All Fall Down by Ally Carter 320 pages

When Grace was thirteen, she witnessed the death of her mother. Everyone believes that she died because of a fire, but Grace is adamant that her mother was killed by a man with a scarred face. When Grace moves to Embassy Row to live with her grandfather, she believes that she has found her mother's killer, but no one believes her. Not her grandfather, her new friends, or Alexei, the boy Russian boy next door. When Grace starts to follow the scarred man, she discovers things about herself that she is not ready to face. Grace confronts her grandfather but he keeps declaring that her mother's death was an accident. She finally learns the truth about her mother's death. 

This was read by Eileen Stevens. 

What Waits in the Woods by Kieran Scott 228 pages

Callie and her two friends go on a camping trip for 5 days in the woods. Callie's boyfriend Jeremy tags along, even though it was supposed to be a girls-only camping trip. Callie is a city girl and this is her first time camping. When Penelope and Lissa tell her the tale of the Skinner, Callie freaks out. Why would these girls bring her on a trip, when there is a killer in the woods? Ever since then, Callie believes that someone is following them. After getting lost on the trails, the group comes across a stranger, Ted, who agrees to help them. Strange things start to happen, Callie helps hearing a laughter, 5 dolls appear in the fire pit, and they have even seen a figure moving in the trees. When Lissa comes up dead, no one knows who they can trust. Will Callie make it out of the woods alive and will the killer be found?   

The Leveller by Julia Durango 256 pages

Nixy Bauer is a leveller. When someone stays too long in Meep, a virtual-reality gamer world, Nixy is hired to retrieve them. When Wyn Salvador, the game's billionaire developer's son, leaves what appears to be a suicide note, Nixy is hired to retrieve him. Nixy isn't the first person to go after Wyn, but hopefully she will be the last. To get to Wyn's custom world, Nixy must go through a maze, where she must overcome sharks, scorpions, and a banshee. When Nixy finds Wyn, she learns that he cannot leave Meep. Wyn and Nixy must find a way out while trying to figure out who is keeping them there.  

Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn 400 pages

On Cassie's seventeenth birthday, she receives a memory from her future self. She is hoping that she will see herself as a famous manual chef, however what she sees terrifies her. Cassie's memory shows her killing her own sister. To escape her future, Cassie turns herself in to the government. Cassie's childhood friend Logan, breaks Cassie out of Limbo and they escape to Harmony. As Logan and Cassie get closer, Cassie learns that she and Logan can never be together, no matter how bad she wants them to be. Cassie decides that to save her sister, she must learn more about her memory and how it came to be. Will she be able to save her sister and change her future? 

Buzz Kill by Beth Fantaskey 384 pages

Millie Ostermeyer finds the dead body of the football team’s coach. Millie, being the reporter she is, wants to be the first and only reporter on the case for the school paper. However, she must overcome her rival reporter Vivienne for the story. While investigating at Coach Killdare’s house, Millie encounters Chase, the mysterious quarterback/new kid that no one knows about. Millie and Chase grow closer, but Chase’s past keeps him from getting too close to Millie. When Millie’s dad is accused of Coach Killdare’s, Millie will stop at nothing to clear her father, even if means accusing Chase. The identity of the real murderer is a shock.

This was ready by Erin Moon and is a nominee for the Truman Award.

Famous Last Words by Katie Alender 320 pages

Willa has just moved to Hollywood after her mother remarries a movie producer. Ever since moving in, Willa is seeing things that no one else can see. Messages written on the walls, a dead body in the pool, and a tub full of water.

Willa has made a few friends. There’s Marnie, who acts like a friend, but it is not completely trustworthy. Wyatt, Willa’s science partner, seems standoffish. Reed, her stepfather’s assistant who seems to understand Willa.

To make matters worst, there is a killer running around Los Angeles. Being dubbed the Hollywood Killer, someone is targeting girls and recreating movie murder scenes. When Marnie goes missing, Willa gets worried. Will Willa be the next victim? 

