"The Vespertine" by Saundra Mitchell

Amelia van den Broek is sent to Baltimore in the summer of 1889 to find a marriage prospect. She lives with her older brother August and his wife and August literally wants Amelia off his responsbility list.
As Amelia and her cousin, Zora Stewart, enjoy the parties of the season, Amelia finds that she has an amazing gift-she has visions of the future that seemingly only occur at sunset.
Combine those visions, with Amelia's forbidden romance with Nathaniel-an artist- and the book moves quickly and satisfactorily along.
The insight into Victorian middle class is incredibly interesting and moving. Amelia's gift (or curse) as she learns to think of it allows the two cousins to be invited into homes that they would normally not even be welcome in to.
The writing is crisp and clear. The story is both gothic and romantic. A welcome change from the typical gothic, Victorian romance.

"Okay For Now" by Gary D. Schmidt

Doug Switeck is one heckuva storyteller! But those who have read "Wednesday Wars" will already know that.

In this story, the Switeck family is moving due to his father's new job. They move to a small town and things don't always go well for them there. The father is gone all the time either working or hanging out with Ernie-a very questionable character.

The older brother is still in Vietnam and Doug's other brother is always being questioned by the police for one thing or another.

This book was wonderful! It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me think, it made appreciate all the people in our world that make us who we are.

It made me think about our Vietnam vets and how they are treated. It made me think about friendship, love, and death and dying. It left me with hope.

If you don't read any other book this year, please don't miss this one. Gary Schmidt has created a cast of characters and a story that will stick with you long after you close the last page of the book.

"The Adventures of Nanny Piggins" by R.A. Spratt

Cheap Mr. Green places a nanny wanted sign on the front yard of his house for his three children. Nanny Piggins answers that sign. Too bad she's a pig. No, not really. She'll work for cheap and Mr. Green doesn't care as long as he can go to work and not be bothered.
Such begins the romp that this English novelist brings to us.
The humor is quirky and smart-the characters are well-drawn and their words ring true to life.
This is a perfect book for 4th and 5th graders who enjoy humor and can understand word play.
This was also Book List magazines choice for best book of 2010.

"Hold Me Closer, Necromancer" by Lish McBride

Sam is just your typical teenager. He is a college dropout. Lives in his own apartment. Hangs out with his friends. Works at a fast food restaurant.
Until...he meets Douglas.
Douglas is a necromancer. He raises the dead for money. And, he wants to know why Sam is living in his jurisdiction without registering.
You see, it turns out that Sam is a necromancer too. Just a little fact his mother left out of the baby book.
Now, Sam has one week to decide whether or not he is going to join forces with Douglas.
Good thing he has friends. Too bad one of those friends is just a head.
This humorous, fast-paced book is great fun to read. Put it in the hands of a teenager. They will do the rest.

"Crossing the Tracks" by Barbara Stuber

15 year-old Iris is sent to spend the summer with a doctor and his mother. Her father is a shoe salesman who is going to be too busy opening his new store in Kansas City to be bothered with Iris. So, off she goes to live with Avery and his mother Mrs. Nesbitt.
At first, Iris is indignant. After all, she feels as if her father doesn't care and she's not so sure about leaving with a strange family. But, things change for the better. Iris and Mrs. Nesbitt grow close as they discover their love for each other and for the understanding of the similar pain they have both felt over loss of loved ones.
Iris also is growing in her love for a young man back home-Leroy-who she exchanges letters with over the course of the summer.
When Iris is told her father is getting married and that he and his new bride will be running the shoe store she is saddened. It grows worse after the death of her father. He is killed by a train.
Add to the mix an abused and pregnant young neighbor and you have a wonderfully told story.
Somewhere there is a sensitive young teenage girl who can wrap her heart and her mind around this sensitively told story.





I

"Storm Runners" by Roland Smith

Chase and his dad are storm runners. And not the kind who take pictures and videotape. Chase's father is in construction and they make their living by finding storms and victims of storms who need work done.
This book brings them to Florida as they wait for the hurricane to hit. Chase's dad heads to the area where the television weather reporters are saying the hurricane will hit.
Chase heads off to his new school with the neighbor girl on whose land they have parked their trailer.
At school, Chase and Nicole are some of the last students left. Most of the students have been picked up by their parents as the weather worsens. They are put on the bus to head home. The hurricane hits them- faster, harder, sooner, and not anywhere near the predictions. It now becomes a race against the weather to make it back to Nicole's house safely.
The story moves at a quick, exciting pace. Hand this to a reluctant reader and they will come back for the second book. Yes, there will be another book. The ending leaves no doubt to that.
A good choice for boys. Due out in March 2011.

