selling them beautiful seal women wives, who
never lose their longing to return to their true shapes. |
|
 Razorhurst
by Justine Larbalestier
Ages 14–up
The Razorhurst neighborhood in 1932 mob-run Sydney is bloody and dangerous. Guns are outlawed, so men kill with blades. Gloriana Nelson and Mr. Davidson, two ruthless mob bosses, have reached a fragile peace—one maintained by the “razor men.” Kelpie, a homeless orphan, has the ability to see Razorhurst’s numerous ghosts. Dymphna, the top-earning teenaged prostitute working for Gloriana Nelson, is known as the “Angel of Death” because of the string of dead lovers she leaves behind. Kelpie and Dymphna meet over a dead body, and both fear they may not live to see another day. |
|
 Team
Human
by Justine Larbalestier, Sarah
Rees Brennan
Ages 13–up
Mel Duan knows that vampires
live in her home town of New Whitby, Maine, but since
they keep to themselves she isn’t concerned until
the day Francis, a 150-year old vampire, enrolls
in her high school. When her best friend Cathy falls
for Francis and considers becoming a vampire herself,
Mel knows it’s up to her to save Cathy from a mistake
she will regret for all eternity. This funny novel
explores themes of friendship, love, and freedom
of choice. |
|
 Monument
14
by Emmy Laybourne
Ages 13–up
A sudden hailstorm in the not-too-distant
future forces 14 Colorado students on their way to
school to take shelter in a superstore. Cut off from
the Network of information, the students (ranging in
age from elementary school through high school) must
cope with the usual range of personality conflicts
and a biochemical weapon that causes behavioral shifts. |
|
 Foxheart
by Claire Legrand, Jaime Zollars
Ages 8–12
Quicksilver (12) is an orphan who lives as a thief in Willow-on-the-River. With her faithful dog Fox, she meets Sly Boots, a shy boy who lets them sleep in his attic when its too cold on the rooftops. One day Quicksliver discovers that she can do magic, which is forbidden. Anatazia, a mysterious old woman who may be a witch, transports them into the past where they take on the task of protecting the witches. |
|
 Daughter of the Pirate King
by Tricia Levenseller
Ages 13–up
Alosa (17) is sent on a secret mission to retrieve an ancient map to a legendary treasure by her father, an infamous pirate king. Alosa allows herself to be captured by a rival pirate gang, sure that her years of training and experience pirating will allow her to steal the map without being caught. But Riven, the very attractive first mate, is unexpectedly clever and may just be her match. This funny action adventure includes a bit of magic. |
|
 Ever
by Gail Carson Levine
Ages 10–up
In this mythological tale, Kezi is
the only daughter of a wealthy and devout family in an ancient
vaguely Middle Eastern city. When her mother falls deathly
ill, her father promises to sacrifice the first person who
congratulates him if the god Admat will let her live. Another
god tries to help Keri, who is the first to congratulate her
father. |
|
 Steampunk!:
An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories
by Kelly Link, Gavin J. Grant
Ages 14–up
This anthology contains original
steampunk stories from 14 different writers and artists:
M. T. Anderson, Holly Black, Libba Bray, Shawn Cheng,
Cassandra Clare, Cory Doctorow, Dylan Horrocks, Kathleen
Jennings, Elizabeth Knox, Kelly Link, Garth Nix, Christopher
Rowe, Delia Sherman, Ysabeau S. Wilce. |
|
 Huntress
by Malinda Lo
Ages 15–up
Nature is out of balance, the sun been
seen for years, and crops are failing. Two 17-year-old girls — Tasin,
a sage who has visions, and Kaede, a brave warrior — are
chosen to make a long and dangerous journey to the Fairy Queen
to save their people. Along the way the two girls face many
dangers and tests of their ability, coming to rely on each
other as they begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs
only one Huntress to save it, which threatens to tear them
apart. |
|
 The
Giver
by Lois Lowry
Newbery Medal 1994
Ages 12–up
Jonas lives in an ideal world with no
pain, poverty, unemployment, or unhappiness. The Elders arrange
marriages, assign careers, control sexual and aggressive impulses
with drugs, and manage the “release” of the old and
the weak. At age 12, Jonas is chosen to be the Receiver of Memories
and is trained by an old man known as the Giver to finally understand
that their utopian world is maintained by the loss of free will
and humanity. This thought-provoking is both powerful and disturbing. |
|
 Legend
by Marie Lu
Ages 13–up
Its 2130 and the former United States
is now the Republic, a nation permanently at war with its neighbors.
June (15) is from the elite class and on track for a brilliant
military career. When her brother Metias is murdered, June
is added to the team tracking his accused killer Day, a 15-year-old
criminal from the plague-ridden slums of Los Angeles. Accustomed
to using her intellect to make decisions, June’s grief makes
her distracted and vulnerable. This stunning dystopian novel
is the first in a projected series. |
|
 Prodigy
by Marie Lu
Ages 12–up
It’s been only a week since June and Day escaped from Los Angeles and the Republic. Day is believed to be dead, and June is the Republic’s most sought after traitor. Desperate, they turn to the Patriots, a vigilante group working to bring down the Republic, but they fear they may have just made themselves into pawns in a power struggle they barely understand. This dystopian thriller is the second in the Legend trilogy, following Legend. |
|
 Champion
by Marie Lu
Ages 12–up
Now that the political transition has been established, June and Day finally have time to concentrate on their romance. June is working as Princeps Elect for the government, and Day Day has been assigned a high level military position. Just as the peace treaty is about to be signed, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies and war threatens the Republic’s borders. June has the solution, but it will mean asking Day to give up everything. This finale to the dystopian Legend trilogy follows Legend and Prodigy. |
|
 The Young Elites
by Marie Lu
Ages 12–up
Adelina Amouteru, the privileged daughter of a merchant, catches blood fever, an epidemic that kills adults and leaves the few child survivors permanently scarred. Known as malfettos, the survivors often possess magical gifts. Adelina survives, but is missing an eye, and is ostracized by her family and society. She unwittingly joins the Elites, a group of malfettos working to use their supernatural abilities to escape the Inquisition’s genocide and place their leader, Enzo, on the throne of Kenettras. Struggling to harness her new power of illusion, Adelina isn’t sure if she trusts Enzo or the other Elites. This exciting fantasy is the first in a new series. |
|
 Warcross
by Marie Lu
Ages 12–up
Emika Chen (18), a former hacker, struggles to support herself in New York City by tracking down criminals using the virtual world of Warcross to make illegal profits. Warcross began ten years ago, an immersive game accessed by a brain-computer interface. Popular with gaming fans, Warcross is now infiltrated by those who bet on the game illegally. Faced with eviction, Emika hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships, unintentionally exposing her identity to millions of viewers, including Hideo Tanaka, the game’s 21-year-old billionaire inventor. Hideo invites her to Henka Games headquarters in Tokyo, recruiting her to track down a hacker called Zero. Emika is entered into the Championships as a wild card player, and she soon uncovers a sinister plot. |
| |
|
 Throne
of Glass
by Sarah J. Maas
Ages 12–up
Celaena Sardothien (18), considered
the best assassin in Ardarlan, has been condemned to the
salt mines. After serving a year of her sentence, Celaena
is summoned by Crown Prince Dorian, who offers her freedom
in exchange for serving as his champion in the competition
to become the enforcer for the king. The stakes are freedom
or death — if Celaena doesn’t succeed she will be returned
to the slow death of serving her sentence in the salt mines. |
|
 The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones
by Will Mabbitt, Ross Collins
Ages 8–12
After an unfortunate nose-picking event, Mabel Jones finds herself thrust through a porthole into another world where she is forced to serve aboard the pirate ship The Feroshus Maggot. Captain Idryss Ebenezer Split, a smelly wolf, refuses to release Mabel until she helps the pirates collect all the pieces of a shattered key, hopefully before a comet seals the porthole between worlds for another 100 years. |
|
 The
Future of Us
by Carolyn Mackler, Jay Asher
Ages 12–up
It’s 1996 and Emma and her
neighbor Josh have been friends forever. But now that
they are high school juniors things have gotten a bit
awkward between them. Then Emma gets a new computer
and Josh brings over an AOL CD so Emma can get online.
They are automatically logged into their Facebook pages,
even though Facebook hasn’t been invented yet, and
realize they are looking at their lives 15 years in
the future. They discover that their actions in the
present changes their future lives, forcing them to
grapple with the consequences of their current decisions.
This fascinating look at possibilities is told in alternating
chapters from the point of view of both Emma and Josh. |
|
 September Girls
by Bennett Madison
Ages 14–up
Sam (17) travels with his father and older brother to a small beach town. Sam is prepared to be totally bored, but the town is full of beautiful blond girls who only wear flat shoes because heels make their feet bleed, never go swimming, and all seem strangely attracted to him. Sam feels an instant connection to one of the girls named DeeDee, but she pulls away just as they are getting to know each other. Sam knows that to win her back he will have to uncover the secret of the September Girls. |
|
 The Story of the Blue Planet
by Andri Snaer Magnason, Áslaug Jónsdóttir
Ages 8–12
Brimir and Hulda are best friends who live on a small island on a beautiful blue planet inhabited only by children. The planet is wild and sometimes dangerous, but everything is free and everyone is friends with everyone else. Then an adult named Gleesome Goodday crashes his rocket ship on the beach and begins to exchange wonders like flying lessons for small amounts of the children’s youth. Eager for more fun, the children are eager to trade until they discover that every additional bit of fun and happiness they receive means someone else suffers hunger and cold. This parable, first published in Iceland in 1999, asks us to consider the question of exchanging personal happiness for the suffering of others. |
|
 Finnikin
of the Rock
by Melina Marchetta
Ages 14–up
Years ago, the royal family
of Lumatere was brutally murdered, and an imposter
seized the throne. a curse locks the inhabitants of
Lumatere inside the walls, while those outside live
as exile. Finnikin, who was only a child at the time
of the murders, has spent the last decade gathering
stories from the exiles. Evanjalin, a strange young
woman, claims to know the location of the missing heir
who can lift the curse and bring the exiles home. This
dark and believable fantasy is full of complex characters,
adventure, romance, and intrigue. |
|
 Froi
of the Exiles: The Lumatere Chronicles
by Melina Marchetta
Ages 14–up
Froi, a former street thief,
has begun a new life in Lumatere under the care of
the Guard to the Lumatere royal family. Sent to neighboring
Charyn in disguise to assassinate the King of Charyn,
Froi is attracted to Princess Quintana, who has suffered
horribly in an attempt to break Charyn’s curse. Froi
is torn between his loyalty to Lumatere and what he
learns about the politics of Charyn and his own past.
The brutal worst of humanity is contrasted with the
struggle of damaged characters to rebuild their lives.
(sequel to Finnikin
of the Rock) |
|
 Quintana of Charyn
by Melina Marchetta
Ages 14–up
Froi and his companions search for Quintana, the rightful ruler of Charyn, building an army to help her fight against Isaboe of Lumatere. In this satisfying conclusion to the Lumatere Chronicles, the new generation of leaders of the kingdoms of Lumatere and Charyn struggle to put the atrocities of the past behind them and build a new alliance. Follow up to Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles. |
|
 Ink
Exchange
by Melissa Marr
Ages 12–up
This suspenseful fantasy takes
place in a fully realized world that conveys the details
and the politics of faery life. Seventeen-year-old Leslie
is attracted to an eerie tattoo of eyes and wings that
binds her to Irial, the dark king of the faery world.
