New Teen Books to Pick Up

I have been busy reading 3-4 books at a time to finish up my giant list of books to read for the Young Adult book committee I'm on for the state of South Dakota. Because of this, I haven't finished a book for a couple of weeks. GASP!

There have been so many amazing books come out over the last couple of months, so here is a short compilation of all the books I have sitting next to my bed, waiting to be dug into once May 1 hits!


Scar Island is by Dan Gemeinhart, and I'm always a sucker for his books. This one seems a bit edgier based on the description.
















We Are Okay is the newest by Nina Lacour who is one of my favorite authors. I can't wait to dive into this one. It may be at the top of my list. :)

 
At the Edge of the Universeis the newest by Shaun David Hutchinson. His last book was insane and awesome, and I can't wait for this one.

The Best of Adam Sharp is by Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Project. While this isn't a teen book, it's the one adult book that is high up on my list!







Reviews of these books to come!

Weekly Reads: Guy in Real Life

 I was super excited to read Guy in Real Life because it seemed like the ultimate nerdy-nerd read (aka right up my alley!), throw in a side of teen romance and drama and I'm sold. There were shining gems in the story, and other parts that just drug on that I didn't care about. I think if you're a serious gamer, you may enjoy this more than I did. I really didn't care during the fantasy worlds described in the story, and sometimes got confused from the multiple perspectives.

My rating: 3 stars


Summary from goodreads:

From the acclaimed author of Brooklyn, Burning comes Guy in Real Life, an achingly real and profoundly moving love story about two Minnesota teens whose lives become intertwined through school, role-playing games, and a chance two-a.m. bike accident.

It is Labor Day weekend in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and boy and girl collide on a dark street at two thirty in the morning: Lesh, who wears black, listens to metal, and plays MMOs; Svetlana, who embroiders her skirts, listens to Björk and Berlioz, and dungeon masters her own RPG. They should pick themselves up, continue on their way, and never talk to each other again.

But they don't.

This is a story of two people who do not belong in each other's lives, who find each other at a time when they desperately need someone who doesn't belong in their lives. A story of those moments when we act like people we aren't in order to figure out who we are. A story of the roles we all play-at school, at home, with our friends, and without our friends-and the one person who might show us what lies underneath it all.

Weekly Reads: Afterworlds

I received an e-ARC of Afterworlds a few months ago, and despite being super excited to read a new book by Scott Westerfeld, I could not bring myself to tackle a 600 page book on my e-reader. Something about giant books on an e-devices make you just feel like you're reading FOREVER. It helps me to see physically how much further I've gotten into the book, I think. And then once the e-copy expired off of my device, I started to hear ALL of the excitement surrounding the book. And then I was super mad that I didn't just buck up and read it. Luckily my library purchased it right away and I decided to pick it up to read during the month of November. During NaNoWriMo, I allowed myself to read during breaks at work, but free time out of work needed to be spent writing. What better book to inspiring my novel writing than a story that includes a girl who wrote her first breakthrough novel during NaNoWriMo.

The reason the book is so giant is that it's essentially two stories in one. The first story is about Darcy, the young novelist who just sold her first book to a publisher and moves to NYC to work on the sequel. The story within the story (very meta, Scott Dub) is the story she wrote and published, where Lizzie slips into the afterworld during a devastating terrorist attack and falls in love.

Both stories were amazing and helped push me right along when I was reading it. The two stories alternated by chapter, and there was a black bar at the top and bottom of the page for the Afterworlds story to make it easier for the reader to differentiate the two stories.

This was a great book, and a must read.

My rating: 5 stars.

Summary from goodreads:

Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings… 

Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.(

Weekly Reads: Glory O'Brien's History of the Future

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future is A.S. King's newest YA book. She is such an amazing novelist, and I wish she had been writing books when I was a teen. I received an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review, and a chance to promote it to my teens if I liked it. Spoiler alert: I loved it.

The premise of the book is a bit far fetched (Glory drinks bat dust one night and can see people's futures afterward) but it wasn't done in a way that made me obsess over the insanity of it. It deals with some typical teenager issues: sex, STDs, post-high school plans and obsessing, friendships, relationships, family issues, but it is so much more than a regular coming of age story.

Read this now. And then read it again. It's that good.

My rating: 5 stars.

Summary from goodreads:

WOULD YOU TRY TO CHANGE THE WORLD
IF YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD NO FUTURE?

Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities—but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she’s never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person’s infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions—and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying.

A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women’s rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she’ll do everything in her power to make sure this one doesn’t come to pass.

In this masterpiece about freedom, feminism, and destiny, Printz Honor author A.S. King tells the epic story of a girl coping with devastating loss at long last—a girl who has no idea that the future needs her, and that the present needs her even more.

Weekly Reads: Noggin

Noggin was one of my most anticipated young adult books of the spring, and I actually shrieked outloud when it came in for me at my library. It's currently my favorite book cover of the year (so far). It's fabulous right?? It's also on the list of Mock Printz books that my book club is reading in anticipation of our Mock Printz discussion in July.

This book read as a realistic fiction book (minus the whole cryogenically frozen head attached to another person's body). But seriously. It dealt with typical teen issues--relationships, family stuff, just existing as a teen. It was a really great read.

My rating: 4 stars

Summary from goodreads:

Listen — Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t.

Now he’s alive again.

Simple as that.

The in between part is still a little fuzzy, but he can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is. Despite all logic, he’s still 16 and everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she’s not his girlfriend anymore? That’s a bit fuzzy too.

Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, then there are going to be a few more scars.

