In Your Room, by Jordanna Fraiberg

In Your Room is told from the perspectives of two teens whose families have swapped houses for the summer. Molly is from L.A., and is a sweet, shy girl who dreams of being a designer. Charlie is from Boulder, which is perfect for his mountain-biking obession. They get to know each other through emails and instant-messaging, and find that they click really well.

There are obstacles, of course, including Molly's super-hot best friend (who lives across the street), Charlie's jaded ex-girlfriend (who Molly befriends accidentally right off the bat), and the fact that they live in different states.

This is a quick read, and oh so worth it. It is nice to read about teens who have other interests than just landing THE GUY or THE GIRL. There is real emotion here, and the dialogue is true to life, difficult when writing from a teen's POV. This is Fraiberg's first book.

Knife of Never Letting Go, a review by Linda

Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness. Todd lives in a colony called New World, where you can hear everyone's thoughts- human and animal. Todd is sent away by his guardians when they fear he'll be killed. There is a mystery about what happens to young men when they come of age. Tom meets Viola, who is the only survivor of a space ship from their old planet. Together, they seek answers to what is happening in their world. There is some comedy- what Tom's dog says is very funny- and some violence. This is the first in a series, Chaos Walking.

Melina Marchetta

This is more an author review, actually. Melina Marchetta lives in Australia, and writes young adult fiction. I found Jellicoe Road on a website listing award-winning novels. While checking it out of the library, I picked up Saving Francesca, too.

I read Saving Francesca first, mainly because it's a fairly short book. The format is neat, almost like you're reading Francesca's diary. She's just begun a new school year at a historically all-boys school. The transition isn't easy for her, or the other thiry girls who are not welcome by the male students or the teachers. To make matters worse, Francesca's gregarious mother has suddenly stopped coming out of her room. Francesca has to learn to deal with her mother's clinical depression, as well as survive the turmoil at school and a major identity crisis.

Jellicoe Road also centers around a girl struggling to find her true self. Taylor was abandoned on the Jellicoe Road when she was ten, and attends a sort of frontier school at the edge of the bush. She is elected, much to her surprise, to be the leader of her school's underground troop of fighters, who skirmish with kids from the nearby village (Townies) and the military boys who camp nearby every summer (Cadets). Taylor begins to suspect her murky past is somehow tangled with a group of kids whose tragic lives also center around the Jellicoe Road.

Looking for Alibrandi was Marchetta's first novel, and the last I read. Maybe that's why I liked it the least. It's a good book, definitely, but I could tell how much her writing blossomed as she published more. This one is about a teenaged girl (are you seeing a pattern?) who has never known her father, and has been just fine with that. Suddenly, though, he is back in her life, much to the dislike of them both. The story flows out smoothly and realistcally, but I wasn't as drawn to the characters as in the first two books I read.

Melina Marchetta's books have a singular knack for starting as one thing, and ending up completely differently. I think Saving Francesca is the best example. Although they are set in Australia, the feelings and fears of the characters are universal. One thing that was a little strange was the difference in the seasons. There, February is hot.

These books will lift you up and break your heart. I loved them.

The Maze Runner, by James Dashner

The Maze Runner is another book I picked up from Target just because I thought the cover looked cool. I finished it the next day, and my husband finished in one night. The general premise is very similar to The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. It is quite rough (violent), but not as "in your face" about it as the Collins series.

Thomas wakes up in a metal elevator with no memory of who he is or where he's from. Basically, the only thing he can remember is his name. The elevator eventally takes him to a huge outdoor courtyard enclosed by massive stone walls. Outside the walls lies a gigantic maze. There are other boys here, none of whom remember who they are.

The boys have set up a society, of sorts. They are provided with some supplies, grow their own food, raise animals, etc. But there is just one thing they all want more than anything...to get out. Eight of them are assigned to be Runners, studying the Maze every day. The only problem? The walls move, and you do NOT want to be caught out in the Maze after dark.

Mystery abounds as you wonder why they were brought here. Are they criminals? Is there a way out at all? And why does Thomas have the oddest feeling that he's been here before?

This book has a great ending, making me sorry the next installment doesn't come out until October 2010!

Physik, a review by Carson

Physic, by Angie Sage.
As the books about Septimus Heap return,it gets even stranger. Jenna has returned, and Simon wont be bothering his family again. Silas has started to (sorta) bond with Gringe by playing a game with counters that are acctually alive. Soon, Jenna is horrified when she witnesses Septimus being kidnapped through a mirror by Marcellus,a 500 year old man. No one will believe her but Nicko and her new friend,Snorri. They must go back in time to save Septimus.....

Lizzy Bright and the Buckminster Boy, a review by Linda

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt

This historical fiction novel is based on an incident which actually happened. Turner Buckminster, son of a minister, is new in town, and doesn't know anyone. He meets Lizza Bright, a resident of a nearby island. She's the first African-American he's known. They become good friends. But the powers that be in town want the African-Americans off the island, so they can use it for tourism. This is a painful story, with moments of goodness.

You might need a few tissues, as some of the characters do die. It takes place in a small coastal town in Maine in 1912.

This was an honor book for both the Newbery Award and the Michael Printz Award (young adult).

The Black Book of Secrets

This is the first book written by F.E. Higgins. Ludlow Fitch is a boy with the misfortune to be born in The City, a harsh, filthy place from the times of horsedrawn carriages. His parents teach him to steal before he can walk, and he becomes an accomplished pickpocket. When they decide to sell his teeth in order to buy more gin, Ludlow flees for his life. His escape delivers him into the company of a strange man, a Secret Pawnbroker.

Ludlow and this stranger set up shop in an isolated mountain village, paying good money for the town's secrets. But what does this stranger want with them? More importantly, what will the town's most illustrious (and bullying) citizen, Jeremiah Ratchet, do now that all his debtors are able to pay up?

This is a great book, sprinkled with the confessions of the townspeople. At the end are several snippets about real activites of the time, including bodysnatching, being buried alive, and even Sweeny Todd. It's a quick read, but so satisfying!