Mrs. D’s Reads

I am presenting these at the local WLMA event this morning.  Some of them have appeared on previous posts, as well.

The Host By Stephanie Meyer

I found this sci-fi tale of two girls in one body a much more accomplished story Twilight.  Sci-Fi for people that don’t really like Sci-Fi.

Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

This is a satisfying ending to Riordan’s series, with a nice opening for a series about a new set of heroes and half-bloods.

Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan

A hit with guys.  So much so that I had to order some of them from Australia.  Good action, adventure, mystery with great relationships and other issues woven in.

Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

This sequel to last year’s Knife of Never Letting Go is as compelling as the first.  You can hear the thoughts of boys and men, but not girls and women.  One group of men use that as an excuse to rule.  Thought provoking, surprising, disturbing.

Catching Fire By Suzanne Collins

I loved The Hunger Games and have waited anxiously for the sequel. They’re back in the games because the capital is facing an uprising inspired by their performance the first time around.  Cliffhanger ending, but worth the wait.

Thirteen Reasons Why By Jay Asher

OK, not new, but I loved this book and thought it worth mentioning for those who haven’t found it yet.  A girl commits suicide, but leaves behind a sort of chain letter that lets people know the impact their behavior had on her decision.  Powerful.

Going Bovine By Libba Bray

Weird, but also sad and funny and irreverent.  A boy with mad cow disease goes on a journey to save the planet accompanied by a punk rock angel, a little person named Gonzo, and the Norse God Balder disguised as a lawn gnome.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

This is a book about cause and effect, time travel, and the power of choice.  Really good.  Really thought-provoking. Mystery, but also something more.

How To Steal a Car by Pete Hautman

A suburban girl deals with a complicated life and teenage angst by stealing cars instead of developing an eating disorder or using drugs.  Nice device as Hautman takes you through each car’s theft.

Paper Towns By John Green

I love Green’s stuff.  This one is part mystery, part coming of age, and part road trip.  A girl disappears, but she leaves a “clue” for the neighbor boy to find.  He is convinced she wants him to find her.

Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

A great Zombie book that’s not really that much about Zombies. A girl living in an isolated village surrounded by a forest filled with “unconsecrated” wonders if there is more to the world than what she sees.  When the unconsecrated take over the village, she goes to find out.

Geektastic:  Stories from the Nerd Herd by Various Authors

A great collection of geek fiction from the likes of Libba Bray, M.T. Anderson, Scott Westerfield and many others.  These bright stories resonate.  These are the authors who get YA right.

Angry Management by Chris Crutcher

Three stories of anger gone awry, artfully told, which bring the return of several of Crutcher’s favorite characters.  Crutcher fans will love them (Welcome back, Angus!) and those new to Crutcher will seek out his older books.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Twilight with Angels? Sort of, but this one brings it’s own spin on things.  Angels are the new Vampires.

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Two high school students bond over hating the same people, but when he takes their Hate List to the extreme, she has to survive the aftermath.  Some heady issues, and a nice examination of what happens after a tragedy occurs.

How to Say Goodbye in Robot By Natalie Standiford

A unique, plutonic love story about two outsiders who connect on the fringes of teenage life.  There is depth here, and the kinds of quirky details that help elevate a story above standard YA fare.

Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Readers meet Zach in an addiction treatment facility, but he is struggling to remember not only how he got there, but what has happened to him to get him to this point.  Those memories are the monster of the title, and the focus of the journal Zach writes as he heals.  Saenz does not shy away from the truth in this unique and effective novel.

A Song for Summer By Eva Ibbotson

Not new, but reissued and marketed for young adults, Ibbotson’s historical novels are quality reading for girls looking for romance, strength, and self-discovery.  Most set during WWII.

Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have by Allan Zadoff

Andy is a 306 pound social outcast in the midst of an unpromising high school career.  Suddenly, a popular football player plucks Andy out of his obscurity and makes him a star.  This is a funny, engaging, John Hughes-style teen makeover story.

The Maze Runner By James Dashner

Thomas wakes up in “the Glade” in the middle of a maze with no memory of how he got there.  His new life is a game of survival where he and the other teenagers must work together to keep each other alive in the Maze.  Fans of The Hunger Games will enjoy this one, in spite of its cliffhanger ending.

Books I plan to read…

Love is the Higher Law by David Levithin

Three teens in post-911 New York deal with the aftermath in different and intersecting ways.

Daniel X (series) by James Patterson

Daniel X has powers that can save the world.  From the man who brought us Maximum Ride (among others).

Leviathan by Scott Westerfield

Alternate history WWI with a steampunk edge.   I loved the Uglies series, so I’ll definitely check this out.

Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

A 54 year-old concierge and a suicidal 12 year-old come together in a Paris apartment building.  Hugely popular in France.

Tombstone Tea by Joanne Dahme

A girl and a boy in a cemetery learning lessons from the ghosts of the inhabitants.

Taken by Edward Bloor

Our world in 2035 when it is commonplace for kids to be kidnapped and ransomed.  But when Claire is kidnapped, things go horribly wrong and she’s on her own.

Juggling Fire by Joanne Bell

A girl’s idyllic life in the woods is disrupted by her father’s depression and disappearance.  She takes off to find her own answers, reinventing fairy tales to keep herself entertained on the way.

