Graceling, by Kristin Cashore (2008)

In these dungeons the darkness was complete, but Katsa had a map in her mind.

Seven kingdoms, seven greedy, unpredictable kings.  Any and all Gracelings, people born with extreme skills, are the king's possessions.

When Katsa was 8-years old, her Grace announced its nature:  a girl Graced with killing.  All Gracelings are marked with their eyes; each eye is a different color.  All Gracelings are feared, especially Katsa.  The niece of the King Randa, Katsa is kept to serve the king.  He orders her to kill, hurt, or maim those who offended him.

On an errand for the Council, Katsa meets another Graceling.  She knows she should kill him, but she doesn't.  She learns that he is Prince Greening Grandemalion of Lienid, looking for his  kidnapped grandfather.

"Katsa," he said into the dirt.  "I beg you to trust me, as I've trusted you."

The prince, Po, is also Graced with fighting skills.  

Katsa is used to being alone, independent, but her life is about to change.  Graceling is an exciting fantasy read about love, loyalty, and finding what makes you happy.

Rating:  8 out of 10 stars
*sexual inferences

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!


Companion to Graceling:

Sequel to Graceling:

Love & Leftovers, by Sarah Tregay (2012)

My Family's Summerhouse

My mother

doesn't understand

that this is a summerhouse

(meant to be lived in

only during the summer).

It is almost Labor Day.

Next week,

I'll start my sophomore year

at Oyster River High School

in Durham, New Hampshire

because she doesn't have the courage

to go home

to Boise, Idaho.

Sixteen-year old Marcie Foster thought her family would always be together.  In June her mom realized her marriage to Marcie's father was over, and she took Marcie across the country to New Hampshire, away from her dad, her friends, and her boyfriend.


The worst part of 
this overextended summer vacation
is leaving 


behind


a perfectly good boyfriend
with the deepest
espresso-brown eyes
a girl 
could ever
get lost
in.


As Marcie tries to help her mom through her grief, she is forced to take care of everything.  She is confused and desperately lonely.  She wants to have friends, but even more, she wants to be in love.

My Wish

is to fall

cranium over Converse

in dizzy daydream-worthy

love

Marcie questions her relationship with her boyfriend in Boise when she meets a new guy in New Hampshire.  She wonders how she'll know when it's really and truly love.  And is love really worth it as she watches her parents' marriage unravel?


Love & Leftovers is a novel-in-verse.  It's a quick read for teens who like books about relationships.  


Rating:  8 out of 10 stars
* mild language, gay & bisexual, sexual inferences


To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

Birthmarked, by Caragh M. O'Brien (2009)

In the dim hovel, the mother clenched her body into one final, straining push, and the baby slithered out into Gaia's ready hands.


For years 16-year old Gaia Stone knew she would be a midwife.  Gaia learned all of her skills from her mother, the only midwife in Western Sector Three of Wharfton.  Everyone serves the Enclave, and midwives are required to advance the first three babies born each month.  Advancing means that the babies are taken from their birth families immediately after they're born and taken to live inside the Enclave, a life of privilege and security.

"You can't," she whispered.  "You can't take my baby.  She's mine."

"I have to," Gaia said, backing away.  I'm sorry.

"But you can't," the woman gasped.

"You'll have others.  You'll get to keep some.  I promise."

"Your baby will be well cared for," she said, using the phrases she'd learned.  "You've provided a great service to the Enclave, and you will be compensated."

Suddenly Gaia's parents are taken to the Enclave for questioning, and Gaia is ordered to take up her mother's duties as midwife and serve the Enclave in Western Sector Three.


Gaia has never questioned the Enclave, never worried about the monthly quota of babies.

No deformed babies were ever advanced, for any reason.  For Gaia, one accident had guaranteed a life of poverty outside the wall, with no education, no chance for good food or leisure or easy friendships, while the girls her age who's been advanced were now in the Enclave, with boundless electricity, food and education...She would make sure that the babies in her care had the opportunities she'd never had, those lucky three every month.

Gaia learns that her parents are in the Enclave prison, accused of being traitors.  Gaia is determined to do whatever she needs to do to help her parents escape from the Enclave.


Birthmarked is filled with twists and turns, a code that needs to be cracked, promises that need to be kept, and romance.


To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

Rating:  7 out of 10 stars
* mild language, sexual inferences


Next:

A Corner of the Universe, by Ann. M. Martin (2002)

Last summer, the summer I turned twelve, was the summer Adam came.  


Summer 1960


Summer vacation has just started, and Hattie Owen has her regular routine.  Her family runs a boardinghouse in the big house on Grant Avenue in the quiet town of Millerton.  Her grandparents also live in Millerton, but they are very proper and wealthy.  

One the first day of summer vacation, Hattie learns she has an uncle that her family has kept secret from her.  Uncle Adam is only 21-years old and he's been away at school in Ohio since Hattie was 2-years old.  

