After
Amy Efaw

Devon has inexplicably found herself in a terrible position. After a newborn baby is found in a trash can behind her apartment building, she is caught by the police bleeding on her couch. She can't seem to explain what happened...she has no recollection of being pregnant, or of having a baby, or so she claims. So off to juvie she goes, where her lawyer and therapist fight to have her tried as a juvenile, rather than possibly spend the rest of her life in jail as an adult tried for premeditated murder.

A truly gripping read, in which the author tries to understand why nearly every day a newborn baby is abandoned or murdered by its mother. Readers will be fascinated by the hard details of detainment, and made heartsick by the neglect and isolation felt by this girl who tried so hard to be perfect and ends up making such a tremendous error. Recommended for high school and up.

The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins

Katniss lives in the bad part of town, in a poor district where life is hard for everyone. Her father was killed in a mining accident, her mother and sister struggle to make ends meet, and Katniss sneaks out into the woods to hunt to keep the family alive. Then, when her little sister is randomly selected to battle in The Hunger Games, Katniss makes the ultimate sacrifice and volunteers to go for her. Now she must fight for her life against 23 other teens on network TV with the entire nation watching.

A less gory knock-off of the Japanese book/manga/movie Battle Royale, this is science fiction teens will love. While it certainly has a high death count, the descriptions are kindly vague and not graphic enough to upset any but the most tender of readers. Still, the book is disturbing and challenging and I would not recommend it for pre-teens. But it has a great mix of survival story and possible romance that will grab readers and keep them hooked. I can't wait to read the sequel!

Cat Burglar Black
Richard Sala

K has lived a most unusual life.  Orphaned at a young age, she found herself under the care of a dreadful woman who trained her wards to be pick pockets and thieves.  When the ring of crime was broken, she was sent to reform school where she worked hard to pay back society for her forced wrongdoings.  Now as a teen she gets word that her long lost aunt has finally found her and is having her come to live at the boarding school she runs. But when she arrives, the school is closed, her aunt is apparently bedridden and bandaged beyond recognition, only three other teen girls are in residence, and is the place is being run by a creepy cast of characters.  K discovers they know all about her past and plan to use her  to break into nearby houses to collect clues to try and gain a hidden treasure.  One by one the other girls disappear, and strange happenings make K question her past even further.

A lovely little graphic novel,  done with the high quality you expect from First Second, with a great capable brave teen girl character, and a fun little adventure to boot.  Suitable for all teens.

Fallen
Lauren Kate

Luce has gone through the most terrible of experiences.  A boy she liked died in front of her, consumed by flames, and she has been blamed for his death.  Sentenced to a run down reform school in the middle of a humid Southern forest, she is denied her cell phone and cut off from her old life, friends and family.  Almost immediately she is bullied and given a terrible nickname, making her isolation all the more unbearable.  But soon she finds a quirky sidekick, two handsome love interests, and discovers an underground party scene in her dorms. Life seems a little better, except that the two boys treatment of her is both flattering and confusing.  As the book goes on she discovers she is a part of bigger story than she could have possibly imagined, and that she has loved one of these guys before, over many life times.

For teens looking for something to read after they have finally gotten their fill of the Twilight series, and are sick of vampire knock offs, here is something that will scratch the supernatural romance itch, with some of the parentless boarding school qualities Harry Potter fans adore.  Dark secrets, love triangle, mysterious environs, long histories, rivalries, friendships, co-ed dorms, sneaking around, graveyard picnics and a hint at soul mates...what more could a teen age girl want? 

Very innocent romantically (lots of kisses, no nudity or sex), but this book does have a body count...mortals are very vulnerable.  Suitable for most teen readers, but is occasionally a bit gruesome.

Going Bovine
Libba Bray

Cameron is not what you would call outgoing.  His twin sister is the perfect socialite cheerleader.  He is the opposite.  Few things give him joy in the world, other than odd old records and watching TV.  He has no friends and his family situation is not exactly what you would call great.  And then he starts seeing things and losing control of his body.  Tests are run, and things do not look good.  Cameron has mad cow disease.  While in the hospital, some of his hallucinations become stronger and begin talking to him.  And when an angel tells him that he needs to go on a road trip to save the world, and possibly find the cure for what ails him, he sees it as his one last chance.  What follows is a madcap road trip across Texas to New Orleans and on spring break in Florida.   Accompanied by a hypochondriac dwarf and a lawn gnome who thinks he is a god, Cameron discovers what it is about life that is worth living for.

