Summer 2013 Reading Suggestions

Some new Young Adult books you might like to hit the beach or back yard with...some selections are from the 2014 Rhode Island Teen Book Awards Nominees. Annotations are from the publisher or other review journals. Please check the comments below for more reading suggestions from your fellow students.

The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann. The international bestseller and debut novel by teenage author and classical musician Stefan Bachmann is part murder mystery, part gothic fantasy, part clockwork adventure. Best-selling author Rick Riordan said of The Peculiar, "Stefan Bachmann breathes fresh life into ancient magic."

Don't get yourself noticed and you won't get yourself hanged. In the faery slums of Bath, Bartholomew and his little sister Hettie live by these words. Bartholomew and Hettie are Peculiars, and neither faeries nor humans want anything to do with them. But when Peculiars start showing up in London murdered and covered with red tattoos, Bartholomew breaks all the rules and gets himself noticed. Full of magic, dazzling inventions, and intriguing characters such as Mr. Jelliby and Lord Lickerish, this story of friendship, bravery, and nonstop action adventure was hailed by best-selling author Christopher Paolini as "swift, strong, and entertaining. Highly recommended." The Peculiar ends with a spectacular cliff-hanger, and the story concludes in The Whatnot.

Croak by Gina Damico. Fed up with her wild behavior, sixteen-year-old Lex’s parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort’s true occupation is much dirtier than shoveling manure. He’s a Grim Reaper. And he’s going to teach Lex the family business. First book of a trilogy. Hilarious and horror filled, this sarcastic, fast paced book will go viral, Librarian's prediction.

The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost. Will West is careful to live life under the radar. At his parents' insistence, he's made sure to get mediocre grades and to stay in the middle of the pack on his cross-country team. Then Will slips up, accidentally scoring off the charts on a nationwide exam. Now Will is being courted by an exclusive prep school . . . and followed by men driving black sedans. When Will suddenly loses his parents, he must flee to the school. There he begins to explore all that he's capable of--physical and mental feats that should be impossible--and learns that his abilities are connected to a struggle between titanic forces that has lasted for millennia...

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. YA, 8TH AND UP.At 16, Hazel Grace Lancaster, a three-year stage IV–cancer survivor, is clinically depressed. To help her deal with this, her doctor sends her to a weekly support group where she meets Augustus Waters, a fellow cancer survivor, and the two fall in love. Both kids are preternaturally intelligent, and Hazel is fascinated with a novel about cancer called An Imperial Affliction. Most particularly, she longs to know what happened to its characters after an ambiguous ending. To find out, the enterprising Augustus makes it possible for them to travel to Amsterdam, where Imperial’s author, an expatriate American, lives. What happens when they meet him must be left to readers to discover. Suffice it to say, it is significant. Beautifully conceived and executed, this story artfully examines the largest possible considerations—life, love, and death—with sensitivity, intelligence, honesty, and integrity. In the process, Green shows his readers what it is like to live with cancer, sometimes no more than a breath or a heartbeat away from death. But it is life that Green spiritedly celebrates here, even while acknowledging its pain. In its every aspect, this novel is a triumph. Grades 9-12. One of the most highly praised books this year (L.Casey)

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal scandals, while she struggles to accept and develop her extraordinary musical talents. n her New York Times bestselling and Morris Award-winning debut, Rachel Hartman introduces mathematical dragons in an alternative-medieval world to fantasy and science-fiction readers of all ages. Eragon-author Christopher Paolini calls them, "Some of the most interesting dragons I've read in fantasy."

One For the Murphys by Lynda Hunt. A moving debut novel about a foster child learning to open her heart to a family's love. Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong--until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She's not really a Murphy, but the gifts they've given her have opened up a new future.

See You at Harry's by Jo Knowles. Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible in her family, where grumpy eighteen-year-old Sarah is working at the family restaurant, fourteen-year-old Holden is struggling with school bullies and his emerging homosexuality, and adorable, three-year-old Charlie is always the center of attention, and when tragedy strikes, the fragile bond holding the family together is stretched almost to the breaking point.

Every Day by David Leviathan. YA, 8TH AND UP.Every morning A wakes in a different person's body, in a different person's life. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

The Giant and How He Humbugged America by Jim Murphy. Murphy investigates a clever and successful scheme during the 1800s, sharing with readers how several men in upstate New York were able to fool the public and make thousands of dollars. When William Newell decided to have a well dug on his farm, the men hired to do the digging became quite excited when a 10-foot giant was uncovered in the field. Experts called in to determine the origins-whether a statue or petrified giant-couldn't agree. There were those who believed it was possibly a giant from the local Onondaga Indian tribe or a giant like Goliath from the Bible. Crowds gathered, and, in a matter of days, thousands came to see for themselves the amazing giant upon hearing about it by word of mouth and newspaper reports. Readers will question the origins of the giant until about halfway through the book, when hints of the truth slowly expose the actual origin of the Cardiff giant, keeping them enthralled with the strange turn of events.