"The Marbury Lens" by Andrew Smith

16 year-old Jack gets drunk one night at a party. He is kidnapped in the park by a stranger, tortured and nearly raped. Fortunately, he escapes. This begins Smith's dark, brooding fantasy about Jack, his friend Conner, their summer in London, the alternate world of Marbury and how we cope with trauma.

The book moves quickly and scarily. Jack's forays into the alternative world leave the reader shaking from the fast, crazy rides. Just like Jack, we have a difficult time in distinguishing between reality and fantasy.

This well-written, powerful book is not for the weak at heart. The language is rough as are the characters at times. Would definitely share with a mature high school student only.

"Lost and Found" by Shaun Tan

Shaun Tan's newest book, due out in April of 2011, is another winner. It has three powerful stories within it's covers and the illustrations enhance them in a magnificent way. All three stories have to do with what we lose, but more importantly, with what we find.

Although the brevity of it will draw younger readers, once again Tan proves that he can appeal to an older, wiser audience even with seemingly simplistic words.

"Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

This year's Newbery winner is a charmer. Abilene Tucker is sent by her father to his hometown of Manifest, Kansas to wait out the summer while he works. Her feelings are overwrought as she attempts to discover why he left her here and what it all means.

When Abilene meets Miss Sadie on the Path to Perdition, Abilene's story and her father's story become intertwined. As Miss Sadie tells the story of two young boys interspersed between the actual happenings of the town, we see the richness of the history and the fullness of the circle between past and present.

A wonderful tale of redemption, love, and the power of healing.

"Delirium" by Lauren Oliver

When Lena turns 18 she will be given the "cure." She is counting down the days until this happens. Her mother committed suicide due to delirium and Lena does not want the same thing to happen to her. This is the world she knows and this is what she expects to happen.

Everything moves towards this day in an orderly fashion until she meets Alex at a party her best friend has talked her into attending.

As things happen, Lena and Alex fall in love. This is what the "cure" will prevent. The society they live in wants them to experience the world in a practical manner, not in a loving one.

This dystopian novel will appeal to both middle schoolers and high schoolers who are looking for a romance novel with a twist of adventure and excitement. Due out in February 2011.

"Beautiful Darkness" by Kami Garci and Margaret Stohl

Book 2 in the Caster Chronicles is another fast-paced exciting read. This time Lena must choose between light and dark and her boyfriend Ethan, a mortal, cannot help her make the choice.
In this story, Lena is pushing Ethan away as she continues to struggle with the death of her uncle. She feels as if it were her fault and she can't seem to overcome the choices. She starts hanging around her dark cousin Ridley and a new boy named John.

Once again we travel between Caster world and mortal world and see how closely the two are intersected. Ethan and Linc still work and play together as they work to figure out how Ethan's visions are playing a part in all that is going on.

Can use in middle school but readers must have read "Beautiful Creatures" first or this second book will make little sense.

"Paranormalcy" by Kiersten White

Evie works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. Her job is to capture vampires, werewolves and the like and contain them. One of her gifts is that she can see through the paranormals' glamours. This is what helps her make her captures. She is 16 years-old and Evie thinks her life is perfectly normal. Her best friend is a mermaid and her ex-boyfriend (if you can call him that) is a faerie. Just another day....

Things change quickly for Evie when a shapeshifter named Lend is brought to the facility. While he is there paranormals are being killed. Searching for the killer brings to light a whole new set of problems and challenges. While the IPCA wants to contain, they don't kill.

This incredibly fast-paced read is filled with both romance and on-the-edge-of-your-seat thrills. Perfect for middle and high school. In fact, instead of any swear words there is only "bleep." Perfect.

"Accomplice" by Eireann Corrigan

Imagine if you and your best friend concoct a plan to stage the kidnapping of one of you. You both work out all of the details, go over everything step by step so there will be no mistake. Yet, one of you doesn't know all the details like she thinks she does.

This is the premise for this story. Finn and Chloe are going to fake Chloe's disappearance. They truly believe it will give them name recognition for their quest for the perfect college. Everything goes off without a hitch, until Dean (Chloe's supposed boyfriend) is arrested for her murder.

That's when things start to unravel. There is more to Chloe's plan than even Finn knows about.

A fast-paced, stay on the edge of your seat story.

"Sprout" by Dale Peck

When a gay teenage with green hair moves from New York City to Kansas you expect the gay part or even the green hair part to be the big deal. Neither of them are. The big deal is that Sprout is a talented writer, leaving with a drunk father, who has lost his mother to cancer, has a working friendship with an older English teacher, and attempts to find himself in the midst of all that surrounds him.