A very dark comedy, with tragedy at its core, Going Bovine is a fun weird read with plenty of lewdness that will appeal to high school guys.  It asks deep questions, but cushions them in pop culture weirdness.  Enjoyable, but will not appeal to all readers.  High school and up.

Nation
Terry Pratchett

Mau is heading home after finishing the rights of passage that will make him a man in his people's eyes.  He is looking forward to the feast and festivities and being back with his family.  Daphne is on a long ocean journey to be reunited with her beloved father, a British lord overseeing a tropical island.  And then comes the wave.  Mighty and terrible, it sweeps away Mau's entire tribe, and crashes Daphne's ship up on to an island, killing everyone except her.  Mau reaches the island horrified to realize everyone he ever knew is gone.  Together, they will find a reason to survive, a purpose for living and most precious of all, hope, as they begin to build a nation of survivors on the little island.

A beautiful, sweet book full of love and lessons about life, human dignity, faith, thinking, and friendship.  Highly recommended for anyone seeking a good story, though streaked with tragedy it is also full of humor and light.  Also excellent in audiobook format.

Love Is the Higher Law
David Levithan

Claire, Jasper and Peter are normal New York City teens doing normal things the morning of September 11, 2001.  Claire is at school.  Jasper slept in.  Peter is skipping to go buy a cd.  And then the unthinkable happens.  Planes hit the two giant towers of the World Trade Center and thousands of people are killed.  Although none of the three lose anyone they know in the terrorist attack, it changes their lives and the city they love forever.  How can you comprehend such horror in your everyday life?  Do you reach out to others, or wrap yourself in isolation?  How can you keep living after witnessing such loss?

9/11 may seem like ancient history to teens today, a blip from their childhood.  Levithan brings the day and aftermath to life for readers, making them understand the impact it had on the residents of New York, and the rest of us, at a very human level.  In Love is the Higher Law, he captures both the horror and the wonder of positive things that came out of 9/11.  It is this second set that he wants readers to remember most, that much kindness and caring was a big part of the initial response to the attacks, and that most people did not feel retaliating in violence was the answer.  This book does a wonderful job of simply paying tribute to both the lost and the courageously big-hearted living by helping readers understand and remember what it was like to experience 9/11.

When You Reach Me
Rebecca Stead

Miranda isn't 100% happy with the way things have been going lately.  The rough boys who hang out down the block have been bugging her more.  A crazy homeless guy hangs out on her block and does strange things that make her nervous.  Her best friend is treating her like a stranger.  And having a new friend over has made her uncomfortably aware that the apartment she shares with her mom is pretty shabby.  But now her mom is going to be a contestant on a game show, and with a little hard work and luck maybe things will begin to change.  But just when things are starting to look up, strange and troubling notes begin to appear that Miranda can't explain and is more than a little scared to try and understand.  Is it possible that life is as mysterious and magical as her favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time?

This beautiful seemingly simple and short book is one that will really sneak up on you.  Marketed to older elementary students, it has plenty of nuances and emotions and twists that will make it a terrific read for teens, too.  I loved this book and the ways it surprised me...will make for a lovely re-read and booktalk.

Monster Zoo
Douglas TenNapel

Ty convinces his buddy Carpo to go to the zoo with him. Carpo is so not interested in enjoying the wonders of nature, but instead wants to try all the food and check out the gift shop.  They run into a cute girl from their school and her big jerk date.  Soon the four of them are fighting for their survival, when an ancient evil idol that has been dug up and displayed at the zoo begins turning all the animals into monsters. 

As usual, TenNapel has greated an innovative and engaging story.  While high on adventure and fart jokes, it also has just enough tenderness to inspire.  Great black and white drawings a really unbelievable story to life.  And just enough boy-girl tension to intrigue the romantics, but not so much to turn off the average reader.  A tad bit gross and a bit violent in spots, probably makes it best for high school and public library collections, though most junior high boys would really dig it.

Wintergirls
Laurie Halse Anderson

Lia didn't answer that phone that night.  Cassie and her had once been best of pals, but had fallen so far apart that there was no way Cassie would be calling for any other reason than to prank her, right?  But the 33 calls Cassie made that night were her final cries for help, and now she is gone.  Could Lia have saved her if she had answered the phone?  Where did things go so seriously wrong?  Over the next few days, Lia tries to convince everyone that she is unaffected by this terrible news, that she is strong, healthy and needs no one.  But like Cassie, her eating disorder is taking her precariously close to the edge.  And Cassie won't leave her alone.