October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard. by Leslea Newman. YA, 8TH AND UP.On the night of October 6, 1998, a gay twenty-one-year-old college student named Matthew Shepard was lured from a Wyoming bar by two young men, savagely beaten, tied to a remote fence, and left to die. Gay Awareness Week was beginning at the University of Wyoming, and the keynote speaker was Lesléa Newman, discussing her book Heather Has Two Mommies. Shaken, the author addressed the large audience that gathered, but she remained haunted by Matthew’s murder. October Mourning, a novel in verse, is her deeply felt response to the events of that tragic day. Using her poetic imagination, the author creates fictitious monologues from various points of view, including the fence Matthew was tied to, the stars that watched over him, the deer that kept him company, and Matthew himself. More than a decade later, this stunning cycle of sixty-eight poems serves as an illumination for readers too young to remember, and as a powerful, enduring tribute to Matthew Shepard’s life.

What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Perez. Another day finished, gracias a Dios. Seventeen-year-old Marisa s mother has been saying this for as long as Marisa can remember. Her parents came to Houston from Mexico. They work hard, and they expect Marisa to help her familia. An ordinary life marrying a neighborhood guy, working, having babies ought to be good enough for her. Marisa hears something else from her calc teacher. She should study harder, ace the AP test, and get into engineering school in Austin. Some days, it all seems possible. On others, she s not even sure what she wants. When her life at home becomes unbearable, Marisa seeks comfort elsewhere and suddenly neither her best friend nor boyfriend can get through to her. Caught between the expectations of two different worlds, Marisa isn't sure what she wants other than a life where she doesn t end each day thanking God it's over. But some things just can't wait...

Bomb: The Race to Build -- and Steal-- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon. by Steve Sheinkin. In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned 3 continents. In Great Britain and the United States, Soviet spies worked their way into the scientific community; in Norway, a commando force slipped behind enemy lines to attack German heavy-water manufacturing; and deep in the desert, one brilliant group of scientists was hidden away at a remote site at Los Alamos. This is the story of the plotting, the risk-taking, the deceit, and genius that created the world's most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb. Bomb is a 2012 National Book Awards finalist for Young People’s Literature.Bomb is a 2012 Washington Post Best Kids Books of the Year title.Bomb is a 2013 Newbery Honor book.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer Smith. Review from January issue of School Library Journal:
Gr 8-11-"Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?" If she'd been four minutes earlier, 17-year-old Hadley would have made her flight to London for her father's wedding. She wouldn't have been stuck at JFK waiting for the next flight. She would never have met Oliver and sat next to him on the long flight to Heathrow, talking quietly in the darkened plane. And when they arrive in London, both dreading their destinations, she isn't ready to let go of what has developed between them. This novel has a simple premise, but it is packed with detail, emotion, and likable characters. Hadley hasn't seen her father since her parents' divorce and is dreading this trip. Her story is told in flashbacks as she flirts with Oliver, talking to him about things she's never revealed to anyone else. The teens are realistic and empathetic characters, and their story unfolds effortlessly, quickly capturing readers' interest. Fans of Sarah Dessen will enjoy this enchanting novel of family quandaries and love at first sight.-Heather Miller Cover, Homewood Public Library, AL (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick.After an injury ends former star pitcher Peter Friedman's athletic dreams, he concentrates on photography which leads him to a girlfriend, new fame as a high school sports photographer, and a deeper relationship with the beloved grandfather who, when he realizes he is becoming senile, gives Pete all of his professional camera gear.

Code Name: Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun. When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy? A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called "a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel" in The New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other.

New recommendations

Smells Like Dog: Selfors offers up an adventure tale that features a humorous, high-stakes mystery and a lovable hero. Twelve-year-old Homer Pudding lives on a goat farm but dreams of growing up to be a great treasure hunter like his uncle, Drake Pudding. Drake spent most of his career searching for the greatest mass of loot collected by another great treasure hunter, the late Rumpold Smeller. When Drake dies under mysterious circumstances, he bequeaths a sad-eyed basset hound named Dog to Homer. Attached to Dog's collar is a coin etched with the letters L.O.S.T. As Homer races to decipher the meaning of L.O.S.T., find Smeller's treasure and locate the whereabouts of Drake's vast library, he discovers a valuable secret about Dog. Along the way, Homer encounters the devious Madame la Directeur, the pink-haired homeless girl Lorelei, Ajitabh, the inventor of the cloudcopter, and other equally memorable characters who help or hinder his quest. Peppered with funny dialogue, this joyous romp is a page-turning adventure that will appeal to enthusiastic and reluctant readers alike. (Adventure. 8-12)"SMELLS LIKE DOG." Kirkus Reviews 78, no. 7 (April 2010): 315. Literary Reference Center, EBSCOhost (accessed March 11, 2013).