Code Name Verity/ Elizabeth Wein/ 9 disks/ 352 pages

  It is very rare for me to be rendered completely speechless about a book. This YA novel has me completely gobsmacked. I am unable to find the words to describe just how spectacular, gut wrenching, emotionally draining and fulfilling story this is. We have two narrators. One is a pilot and the other is a spy and both are best friends. they are young ladies living in Britain during World War II. They are doing their bit for the war effort and meet during their training. On one night of unforeseen circumstances, the pilot Maddie and spy Verity are shot down over France. One has a chance while the other doesn't. What follows is the story of each girl struggling to survive while remembering her past. Get ready for one punch of a story.
   One of the benefits at the end of the narrative is the author herself talking about the research undertaken and what she may or may have not tweaked in order to make the story work for the two young ladies. The work done for historical accuracy is a great tribute to persistence for making sure things like ball point pens actually were around during World War II. I enjoy little trivia details like that. I was sucked into this story and just couldn't stop wondering what would happen to each of our heroines. I will admit to being so emotionally attached to our pilot and spy that I cried at the end of book. You will be rewarded.

Six degrees of reading: Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, Aleutian Sparrow by Karen Hesse, B for Buster by Iain Lawrence.

The Space Between/Brenna Yovanoff/363 pages

Daphne is half demon,  the daughter of Lucifer and Lillith.  Brenna Yovanoff writes of a world where the demons and fallen angels aren't really that bad and where Archangels really aren't that good.  Here is a world where the citizens made a bad choice in the Angel War, lost and now are making the best of their situation for eternity.  Can demons learn to love and are they inherently evil?  The Space Between is a beautifully written novel that was listed as one of the Best Notable YA books of 2012 by ALA

Enchanted / Alethea Kontis / 308 pgs / Fairy Tale Challenge

Sunday Woodcutter is the youngest sibling of six sisters who are all named after a day of the week.  She lives in a world where magic and fairy tales are common place and she has the power to make her written stories come true.  Sunday meets an enchanted frog who becomes her friend and eventually they fall in love breaking the spell.  However, the frog prince comes from the royal family that is in a feud against Sunday's family.   

Full of magic and tales; I got the feeling that the author had some kind of bar bet to see how many fairy tales she could incorporate into one story. 

This is a 2013 YALSA Best of the Best Pick!

Enders Game / Orson Scott Card / 357 pages

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card was written in 1985 and is set sometime in the future on Earth and in outer space. This is an example of Military / Sociological Science Fiction and would appeal to someone who like world-building, good vs. evil, aliens, and rebelling against authority.

Ender Wiggin was only born because it was hoped he would be a balanced combination of his brother's ruthlessness and his sister's compassion. He is a third child in a world where thirds are typically not allowed. He is also the only hope of the planet - the one who can defeat the Buggers. Ender Wiggin is only six years old.

This is a leisurely, thought-provoking book that made the YALSA list of 100 Best, but it was not originally written for teens. It is the first book in the Ender Wiggin series and is due to be released as a movie in November of this year. Similar works include Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman; Debt of Bones by Terry Goodkind; The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and other works in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Entwined/Heather Dixon/472 pages

A magical young adult novel that is loosely based on the original Grimms fairy tale, "Twelve Dancing Princesses". In Dixon's story, Azaela is the oldest daughter and heir to the throne. After her mother dies and the family is in mourning, Azaela takes charge of the eleven younger princesses and they find an enchanted passageway underneath the castle where they can dance all night. The tale becomes more dark and mysterious when the "Keeper" of the dancing pavillion reveals secrets from the past and forces the princesses to aid with his escape from the magical forest. The story has several unexpected twists and some lighthearted moments as the girls entertain eligible suitors for marriage. I listened to this book and the reader was great, would recommend for those readers that like fairy tales, princesses, castles and of course dancing!

ALA Best Books for Teens

Chime by Franny Billingsley/361 pages

Briony has a secret. She thinks her secret killed her stepmother, damaged her twin sister's mind and now her secret threatens all the children of Swampsea. I thought it was hard to get into this story, hard to like Briony and her guilt ridden dialogue. But after awhile, she grew on me. I liked the setting, a magical swamp where Boggy Mun can strike people dead with the swamp cough and Mucky Face, a monster from the swamp calls Briony mistress. Takes place at the turn of century and witches, and those thought to be,  are hung for sport. Briony is convinced she is a witch and will be hung for her past secrets. Then comes Eldric, the swamp drainer's son, a very likeable and handsome young man who finds Briony and her twin sister enchanting and makes Briony forget to hate herself.

As one reviewer said, "large parts of my brain checked out as I tried to grapple with the sequence of events, none of which are tied together by traditional means. Chapters abruptly begin, abandoning the locations, focus, or characters of a previous chapter. Things happen suddenly with no explanation. Someone loses a hand at one point and I'm still not entirely clear how it happened. "

Chasing Lincoln's Killer/James L. Swanson/194 pages

This book is based on the best selling adult book by Swanson, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer.  Swanson has created a young adult version of the Edgar Award winning best true crime book of the year. All of the characters were alive during manhunt for Lincoln's assassin and the text comes from authentic letters, manuscripts, newspapers and other documents. It was an interesting story about the conspiracy surrounding Lincoln's assasination and attempts on other political figures of the time. This book had enough action and suspense to keep most readers entertained. At times, I felt the author was trying to hard to reach the younger audience and some of the writing was a bit disconnected and choppy. Overall, I did enjoy the book and would recommend to younger readers that enjoy a good action story or historical fiction.

Hold Still/ by Nina LaCour/ 229 pages

This novel is one of the YA Best Books of 2010, and I found the story engrossing. It's told from the perspective of a high school student whose best friend committed suicide. It is about her life, her friend, and her healing and moving on.

From sleeping in her car and pushing people away to making new friends and finding her own unique way in photography (a hobby she'd shared with her friend), the main character grows throughout the story as she gains some understanding of her friend's deep and sorrowful mental illness.

Although this book is based on a sad premise, it is uplifting and full of hope. I'd recommend it to high school students who are looking for something meaningful and real (obviously not for anyone looking for a light, fluffy read!).

The Midwife's Apprentice/Karen Cushman/122 pages/ Newbery Award, Notable Children's Book (ALA) , Best Book for Young Adults (ALA)

This is the story of a girl without a place or a name, who happens upon a village with one midwife.  Hungry for food and with no place to go, she become's the midwife's apprentice, helping her to gather and prepare the herbs needed for her practice, though never allowed to be present for a baby's birth, for fear the midwife would have competition if the girl were to learn all her secrets.  The girl befriends a cat, who she feeds scraps of her own meager food, and also a young boy named Edward.  After suffering bouts of feelings of inadequacy and running away, she returns to the midwife to be the apprentice once again, and in the end finding herself a place and a name.

The last chapter has facts about the age-old practice of midwifery for those who know little of the subject.

Winner of the 1996 Newbery Award, 1996 Notable Children's Book (ALA), 1996 Best Book for Young Adults (ALA), New York Public Library 1995 List of Recommended Books, Booklist Book for Youth Editor's Choice, School Library Journal Best Books of the Year 1995, and An American Bookseller Association Pick of the Lists