Nightshade

Reader: Ada
Age: 17
Title: Nightshade
Author: Andrea Cremer
Publisher: Penguin
Pub Date: 10/2010
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens Top 10: No
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: I thought the amount of background and history that Cremer put into the werewolf society was really neat. Most supernatural books just expect you to accept all of this assumed history and weight about their culture. I also thought it was cool that the werewolves actually existed in our world. They interacted with humans and the main character was actually in a love triangle with one of them. Usually, the humans are either seen as food or are just non-existent in the plot.
Compelling aspects of the book: The romance was definitely the coolest part of the novel. I liked how the characters are still in high school so you get that realistic, tension-in-the-hallways feel to the novel. Also, the love that exists between Cal and Ren. They seem to love each other, but it's an imposed love, more of an attraction. Both romances seem so real, I actually didn't know which one would win out until the very end. And even here, I'm still guessing.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: Yes
Reasons why you were disappointed with the book: One thing that I didn't like was the ending. It was very abrupt and I didn't really know what to think. I know that there is a sequel coming out, and I hate it when so many new series' books end like this. They expect you to just wait there on your couch until the next book comes along. Well, I need a conclusive ending to my novels. A book needs a beginning, middle, and an end. I feel that some authors are confusing the ending part of the novel with another beginning that I know frustrates a lot of readers.
Cover: I thought the cover was actually really cool. It definitely had that ethereal look to it that was part of the novel since it's about werewolves.
Age Range: 14-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal
Comments: This book was overall pretty good. I like Cal and admired her for her strength. I thought the pack dynamics were interesting, and I liked how the author wove wolf dynamics into a human-like society with dominant alphas, etc. I thought the rival pack units were cool, and the additional romances were a nice touch. Overall, I would say that if you love romance, can't get enough of it, then this is a good book for you.

The Six Rules of Maybe

Reader: Ada
Age: 17
Title: The Six Rules of Maybe
Author: Deb Caletti
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pub Date: 03/2011
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: The characters in the book are so complex; you just can't help but identify with them. They are definitely not the most idyllic family. They have their issues, but that's what makes it so real. For example, you absolutely hate Scarlet's sister but you end up feeling the same sort of love that Scarlet feels towards her even if you still hate part of her.
Compelling aspects of the book: I thought the relationship between Hayden and Scarlet was the most intriguing. Not to give too much away, but there are definitely some sparks flying there. At the end, I was a mix of feelings, both happy and slightly disappointed. But overall, the romance was definitely a major plot-mover.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: Yes
Reasons why you were disappointed with the book: I was slightly disappointed at the end. I wanted... another ending but was still satisfied at the end. I had invested so much and hoping for a particular ending but it turned out differently. I guess that's life though, giving you those unexpected but satisfying twists.
Cover: I thought the cover was not that intriguing. It was mostly the fact that it was Deb Caletti that drew me to this book. The cover was relevant however in describing her favorite beach.
Age Range: 16-18+
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal
Comments: I originally picked this book up because I am in love with Deb Caletti's writing style. I felt that this book still had elements of those moments that had so captured my heart in her book Stay, but they weren't as prominent. Also, I felt that the plot in this one was a bit more whimsical and non-realistic than in Stay. This book is definitely a good one that people should read but go into it with a clear mind. I still had baggage from her other books and so was slightly disappointed with it compared to her other books.