(Leslie made a cameo appearance in Wicked
Lovely.) |
|
 The
Night Tourist
by Katherine Marsh
Ages 10–up
Jack Perdu is a 9th grade classics
prodigy. One evening Jack goes to New York City, a place
he has not visited since his mother died there eight
years ago. In Grand Central Station he meets Euri, a
mysterious girl who offers to show him the train station’s
secret places. Eight flights below, Jack realizes he
is in New York’s ghostly underworld and hopes to meet
his mother. The ghosts are suspicious of Jack, who becomes
increasingly uncertain if he himself is dead or alive.
This intricate adventure is a magical combination of
modern characters, New York history, and classical mythology. |
|
 The
Twilight Prisoner
by Katherine Marsh
Ages 10–up
Jack Perdu takes his friend
Carla to visit the New York City underworld, but once
inside they realize that their escape route has been
blocked. A beguiling mix of mystery, humor, historical
ghosts, and Greek myths, this book continues the story
begun in The
Night Tourist. |
|
 Rot & Ruin
by Jonathan Maberry
Ages 12–up
In Mountainside, a community surrounded
by zombies, everyone 15 or older must find work or receive
only half rations. Since Benny Imura can’t find any other job,
he reluctantly apprentices himself to his older brother Tom
as a zombie killer. During their journey into the hostile wilderness,
Benny realizes that many of the things he believed before,
including the true nature of zombies, simply aren’t true. This
intense coming-of-age novel is touching and thought-provoking. |
|
 Shadowfell
by Juliet Marillier
Ages 12–up
Neryn (16) is alone in the land of Alban, whose king has ordered that anyone with magical powers be captured. Neryn hides her ability to communicate with the Good Folk, fairy-like creatures, and sets out for the legendary Shadowfell where she hopes to find a secret rebel group working to overthrow the evil King Keldec. The Good Folk help her along the way and explain that she must pass a series of tests to realize her full potential. Flint, a mysterious young man, rescues Neryn from certain death, but she is unsure how far she can trust him. |
|
 Pi in the Sky
by Wendy Mass
Ages 8–12
As the seventh (and least-skilled) son of the Supreme Overlord of the Universe, Joss has the job of delivering pies for the Powers That Be.
These are special pies since they hold the fabric of the universe together. When the Earth suddenly disappears, Joss and an outspoken Earthling named Annika must recreate the entire solar system. This exciting extraterristrial adventure story is packed with science and humor. |
|
 School for Sidekicks
by Kelly McCullough
Ages 10–14
Evan Quick (13) has spent his whole life dreaming of becoming a hero. Every morning he checks to see if his superpowers have developed yet, but so far no flying ability, heat rays, or other magical powers have arrived. At a class trip to the Mask (superhero) museum, the Hoods (villains) attack, and Evan somehow survives a death ray. His all-time hero Captain Commanding arrives to save the day, but is defeated by supervillain Spartanicus. Evan manages to capture the villain, but Captain Commanding takes the credit and Evan is relegated to the School for Sidekicks. |
|
 Planesrunner
by Ian McDonald
Ages 12–up
Everett Singh (14) is still dealing
with the effects of his parents’ divorce when his father, a
quantum physicist, is kidnapped. Everett is emailed a computer
program called the Infundibulum that allows him to map out
alternate worlds. He realizes that the governments of the Ten
Known Worlds want the computer program for themselves, and
sets out to rescue his father. He ends up in an alternative
“electropunk” England where Sen, the pilot of
the dirigible Everness, tries to steal his computer
before the two eventually become allies. This action-packed
humorous adventure is the first in the Everness series. |
|
 Chalice
by Robin McKinley
Ages 12–up
Mirasol, a humble beekeeper, has been
chosen to take the role of Chalice, communicator with the sentient
land. While trying to heal the trouble caused by the former
Master, Mirasol is drawn to the new master in this lavish magical
fantasy. |
|
 The
Hero and the Crown
by Robin McKinley
Newbery Medal 1985
Ages 12–up
Aerin is the only child of the king of
Damar, but since she is the daughter of a witchwoman the Damarians
do not trust her. Outcast by her own people, Aerin slowly begins
to trust in her own developing strengths. With the guidance of
the wizard Luthe and the help of the blue sword she battles Maur,
the Black Dragon to win her birthright. |
|
 Pegasus
by Robin McKinley
Ages 12–up
In the 1000 years since the alliance
between humans and the pegasi, the two races have lived in
harmony, joining together to fight against their common enemies.
But communication is limited until 12-year old Princess Sylvi
and her pegasus Ebon form a telepathic bond. First in a two-part
series, this novel concentrates on the relationship between
Sylvi and Ebon as she comes to understand pegasi culture. |
|
 Blowback ’07: When the Only Way Forward Is Back
by Brian Meehl
Ages 12–up
Arky Jongler-Jinx is into sports. He is on the high school cross country team and his best friends Matt and Danny are on the football team. Arky’s twin sister Iris is a musician, preferring to play the antique English horn her mother secretly left her before vanishing. One day while Iris is playing the horn, she accidentally sends Matt back to 1907. Iris and Arky try to find a way to bring Matt back home, wondering if perhaps they can find their mother as well. Meanwhile, Matt has to adjust to his new century, playing on the high school team coached by Pop Warner. This time-traveling science fiction novel is the first in a planned series. |
|
 Suck
It Up
by Brian Meehl
Ages 12–up
Morning McCobb, recent graduate
of Vampire International, is charged with telling the
world about vampires. Morning is not the usual vampire—he’s
a vegan, subsisting on a soy-based product called Blood
Lite. This very funny book with an appealing misfit protagonist
is a welcome change from the usual brooding vampire romance. |
|
 The
Apothecary
by Maile Meloy, Ian Schoenherr
Ages 10–up
Jamie (14) is the daughter
of two television writers targeted by the House Committee
on Un-American Activities in 1952. Unable to get work,
the family moves to London, where Jamie meets Benjamin
Burrows, a classmate whose father is the neighborhood
apothecary. Benjamin dreams of being a spy and has
no trouble defying authority. When Benjamin’s father
is kidnapped, the two teens work together to uncover
the secrets of the apothecary’s sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia,
in order to find him and thwart the Russian spies with
nuclear weapons. |
|
 The Apprentices
by Maile Meloy, Ian Schoenherr
Ages 10–up
It’s 1954 and Janie Scott is attending a boarding school in New Hampshire, Two years have passed since she last saw the mysterious apothecary and his defiant son, Benjamin. On the other side of the world, Benjamin is treating the wounded in a jungle war and trying to perfect a magical formula that will let him communicate with Janie so they can continue their quest to keep the world safe from atomic threats. (sequel to The Apothecary) |
|
 Cinder
by Marissa Meyer
Ages 12–up
Cinder lives in New Beijing with Adri,
her demanding step-mother, and two step-sisters Peony and Pearl.
Half human and half robot, Cinder was rescued from a hovercraft
accident by the inventor Galen, Adri’s husband. As a cyborg,
Cinder is a second-class citizen, but is a gifted mechanic
and is immune to the plague that threatens humans. This clever
dystopian fairy tale is the first in a planned series—the
Lunar Chronicles. |
|
 Scarlet
by Marissa Meyer
Ages 12–up
Linh Cinder, a mechanically talented cyborg, has discovered that she is Princess Selene, a Lunar who was believed to have been murdered by her aunt, Queen Levana. Meanwhile, Scarlet Beniot and her former pilot grandmother are making a living as farmers in France, the target of a pack of wolflike humans who will kill them to get the information they seek. The intricate plot alternates between the two narratives in this sequel to Cinder. |
|
 Cress
by Marissa Meyer
Ages 12–up
Cress has been imprisoned on an orbiting satellite for more than seven years with only her netscreens for company. She has never been allowed to cut her hair, which now rivals Rapunzel’s in length. Forced to work for Queen Levana, Cress has been assigned to track down Cinder and her accomplices — Captain Thorne, Scarlet, and Wolf — who are working to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth. Cinder and crew try to rescue Cress, but the plan self-destructs leaving the group scattered and fighting for survival. Third in the Lunar Chronicles, this fast moving adventure follows Cinder and Scarlet. |
|
 Railsea
by China Miéville
Ages 12–up
On the molesea, a vast prairie covered
with crisscrossing train tracks, orphan Sham Yes ap Soorap
has gone to railsea as an apprentice to a moletrain’s doctor.
Medes is a moletrain that hunts the giant moldywarpes, harpooning
the great moles that live underground and taking their fur,
fat, and meat to be sold on the mainland. Naphi, the train’s
captain, is obsessed with killing an enormous ivory mole called
MockerJack who took her arm many years ago. This imaginative
and playful novel combines themes from Moby Dick, Robinson
Crusoe, and A Wizard of Earthsea. |
|
 The
Eternal Ones
by Kirsten Miller
Ages 12–up
Haven Moore (17) has been watched
over her whole life by her religious grandmother and
the priest in the small town of Snope City, Tennessee.
Haven has successfully suppressed memories of a former
life with a man named Ethan until she sees a picture
of Iain Morrow, a New York playboy in the paper. More
memories emerge, and Haven becomes convinced that she
and Iain have a relationship going back for centuries.
