Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

by Rebekah Layton | Jul 24, 2015 | 0 comments

Heir of Fire

by Sarah J. Maas

She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one. Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth…a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever. Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed. The king’s assassin takes on an even greater destiny and burns brighter than ever before in this follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Crown of Midnight.

book 3 of the Throne of Glass series

#5 in YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten 2015

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Miranda rated it ★★★★ and said, “This book had a bit of a different feel to it than the others. I know there have been multiple story lines before, but this one felt like it could almost be 3 separate books as the story lines were so independent of each other. I especially enjoyed the story of Manon and the witches, and I could have read an entire book about her without having to go back to the other threads. Her parts were just too short for me. I found myself becoming just a little bored with Chaol and his story, although it picked up towards the end and brought it back together with the other piece. A great continuation to the story, but there better be more as they still haven’t defeated the King and tied up all the loose ends. How many love interests can one girl have? And where are the witches coming into play here? I need to have that all wrapped up to be perfectly happy with this.”

Bekka rated it ★★★ and said, “3 1/2 stars—Again, I really enjoyed the plot and the characters, but this book was about twice as long as it needed to be! Each book is getting longer and longer, and more and more drawn out, and there needs to be some serious editing. This story could have been told in 300 pages at the most! Anyway, a great read if you’ve been reading the others, but gird up your loins for a long haul.

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Nominees 2015 YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Winners 2015

romance fantasy YA fiction

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

by Rebekah Layton | Jul 24, 2015 | 0 comments

Since You've Been Gone

by Morgan Matson

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It was Sloane who yanked Emily out of her shell and made life 100% interesting. But right before what should have been the most epic summer, Sloane just…disappears. All she leaves behind is a to-do list.

On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that Emily would normally never try. But what if they could bring her best friend back?

Apple picking at night? Okay, easy enough.

Dance until dawn? Sure. Why not?

Kiss a stranger? Um…

Emily now has this unexpected summer, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected), to check things off Sloane’s list. Who knows what she’ll find?

Go skinny-dipping? Wait…what?

#9 in YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten 2015

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Nominees 2015 YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Winners 2015

romance YA fiction

My Life with the Walter Boys by Ali Novak

by Rebekah Layton | Jul 24, 2015 | 0 comments

My Life with the Walter Boys

by Ali Novak

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My Life with the Walter Boys centers on the prim, proper, and always perfect Jackie Howard. When her world is turned upside down by tragedy, Jackie must learn to cut loose and be part of a family again.

Jackie does not like surprises. Chaos is the enemy! The best way to get her successful, busy parents to notice her is to be perfect. The perfect look, the perfect grades-the perfect daughter. And then…

Surprise #1: Jackie’s family dies in a freak car accident.

Surprise #2: Jackie has to move cross-country to live with the Walters—her new guardians.

Surprise #3: The Walters have twelve sons. (Well, eleven, but Parker acts like a boy anyway)

Now Jackie must trade in her Type A personality and New York City apartment for a Colorado ranch and all the wild Walter boys who come with it. Jackie is surrounded by the enemy-loud, dirty, annoying boys who have no concept of personal space. Okay, several of the oldest guys are flat-out gorgeous. But still annoying. She’s not stuck-up or boring-no matter what they say. But proving it is another matter. How can she fit in and move on when she needs to keep her parents’ memory alive by living up to the promise of perfect?

#4 in YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten 2015

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Rebekah rated it ★★★★★ and said, “This wasn’t the most impressive book I’ve ever read. At times, it felt downright mediocre. But there was just something about it, and 15 minutes after I finished I felt the overwhelming desire to immediately read it again.”

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Nominees 2015 YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Winners 2015

romance YA fiction

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

by Rebekah Layton | Jul 23, 2015 | 0 comments

The Winner's Curse

by Marie Rutkoski

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Winning what you want may cost you everything you love…

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

book 1 in the Winner’s Trilogy

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Nominees 2015

romance fantasy YA fiction

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

by Rebekah Layton | Jul 23, 2015 | 0 comments

The Geography of You and Me

by Jennifer E. Smith

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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.

#10 in YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten 2015

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★ and said, “Really fun! I enjoy Smith’s books for their feel-good quality, and this one is no different. I really enjoyed the vast amount of locations this time. I think she did a great job with Owen and his dad and their wanders. The characters are memorable and the romance is sweet. This is a fun light read for pretty much anyone.”

Miranda rated it ★★★★ and said, “Another cute story from Smith. I really enjoyed all the traveling they did while still being able to see each other.”

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Nominees 2015 YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Winners 2015

travel romance YA fiction

Boys Like You by Juliana Stone

by Rebekah Layton | Jul 23, 2015 | 0 comments

Boys Like You

by Juliana Stone

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IF
If I hadn’t fallen asleep.
If I hadn’t gotten behind the wheel.
If I hadn’t made a mistake.