His secrets are in plain sight but the decisions he makes along the way are what shapes and molds him into who and what he is.

Imagine trying to find a boyfriend, having a secret fling with a jock who is now your best girlfriend's boyfriend and you have a recipe for success.

Add to that the voice of a young man who is an excellent writer and manages to use words and sentences in a way that entices the reader to continue.

A wonderfully told story of a young man's search for true identity.

Definitely belongs on high school shelves.

"The Space Between Trees" by Katie Williams

Evie delivers papers on an early morning. It is her opportunity to see Jonathan-the older boy she has a crush on. One morning as she waits for him to come out of the woods, she sees him coming with police and realizes there is a dead body. Jonathan has discovered the dead young girl in the woods. Her name is Zabet and she is Evie's friend from childhood.

At the funeral Evie meets Zabet's father and manages to connect with him with a story she shares about their "supposed" friendship. Zabet's true friend, Hadley, knows she is lying and it is then when the complication begin.

Evie and Hadley begin a unique relationship that has them searching for Zabat's killer.

A unique and interesting book that would be most appropriate in the high school setting.

"iDrakula" by Bekka Black

Who knew that a book made up of text messages and emails could be so much fun! Mina and Jonathan are boyfriend and girlfriend. Lucy is her best friend. Somehow the three of them managed to get entwined in the life (or death) of Count Drakula. The story unfolds quickly and in manner that will hook YA readers. The suspense is heartpounding and the storyline will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

A fun, entertaining read that will appeal to readers and reluctant readers alike.

"Strings Attached" by Judy Blundell

Kit Corrigan leaves her Rhode Island home for New York City. She wants to see if she can make it as a singer and a dancer. City life is hard and when you are not dancing on Broadway money can be tight.
Kit had been involved with Billy Benedict-a boy from back home who has recently enlisted in the army. A huge fight shatters their relationship and that's what makes her head to the big city.
Once there, she struggles to make ends meet. In comes her savior and benefactor, Billy's father-Nate Benedict. He is a lawyer for the mob and his connections to them runs deep and tight. He offers Kit an apartment. Her obligation is now to Nate and he wants her to contact him after she contacts Billy and reconciles.
Kit and Billy reconcile but it is her ties to Nate that will once again drive them apart. Consequently we see her struggles with her job, her personal life, and her family.
An interesting story that takes place during World War II. It will intrigue readers and keep their attention. For anyone who liked "What I Saw and How I Lied" pick this up in March 2011 when it becomes available.

"After the Moment" by Garret Freymann-Weyr

Leigh Hunter falls in love with the most unlikely of girls. Her name is Maia Morland and her issues are far more encompassing that Leigh has ever encountered. But love does not know those kind of boundaries and Leigh cannot help himself.

The story escalates during the weekend Leigh returns to New York to break up with Astra-his girlfriend from home. Maia is totally lacking in confidence and self-assurance and makes a huge mistake while he is gone-A mistake that will ultimately change the course and destiny of both of their lives.

The book reads quickly although the story is powerful and painful. Neither of these characters will walk away from their time together without having been changed in one way or another.

"Breathless" by Jessica Warman

Katie and her brother Will are close. The one thing that separates them from a seemingly perfect brother/sister relationship is Will's mental illness. It is only getting worse. When Will attempts suicide Katie's parents decide that sending her to boarding school is the only way they can shelter her from Will. At the boarding school Katie finds her only solace is in swimming-it is in the pool that she can breathe and forget the realities of her life.

The boarding school, however, comes with temptations and troubles. There are the peer relationships, school, drinking, sex, smoking and boyfriends. All of these combined together sometimes make for some poor choices on Katie's part.

The rawness of the emotions, the story, the mental illness of Will all combine for a powerful novel. I wanted it to end. I didn't want it to end. Warman does a fantastic job of pulling the reader in. I look forward to reading her new book- "Where the Truth Lies."

"Trapped" by Michael Northrup

When seven students are trapped at their high school during the worst storm in years, the tension begins. It begins there and does not stop. Northrup has taken a simple premise and made it complicated. Scotty and his two best friends are stuck with 4 other students-two boys and two girls in a life or death situation. There is no power, no water and the roof has started to collapse. The pressure mounts and a decision has to be made. This decision will have an impact on the rest of the survivors at the school.

A well-written, fast-paced book that will appeal to both readers and non-readers alike. "What if?" seems to be the prevailing question and in some ways it's answered and in other ways there continues to be a ton of questions.

This book will be published in Febrary 2011 by Scholastic.

Pick it up- especially if you are a fan of his first book, "Gentlemen."