The Selection by Kiera Cass

I stayed up late to finish reading this book.  And enjoyed every page of it.  I already have book 2 which I'll start soon.  I enjoy a good dystopian young adult book.  If you liked Matched, and I did, this is just as good and better.  Think a blend of Matched and Hunger Games .. with out the violence and you get a good read.  I give it four out of five stars of approval.  It's a good read.

Ruined by Paula Morris

This was surprisingly entertaining.  If you're looking for a non-scary ghost story, here you go.  More of a mystery with secrets not reveled until the end of the story.

Trapped by Michael Northrop

       What would you do if you were locked in a school.  Only the lock is tons of snow over 11 feet high.  Light is blocked.  The electricity shuts down.  The phone lines are down.  No one knows you are there.  Seven teenagers are in their school.  Everyone else has left when the snows started falling.  What would you do to survive?
        I thought the ideas was very interesting and read the book in two days.  I was not disappointed.  The whole time I was reading, I thought about what I would do.  There were some impossible choices that the teens had to face.  The dynamics between the teens was what drove the story.  It's a good read and I would recommend this book.

Invisible Sun by David Macinnis Gill

This is book 2, following Black Hole Sun.  I was lucky to get an advanced reader because I enjoyed the first one so much.  More snappy dialogue, page turning drama that never ends.  There is an introduction of new characters.  I like the addition of the Monks and how they raised Vienne and a few other orphans.  They are bee keepers but these bees do a lot more then just their traditional jobs.  Meanwhile, the villains just got much more evil.  It's all on Durango to save the day.  I really enjoyed the story.  It's a fun read.  Lots of explosions and martial arts fighting.  (I'm really not the explosions and martial arts fighting but I still loved it)!  It's a fun read for entertainment.

A million Shades of Grey by Cynthia Kadohata

This is about a family that is living a small village.  The father worked for the American soldiers tracking the enemy but now the soldiers have left and they are all on their own as they hope the North Vietnamese don't discover them.  The village does become under attack and chaos follows.  The story is centered around Tin and his love of elephants.  His world becomes shattered as he is captured by the enemy.
        A story that brings world events a bit more personal with this story.  I would recommend it for world history classes.

Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill

I truly was entertained by this book.  It reminded me of so many elements that just entertain me.  I loved it and happen to have the sequel: Invisible Sun, which I look forward to reading next.  If you like the TV show Firefly and impossible situations to get out of this is it.  A bit of punk Star Wars and a bit of old school film noire stories all boiled up in one.  If you like science fiction, this is the book for you.  A must read. The dialogue between characters is snappy.  I love that there is Mimi, an AI who use to be alive person who was Durango's chief is now implanted in his brain.  Read this book for fun.  Just fun. You'll thank me later.

Mimus by Lilli Thal

I love this story. It is loaded with layers of excellent story telling.  It is on the dark side.  It's about surviving in the enemy's castle.  It's about growing up and maturing also.  I read this years ago but reading about The Returning reminded me of Mimus.  I had one student who kept reading it over and over.  I had to force him to find a new book. Of course I helped him with the choices since I had introduced him to Mimus in the first place.

The Returning by Christine Hinwood

Enter a world that is medieval but not of this world.  A war has taken place and the war is over.  There are two different cultures and now it is the assimilation of the cultures.  Cam comes back a veteran, the solo survivor of the war from his village.  Now the wives, sisters, fathers want to know what happened to their men and why was he the only one to come back.

There are multiple characters that you meet, and the story is rich in details.  I highly recommend this book.  And if you like these kind of stories, I also would like to mention the book, Mimus.  Another excellent story.

Infinity Ring: A mutiny in Time by James Dashner

This book fits better at an elementary or middle school.  It's a series of books, which starts off with A Mutiny in Time.  If you've read the 39 Clues series and enjoyed it then you might want to think about this series.  Different authors continue the series.  I thought it was okay but liked 39 Clues much better. This first book was very contrived.  But, I think it will entertain the younger grades.

No Crystal Stairs by Yaunda Nelson

This is about a man who created an independent book store in Harlem, focusing on African-American literature.  And along the way meet some very famous and important people.  Well done.

Rebel Spirits by Lois Ruby

This was a fun read.  I needed a couple fun reads after reading a heavy but really good book.  It's a cold case mystery of a Gettysburg solider who was shot in the back by someone he may have known.  It's romance with a which boy should I choose.  The dead one or the live one.  It's a flash back to history.  It's a quick read to entertain.  Oh and it's a romance book as well.

Forevermore by Cindy Mills

Ever go to the library and ask for a romance novel? This is the one to ask for. Ever dream of visiting Scotland and seeing old castles?  Maybe even haunted castles?  This is the book for you.  It's a fun read filled with suspense and mystery and a hunky ghost.  The cover may not be the best choice but it's an easy read with lots of entertainment.  Enjoy.

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

This is one intense book and well worth the read.  I can see this as a possible trilogy. Fen was born in the territory of Orleans.  Everyone is separated by their blood type.  You must live with a tribe to survive but peace talks between two tribes is interrupted by another tribe with the intent of taking captives.    The new history of Orleans is a series of hurricanes since Katrina has really created the destruction of the area and introduced a new blood disease.  The area is walled of to prevent the disease getting out to the rest of the country.  It's a brutal place to live.  Sherri Smith is a author who writes with many voices and makes each character live.  This is a great literary book that would fit perfectly on the shelves of a teen library.  A must read!