After running away to New York, Haven discovers the
Ouroboros Society, that claims to be able to help people
discover their former lives. Suspecting that both Iain
and the Society are keeping secrets from her, Haven
begins an investigation that eventually threatens her
life. |
|
 Free to Fall
by Lauren Miller
Ages 13–up
It’s 2030 and everyone depends on Lux, a decision-making app that helps maximize happiness for every decision, even small daily ones like ordering coffee. Rory Vaughn (16) is thrilled to be accepted to Theden Academy, the most prestigious school in the country. Rory’s mother attended Theden, though she left before graduating and died in childbirth soon after. When Rory discovers inconsistencies about her own birth, she is drawn to the rebellious hacker North and his outsider lifestyle where he dares to make decisions without consulting Lux. this engaging and thought-provoking novel is a mix of thriller and romance. |
|
 Soulprint
by Megan Miranda
Ages 12–up
Alina Chase (17) has spent her entire life imprisoned on an island, punishment for a crime committed in a past life as June Calahan, a destructive blackmailer. Alina is sick and tired of being punished for something she didn’t do, and escapes with the help of three teens. But Alina can’t escape the imprinting of June on her soul since her rescuers want her to access the soul database June used for her crimes. Unused to human companionship, Alina discovers friendship, mistrust, and love while fleeing from the authorities determined to recapture June’s soul.
|
|
 V is for Villain
by Peter Moore
Ages 12–up
Brad Baron is used to not measuring up to his older brother Blake. Brad is very smart, but Blake is bigger, stronger, faster, and he can fly. In Brad’s world intelligence doesn’t much count in a culture that measures worth by superpowers. Brad is placed in a school track with other students lacking superpowers and falls in with a band of malcontents who decide to change the system by using their intelligence for villainy. |
|
 The
Inquisitor’s Apprentice
by Chris Moriarty, Mark Edward
Geyer
Ages 9–12
This historical fantasy
is set in an early 20th century New York City where
each ethnic group has its own magic. When the police
learn that Sacha Kessler, a 13-year-old Jewish
boy, can see witches, he is immediately apprenticed
to the department’s star Inquisitor, Maximillian
Wolf, whose mission is to stop magical crime. Sacha
is partnered with fellow apprentice Lily Astral,
the spoiled daughter of a rich Wall Street Wizard,
to find out who is trying to kill Thomas Edison,
who has invented a witch-hunting device. Solid
period detail and a great sense of humor enliven
this possible first in a series. |
|
 Winter’s
End
by Jean-Claude Mourlevat
Ages 14–up
Milena, Bartolomeo, Helen, and
Milos, the orphan children of resistors who died in the
revolution, live in prison-like boarding schools. They
are only allowed to leave a few hours a year to meet
with their consolers, parent figures assigned by their
counselors. When the four teenagers escape, they endanger
themselves as well as their classmates and the consolers
who helped them flee. This suspenseful book is riveting. |
|
 Sky Raiders
by Brandon Mull
Ages 8–12
Cole Randolph and his sixth-grade friends are lured into a haunted house on Halloween, kidnapped by slavers, and transported into the Outskirts, where magic is real and dreams have power. Cole is separated from his friends and sentenced to salvage treasure from flying castles. As Cole tries to escape, he is befriended by an unlikely group who possess magical powers. This action-packed adventure is the first in the Five Kingdoms series. |
|
 A
World Without Heroes
by Brandon Mull
Ages 8–12
Jason Walker (13) always wished
for a more exciting life, until the day he was transported
by hippopotamus from Colorado to Lyrian, a magical
world ruled by the evil sorcerer Maldor. Jason discovers
that his only chance of returning home is by defeating
Maldor with a long lost magic word which erases itself
from the memory of anyone who says it. But with the
help of the Blind King, and Rachel, another refugee
from Earth, Jason is determined to succeed. (1st in
a planned Beyonders trilogy) |
|
 Impyrium
by Henry H. Neff
Ages 8–12
The Faeregine dynasty has ruled Impyrium for 3,000 years, since they defeated the demon Astaroth, but the family’s magic is fading. Hazel Faeregine (12), the albino youngest of the triplet sisters who are heirs to the throne, is looked down on by her family who aren’t aware of her powers. The exception is her grandmother, the Empress, who plans to exploit Hazel in order to revitalize the family. Hob, a commoner from the northern wastelands, is sent to serve the Faeregines, and to spy on them. Hob and Hazel form an unexpected friendship in this exciting first in the Impyrium series. |
|
 The
Knife of Never Letting Go
by Patrick Ness
Ages 14–up
The youngest in Prentisstown,
Todd Hewitt (12) lives in a world without women, a world
where the thoughts of men and animals are audible as
Noise, an oppressive chaos of words and images. When
Todd and his dog Manchee notice a silence in the Noise,
Todd know he must keep this secret from the others and
flees, chased by Aaron, a zealot preacher, and his supporters.
Viola, the source of the silence, joins Todd and Manchee
in a desperate flight from the men of Prentisstown. (Book
One in the Chaos Walking series) |
|
 The
Ask and the Answer
by Patrick Ness
Ages 14–up
Todd and Viola have fled to
Haven, only to discover that Mayor Prentiss has arrived
first and is now intent on controlling the entire planet.
Todd is sent to prison, and Viola to the House of Healing
to recover from her wounds. Viola is recruited by the
Answer, a group aimed at overthrowing the government,
while Todd is forced to join the mayor’s new regime.
This powerful science fiction novel is Book Two in
the Chaos Walking series, following The
Knife of Never Letting Go. |
|
 Monsters
of Men
by Patrick Ness
Ages 14–up
A world-ending war between
the armies of the Mayor, Mistress Coyle, and the Spackle
is about to erupt. Todd and Viola, now in a position
of power with the colonists, along with Return, a former
slave of the Spackle, must each confront their own
fear and anger in order to make a decision that won’t
lead to world wide destruction. This powerful third
in the Chaos Walking science fiction trilogy follows The
Knife of Never Letting Go and The
Ask and the Answer. |
|
 Season
of Secrets
by Sally Nicholls
Ages 8–12
When Molly’s mother dies, her
father sends her and her older sister to live with
Grandma and Grandpa in their half-house half-shop.
Uncertain how long their visit will be, Molly and Hannah
try to cope with home-sicknesses while adjusting to
life in a tiny town with a school of only ten kids.
While caught in a storm one night, Molly flees from
a horned horseman and worries about the wounded man
she finds after the hunt. As he heals, Molly realizes
there is something magical about him—he can make things
grow in the middle of winter—and wonders if he can
somehow bring her mother back to life. |
|
 Now That You’re Here
by Amy K. Nichols
Ages 12–up
Danny Ogden, a teen-aged graffiti artist for an extremist sect, is running from the cops when he is suddenly jolted into a Phoenix classroom in a parallel universe — our Earth. Eevee Solomon, a romantic interest in Danny’s parallel world, is a talented science nerd in this one. Eevee is perhaps the only person who can help Danny return home, but she has trouble trusting this new Danny who replaced the one who tormented her best friend. A mirror image sequel will focus on the other Danny and Eevee in the parallel Earth. |
|
 The
False Prince
by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Ages 8–14
Sage (15) is an orphan in the
medieval kingdom of Carthya. When the entire royal
family dies under mysterious circumstances, Conner,
one of the king's regents, begins collecting orphans
who might be substituted for the king’s youngest son,
who was reported lost at sea several years earlier.
Sage and two other boys are selected, and soon engaged
in a winner-take-all contest to earn the right to impersonate
Prince Jaron. Humorous first-person narration places
the reader firmly in Sage’s court in this first in
the Ascendancy Trilogy. |
|
 Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen
by Garth Nix
Ages 13–up
Clariel (17) is the daughter of a talented goldsmith mother. Clariel isn’t interest in learning the craft, she dreams of becoming a Borderer, one of the warders who patrol the forests and woods of the kingdom. Clariel is related to both the aging king and the Abhorsen, the kingdom’s master of magic and becomes a pawn in political struggle for power. This prequel to the Old Kingdom series is set 600 years before the rest of the series. |
|
 Evermore
by Alyson Noël
Ages 12–up
Ever (17) survived the car crash that
killed the rest of her family, and can now hear the thoughts
of everyone around her. She retreats into a shell, keeping
her hoodie up and her iPod loud to isolate herself. Damen,
the cute new boy who can produce tulips from thin air, coaxes
her back into human contact and to the discovery of her own
immortality. |
|
 Blue
Moon
by Alyson Noël
Ages 12–up
Still learning to control her
powers as an immortal, 17-year-old Ever is crushed
when her boyfriend, and fellow Immortal, Damen breaks
up with her, and can't seem to remember their time
together. When Damon begins growing weaker, Ever is
determined to save him and is confronted by a hard
decision: should she change the past or not? (sequel
to Evermore) |
|
 Starglass
by Phoebe North
Ages 12–up
Terra Fineberg (15) lives aboard the Asherah, a mainly Jewish city within a spaceship that launched 500 years earlier when the Earth was destroyed by an asteroid strike. Life aboard the Asherah is not easy. Everything is strictly regulated by the ruling Council, and resources are scarce. The Asherah is headed for the planet Zehava, only a few months away. Terra witnesses a murder, and becomes entangled in a conspiracy to overthrown the Council. |
|
 Into That Forest
by Louis Nowra
Ages 12–up
Hannah and Becky go for a picnic with Hannah’s parents and are caught up in a sudden storm. Hannah’s parents are killed, and the two girls are adopted and raised by a pair of Tasmanian tigers. Over time, the girls grow wilder, losing their clothes and their language and hunting with their new tiger parents. When they are found four years later by Becky’s father, the girls are heart-broken to leave their tiger parents and suffer through a tramatic re-adjustment to human society. |
|
 The Call
by Peadar O’Guilin
Ages 14–up
In this alternative Ireland, the Sídhe, Irish faeries, have cut Ireland off from the rest of the world and plot to take over their former home by kidnapping human teenagers. During the “Call” the teenagers disappear for only three minutes in human time, but an entire day in the Grey Land. When the teens disappear, they are often dead or disfigured by magic. Nessa, who is on crutches because of polio since there are no vaccines in isolated Ireland, is not expected to survive her Call, but is determined to survive. This gripping book is horrifying. |
|
 Shadowshaper
by Daniel José Older
Ages 14–up
Sierra Santiago is looking forward to a relaxed summer hanging out with her friends in Brooklyn and painting a mural on an abandoned building. Then her grandfather, disoriented after a stroke, begins urging her to finish the mural quickly, and Sierra is attacked by what appears to be a walking corpse. With the help of a fellow artist, Sierra discovers shapeshifting, an ancient magic that infuses paintings and music with ancestral spirits. |
|
 Before
I Fall
by Lauren Oliver
Ages 14–up
Samantha has it all. She is
beautiful and popular and has three best friends and
an enviable boyfriend. Friday, February 12th should
be another wonderful day in her wonderful life, but
instead it is her last. Samantha gets a second chance
at re-living her last day, seven chances in all. Each
day she faces the consequences of even her smallest
actions and tries to get things right, and maybe even
redeem herself. |
|
 Liesl & Po
by Lauren Oliver, Kei Acedera
Ages 8–12
Liesl lives in a tiny bedroom in the
attic, locked away by her wicked stepmother. Then one night
Po appears, a ghost from the Other Side, bringing Liesl a task
— to bury her father’s ashes under a willow tree. This gives
Liesl the courage to escape. Meanwhile, Will, an alchemist's
apprentice is making a delivery for his evil master, a nearly
identical box holding The Most Powerful Magic in the World.