A harrowing and exhilarating journey into the mind of an anorexic teen girl, this book gives keen perspective into the struggle so many young girls are caught up in.  The question is, does this book help find solutions to this awful psychological plague, or does it provide how-to tips for girls wanting nothing more than to be as thin as possible?  Personally, I think those girls will find the information they seek on the web, as Lia does in the book, and the understanding of their world provided by this book will hopefully help parents and friends see through their tangle of lies, self-depreciation, and serious need for help.  Having never suffered from such a disorder myself, I can't speak to accuracy or harm, but as a reader I found it gripping and haunting.

High school and up.

Punkzilla
Adam Rapp

Punkzilla is the story and nickname of Jamie, so dubbed living on the streets of Portland, Oregon.  When he finds out his beloved older brother is dying, he makes a desperate and dangerous journey across the country to see him one last time.  Along the way he gets mugged in a Greyhound station, hitchhikes and is picked up by all sorts of creepy characters, loses his virginity, and writes letters to his brother explaining how he fell so far.

Brutal and honest, like all of Rapp's work, Punkzilla is a tragic harsh read that will cause most adult readers serious cringing, but will ring right and true to troubled teens.  This is by no means a happy story, but neither is it without hope.  Recommended for mature teens and other jaded readers who won't get too bummed out by its bleakness.

Once Was Lost
Sara Zarr

Samara is not having a glorious carefree summer.  Quite the contrary.  The cracks in her once seemingly perfect preacher's kid life have come to the surface.  Her beautiful alcoholic mother wrecked the car and got put into treatment.  Her kind father whom the whole church adores and has a reputation for being the best listener ever is there for everyone but her.  She doesn't feel like she can talk to her best friend, and questions if the other kids in the youth group really even are her friends.  And then the sweet pre-teen girl who helps with the kids during church disappears on a Sunday afternoon.  And Samara find an uneasy connection with someone else left behind and alone.

Heavy like the oppressive weight of a late August heat wave, Once Was Lost is a riveting read seeped in emotion.  Wonderful for any teen who has felt isolated and sad, and especially great for survivors of co-dependent family situations.  Suitable for all teens, but best for 8th grade and up.

Coffeehouse Angel
Suzanne Selfors

Katrina spends most of her free time helping out in her grandmother's coffee shop.  Ever since her parents passed away in a car accident, Grandma Anna is all her family, and the coffee shop is their livelyhood.  But lately things are getting tough.  Though Grandma Anna tries to hide it, bills are piling up, and most of the folks in town have started frequenting the fancy new coffee shop next door, serving fancy organic espresso drinks.  Then one morhing Katrina notices a man sleeping in the alley behind the store, takes pity, and leaves him some day-old pastries and a bag of chocolate covered coffee beans.  Little does she know, he is not some homeless bum, but an angel who is determined to pay back her kindness, by fulfilling her fondest desire.

A lightly supernatural romance taking place in a small town on the Olympic Pennisula, this probably won't capture the Twihards, but is enjoyable in its own right if you like it served up super sweet.  The Northwest flavor and spin on things is well captured and there are a number of fun characters.  Good for any middle or high school romance reader, and fans of angels.

Liar
Justine Larbalestier

When can you trust a known liar?  When they say they aren't lying anymore? 

Micah feels like a freak.  A quarter African American, half French, scholarship student attending a supposedly progressive private high school, she has never felt she really fit in.  At first she was mistaken for a boy, and went with it.  And now she has formed a tight but secret bond with a popular jock who then goes missing.  She may know something about what lead up to his disappearance, but who can she tell?  She was never his girlfriend, and isn't even supposed to be dating.  And every time she opens her mouth, a new lie seems to come out.

A thrilling psychological mystery with a seriously enjoyable (and huge) surprise twist, this is one of my favorite books of the year.  Strange, gruesome, sensual and unapologetic, this is a book you will not want to miss.  Read it before you accidentally come across a spoiler!   Due to violence and sensuality, best for high school and up.

Leviathan
Scott Westerfeld

When her da was alive, Deryn had adventure in her life.  She learned to love everything about flying, and wasn't afraid to get a bit grubby to pursue this interest.  But after he died, her mother tried to conform her into a proper young lady, which was not going to happen. So instead, Deryn cut of her hair and with the help of her brother snuck into the entry test for the British Air Service.  During the exam, she is swept away by bad weather while tied to a living half-squid air balloon, only to be rescued by the great flying whale ship Leviathan.  Which is where her adventure begins.