And then I wonder for the nine thousandth time that evening why I was never told about Adam.  If he didn't have to come home now, would I ever have been told about him?

If a person is kept secret, is he real?

Hattie's 12th birthday is soon, and she doesn't feel like she has enough friends to have a party.  She actually only has one friend, and she's away for the summer.  Even though he hasn't been home for long, Hattie realizes that Uncle Adam pays attention to her.

"Hattie," he says at last, looking thoughtful, "I believe you are one of the people who can lift the corners of our universe."

A slow smile spreads across my face.  I feel very flattered, even though I have absolutely no idea what Adam means by that.

Hattie spends a lot of time with Adam and she learns about his differences and his moods.  She also learns how others react to Adam.  They look at him like he's a freak.

I feel a little like Adam's baby-sitter, a little like his mother, not at all like his niece, and quite a bit like his friend.

The Fred Carmel's Funtime Carnival comes to Millerton and Hattie makes a friend, Leila Cahn.  Adam and Leila throw a private, perfect birthday party for Hattie.  Hattie's heart feels happy and full.


But Adam is different from everyone.  His mood swings are vast and dangerous, and Hattie can't possible control him all of the time.


A Corner of the Universe is a delicious novel for young adults who are 11-years old and up.  There are some situations, however, that would be difficult to explain to younger readers. 


Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*mild adult situations


To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

The Drowned Cities, by Paolo Bacigalupi (2012)

Chains clanked in the darkness of the holding cells.


Companion to Ship Breaker, The Drowned Cities begins from Tool's point of view.  Tool is a half-man, a fabrication of human, dog, hyena and tiger.  The perfect war machine; a creature created to kill.


After the peacekeepers from China fled the Drowned Cities, the war lords took over.  The various armies are made up of children, war maggots.  Drowned Cities is filled with fighting sanctions: Army of God, Tulane Company, Freedom Militia, United Patriot Army.


Mahlia's father was a member of the peacekeepers from China.  Her father was Chinese, her mother was pure Drowned Cities.  Now she is a castoff.  Orphaned.  Unwanted.  Unlucky.  Unloved.

Orphans like Mahlia, who had shown up in Banyan Town with a chopped-off right hand, bleeding, dying for help.  No one wanted a war maggot in their midst.  It meant they had to decide one way or another about a peacekeeper's castoff, lying in the dirt in the middle of their town.

Dr. Mahfouz took Mahlia in, cared for her, and taught her how to doctor the sick and injured. He also took in Mouse, a farm boy whose family was killed in the war.  A boy who bravely stood up for Mahlia when the Army of God was severing her hand, threatening to kill her.

"The thing I keep wondering about is what was wrong with you, girl?  How come the peacekeepers didn't want you?  If the peacekeepers didn't care enough to take you when they went back to China, why in the name of the Fates would we want you, either?"

The situation in Banyan Town changes suddenly and Mahlia and Mouse are faced with a difficult decision.  Their choice carries serious consequences; one is taken prison by merciless soldier boys, the other has an impossible task.  And Tool, the bioengineered war beast is forced to confront his own fears and find a place where he can belong.   


The Drowned Cities is a fast-paced, well-written novel.  It will you keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next in an impossible situation.


Rating:  9 out of 10 stars
*language, violence


To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!


Companion novel:

See You at Harry's, by Jo Knowles (2012)

The very best day of my life, I threw up four times and had a fever of 103 degrees.  I was pretty sure I was going to die, and sometimes by the look on my mom's face every time she took my temperature, I think she was pretty sure, too.

Fern's parents named her after the character in Charlotte's Web  When she was 8-years old, she caught a virus from Random Smith, a boy no one wanted to be friends with.  

"From the moment you were born, I could tell you had a special soul.  I knew you'd be a good friend.  A hero."

I looked at my chest and tried to feel my soul buried in there, deep in my heart.

"It's true," my mom said.  "Not everyone would share a sandwich with Random Smith."

I smiled, feeling my soul stir a little.

My mom took my hand and kissed it.  "I'm proud of you, honey," she said.  "I know you're miserable now, but you made a little boy feel like he matters.  And I hope you think it was worth it."

Twelve-year old Fern has two brothers and one sister; Fern is the second youngest.  Charlie is three years old and totally grosses Fern and her other siblings out.  He picks his nose, he carries around a plastic baby doll, or making Fern do something totally embarrassing.  He's the center of the universe for her parents.


Fern's parents own a restaurant, Harry's, even though her dad's name is George.  Her older sister is named Sara from the character in  A Little Princess, her brother Holden is named after a character in The Catcher in the Rye, and Charlie was named after the character in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Needless to say, her family is a bit quirky.


See You at Harry's looks like a nice, sweet book, but it's a heavy-weight:  Holden struggles with telling his parents he's gay, a tragic accident happens to one of the family members, and Fern is forced to confront her guilt.  


I really loved this book, but it's not for everyone.


Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*mild language, grief, homosexuality


This book is not at NOLS...yet!