This was read by Nora Hunter and is a nominee for the Truman Award.

Famous Last Words by Katie Alender, 312 pages (2016-2017 Truman Readers Award Nominee)

In Famous Last Words, Willa is an angst filled teenage girl who has just moved to Hollywood with her recently remarried mom and her new famous movie producer stepfather.  As if starting a new school and making new friends weren't hard enough, Willa harbors a dark secret.  She killed her father.  Willa wants nothing more than to get in touch with her father and tell him how sorry she is for the fight they had and how she didn't mean to hurt him.  Though her spiritual attempts to contact her father never seem to work, Willa gets these crazy headaches and starts having visions of terribly frightening things.  There's a dead body in her swimming pool, messages on walls, and other things only she can see or hear.  Meanwhile, there's a serial killer loose in Hollywood who is targeting young actresses and reenacting famous death scenes and Willa starts to realize her hallucinations might be tied to the murders and that someone or something might be trying to send her a message. 

Of course, it's not all ghosts and murders in this story.  Willa makes a few new friends.  Marnie, a Hollywood kid like Willa, Reed, her stepfather's handsome young assistant, and Wyatt, a serious guy who is obsessed with the Hollywood Killer.  When Willa realizes the magnitude of the trouble she's in she needs someone to help her, but who?

I can't say much more without spoiling it.  I will say I never would have picked this up had it not been an award nominee.  Mysteries are fine, but ghost stories are not my cup of tea.  Fortunately for me this was creepy, but not too scary.  The story itself moved quickly and I stayed up too late finishing it last night and then stayed up even later watching something silly to counteract the creepiness.

Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek (a Memoir) by Maya Van Wagenen, 264 pages (2016-2017 Truman Readers Award Nominee)

Self-proclaimed geek,  Maya Van Wagenen,  discovers an old copy of a 1950's popularity guide,  written by former teen model Betty Cornell and decides to spend her 8th grade year following the advice in hopes of attaining popularity. 

The first thing I have to admit is that I definitely do judge a book by it's cover and I couldn't resist this kitschy cute one.  Then I read the inside flap and the awkward 8th grader inside of me cheered!  If only I'd had this book in 1993!  My BFF and I would have followed it to the letter!

The next thing I have to admit was that I was concerned when in the first chapter Maya devotes an entire month to solving her "figure problems."  Not exactly the body positive image I'm trying to instill in my own daughter.  Fortunately, it's pretty humorous and not at all preachy.

Each month was devoted to a different topic from the original book by Betty Cornell.  Maya included tidbits from Betty as well as live and learn tips from her own experiences.  By the end of the year, she had succeeded.  People knew her and liked her, she had become popular.  Her final popularity tip was the best one, in my opinion.  "Popularity is more than looks.  It's not clothes, hair, or even possessions.  When we let go of these labels, we see how flimsy and relative they actually are.  Real popularity is kindness and acceptance.  It is about who you are, and how you treat others."  Well said, Maya.  Well said.

Just a Drop of Water by Kerry O'Malley Cerra 299 pages (2016-2017 Truman Award Nominee)

Jake Green is an 8th grader, a cross country runner, the best friend of Sam, just your everyday middle-school age boy.  He really does not like cross country, is more of a sprinter, a lover of the track. But his coach makes them run cross country to prepare them for track, so he and Sam run and run and run.  But things change the fall of 2001. First of all, there is a new boy in school, Kirk, and he threatens to take Jake's place as captain of the cross country team.  Jake and the class bully keep clashing, and then, 9/11.  Kirk's father is killed at the Pentagon, Sam and his family are Muslims, and one of the plane's pilots are from their town in Florida. 
This is the story of trusting in yourself no matter what everyone else says and finding it within yourself to be a hero. 
I think it is interesting that the target audience for this book was probably not born when 9/11 happened.  They do not have the 1st hand perspective.  This is a thought provoking debut novel.