When the boxes are mixed up, unexpected things begin to happen
in this magical adventure, brightening a world where the sun
has not risen for 1,728 days. |
|
 The Spindlers
by Lauren Oliver, Iacopo Bruno
Ages 8–12
Overnight, Liza’s irritating and amusing younger brother changes personality, and Liza knows that the spider-like Spindlers have stolen his soul. Her busy parents think Liza is just playing make-believe, so she crawls through the hole behind the bookshelf in the basement and falls into the world Below in order to save her brother. There she meets Mirabelle, a talkative and well-dressed rat, who agrees to lead Liza to the Spindlers’ nests, through paths haunted by strange and frightening creatures. |
|
 Only Ever Yours
by Louise O’Neill
Ages 13–up
In this future world, girls are no longer born naturally but instead raised in Schools and trained in the art of pleasing men until they come of age. Known as “eves” the women don’t even rate a capital on their names. Best friends frieda and isabel have just turned 16 and are in their final year at School. If they are in the top 10 of their class, they will become companions, wives to powerful men. If not, the alternatives are to become a concubine or a chastity, doomed for a loveless life teaching endless generations of eves. The pressure of their final year sends isabel into s self-destructive spiral, and frieda worries that securing her own future may mean betraying her only friend. This dystopian novel presents a terrifying reality. |
|
 The Boundless
by Kenneth Oppel, Jim Tierney
Ages 8–12
James Everett was just another railroad worker laying track for the Canadian Pacific Railway until the day he saved the railroad’s president from an avalanche in 1885. Three years later James is a railroad executive traveling with his son Will on the first journey of the Boundless, the largest train ever assembled. Among the 947 cars is a circus, and Will befriends Maren, a beautiful high wire walker. Will learns that a plot is afoot to steal treasure, including the golden spike, from the vault-like mausoleum car. This action adventure is set in a slightly alternative reality, where sasquatches roam the northern forests. |
|
 This
Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein
by Kenneth Oppel
Ages 12–up
Twin brothers Victor and Konrad Frankenstein
are nearly inseparable. Their father forbids them to enter
The Dark Library, but when Konrad falls deathly ill Victor
can’t resist. He discovers the formula for the Elixir of
Life and sets off with his friend Henry and adopted sister
Elizabeth in search of the ingredients, which prove nearly
impossible to obtain. This compelling gothic mix of science,
history, and horror is the first in a planned series. |
|
 The Originals
by Cat Patrick
Ages 12–up
Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey Best (16) are illegal clones. Everyone outside the family thinks they are the same person — Elizabeth Best — since their mother has organized their lives into shifts. Ella goes to school in the mornings, Lizzie takes the afternoons, and Betsey does the evening appearances. The three girls are growing more and more uncomfortable with the masquerade, especially when Lizzie and Ella fall for two different boys at school. Lizzie is attracted to Sean, and comes to realize that she is not a carbon copy of her sisters, but a unique individual with her own dreams and desires. |
|
 The
Adoration of Jenna Fox
by Mary E. Pearson
Ages 14–up
Awakening from a coma, 17-year
old Jenna Fox with almost no memories of her past and is
unsure the memories she has are really hers. A thrilling
look at bio-medical ethics and the nature of humanity. |
|
 The
Fox Inheritance
by Mary E. Pearson
Ages 12–up
This sequel to The
Adoration of Jenna Fox takes place 260 years later.
Locke and Kara, whose bodies were destroyed in an accident,
have been existing as disembodied minds in a computer
netherworld since Jenna disappeared. New medical advances
have made restoration of their minds into look-alike
bodies, but the two wonder if they are really human.
Locke and Kara discover that Jenna has been alive for
centuries, and are desperate to find her. But the world
is totally changed. A civil was has divided the United
States, and Mars has been colonized for over 150 years.
This challenging blend of science fiction and mystery,
told from Locke’s perspective, is best appreciated
read in sequence. |
|
 This
World We Live In
The
Last Survivors, Book 3
by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Ages 12–up
A year after the moon was thrown
off course by a meteor, natural disasters and climate
change are making life on Earth a challenge. Miranda
(17) and her mother are barely surviving on food rations
in rural Pennsylvania when her father arrives with
his new family and three other refugees, including
Alex Morales from New York City. Miranda and Alex are
drawn to each other as they spend hours together scavenging
for food and supplies. This moving novel continues
the story of the struggle to keep hope alive in the
face of grim reality. (sequel to In
Life as We Knew It and In
The Dead and the Gone) |
|
 Glitter
by Aprilynne Pike
Ages 14–up
Danica Grayson (17) lives in Sonoman-Versailes in the 22nd century. Inside the palace of Versailles everyone eats and dresses as if it’s the 18th century, with the addition of robots overseen by an onmipersenent AI to make life easier. Danica witnesses the king (19) committing murder, and her mother blackmails him into marrying Dani as soon as she turns 18 in six months. Dani has no intention of marrying the cruel king, and turns to selling Glitter, a drug so powerful a tiny pinch cause instant addiction, to raise the money she needs to escape. |
|
 The City’s Son
by Tom Pollock
Ages 12–up
Beth Bradley, a graffiti artist on the run from her father and the best friend who betrayed her, encounters Filius on the streets of London. Filius is the son of Mater Viae, goddess of rats, feral cats, and creatures constructed from garbage. Beth, Filius, and his faithful trash monster named Gutterglass, join the fight against Reach, the Crane King, a god seeking to destroy the city with sterile and soulless urban development. This dark fantasy is the first in the Skyscraper Throne trilogy. |
|
 The
Humming Room
by Ellen Potter
Ages 9–12
Roo Fanshaw (12) is an expert
at hiding, living in an unstable family often requires
her to disappear at a moment’s notice. When her parents
are murdered, Roo’s special hiding spot under their trailer
saves her life. To her surprise, Roo has a rich uncle
who agrees to let her live in his strange house on Cough
Rock Island in the St. Lawrence River, a sprawling former
tuberculosis sanitarium for the children of the rich.
There Roo discovers Emmett, a cousin she didn’t know
existed, and a domed dying garden in a remote corner
of the estate. This modern ghost story, inspired by The
Secret Garden, will entrance young readers. |
|
 Dodger
by Terry Pratchett
Ages 13–up
Dodger (17) is a street urchin and thief living in Victorian London. One night he sees a girl leap from a horse drawn carriage and comes to her rescue. Charles Dickens and social reformer Henry Mayhew appear on the scene, and the three work to protect the girl, known only as Simplicity, from the powerful people who want her dead. The crazed barber Sweeney Todd, Benjamin Disraeli, Queen Victoria, and others appear in this comedic coming-of-age story of a boy who embodies Dickens’s desire for social justice. |
|
 I
Shall Wear Midnight
by Terry Pratchett
Ages 12–up
Now nearly 16, Tiffany Aching
has spent years studying with senior witches and can
competently take on the minor tasks required of a good
witch. However to become a great witch, Tiffany must
battle with the Cunning Man the ghost of a dead witch
finder, while also keeping the peace between the humans
and the wee Nac Mac Feegles. This hilarious adventure
completes the Diskworld Tiffany Aching series: The
Wee Free Men, A
Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith. |
|
 Nation
by Terry Pratchett
Ages 12–up
Mau is the only one left when a giant
wave destroys his island village. Daphne is the only survivor
of a ship sunk in the storm. Together they re-establish Mau’s
nation with the other survivors who gradually wash up on shore.
The clever balance between serious issues and wildly funny
events make this tale of discovery special. |
|
 I Am Princess X
by Cherie Priest, Kali Ciesemier
Ages 12–up
Back in fifth grade, May and her best friend Libby created Princess X. May wrote the stories, Libby drew the pictures, and the two loved creating adventures for the intrepid Princess. A few years later, Libby and her mother died in an accident, and most of the color and joy vanished from May’s life. Now 16, May is walking around the gray Seattle streets on a rainy night when she spots a Princess X sticker stuck on a window. Looking around, May spots Princess X stickers, patches, and graffiti everywhere, and discovers an online web comic, leading her to believe Libby may still be alive. With the help of a hacker, May follows the trail of Princess X online, hoping to find Libby at the other end. |
|
 The
Magic Thief
by Sarah Prineas
Ages 10–up
Connwaer, a preteen pickpocket, steals
a magical stone from Nevery, the most powerful wizard in Wellmet.
Surprised that the boy was not killed by the strong magic,
the wizard takes Conn on as an apprentice and enrolls him in
magic school. Nevery’s journal entries offer an intriguing
counterpoint to Conn’s candid perspective in this first of
a trilogy. |
|
 Divided We Fall
by Trent Reedy
Ages 14–up
Danny Wright is a high school senior and member of the Idaho National Guard in a near-future America on the verge of disaster. A controversial new law has created tensions between states and the federal government. Danny and his unit are called by the governor to police a riot in Boise. Danny’s gun misfires, spooking both his fellow guards and the protesters, and 12 people are killed. This all-too-believable thriller is the first of a trilogy. |
|
 Fever
Crumb
by Philip Reeve
Ages 12–up
Fever Crumb is a 14-year old
orphan in the far future who has been adopted and raised
by Dr. Crumb, a member of the Order of Engineers, in
the huge head of an unfinished statue. Fever is the
only girl ever accepted as an apprentice by the logic
obsessed Order of Engineers. Sent into Hungry City
for the first time in her life to assist Auric Godshawk,
an eccentric archeologist, Fever is shunned by the
city dwellers who believe she is part Scriven, the
non-humans, who ruled the city but were hunted down
and killed in a victorious uprising by the people.
This beautifully written and creative fantasy is a
prequel to the Hungry City Chronicles: Mortal
Engines, Predator’s
Gold, Infernal
Devices, A
Darkling Plain. |
|
 Here
Lies Arthur
by Philip Reeve
Ages 12–up
Gwynna escapes down the river when
her village is burned by the warlord Arthur and is rescued
by Myrddin who offers to protect her in exchange for her service.
Myrddin disguises Gwynna as various people in order to transform
the warlord into the hero King Arthur. Reeve’s cynical take
on Arthurian legends will enchant teens. |
|
 The
Unsinkable Walker Bean
by Aaron Renier
Ages 9–14
Mild-mannered Walker Bean is
happiest in his grandfather’s colonial era workshop,
helping with the inventions. But when his grandfather
is cursed by two lobster-women, Walker knows it is
up to him to return a magical skull to the mysterious
Mango Islands. Walker stows away on a ship and teams
up with a dog named Perrogi, a boy named Shiv, and
a tough girl called Genoa. The four encounter pirates
and magical machines as they search for clues and escape
perilous situations in this engaging graphic adventure
novel. |
|
 Ninth
Ward
by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Ages 10–up
Lanesha (12) has had the power
to communicate with ghosts, including her mother who
died giving birth to her, as long as she can remember.