For Monroe Blackwell, one small mistake has torn her family apart–leaving her empty and broken. There’s a hole in her heart that nothing can fill. That no one can fill. And a summer in Louisiana with her grandma isn’t going to change that…

Nathan Everets knows heartache firsthand when a car accident leaves his best friend in a coma. And it’s all his fault. He should be the one lying in the hospital. The one who will never play guitar again. He doesn’t deserve forgiveness, and a court-appointed job at the Blackwell B&B isn’t going to change that…

There’s No Going Back

Captivating and hopeful, this achingly poignant novel brings together two lost souls struggling with grief and guilt–looking for acceptance, so they can find forgiveness.

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Nominees 2015

romance YA fiction

We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sundquist

by Rebekah Layton | Jul 23, 2015 | 0 comments

We Should Hang Out Sometime: Embarrassingly, a True Story

by Josh Sundquist

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A bright, poignant, and deeply funny autobiographical account of coming of age as an amputee cancer survivor, from Josh Sundquist: Paralympic ski racer, YouTube star, and motivational speaker.

Josh Sundquist only ever had one girlfriend.
For twenty-three hours.
In eighth grade.

Why was Josh still single? To find out, he tracked down the girls he had tried to date and asked them straight up: What went wrong?

The results of Josh’s semiscientific, wholly hilarious investigation are captured here. From a disastrous Putt-Putt date involving a backward prosthetic foot, to his introduction to CFD (Close Fast Dancing), to a misguided “grand gesture” at a Miss America pageant, this story is about looking for love–or at least a girlfriend–in all the wrong places.

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Nominees 2015

romance memoir YA non-fiction

The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

by Rebekah Layton | Jul 23, 2015 | 0 comments

The Princess Spy

by Melanie Dickerson

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A new suitor. A shocking discovery.

Margaretha has always been a romantic, and hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, is destined to be her one true love. But then an injured man is brought to the castle, claiming to be an English lord who was left for dead by Claybrook’s men. She convinces herself “Lord Colin” is just an addled stranger, until Colin retrieves an heirloom she lost in a well and asks her to spy on Claybrook as repayment. Margaretha knows she could never be a spy—not only does she tend to talk too much, she’s sure Colin is completely wrong about her potential betrothed. But she soon discovers her romantic notions may have been clouding her judgment about not only Colin but Claybrook as well. She soon finds herself running for her life–and it may be up to her to save her father and her family from one man’s wicked plot.

book 5 in the Fairy Tales series

#9 in MLD Teen Choice Awards 2015

MLD Teen Choice Award Nominees 2015MLD Teen Choice Award Winners 2015

romance fairy tales fantasy YA fiction

Dangerous by Shannon Hale

by Rebekah Layton | Jul 22, 2015 | 0 comments

Dangerous

by Shannon Hale

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Maisie Danger Brown just wanted to get away from home for a bit, see something new. She never intended to fall in love. And she never imagined stumbling into a frightening plot that kills her friends and just might kill her, too. A plot that is already changing life on Earth as we know it. There’s no going back. She is the only thing standing between danger and annihilation.

From NY Times bestselling author Shannon Hale comes a novel that asks, How far would you go to save the ones you love? And how far would you go to save everyone else?

#7 in MLD Teen Choice Awards 2015

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★ and said, “Thanks to Netgalley.com and Bloomsbury USA Childrens Books for early access to this title. I really enjoyed this read! It was suspenseful and interesting pretty much throughout. I think the characters were quite well done, and I love Maisie Danger Brown (her actual name)! The parents were good, and the villains were appropriately evil. The romance was great, and I liked the triangle which had me guessing for a while. This was a great, fast moving plot, and I would Recommend this to pretty much anyone who enjoys a good sci-fi adventure story with a great, strong female lead. A nice departure for Hale, who is so great with the re-told fairy tales! This is a new area for her to excel in.”

Miranda rated it ★★★★★ and said, “Thanks to Netgalley.com and Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books for allowing me access to this. 4.5 stars. I went into this completely blind. I had no idea what to expect. This is NOTHING like her other books, and yet the writing and story are still just as amazing. I thought the little jokes the father told were pretty funny and helped show the positive relationship she had with her parents. I could have done with a little less of the teenager-y angst, “he loves me, he hates me” stuff, but it mostly came together for me and worked in the end. And it was nice to have a love triangle appear and get squashed just as quickly. It gets really old when they drag out, and sometimes friends are just never more than friends. Overall, I think fans of Hale’s other works will enjoy this one. I would also recommend it for fans of Pittacus Lore as it has a similar feel.”

MLD Teen Choice Award Nominees 2015MLD Teen Choice Award Winners 2015

romance science fiction YA fiction