The Body in the Woods by April Henry 263 pages (2016-2017 Truman Nominee)

I have to confess this is my 1st April Henry book.  It seems that recently we have had a lot of requests for her books, so I decided to see what the buzz was all about.  I have to admit I liked this book.  Three somewhat misfits teens have volunteered for a Search and Rescue Unit. As fate would have it, while searching for a lost hiker, they discover a dead body, a teen girl, strangled.  Ruby loves, okay, is obsessed with solving crimes.  Not only that, but she has near perfect recall.  She and her team, Alexis, who lives with her bi-polar mother and is almost homeless, and Nick, whose father was killed in Iraq, set out to solve the crime.  Meanwhile, the murders continue.  Will the police believe their theory, or will they have to save one of their own?  

This is the 1st in a series so expect more good mysteries!

The Raft by S. A Bodeen (A YA novel) A Truman Award Nominee 2014-2015

15-year-old Robie is not your typical teen.  She lives on Midway Atoll in the Hawaiian Islands with her parents and other Marine biologist researchers.  She is the only kid.  There are no malls, no movie theaters and phone reception is sketchy.  Occasionally she gets to visit her Aunt in Honolulu.  It is on a trip back from such a visit on a supply plane to the island that disaster strikes.  The plane loses power and goes down in the Pacific.  Robie, the only survivor,  is set adrift on a raft in shark invested waters. She drifts for days with no food and no fresh water, except when it rains.  She finally lands on an uninhabited island.  This is a story of survival and the difficult decisions Robie has to make in order to survive.

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz (YA novel) Truman Nominee 2015-2016 260 p.

This was a very moving book that should appeal to some reluctant readers.  Yanek is a happy 10- year-old Jewish boy living in Krakow when the Germans invade.  Life as he knew it comes to an end.  His parents are torn away from him.  He is sent to concentration camp after concentration camp after concentration camp.  He is beaten, starved, and worked nearly to death.  Death becomes a constant companion.  After 6 years of horror at the hands of the Nazis,  the allies invade and the prisoners are freed.  My favorite quote from the book comes when Yanek receives his prisoner tattoo: " B-3087.  That's what the Nazis carved into my skin.  B for Birkenau, 3087 for my prisoner number.  That was the mark they put on me, a mark I would have for as long as I lived.  B-3087.  That was how I was to them,  Not Yanek Gruener, son of Oskar and Mina.  Not Yanek Gruener of ....Karkow.  Not Yanek Gruener who loved books and science and American movies.  I was prisoner B-3087.  But I was alive." And Yanek did live.  He and his wife Ruth live in Brooklyn and travel the country to speak about the Holocaust and the importance of rememering,  For you see, this may be a novel, but Yanek is a real person.  He did survive the Holocaust and this book was written with his blessing.

a matter of days by Amber Kizer 269 pages

I would best describe this novel as a pre-dystopian novel.  A pandemic has wiped out most of civilization.  There is no form of communication, no water, no electricity.  You must scrounge and scavenge for your needs.  This is the world of sixteen-year-old Nadia and her brother Rabbit.  But they have one advantage: their uncle, Bean, was military and they were injected with a serum.  Now they must make their way from Seattle to West Virginia and the family compound where Bean and Pappi are waiting for them. Their deceased father taught them to "be the cockroach".  After all, you kill one cockroach and 10 more appear, right?  So he taught them to adapt and never give up.  To persevere.  But there are other survivors out there.  Friend or foe?  It makes for an interesting journey.

Cinder : The Lunar Chronicles book 1 by Marissa Meyer 390 pages

I don't often shout at my CD player when listening to books, but I did with Cinder.  As soon as the last line was read, I screamed, "WHAT?!?  That's how you're going to end???"  Talk about a cliffhanger!  The book is actually a super cool scifi book for teens.  A teenage cyborg girl, with no memory of her life before she became a cyborg, works as a mechanic.  She has to earn the money to satisfy her stepmother (who is mean, but definitely has an evil streak) and two stepsisters.  One stepsister is her only human friend, while the other is nearly as cruel as her mother.  Cinder, cyber mechanic extraordinaire, meets the handsome Prince Charming...I mean, Prince Kai, when he shows up at her booth asking her to repair his android.  A series of catastrophic events lands Cinder as a test subject for the plague that is ravaging her world.  This is when things really start to get out of hand.  This is a little bit adventure, a bit of mystery, a touch of romance and a lot of futuristic cool.  I highly recommend this title, but be prepared to experience the I-must-have-the-next-one feeling when it's over!

