Books for Young Readers & Young Adults

June 2013 Newsletter

In post-apocalyptic America the key to survival is leadership and the training of great leaders takes place at the University. To make it to the University, a select number of students from colonies across the surviving country must first make it through The Testing. 108 students will begin the process, only 29 will succeed. Joelle Charbonneau’s first foray into the young adult world wields 22 chapters of intense action and 22 cliffhangers making it impossible to find a point to take a break in your reading session. But, in all fairness, these characters are never given a break either. This is like reading a logic puzzle. Every scene, every word, will become important to the finale of this story. So pay close attention. Believe me…you do not want to fail The Testing.

– Nicole

GrishaAlina and her soldier lover Mal fled Ravka and the machinations of the Darkling, pretender to the throne, at the end of Shadow and Bone. And Alina doesn’t miss the Darkling’s lies or the temptations of abusing her power one little bit. Really. Being captured by a privateer and returned to Ravka is just the beginning of the new trials she will face, both internal and external, on her quest to define herself and possibly be the salvation for her world. This gorgeous Tsarpunk fantasy is recommended to teen and adult readers.

– Maryelizabeth

Janni concludes her post-apocalyptic Bones of Faerie fantasy trilogy with Liza and her companions coming to terms with more of the long-term consequences of the war between the humans and the faeries. Even though the devastation of the Faerie Winter was overcome through Liza’s summoner powers, a new rot is laying waste to the faerie realm, and will soon destroy our world as well. Not only must Liza face both adversaries and unexpected allies on the Fae side, but she must also confront the limitations and responsibilities of her own magic, and the costs and limitations of love and family, as a reflection of her changing world. Recommended.

– Maryelizabeth

Let me introduce you to orphaned sisters with extraordinary psychic abilities: blind Annie can “see” the future – although with limitations, and instinctive Fia can determine right from wrong with perfection. However, the powerful Keane Foundation controls these special lives. If Fia fails to do what the Foundation wants, then Annie will die. It’s time to take control of their lives and it’s up to Fia to do whatever is necessary to achieve that goal. Will she be able to kill an innocent man? Is Fia smart enough to outwit and outthink her handlers? Will either sister survive?  Mind Games takes the reader between the past and present in this up and down futuristic journey to freedom. This is a story for all who have family they love and know the measures they would take to keep them alive. And I envision a great read for those with psychic gifts.

– Adrean

In a dystopian near-future of the American Surveillance State, we follow the story of Marcus, who only a couple of years before, was caught in a scandal of torture, unlawful imprisonment, and government secrets. He finds himself once more in the center of a conspiracy centered around the friends he keeps and the secrets he has access to.

Homeland is a somewhat sequel to Little Brother, Cory's first book in the series that centers around privacy, civil liberties, and technology. I recommend this book to any young adult or parent who wants his child to be aware of the world in which he is being brought up in. It's cliché to say that this book and books like it are important, but hey it's important. The modern answer to 1984, by an author that makes his characters easy to identify with and the reading fun, fast, and freeing! 

– Danny