Oh well, you only live twice.

Weekly Reads: We Were Liars

We Were Liars was amazing. It was somewhat slow moving at first, but then I really got in to it. It was told over the summer on a private island, and I read it on the first official day of summer, so that was good timing. All reviews of it have been super secretive to not have any spoilers, and I TOTALLY GET WHY OMG. It's a quick, awesome, jaw dropping read.

My rating: 4.5 stars.

Summary from goodreads:

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
 
We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Weekly Reads: She Is Not Invisible

She Is Not Invisible is the most recent book I've read for our Mock Printz discussion. Marcus Sedgwick won the Printz award for his novel, Midwinterblood, (which I've yet to read....ooops) this past year. This book is all about coincidences, so I was excited to read it. I was even more interested to see all the references to Jung's theory of synchronicity, brought me back to my psych/soci days! I really really enjoyed those portions of the story (told from writings in the father's found journal of notes for an upcoming book) but the actual story left something to be desired. I kept waiting for a giant OMG unveiling moment. With a book totaling 220 pages, there certainly was room for "more." I'm being overly critical of the book just in terms of its Printz potential, but as far as books go, this really was a great read. I also really enjoyed the story told from the perspective of a blind, teen girl.

My rating: 3.5 stars.

Summary from goodreads:

Laureth Peak's father has taught her to look for recurring events, patterns, and numbers--a skill at which she's remarkably talented. Her secret: She is blind. But when her father goes missing, Laureth and her 7-year-old brother Benjamin are thrust into a mystery that takes them to New York City where surviving will take all her skill at spotting the amazing, shocking, and sometimes dangerous connections in a world full of darkness. She Is Not Invisible is an intricate puzzle of a novel that sheds a light on the delicate ties that bind people to each other.

Weekly Reads: The Impossible Knife of Memory

The Impossible Knife of Memory is the newest book by Laurie Halse Anderson. I'd previously read Wintergirls and have had Speak on my list TBR forever. Halse Anderson has a way of drawing you in to her characters like no one else can. And when they hurt, you absolutely ache for them. I'm writing this with dried tears still on my cheeks. This book will leave you emotionally drained in only a way a truly excellent story can.

My rating: 4 stars.

Summary from goodreads:

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.

Weekly Reads: The Geography of You and Me

The Geography of You and Me is an ARC I received to review and wanted to read before I went to the NYC Teen Author Festival, as Jennifer E. Smith was one of the author's in attendance. I have her book Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, on my book shelf, but still haven't had a chance to read it. I loved that it was set in NYC (for the most part) since I was heading there myself for the first time.

Lucy and Owen meet, trapped in an elevator, and when they get out they spend the night together. After that special night, both their lives take them in completely different directions. They keep in contact with occasional emails and postcards from the various adventures. It was a cute, quick read, but I felt it was lacking some depth in the story and their relationships.

My rating: 3 stars.

Summary from goodreads:

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

Weekly Reads: Out of the Easy

Out of The Easy is the last book I read as a Printz potential title. It is set in New Orleans in the 1950s, and while I don't normally like historical fiction, I found this easier to follow than most historical fiction. Seventeen year old Josie is the daughter of a prostitute in a brothel that Josie maintains for the madam who acts more as Josie's mother than her actual mother ever has. Josie has dreams of leaving the Big Easy for higher education, but it seems that everything and almost everyone is out to keep her around. When a murder is committed, Josie is compelled to look in to the mystery further. This was a fairly fast read with a full host of compelling characters.

My rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Summary:

It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. 

She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

Weekly Reads: Grasshopper Jungle

I was ecstatic to get my hands on the newest book by Andrew Smith, Grasshopper Jungle, and was super exciting when I got an advanced reader copy of it to review. I'm familiar with his somewhat vulgar writing style, as I recently read Winger and was blown away by it (review here). Both books were told from a teenage boy's perspective and both did an excellent job of reminding me how gross a teenage boy's mind can be.  :)

There were moments while reading that I was outwardly disgusted by the words I had read, and the imagery the words created in my mind. I'm getting grossed out just typing this remembering some passages. So with that being said, I could see this as a book that just isn't appealing to everyone. But the actual story was great, and unpredictable, and had a really interesting interconnectedness of Austin's life and history intersecting others histories.

Overall, I'm really happy that I didn't put the book down for good when I was grossed out. Prepare yourself for some squeamish reading moments, and then get to reading this book!

My rating: 4

Summary from goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the storyof how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa.

To make matters worse, Austin's hormones are totally oblivious; they don't care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation. He's stewing in a self-professed constant state of maximum horniness, directed at both Robby and Shann. Ultimately, it's up to Austin to save the world and propagate the species in this sci-fright journey of survival, sex, and the complex realities of the human condition.

Weekly Reads: Firecracker

If I could write a novel with a quirky and awesome title character, it would be Astrid Krieger.  Calling her a Firecracker would be an understatement.  Calling her a pain in the @$$ would probably be more appropriate.  She comes from an incredibly wealthy family, and has always attended fancy private schools.  She has always caused enough problems to become expelled from said private schools.  The latest expulsion is the final straw for her father who gives her the worst punishment she could imagine--she has to attend public school..... with.. like... the public.  Part of her punishment is to continue to speak with the dean of the private school who is also a psychologist to "make her normal."  In one of their sessions, she strikes a deal:  If Astrid follows through with the Dean's orders, he has to allow her back in to private school.  To find out if she succeeds and the hilarious LOL moments en route, pick up Firecracker, written by New Girl and SNL writer David Iserson.

My rating:  3.5/5 stars