Witch and Wizard by James Patterson

Totalitarian Society.  Kids who discover powers that could save the world.  Sounds familiar, but Patterson usually makes it a fun ride.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

A small town boy has dreams about a girl he’s never met.  When a new girl moves to town, he can’t seem to stay away from her.  “A curse…a girl…a grave.”

Ok, clearly summer is long past, but here are some of the things I read during the warmer months.  Part Two coming soon…

Thirteenth Child

by Patricia Wrede

Grades 5-8

This great read is sort of Little House on the Prairie meets Harry Potter. Some great and unique elements to this story about a civilizations trying to keep the unknown at bay with magic. At the same time, there is a growing segment of their civilization that is rejecting that path. The family at the center of the story is trying to navigate a path through it all.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie

YA-Adult

Another re-read for me this summer, but my daughter was reading it for her summer assignment for English. (Bravo LCHS for having such a great reading list for your Honors Freshman English students!) I loved getting to see her discover Alexie’s unique storytelling style, and getting to discuss both his writing and his story with her. This won the National Book Award for good reason.

Nobody’s Princess and Nobody’s Prize

by Esther Friesner

Grades 6-12

This is a really nice couple of historical novels about the young Helen of Troy. What kind of adolescent grows up to be a woman whose beauty caused wars and mayhem in the ancient world? In Friesner’s imaginings, it’s a girl who is fierce, independent, and likes to fight so much that she dresses as a boy to get the chance to train and travel. Readers will root for this heroic misfit on the verge of her womanhood and her historic beauty.

Half-Blood Prince

by J.K. Rowling

Grades 3-adult

Of course with the movie coming out I had to re-read this tragic chapter in the Harry Potter series. So much is revealed, and so much is lost, in this pentultimate volume. The movie was fun, but had none of the emotional import Rowling is able to communicate in the book. It held up really well in this second reading.

Thirteen Reasons Why

by Jay Asher

YA

Asher’s innovative storytelling and compelling tale will capture readers from the beginning. A girl commits suicide and leaves a sort of post-mortem chain letter that is to be passed around to all the people who she felt had a hand in her decision to kill herself. Some of them did harm, and some of them did good, but they have to keep the message going to find out which role they played. A really good read.

What I Saw and How I Lied

by Judy Blundell

YA

I was excited to read this National Book Award winner, but for me it was a surprising winner. The characters were interesting, and story held together well. It’s definitely a good read, but I wasn’t wowed in the way I have been by some of the other recent winners. That said, it’s a good historical novel about the realities of a family falling apart post-WWII and how the process of growing up can happen in an instant.

Ever

by Gail Carson Levine

Grades 5-12

I have really been enjoying Levine’s forays into re-imaginings of myths and traditional stories. This one has a god who wants to feel and experience what humans do. When he falls in love with a human, and she with him, they are both willing to sacrifice themselves to be with the other. Surprisingly well-developed for a myth-based tale, and some wonderfully modern ideas that work well in this context.

Tentacles

by Roland Smith

Grades 5-12

This long-awaited sequel to Cryptid Hunters takes a little while to get moving, but when it does it goes at breakneck speed to a cliff-hanger ending. Smith asks more questions than he answers, but fans will love revisiting these characters as they search for a giant squid and try to avoid the long reach of Noah Blackwood. Great adventure, nice development of the characters and relationships, and just a good, fun read.

Catching Fire

by Suzanne Collins

YA to adult

This sequel to The Hunger Games is a good one. Of course our heroes are still just trying to survive, now outside of the games. However, their victory in the Hunger Games has sparked an unexpected movement of rebellion in the districts, and the powers that be are trying to use them to subdue the resistance. Another cliff-hanger ending, but readers will love this sequel and long for the next.

American Teen

American Teen

YA-Adult

This was an interesting documentary I watched with my daughter this summer. Some apparent cliches are fleshed out as filmakers follow around five teens during a year of high school. There are predictably adolescent moments, but filmakers don’t demean them. They treat the very real feelings and experiences of these teens as the important life moments they are to the subjects. Not perfect, but definitely interesting.

Time Traveler’s Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

Adult

I re-read this story, which I loved the first time, in preparation for seeing the movie that came out this summer. It was powerful in different ways the second time around, and ironically, reading it again made me more reluctant to see the film. I still haven’t seen it.

The Angel’s Game

by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Adult

My parents introduced me to this Spanish author, who’s other novel, Shadow of the Wind, is a terrific story, full of magical realism, set in the incredible city of Barcelona. The Angel’s Game has some connections to the other novel, but stands alone as a mystery and tragedy beautifully translated.

The Last Kingdom

by Bernard Cornwell

Adult

Another novel passed to me by my parents, this is the first in Cornwell’s novels about Alfred the Great. Vikings, Saxons, lots of fighting, and the birth of the British kingdom. If you love historical novels, Cornwell is someone to pick up.

Devil’s Cup

by Stewart Lee Allan

All ages

This was one of my first coffee reads this summer, and it’s a nice way to start. In this modern travelogue, Allan takes a journey tracing coffee from it’s origins in Ethiopia, to Yemen, Java, and then to how it spread over Europe, South America and the rest of the world. There are some great travel moments, some wonderful insights, and just a good, solid history of coffee.

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lilly Ponder

by Rebecca Wells

YA to adult

I am a Wells fan from way back, and Little Altars Everywhere is my favorite. Calla Lily Ponder had some great southern characters, and it was a good read, but it didn’t have the humor or the dark edges I have loved about Wells’ previous books. However, Calla Lily’s story is a good one, and worth reading.