Prince Aleksandar, or Alek's adventure, sadly begins with the loss of both his parents...which is also the start of World War One in this alternative steampunk history.  The future of all Europe may depend on his survival, and so off he and his fathers most trusted men must run in a mechanical walker designed for battle.

Two teens from very different lives, whose worlds collide together to begin a new and exciting adventure series.  Imaginative and exciting, Westerfeld fans will eat this up, as will most fantasy and sci-fi readers.  I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes this.  Great for middle school and up.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Alan Bradley

Living with loathsome sisters and a distant father on an somewhat isolated English estate in 1950s England, Flavia is a precocious eleven year old brainiac with a passion for chemistry.  When a strange man argues with her father, and then turns up dead in the family cucumber patch, Flavia takes it upon herself to investigate and clear her fathers name.  Tooling around on her dead mother's bicycle and unsuccessfully trying to stay out of the way of the police, she is hilariously clueless about some things, while painfully world wise about others. 

While this book is published for adults, teens who love mysteries and can abide prococious pre-teen narrators will enjoy this fun read.  Minimal violence and one scary kidnapping scene.

Refresh, Refresh
James Ponsoldt

As if being a teenage guy isn't hard enough, living in a small town where a huge chunk of the grown men are off fighting a war across the world leave the main characters feeling lost and adrift.  Not only are they lacking the role models they so dearly need, they are called up on to support their families, deal with bullies on their own, and dodge the attentions of the local recruiter who waits patiently to draw them in next.

A heavy read, but done beautifully in this moving graphic novel that captures the tough predicament of young men asked to grow up too fast, and give their lives to causes outside their experience.  Recommended for public libraries (contains both sex scenes and underage drinking).

Pretty Dead
Francesca Lia Block

Not unlike the overly youthful pretty perfect vampires in Twilight, Charlotte has chosen to go to high school because she is bored and lonely.  She makes some effort to fit in, but her expensive clothes and amazing house (with absent parents) makes her more a target of envy than affection.  Having taken the opportunity to become a vampire many many years before, she finds herself longing for the things she missed by living a normal life.  And then her old flame appears on the scene to exact revenge by giving her exactly what she wants...her mortality. 

A refreshing twist on vampires stories, made sexy and beautiful by Block's unique and beloved voice, this book will appeal to mature teens who are fans of both magical realism and supernatural romances.  Due to sexuality and drinking, not recommended for school libraries.

The War at Ellsmere
Faith Erin Hicks

Juniper is pretty sure that getting the scholarship to the exclusive boarding school an hour away from her home is the best thing she could do if she wants to someday be a doctor.  She is not however excited to meet the other students.  She expects them to be spoiled snobs, but she isn't there to make friends, is she?  Almost immediately she says the wrong thing to her roommate, and then has a run in with the school's queen bee.  But with some quick thinking and a well placed apology she is able to both befriend her roommate and make a firm enemy of the bee.   The friendship is a nice buffer to the bullying, but how much can Jun be expected to take to reach her dream?  Set in a lightly gothic setting (converted castle in dark woods full of mysteries and legends), but firmly entrenched in the real emotional landscape of teen girls, this graphic novel is a great combination of boarding school and bullying story, with a surprising brief splash of fantasy. With its fresh, funky and slightly feminine black and white illustrations, it accomplishes the sort of high quality girl friendly comic Minx would have been proud to call it s own.  Suitable for all ages, but recommended for middle school and up.

If I Stay
Gayle Forman

Mia has a lovely life in Oregon.  Funky punk parents.  Goofy sweet little brother.  Her own cello, and skills that mean she has a shot at a Julliard.   A great best friend.  And a totally awesome boyfriend who really gets her, even if he is a rocker and she is a classical sort of girl.  But then one snow day her whole family piles into the car, playing hooky to go visit friends and grandparents, and a terrible thing happens.  Mia finds herself outside her body.  Witness to the horrible fate of her parents.  Following her own body as it goes to the hospital and into surgery.  She hovers near death, ultimately pondering if she should stay, or go.

A perfect sappy, sweet teen tearjerker that is sure to be a hit.  Light teen drinking and sexual behavior is alluded to, so most appropriate for high school and public libraries, though most middle school students wouldn't bat an eye.  I didn't want to like this, but I adored it.