This was an audiobook version read by Rebecca Soler.

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen 342 pages

This is the story of a young orphan who is purchased to take part in the most dangerous scam imaginable.  Sage has been at an orphanage for years and is only about one year away from being able to strike out on his own, when a nobleman, Connor, purchases him.  This is an outrage for Sage.  He is extremely independent and self-sufficient.  Connor's plan is an attempt to thwart civil war by masquerading Sage, or one of the other 3 orphans he has acquired, as the country's long-lost prince.  Sage learns too soon that the losers in this game are doomed, but he doesn't want to be a part of it.  In the end, he decides that some prizes are worth fighting for and the truth is sometimes the hardest battle to fight.  This was a really solid story.  The characters were believable and the story was engaging.  I enjoyed listening to it as an audiobook read by Charlie McWade.  This title is a current Truman Award nominee and book one in the Ascendance Trilogy.

One For The Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt 224 pages

Carley is one unlucky kid.  She thinks that might be because there are 13 letters in her name.  Or maybe it was some other superstitious thing that cursed her.  Whatever it was, it must have been bad, because now she's stuck with the "perfect" family and she feels anything but perfect.  The longer she stays with the Murphys, the more she realizes that this kind of family is not only perfect, it's what she wants.  How can she face going back to the life she's known when she sees how great her life can be?  This was a fantastic book that really captured all sides of a foster family situation.  I loved the characters and felt all the hurts and joys they did.  Get your tissues ready!  This is a current Truman Award nominee.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 358 pages

This was an interesting book about a young woman who discovers she has a unique power.  Orphaned as a child, Alina always believed herself to be nothing special.  Her country is partially covered by "the Fold", an area that is completely dark and filled with deadly creatures.  Crossing the Fold is a dangerous undertaking at best.  Being a mapmaker, Alina is on a trip across the Fold with her childhood friend, Mal, (now in the military) and a ship full of others.  Partway across, they are attacked and when her Mal is threatened, something remarkable happens to Alina that sets her on a journey she never expected.  This was a pretty entertaining book with a different twist on the familiar theme of a kid discovering their secret powers.  This book is a Truman Award nominee and I listened to it on audio.

Elemental by Antony John 326 pgs

This was a really interesting read. It follows a young man who has grown up completely isolated in a small, tight-knit community.  This is because he is the only one who does not have an "elemental".  Others can sense storms, work water to do their will, feel living things in the earth, but Thomas has none of that.  His little village is hit hard by a storm and they send Thomas and the other children to their island shelter.  When no word comes the next day, the kids go back to explore and find no one is left.  Pirates have been there and the children have no way of knowing if their parents are alive or dead.  This story was told really well and kept me reading and interested to the end.  

Cinder: Book One of the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer 448 pages

Everyone has heard the story of Cinderella. Marissa Meyer gives a new version of this tale with a twist, which takes place in a different time where humans and cyborgs co-exist.

Lin Cinder is a cyborg. Prince Kai is human. As Cinder learns more about herself and where she truly came from, Prince Kai must make decisions he is not ready for, following the death of his father, the Emperor. As feelings grow between Cinder and Prince Kai, both must decide what they truly want. For Cinder, she wants to run away from her stepmother and stepsister, but at the cost of the Prince’s life? For Prince Kai, he is given the option of marrying the Lunar Queen or having his people suffer from a terrible disease, the cure of which is owned solely by the Lunars.

Thankfully, this is the first book in the Lunar Chronicles because the ending was left as a cliffhanger making me want to read on.