Mama Ya-Ya, a midwife and healer who cares for Lanesha,
has the power to predict the future. When Mama Ya-Ya
foresees a huge storm (Hurricane Katrina) threatening
their beloved Ninth Ward of New Orleans, she warns
the community, which bands together. Afloat in a small
rowboat, Lanesha escapes the rising water and saves
others along the way. This powerful story, alive with
magical realism, is full of tragedy and hope. |
|
 An Enchantment of Ravens
by Margaret Rogerson
Ages 14–up
Isobel (16) lives in the town of Whimsey where it is always summer. She is a master of her Craft of painting portraits, a favorite of the “fair folk” who live in the woods bordering Whimsey. Rook, the Autumn Prince of the fair folk, requests a portrait. She paints the sorrow she sees in his eyes, and Rook abducts her, taking her to his kingdom to stand trial for painting a weakness that could cost Rook his life. They learn to trust each other, and fall in love, which breaks another of the fair folks’ laws. The only thing that might save them both is Isobel’s skill as an artist to make the fair folk feel the emotions they deny having. |
|
 The
Girl With Borrowed Wings
by Rinsai Rossetti
Ages 12–up
Frenenqer Paje, of Thai descent,
lives with her controlling father in a desert oasis
in the Middle East. Frenenqer attends a private school
for expatriates and finds her life tediously the same
every day. Her life changes when she disobeys her father
and rescues a mistreated cat, who turns out to be a
shape-shifter named Sangris. Each night he flies Frenenqer
to real and imagined places around the world, slowly
building her courage to demand a little freedom of
her own. The first draft of this novel was written
when Rossetti was a teenager, a fact sure to inspire
other youthful authors. |
|
 There
Is No Dog
by Meg Rosoff
Ages 12–up
Bob’s mother won Earth in a
poker game, and gave the plant to her teen-aged son
to play with. Bob is inspired during Creation, but
then loses interest and Earth is plagued with natural
disasters, injustice, and chaos. When Bob falls in
love with a human named Lucy, his relatives scheme
to keep them apart, causing even more problems for
poor planet Earth. |
|
 The
Cabinet of Wonders:
The
Kronos Chronicles: Book I
by Marie Rutkoski
Ages 10–up
In 16th century Bohemia Prince
Rodolfo commissions Kronos, a gifted metalworker, to
build a magical clock. When the clock is finished, the
evil prince steals the metalworker’s eyes and wears them
himself. When the blinded Kronos returns home, his 12-yearoild
daughter Petra sneaks off to Prague to recover her father’s
eyes with her pet tin spider Astrophil. An astonishing
mix of history and enchantment will entrance readers. |
|
 The
Celestial Globe
The
Kronos Chronicles: Book II
by Marie Rutkoski
Ages 10–up
When Prince Rudolfo’s monsters
attack her, 13-year-old Petra escapes from 16th century
Bohemia to London through a “Loophole” permitting
instant time-space travel. Meanwhile, Petra’s magician
friend Tomik is captured by pirates seeking the second
of two magical globes which offer Loophole control when
combined. Supported by British spy John Dee, Petra builds
her own strengths before rejoining the fight against the
evil Prince Rudolfo. This fascinating mix of history and
fantasy is the sequel to The
Cabinet of Wonders. |
|
 The Shadow Society
by Marie Rutkoski
Ages 12–up
Darcy Jones (15) doesn't remember anything of her life before she was abandoned outside a Chicago firehouse at the age of five. While living in a series of foster homes, Darcy has acquired a reputation of being a behavior problem, but things are finally coming together for her as she develops her talent for art. A new boy at her high school reveals that Darcy is really a Shade, a creature who can disappear and reappear, and takes her to a parallel universe where Shades operate as terrorists and live in a Shadow Society. |
|
 The
Forest of Hands and Teeth
by Carrie Ryan
Ages 14–up
Mary’s village is trapped by
the Unconsecrated, flesh-eating zombies that lurk near
the village fence. Inside, the Sisterhood, a convent-like
order of religious women, control village life. When
the Unconsecrated make it through the fence, Mary and
several others escape to the Forest of Hands and Teeth.
This riveting tale of survival highlights the capacity
of humanity to persevere. |
|
 The Map to Everywhere
by Carrie Ryan, J.P. Davis
Ages 8–12
Fin was left by his mother at an orphanage in the pirate city of Khaznot Quay when he was four. Fin is such a forgettable sight that no one ever notices him, a curse that makes him very lonely but also a master thief. Fin receives a letter telling him to steal a key that will show him the way back to his mother, and accidentally releases the Oracle, an insane wizard who has been imprisoned for centuries. Marrill, an intrepid girl from Earth, is traveling on a quest for the Map to Everywhere, which she needs to find her way back to Arizona. Fin and Marrill join forces in this action-packed adventure, first in a planned series. |
|
 Echo
by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Ages 10–14
Otto, who lives in the magical past, is lost in the woods when he is rescued by three sisters held captive by a witch’s curse. He helps break the curse by carrying their spirits out of the wood in a harmonica, promising to pass the instrument along when the time is right. On Germany, Friedrich, an aspiring conductor, is trying to rescue his father from a Nazi prison camp. In Pennsylvania, Mike, a piano prodigy, hopes he and his brother Frankie can escape the orphanage by being adopted. In California, Ivy Maria struggles with her school’s segregation policy and the accusations against Japanese landowners. All three are linked by their love of music and each recognizes the power of the harmonica when it enters their lives. |
|
 Usagi
Yojimbo: Yokai
by Stan Sakai
Ages 9–12
Usagi, a heroic but kind samurai
rabbit, is walking through the forest one dark night
when a mother begs him to find her daughter who has been
stolen by the Yokai, evil supernatural spirits who can
change their shapes at will. Luckily he is joined by
Sasuke the Demon Queller, but the two have a fight on
their hands against the Demon Queen and her forces. This
fully painted hardcover book is a celebration of the
25th anniversary of Usagi’s first appearance, bringing
Sakai’s beautifully drawn, and often scary, graphic illustrations
to a new audience. |
|
 The Sin Eater’s Daughter
by Melinda Salisbury
Ages 14–up
Twylla (17) lives in the castle and is engaged to the prince. Her mother is a Sin Eater, who eats symbolic foods representing the dead person’s sins at their grave site. Twylla expected to follow in her mother’s footsteps, but instead is selected by the Queen to become the goddess Daunen Embodied. Each month Twylla eats a poisonous substance that gives her the ability to instantly kill whoever she touches. As the executioner, Twylla is taken to the prison each month and forced to touch, and thereby kill, everyone accused of treason. The prince’s royal blood supposedly makes him immune to Twylla’s deadly touch, but he isn’t willing to take the chance. Only a new guard sees Twylla as a person instead of the executioner. |
|
 The Rithmatist
by Brandon Sanderson
Ages 12–up
This fantasy is set in an alternate 20th century America composed of 60 loosely federated islands protected by the Rithmatists, who use powerful chalk-drawing magic to hold the wild chalklings at bay. Joel (16) is a student at Armedius Academy, studying the intricate chalk patterns, but never selected for training to become a Rithmatist. Then the more talented students begin to disappear, presumably captured by the wild chalklings, and Joel and his friend Melody are assigned to help Professor Fitch figure out what is going on and try to save their schoolmates. The complex plot promises several more volumes in the series. |
|
 Fires of Invention
by J. Scott Savage
Ages 10–up
Trenton Colman (13) lives in Cove, an underground multi-level steam-powered city where inventions are illegal though mechanics are valued. Trenton is mechanically talented, but also creative, which may endanger his dream of becoming a city mechanic. When the city goes dark, one of Trenton’s illegal inventions is blamed, but he discovers that the true cause is another unapproved device. His search for the inventor leads him to Kallista Babbage, a repair technician and the daughter of the infamous Leo Babbage who died in the explosion of one of his inventions. This exciting adventure is the first in the Mysteries of Cove series. |
|
 Titans
by Victoria Scott
Ages 13–up
Astrid Sullivan (17) lives in Detroit with her family after her grandfather lost the family farm in Wisconsin. Her father is on the verge of losing their new home in Warren County as a result of his gambling addiction, betting on mechanical horses called Titans. Astrid is determined to do everything she can, including becoming a jockey to race an obsolete first-generation Titan on the summer horse racing circuit, hoping to win the grand prize and save her family from homelessness. |
|
 White
Crow
by Marcus Sedgwick
Ages 12–up
Rebecca reluctantly leaves
her life in Greenwich to move to the lonely little
town of Winterfold. There she meets Ferelith, a strange
girl who left school at the age of 14 to live in a
commune and doesn't seem completely human. Ferelith
introduces Rebecca to the legends and dark secrets
of Winterfold, including the journal entries of a local
priest in 1789 who also finds himself in thrall to
a mysterious stranger. This chilling novel, told from
all three points of view, addresses themes of death
and the mystery of afterlife. |
|
 Gateway
by Sharon Shinn
Ages 12–up
Daiyu was adopted from China by a white
couple in St. Louis. Now a teenager, she often feels out of
place. At a street fair, an old Asian jewelry seller tells
her that her name means “black jade” and sells
her a ring bearing that stone. Transported through a gateway
into an alternate reality where America was colonized by the
Chinese in the 19th century, Daiyu is recruited as a spy and
falls for Kalen, who is in on the plot. Unfortunately, if Daiyu
is successful, she must leave this reality and Kalen to return
to her own time. |
|
 More Happy Than Not
by Adam Silvera
Ages 14–up
Aaron Soto (16) lives in a near-future Bronx much like our own world except for the Leteo Institute, a neighborhood facility where painful memories can be permanently erased. Aaron’s Puerto Rican family is living in poverty, and he is haunted by his father’s suicide, and dealing with often dysfunctional relationships with his mother and older brother. Then Aaron meets Thomas, and is forced to confront his sexual attraction to another boy and the resulting bullying he endures. A brutal beating brings back his lost memories. This frank and gritty novel explores the extreme social and cultural pressures to deny one’s own reality in order to fit in. |
|
 Grasshopper Jungle
by Andrew Smith
Ages 14–up
Austin Szerba (16) is very confused — he is in love with his girlfriend Shann and also his best friend Robby. A series of unfortunate events results in the production of the Unstoppable Soldiers, six-feet tall super-strong mantis-like creatures, who are prepared to take over the world. Filled with black humor seen through the out-of-control sexuality of the 16 year old male human, this wild novel is funny, unsettling, and often gruesome. |
|
 Passenger
by Andrew Smith
Ages 14–up
Scarred from their earlier experiences in the hellish alternative world of Marbury Jack and Connor decide to destroy the Marbury lens that transports them. Unfortunately, the fractured lens make their out-of-control visits to Marbury bleaker and more gruesome than ever before. Reading The Marbury Lens before this sequel is highly recommended. |
|
 Sekret
by Lindsay Smith
Ages 12–up
It’s 1963 when Yulia Andreevna Chernina (17) discovers that her parents have kept secret her talent as a psychic. Using the safety Yulia’s mother and autistic younger brother as blackmail the KGB forces Yulia to work as a psychic spy in Russia’s attempt to win the space race. After joining the secret group of teenaged spies, Yulia discovers that her new friends can read her mind without her permission; even her most secret thoughts are no longer secret. Yulia suspects that the Americans aren’t the real enemy, but she isn’t sure who she can trust in this suspenseful historical thriller. |
|
 Shade
by Jeri Smith-Ready
Ages 14–up
Aura (16) was the first child born
after the Shift, when ghosts became visible to the new generation,
but not the old. How and why the Shift occurred is still a
mystery, and those born before and after are still struggling
through the change in perceptions. When Aura’s boyfriend Logan
dies of an accidental overdose, his ghost can still talk to
her, but can’t touch her or fully be part of her world like
Zachary, a Scottish transfer student more than willing to comfort
her. As Aura tries to come to terms with her grief, her relationships
with the dead and the living grow ever more complicated. |
|
 Thornhill
by Pam Smy
Ages 10–14
In 2017 Ella Clark and her father move to a house that overlooks the Thornhill Institute for Children, a dilapidated former orphanage. Ella’s father is rarely home, so when the lonely teenager sees a girl wandering around the Thornhill grounds, she crawls under the fence to introduce herself. In 1932 Mary Baines (13) is a lonely orphan at Thornhill when it is in the process of closing. Her few friends are adopted or moved to another orphanage, leaving Mary in the company of an unstable bully. As the staff is reduced, the bulling increases, and Mary plots her revenge. Intertwined narrations feature entries from Mary’s diary, newspaper clippings, and eerie black and white illustrations documenting Ella’s interactions with Mary’s ghost.
|
|
 Everland
by Wendy Spinale
Ages 12–up
London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and a disease that killed all the adults. Gwen Darling (15) and her younger siblings Joanna and Mikey spend their nights scavenging for food and their days hiding from the Germans, let by Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer, known as Hook, who is searching for a cure for the deadly virus by capturing children who are immune. One day they capture Joanna. Gwen is desperate to rescue her sister and meets a strange boy named Pete, who offers the help of his band of Lost Boys, and the sharpshooter Bella. This fast-paced re-imagining of the Peter Pan story is enthralling. |
|
 Divergent
by Veronica Roth
Ages 14–up
Beatrice “Tris” Prior lives
in dystopian Chicago where the citizens are divided into five
factions depending on their beliefs, talents, and loyalties.
At age 16, Tris is required to choose between her boring family
and the adventurous life she dreams of living. She abandons
the Abnegation faction to become one of the wild and fearless
Dauntless, all the while hiding her true nature as a Divergent,
one who has the talents of many factions. The highly competitive
initiation rites Tris must undergo include sadistic tests of
strength and courage. This spellbinding book is not for the
faint hearted. |
|
 The
Sweetest Spell
by Suzanne Selfors
Ages 12–up
Emmeline Thistle was born with a
curled foot in the village of Root. Because of her deformity,
she was left to die, but the local cows protected and fed
her. Later Emmeline is nearly drowned in a flood that destroys
her village, but is rescued again by the cows. Emmeline
discovers that she has the ability to churn cream into chocolate,
a forgotten delicacy in the kingdom of Anglund. This magical
ability makes Emmeline a valuable commodity, but all she
wants is the love of Owen Oak, a dairyman’s son. Magic and
romance intertwine in this humorous fairy tale. |
|
 Joplin, Wishing
by Diane Stanley
Ages 8–12
Fifth grader Joplin Danforth travel from New York City to her recently deceased grandfather’s cabin in rural Maine to take care of his possessions. Joplin finds a broken platter and glues it back together, revealing a beautiful painting of a girl standing beside a stream. As she admires the painting, Joplin wishes she will find a friend at school and meet the girl painted on the platter. The next day Joplin befriends a boy named Barrett and notices a girl lurking in the shadows who looks a lot like the painting. The girl says her name is Sofie, and that she is has been trapped in the platter for centuries, cursed to grant the wishes of the owner. Joplin and Barrett join forces with Sofie to break the curse and return her to her Dutch village 400 years in the past. |
|
 When
You Reach Me
by Rebecca Stead
Newbery
Medal 2010
Ages 9–14
Miranda (12) is the latchkey kid
of a single mother law school dropout in late 1970s Manhattan.
After reading A
Wrinkle in Time, Miranda is obsessed with time travel,
and receives mysterious notes which accurately predict
the future. Over the course of her 6th grade year, Miranda
describes the three important themes in her life: her mother’s
upcoming appearance on The $20,000 Pyramid, the
sudden end of her lifelong friendship with her neighbor
Sal, and the appearance of a deranged homeless man. This
thought-provoking and realistic science fiction is enthralling. |
|
 The Fire Chronicle
by John Stephens
Ages 8–12
Kate (15) and her younger siblings Michael and Emma escape from the Edgar Allan Poe Home for Hopeless and Incorrigible Orphans with the evil forces of Dire Magus right behind them. Kate uses the Emerald Atlas to travel to 1899 New York City where she joins forces with the heroic Rafe. Michael and Emma are reunited with their wizard guardian Dr. Pym and travel to southern South America and Antarctica in search of the legendary Fire Chronicle. This delightful adventure fantasy is the second in the Books of Beginning series, following The Emerald Atlas. |
|
 The Secret Keepers
by Trenton Lee Stewart, Diana Sudyka
Ages 8–12
It’s summer vacation for Reuben Pedley (12), who lives in a rundown neighborhood of New Umbria, a city ruled by the mysterious Smoke and patrolled by his minions, the Directions. One afternoon Reuben finds an antique watch and teams up with Penny and Jack Meyers, descendants of the original owners of the watch, to outwit the Smoke and Directions and free New Umbria. |
|
 The Raven Boys
by Maggie Stiefvater
Ages 13–up
Every year Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother who tells her daughter about the soon-to-be dead who walk by. Blue never sees or hears a thing until the year that a boy walks up and talks to her, introducing himself as Gansey. Blue discovers that Gansey is a wealthy student at Aglionby, the local private school whose members are known as Raven Boys. Blue knows the Raven Boys are trouble and decides to avoid Gansey and his misfit friends at all cost. |
|
 The Dream Thieves
by Maggie Stiefvater
Ages 14–up
The Raven Boys, Gansey, Adam, Noah, and Ronan, continue their quest for the legendary sleeping Welsh King, Owen Glendower. The mystical forest Cabeswater disappears, and the mysterious Grey Man is searching for the Greywaren, which enables its owner to steal objects from dreams. (second in the Raven Cycle, following The Raven Boys) |
|
 Blue Lily, Lily Blue
by Maggie Stiefvater
Ages 14–up
Blue Sargent has finally found a group of friends she can trust — the Raven Boys, a group of boys attending a private school in her hometown of Henrietta, Virginia. Or can she? The Raven Boys continue their quest to locate the tomb of the ancient Welsh king Glendower and Malory, Gansey’s elderly British mentor comes to Henrietta. This mesmerizing supernatural thriller is the third in the Raven Cycle, following The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves. |
|
 The Raven King
by Maggie Stiefvater
Ages 14–up
In this final book in the Raven cycle, Gansey and his friends are desperate to change his fate to die before the end of the year. Blue has been warned all her life that she will cause her true love’s death with a kiss, which could be connected with Gansey’s fate. Robotic bees, a powerful demon, a cloven-hooved girl, fast cars, and tree spirits help bring this quartet to an exhilarating close. (follow-up to The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, and Blue Lily, Lily Blue.) |
|
 Lament:
The Faerie Queen’s Deception
by Maggie Stiefvater
Ages 12–up
Sixteen-year-old gifted harpist
Deirdre Monaghan is painfully shy and a bit bored with
her dull suburban life. When a mysterious boy enters her
life, Deirdre discovers that she is a cloverhand, one who
can see faeries. Soon she is in the midst of a magical
faerie war that brings a bit more excitement than she wished
for. Fantasy fans will love this dark tale. |
|
 The
Scorpio Races
by Maggie Stiefvater
Ages 13–up
The Scorpio Races are held
on the island of Thisby each November, racing against
the terrifying faerie water horses that eat meat and
drown people. Sean Kendrick races every year, winning
on the stallion Corr. Puck Connolly races her ordinary
horse against the killers, desperate to earn enough
money to keep her home, and to ear the respect of her
older brother who threatens to desert the family. This
compelling novel explores themes of courage, loyalty,
dread, loss, and the necessity of making hard choices. |
|
 Shiver
by Maggie Stiefvater
Ages 13–up
For years Grace has been fascinated
by the yellow-eyed wolf that saved her from its pack when she
was a child. Then she meets Sam, the yellow-eyed boy who was
bitten by a wolf when he was a child. In winter Sam lives as
a wolf, in summer he is human. As he grows older, Sam realizes
that one day he may lose the ability to become human. When
Grace and Sam fall in love one summer, Sam knows this is his
last chance to stay human. |
|
 Heartsinger
by Karlijn Stoffels
Ages 12–up
Two musicians are born at the same
hour on the same day. Mee, a singer of funeral dirges, can
see inside a person’s soul and his song can ease the pain of
loss. The music Mitou plays on her accordion brings happiness.
Together the two musicians are asked to travel to a faraway
land to free the Princess Esperanza from a spell that forces
her to spend her life gazing into a mirror. |
|
 Fallout
by Todd Strasser
Ages 10–up
Scott (11) is the only kid in the neighborhood with a bomb shelter in his back yard. When the disaster everyone mocked actually happens, the shelter is sealed with 10 people inside, six more than it was designed for. As time passes, supplies dwindle, and the adults begin to argue about who should be ejected from the shelter as they wait for the radiation levels to receed. |
|
 The
Ring of Solomon
by Jonathan Stroud
Ages 10–up
This prequel to the trilogy
featuring Bartimaeus, an egotistical wise-cracking
djinn, takes place in 950 BCE Jerusalem. Thanks to
his magical ring, King Solomon has great power, and
threatens the kingdom of Sheba when the queen rejects
his marriage proposal. Asmira, the captain of the queen’s
guards, is sent to Israel to assassinate King Solomon
and steal his ring. Asmira connects with Bartimaeus,
then held captive by one of King Solomon’s wicked court
magicians, and great magic erupts. (Bartimaeus trilogy: The
Amulet of Samarkand, The
Golem’s Eye, and Ptolemy’s
Gate) |
|
 Imaginary
Girls
by Nova Ren Suma
Ages 14–up
Chloe (14) idolizes her older
sister Ruby, a popular girl who is given the freedom
to run wild. At a night party, Ruby challenges Chloe
to swim across the reservoir, where she discovers the
body of a London, a girl from school. Chloe and her
father are forced to leave town, but Ruby is willing
to do anything to get her sister home again. Two years
later Ruby brings Chloe back and Chloe isn’t sure if
everything is the same or different. Ruby is still
running wild, but London is alive and well. Chloe realizes
that Ruby seems to be able to bend reality to suit
herself in this spooky novel of magical realism. |
|
 This
Is Not a Test
by Courtney Summers
Ages 12–up
It’s the end of the world, and
six teens who barely know each other take refuge in their
high school while the undead zombie hordes lurk outside.
Sloane Price, a junior who has flirted with suicide since
her sister ran away six months ago, narrates. Sloane
couldn’t handle being alone with her abusive father,
but the new responsibility of keeping her fellow students
alive makes her reconsider what it means to live and
to die. |
|
 An Ember in the Ashes
by Sabaa Tahir
Ages 14–up
Under the Martial Empire, all must swear a blood oath to serve the Emperor. Those who rebel risk the death of their families and all they love. Laia lives with her grandfather and older brother, barely surviving in the poorest part of the city. Her brother is arrested by the Emperor’s Masks as a traitor, and Laia offers to spy for the Resistance as a slave in Blackcliff, the school where the Masks are trained. Elias is the school’s finest soldier, but secretly longs for freedom which he can only achieve by enduring the Trials. Narrations from the perspectives of both Laia and Elias expose the brutal world they inhabit. |
|
 A Torch Against the Night
by Sabaa Tahir
Ages 14–up
Martial Elias and Scholar Laia barely escape with their lives from Serra, headed to the prison Kauf where Laia’s brother Darin has been imprisoned because of his steel-making knowledge that threatens the Martial empire. Helene Aquilla, the emperor’s new Blood Shrike, is ordered to hunt down her childhood friend Elias or forfeit the lives of her entire family. This intense thriller, the sequel to An Ember In the Ashes, sets the stage for an exciting trilogy finale. |
|
 The Night Parade
by Kathryn Tanquary
Ages 10–14
Saki Yamamoto isn’t happy when her family takes her away from her friends in Tokyo to visit her grandmother’s remote village for the festival of Obon, honoring the spirits of the dead. The cell phone reception is terrible and Saki is bored by the preparations for the festival. When the local kids dare her to play a game in the graveyard, she rings the sacred bell, invoking a death curse. Saki has only three nights to reverse the curse with the help of three spirit guides. this modern fantasy highlights the contrast between Saki’s devotion to modern technology and the power of cultural tradition. |
|
 Daughter
of Smoke and Bone
by Laini Taylor
Ages 15–up
Karou (17) is an art student
in Prague, except for the times she is called away
to do errands for the loving inhuman creatures who
raised her. Karou has no idea why she lives with chimera,
who inexplicably require human teeth, and fears that
she is somehow not quite whole. When black hand prints
begin appearing on doorways, Karou is drawn into a
deadly rivalry between devils and angels, and finally
begins to learn about herself. |
|
 Days of Blood & Starlight
by Laini Taylor
Ages 15–up
Karou, a chimera, has reluctantly accepted her role in the war between the chimera and the seraphim, as has her estranged love Akiva, a seraphim. The violent conflict between the beasts and the ethereal beings is told from both Karou’s and Akiva’s perspectives in this grim sequel to Daughter of Smoke & Bone. |
|
 Lips
Touch
by Laini Taylor
Ages 12–up
These three different stories
all hinge on the consequences of a kiss. Contemporary
Kizzy longs to be a normal, popular teenager and forgets
the rules she learned as a child and is seduced by
a goblin in disguise. Anamique lives in British colonial
India, silenced by a spell cast upon her at birth.
Just before Esmé’s 14th birthday, one eye changes from
brown to blue, and she discovers that she is hosting
a non-human being. |
|
 Strange the Dreamer
by Laini Taylor
Ages 15–up
Lazlo Strange, a young orphaned librarian raised by monks, is obsessed with the mythical lost city of Weep, destroyed in the war with the Mesarthim 200 years earlier. He dreams of going in search of Weep, but isn’t brave enough to set off on his own. He joins the hero Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors seeking help to solve a mysterious problem that may be connected to Weep. (first in a duology) |
|
 Doom
Machine
by Mark Teague
Ages 9–12
It’s 1956 and young Jack Creedle
and his disreputable Uncle Bud are trying to fix a
dead car which stranded scientist Dr. Shumway and her
daughter, Isadora, in the small town of Vern Hollow.
When the aliens land, Bud knows they are there to steal
one of his inventions, but everyone else is amazed
when the aliens kidnap seven people and take them off
to the planet Skreepia. This lively illustrated interstellar
adventure will captivate middle school readers. |
|
 The Burning Sky
by Sherry Thomas
Ages 14–up
Iolanthe Seabourne (16) is an elemental mage with a gift for fire. She has lived quietly with her mentor until she is suddenly transferred into 1883 London. There she meets Titus Elberon, disguised as a student at Eton College and is thrown into the power struggle between Atlantis and the Domain. (first in the Elemental Trilogy) |
|
 The
Last of the High Kings
by Kate Thompson
Ages 12–up
In this sequel to The
New Policeman, J.J. Liddy is now married with four
children, including 11-year old Jenny whose mysterious
destiny is interwoven with the mythic fairy kingdom of
their native Ireland. |
|
 The Last Wild
by Piers Torday
Ages 8–12
Kester Jaynes (12) lives in a future world where nearly all of the animals have been killed by global warming and a plague. Kester, who hasn’t spoken a word since his mother died six years earlier, is a prisoner at the Spectrum all Academy for Challenging Children. One day Kester discovers that he can communicate with cockroaches and pigeons, who urge him to escape from the academy and save the few remaining animals in the wild. |
|
 The
Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic
by Jennifer Trafton, Brett Helquist
Ages 9–12
One night 10-year-old Persimmony
Smudge becomes lost in the woods and overhears a plot
to steal the king’s gold buried under the castle on
the top of Mount Majestic. When Persimmony tells spoiled
12-year-old King Lucas about the intended theft, she
learns that the gold is in the form of a belt buckle
asleep under the small island they live on, the Island
at the Center of Everything. In fact, the mountain
is actually the belly of the sleeping giant. Persimmony
and her friend Worvil the Worrier race to convince
the island's inhabitants that the giant is real and
may wake up at any moment. This humorous and fascinating
tale would make a perfect bedtime read-aloud. |
|
 Coda
by Emma Trevayne
Ages 13–up
Anthem (18) lives in a future world where the Corp controls the population through addictive and mood-altering music. During the day Anthem sells his body’s energy to fuel the city’s grid, but at night he rebels by joining an illegal underground rock band. When a band member dies under suspicious circumstances, Anthem precipitates a musical rebellion aimed at overthrowing President Z and her cabinet. This debut thriller is the first in a two-book series. |
|
 A
Conspiracy of Kings
by Megan Whalen Turner
Ages 10–up
Sophos, the reluctant heir
to the Sounis throne who is more interested in poetry
than power, is kidnapped and sold into slavery. This
absorbing political adventure is the fourth in the
Queen’s Thief series: The
Thief, The
Queen of Attolia, The
King of Attolia. The books should be read in order
for full appreciation of the complex plots. |
|
 The Thickety: A Path Begins
by J.A. White, Andrea Offermann
Ages 8–12
Kara Westfall (12) is the daughter of the last known witch, who was hanged by the people of De’Noran when Kara was five. Ostracized by their community, Kara cares for her sickly brother and dysfunctional father, trying to convince the villages that the family is harmless. A journey into the deep woods called Thickety awakens Kara’s magical powers, which Kara finds addictive though she can’t decide if they are good or evil. |
|
 Moribito:
Guardian of the Spirit
by Nahoko Uehashi
Ages 10–up
Balsa was a wandering warrior
for hire until the day she rescued a boy, Chagum, from
the river. She is then hired by the boy’s mother to protect
him since Chagum is host to a mythical creature that
threatens the rulers. An engaging combination of martial
arts, magic, heroic quest, and a totally unique heroine,
this quick-paced book will appeal to both boys and girls. |
|
 Breadcrumbs
by Anne Ursu, Erin Mcguire
Ages 8–12
Hazel, an imaginative 5th grader adopted
from India, has just switched schools and can’t seem to fit
in. Her parents have just gotten divorced, and her best friend
Jack refuses to speak to her. When he disappears with an eerie
woman on a sled pulled by wolves, Hazel sets out into the snowy
and enchanted Minnesota woods to rescue him. What Hazel doesn’t
know is that a shard of magical mirror is stuck in Jack’s heart,
causing the drastic change in his personality. Using elements
of Hans Christian Anderson’s
“The Snow Queen,” this magical fantasy explores
the power of friendship. |
|
 The
Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
by Catherynne M. Valente, Ana
Juan
Ages 10–14
September (12) lived a normal
life in Omaha, Nebraska until her father went to war
and her mother went to work, leaving her on her own
much of the time. One day a man who calls himself Green
Wind appears and tells September that her help is needed
in Fairyland, to retrieve a witch’s spoon from the
terrible Marquess. Originally published in serialized
form online, this was the first e-book to win the Andre
Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. |
|
 The Glass Town Game
by Catherynne M. Valente, Rebecca Green
Ages 10–up
Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne Brontë are mourning the death of two older sisters and dreading the day when Charlotte and Emily have to go back to boarding school. When Anne and Branwell walk them to the train station, the train takes them all to Glass Town, a real version of their invented escape populated by their favorite toys and Napoleon riding a giant chicken. Anne and Branwell are kidnapped, and their rescue is up to Charlotte and Emily, two clever and brave schoolgirls. This exciting adventure story is based on real-life childhood writing by the Brontë siblings. |
|
 Drizzle
by Kathleen Van Cleve
Ages 8–12
Polly (11) knows that her family’s
rhubarb farm is magical: the plants taste like chocolate, it
rains every day at exactly 1:00 PM, and her best friend is
a rhubarb plant named Harry. But one day a mysterious mist
appears and everything changes: it stops raining, her brother
Harry becomes deathly ill, and Aunt Edith threatens to sell
the farm. Polly knows it is up to her alone to overcome her
numerous fears (of giant insects and slimy sand), discover
her own unique gift, and save the farm. This debut fantasy
with an environmental slant will appeal to young readers of
both sexes. |
|
 Silverwood
by D.E. Vollrath
Ages 10–up
Eleanor Wigton (12) is in her second year at the prestigious Penwick Academy at the port city of Flooston Moor. Eleanor and five older students are selected to work on a secret project by the head mistress, helping to crack a code by a mysterious visitor. In Penwick’s vast library Eleanor discovers that the code refers to a ship that visited a strange island nearly 100 years earlier, before magic vanished from the land. A group known as the Forgotten is also trying to crack the code and is willing to do just about anything to discover what Eleanor has learned. |
|
 We All Looked Up
by Tommy Wallach
Ages 14–up
The asteroid Ardor is on course to collide with and possibly destroy life on Earth. Four Seattle high school seniors struggle with the meaning of life and their possible death in the near future. Peter, the popular basketball star, worries about his sister’s romance. Anita, the perfect student who would prefer to decline her admission to Princeton and concentrate on singing. Eliza, a talented photographer with a bad reputation, is trying to deal with her father’s cancer. Andy, the stoner slacker, rounds out the alternating cast of narrators in this compelling examination of what is truly important if the end of the world is near. |
|
 The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
by Leslye Walton
Ages 14–up
This magical tale is the story of Ava Lavender, a girl born with wings, and her family. Ava’s grandmother Emilienne emigrated from France to America in the 1920s. Ava’s mother Viviane has a supernatural sense of smell, and one of her aunts transformed into a bird. An entrancing mix of fable and magical realism, this novel will appeal to both teenagers and adults. |
|
 Numbers
by Rachel Ward
Ages 14–up
Jem (15) has a unique and terrifying
ability, when she looks someone in the eye, she sees the date
of their death. Jem avoids eye contact and relationships. Then
she meets Spider, another outsider in her special-education
class, and decides to take a change on friendship. The two
take a trip to the London Eye ferris wheel and Jem is horrified
to find that all the tourists in line are flashing the same
date, today’s date. Terrorists have planted a bomb, and when
Jem and Spider escape moments before the blast, they become
suspects. This stark novel is a gripping story of the lives
of teens living on the edge. |
|
 The
Book of Blood and Shadow
by Robin Wasserman
Ages 12–up
Nora is interning with a college
professor who is decoding the Voynich, a mysterious
15th-century document written in an unknown language.
One night Nora finds her friend Chris murdered and
his girlfriend Adriane covered in blood. Nora’s boyfriend
Max has disappeared, and the police think he is responsible.
Nora is determined to prove that Max is innocent, and
determines that the murder was committed by the Hledaci,
an ancient Czech cult dedicated to finding the Lumen
Dei, an alchemical machine. Fearing that the cult will
target them next, Nora and Adriane head for Prague
to find the truth and save Max. |
|
 The Waking Dark
by Robin Wasserman
Ages 14–up
In the small town of Oleander, Kansas, five teenagers with no connection to each other suddenly go on murder sprees and then try to kill themselves. A year later five survivers (including the one murderer whose suicide attempt was not successful) are united when a storm isolates the town. As the days pass, the five realize that everyone around them is acting strangly. Surrounded by insanity, they struggle to stay alive and figure out what is going on and who is responsible for the maddness afflicting the adults. |
|
 Angel
Burn
by L.A. Weatherly
Ages 14–up
Willow (16) is a gifted mechanic
and psychic. Her classmate Beth is thrilled about joining
the cult like Church of Angels, but Willow sees that
the “angel” feeds on humans, damaging their
bodies and minds. Alex (17) has been an angel assassin
for years, but the orders to kill Willow are unexpected.
She’s not a normal target, and Alex is suspicious about
the reasons she has been marked for death. So Alex
rescues Willow and runs away with her, determined to
foil the angels’ plans to take over humanity. This
romantic thriller is the first in a planned trilogy. |
|
 Blackout
by Robison Wells
Ages 13–up
Four teens have developed strange powers after being afflicted by a virus: super strength, invisibility, mind control. Other teens afflicted by the same virus have become terrorists, intent on destroying the country’s power grids. The government sends the army to round up the nation’s teenagers for quarantine and testing, making it difficult for the teens to distinguish friend from foe. |
|
 Variant
by Robison Wells
Ages 13–up
Benson Fisher (17) is tired of foster
homes and applies for a scholarship for Maxfield Academy in
New Mexico. But instead of the new start he hoped for, Benson
finds himself trapped with 70 other teens in a frightening
environment ruled by the mysterious Iceman who gives out points
and punishments. There are no teachers, the students are divided
into competing factions in order to survive, and Benson knows
his only hope is to escape as quickly as possible, since breaking
the rules can mean death. The cliff hanger ending will leave
readers eager for more. |
|
 Pivot Point
by Kasie West
Ages 13–up
Addie Coleman is a Searcher, when faced with a choice she can look into the future and examine both outcomes before deciding which she would prefer. Addie’s parents are divorcing, and she must decide if she will stay with her mother on the Compound, a secret place for paranormals, or go with her father to live in the Normal world. The divergent futures hold different love interests as well as a murder subplot. This delightful mix of fantasy, humor, and romance is masterful. |
|
 Leviathan
by Scott Westerfeld
Ages 12–up
In this alternate version of life in
1914, the Germans and Austro-Hungarians are armed with Clankers,
steam driven iron machines, while the British Darwinists have
fabricated animals. Prince Aleksandar of Austria-Hungary is
hidden away by his trusted advisors after his parents are killed
by the Germans. Meanwhile, Deryn Sharp successfully passes
as a young man in order to join the British Air Service. Her
bravery during a catastrophic flight aboard an enhance jellyfish
earns her a berth on the living airship Leviathan. The two
meet in the Swiss Alps and soon realize they must either cooperate
or be destroyed by the Germans. (1st in a planned quartet) |
|
 Behemoth
by Scott Westerfeld, Keith Thompson
Ages 12–up
In this captivating steampunk sequel
to Leviathan,
Deryn (posing as a boy in order to serve as midshipman on the
living British airship Leviathan) and Alex (heir to the Austria-Hungarian
empire posing as a commoner) hope to bring the war to a peaceful
conclusion. It's 1914 when disaster strikes, and the two find
themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory. This exciting
alternative-history adventure novel will leave readers anxious
for the next volume in the trilogy. |
|
 Noggin
by John Corey Whaley
Ages 14–up
When Travis Coates dies from acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the age of 16, his head is surgically removed and cryogenically frozen. Five years later, technological advances allow doctors to reattach his head to a taller and more muscular body than the one he left behind. Unfortunately all of his friends are five years older, and Travis is still a sophomore in high school. His best friend Kyle, who confessed he was gay at Travis’s deathbed has gone back in the closet. And his girlfriend Kate is engaged to be married. Travis is determined to reverse both these decisions and win back both his best friend and the love of his girlfriend. |
|
The Thickety: A Path Begins
by J.A. White, Andrea Offermann
Ages 8–12
Kara Westfall (12) is the daughter of the last known witch, who was hanged by the people of De’Noran when Kara was five. Ostracized by their community, Kara cares for her sickly brother and dysfunctional father, trying to convince the villages that the family is harmless. A journey into the deep woods called Thickety awakens Kara’s magical powers, which Kara finds addictive though she can’t decide if they are good or evil. |
|
 The Thickety: The Whispering Trees
by J.A. White, Andrea Offermann
Ages 8–12
Kara and Taff are still on the run inside the dangerous forest known as the Thickety, chased by the Forest Demon Sordyr. Kara’s ability to communicate with animals is improving, but her memory begins to fade. The legendary witch Mary Kettle offers to lead them out of the Thickety but the siblings aren’t sure if they can trust her. This fast-paced adventure is the second in the series that began with The Thickety: A Path Begins. |
|
 Mind Games
by Kiersten White
Ages 12–up
Fia (17) and her older sister Annie, who is blind, barely remember a time when they were not controlled by Keane, who runs a boarding school for empaths, psychics, and mind readers. Keane has promised that Annie will be protected as long as Fia does whatever she is told. But the assignment to kill Adam, a research prodigy, buts Fia’s loyalty to her sister and her sense of what is right into opposition. |
|
 Paranormalcy
by Kiersten White
Ages 12–up
Evie (16) works for the International
Paranormal Containment Agency, an organization in charge of
keeping paranormal beings under control. Evie is the only human
not susceptible to “glamour” and can quickly subdue
the paranormal. But Evie is bored with her life and longs to
be a normal teenager with a school locker and a driver’s license.
Lend, a captured shape-shifter her own age, shares his secrets,
and Evie finds herself strangely attracted to him. This absorbing
romantic novel has plenty of humor and action along with a
little terror. |
|
 Down
the Mysterly River
by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham
Ages 10–up
Max (12), a Boy Scout and a
master of orienteering, finds himself in a strange
forest with no idea how he got there. He meets a group
of talking animals who are equally confused about their
environment. soon Max and his new friends are on the
run from a group of hunters called the Blue Cutters,
who use their blades to sever creatures from their
past. This action-packed adventure celebrating friendship
is original and enthralling. |
|
 In the Shadow of Blackbirds
by Cat Winters
Ages 12–up
Mary Shelley Black (16) is fascinated by science. It’s 1918 and Mary’s father is on trial for treason and the deadly Spanish influenza is sweeping through the nation. Young men are heading off to war and dying, including Mary’s childhood friend Stephen. Desperate mourners turn to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, buy Mary has never believed in ghosts. Then she is struck dead by lightning for a few minutes, and finds that she can communicate with the dead when she recovers. Unsettling photographs add to the deliciously spooky atmosphere. |
|
 Belzhar
by Meg Wolitzer
Ages 14–up
Jam Gallhue meets British exchange student Reeve Maxfield in 10th grade and falls hard in love. When she loses him, she falls apart and ends up in the Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school for emotionally fragile teenagers. Jam is hand-picked for the Special Topics in English class focused on the work and life of Sylvia Plath. Each student is given a journal that has the power to take them back to the time before the event that destroyed their emotional health. As Jam writes in the journal she confronts her past and eventually must choose how much she is willing to sacrifice for peace of mind. |
|
 Velocity
by Chris Wooding
Ages 12–up
Cassica is a fearless and determined driver; Shiara can repair anything and is good at racing strategies. Together the two are preparing for the highly competitive Widowmaker, a three-day race with the prize of a life of luxury aboard an orbital habitat. Desperate to escape from the tiny dying town of Coppermouth, the two are willing to accept the risk that they may be among the huge number of race cars that do not survive the ordeal. But as the race begins, and the two head off through the dangerous wasteland, the lure of fame and fortune may leave their friendship yet one more casualty of the race. |
|
 MARTians
by Blythe Woolston
Ages 12–up
Zoë Zindleman lives in the near future when big box stores own everything: schools, hospitals, and even people if they aren’t careful. Zoë’s high school is closed "for efficiency" and her AnnaMom leaves town to find work, leaving Zoë on her own. She receives a job offer from AllMART and moves into the Warren, an abandoned strip mall inhabited by other left-behind kids. The pervasive corporate control and depersonalization is chilling. |
|
 The
Curse of the Wendigo
by Rick Yancey
Ages 14–up
Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a monstrumologist,
and Will Henry, his apprentice, travel from the Canadian
wilderness to New York City in search of an alleged
wendigo, the North American equivalent to a vampire,
who has left a string of brutally murdered and faceless
bodies in his wake. Dr. Warthrop doesn’t believe in
vampires or wendigos, but the murders continue and
he and Will seem incapable of solving the mystery.
This sequel to The
Monstrumologist is just as gruesome and emotionally
gripping. |
|
 The 5th Wave
by Rick Yancey
Ages 14–up
Earth has been decimated by an alien invasion, and after the 5th round of attacks few are left alive. Cassie (16), armed with an M16 rifle and her younger brother’s teddy bear, is searching for her brother while trying to evade the Silencer (alien assassin) trying to kill her. Cassie is convinced that the only way to stay alive is to trust no one, but then she meets Evan Walker, who may be her only hope of rescuing her brother. This high-intensity thriller is the first in a planned trilogy. |
|
 Blood
Red Road
by Moira Young
Ages 14–up
Saba (18) has lived her whole
life in Silverlake, a wasteland with constant sandstorms.
Saba and her family scavenge a bleak living from the
nearby landfill. Then four cloaked horsemen arrive
in a sandstorm, killing her father and kidnapping her
twin brother Luke. With only her raven Nero and younger
sister Emmi, Saba sets off on an epic journey to rescue
Luke, eventually joining up with the handsome Jack
and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free
Hawks. This fast paced action romance is the first
in the Dustlands series. |
|
 Paper Valentine
by Brenna Yovanoff
Ages 12–up
Hannah Wagnor is deeply depressed by the recent death of her best friend Lillian of anorexia. Hannah can’t forget, especially since Lillian is haunting her on a daily basis. It’s the hottest summer on record for the city of Ludlow, tempers are short, and petty crime is on the rise. Hannah becomes attracted to Finny Boone, a potentially dangerous juvenile delinquent. Then young girls are murdered, their bodies surrounded by toys and paper valentines. Egged on my Lillian, Hannah becomes obsessed with the murders. This dark fantasy is painful but satisfying. |
|
 What’s Left of Me
by Kat Zhang
Ages 13–up
Eva and Addie started like all babies in this xenophobic alternative America, two souls sharing one body and taking turns learning to walk, sing, and dance. But the usual practice didn’t happen: one of the souls didn’t fade as the other became dominate. Now 15 the girls are a hybrid: Addie controls the body and Eva lives secretly. Only Addie knows she’s still there. If they are caught, the girls will be locked away with the other despised hybrids, subjected to treatment designed to destroy one of them. This riveting suspense novel is the first in The Hybrid Chronicles. |
|
 The Rosemary Spell
by Virginia Zimmerman
Ages 10–14
Rosemary “Rosie” Bennet (13) and her friend Adam feel abandoned by Adam’s older sister Shelby who no longer wants to spend time with them. Rosie and Adam find an old book locked in a cupboard in Rosie’s house, which was once owned by the poet Constance Brooke. The blank pages of the book fill with handwriting before their eyes. The writing is a spell that makes people vanish, even from memories. When Shelby disappears, Rosie and Adam race against time to bring her back. |
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