Stay

Reader: Ada
Age: 17
Title: Stay
Author: Deb Caletti
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pub Date: 04/05/2011
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: I think Deb Caletti's voice and style of writing is so unique and so appealing. She somehow is able to insert all of these anecdotes about life and her characters that you would think would slow down the pace of the story. But they don't. If anything, they keep you more hooked into the plot and the characters. You connect with them more because Caletti makes you go there. She reveals something about humanity in her little musings. I ended up just looking out for them, the little one or two sentences that would tie me into the novel. I would become invested suddenly into the character because Caletti described something about her that I could relate to.
Compelling aspects of the book: I thought the flashbacks into the relationship between Clara and Christian were really disturbing but also really fascinating, in a sick twisted way. It was clear to the readers that "DUH!!!! HE'S A STALKER PSYCHO!!!!" But that's because we had the beauty of hindsight. Clara didn't have that. I thought Caletti artfully showed how realistic that relationship was, how true to life. It really was an eye-opener, to be stuck in a relationship and then to get a wake-up call and realizing how blinded by "love" you've been this entire time. It also showed how powerful love can be, in any form.
Were you disappointed withy the book at all: I wasn't disappointed at all. I felt like I had uncovered a whole new world that I could just dive into. I love Caletti's style of writing, and her plot and characters were fantastic. I was surprised that I fell so in love with her writing.
Cover: I thought the cover was interesting. It didn't intrigue me to read it; the book jacket description did that. However, the cover was still nice and was definitely unique.
Age Range: 14-18+
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Comments: The relationships that she crafted were so real because they were complicated. She made reality seem almost like a fantasy, this complex mysterious dream that you never wanted to wake up from. She transformed the realness of life, its harsh contours and grief-stricken moments, into something beautiful, something to hold onto.

The Girl with the Steel Corset

Reader: Ada
Title: The Girl with the Steel Corset
Author: Kady Cross
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pub Date: 06/01/2011
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This book is going to be the Book-Zero for an entire new frontier in teen literature. It is the only Steampunk book I've read, and now I am scanning all of the shelves in the libraries for anything like it. Cross expertly turned the Victorian-era aspects of the book into its own character which aided Cross in the telling of the main characters. I also like the romance and thought both were adorable and actually believable which is hard to come by sometimes in teen fiction. It didn't feel orchestrated and seemed to follow a natural progression with the plot which was really satisfying.
Compelling aspects of the book: I thought the background on the automatons was actually really interesting. It was so complex, like Cross had actually mapped and drawn all of this complex machinery herself. She was her own Emily and her machine-model was this book. It was fascinating, and the best part was that it all seemed actually plausible.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I was not disappointed at all by this book, maybe because I went into the novel not really having any expectations or previous baggage. If I did have any previous notions, this book just shot them out of the water!
Cover: I thought the cover was brilliantly portrayed. It was intriguing and definitely reflected the book's plot and mood. The cover is definitely what drew me in.
Age Range: 14-18+
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Comments: I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone who had a few hours to spare (or was willing to create a few hours that they could spare). I loved the characters, the plot, the setting, pretty much everything appealed to me. Cross weaved her imagination so well into the Victorian setting that it was easy sometimes to forget that this stuff didn't actually exist in history. You just accepted for the duration of this book that this was a new history, retold, that she had just discovered and decided to write down. It was brilliant, and I envy her writing talent.

Rot and Ruin

Reader: Frances
Age: 15
Title: Rot and Ruin
Author: Jonathan Maberry
Publisher: Simon &Schuster Publishing
Pub Date: 10/5/10
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: The whole story is a completely new idea to me;a post apocolyptic zombie story where society still exists. Also, the characters are great. The bad guys are scary, and you care about the good guys immediatly.
Compelling aspects of the book: The most compelling aspect of the book to me is how people are too scared to try to regain their land back from the zombies. It seems like something that would actually happen.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: No
Cover: The cover tempted me a lot, maybe because the look in the guy's eye is really intense. It made me feel like this would be a thriller, which ended up being true.
Age Range: 12-18+
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Comments: **Annotation** In a world full of fear with heart full of misled hatred, Benny Imura begins to find out the truth about his past and his future.
*

Devastation

Reader: Frances
Age: 15
Title: Devastation
Author: Gloria Skuryvinski
Publisher: Atheneum Books For Young Readers
Pub Date: ?
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens Top 10: No
Recommend: No
Convince us to read the book: N/A
Compelling aspects of the book: I really loved the characters. They seemed very real and it wasn't hard to care about them.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: Yes
Reasons why you were disappointed with the book: The war was a little bit anti-climatic, though interesting. I found some parts to be a little drawn out and frustrating. Overall though a pretty good read.
Cover: The cover was reasonably tempting, but slightly misleading. First of all, the book is set in a post apocolyptic world instead of a apocolypse happening during the story. However, it is intriguing enough that I picked it up.
Age Range: 12-17
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

The Project

Reader: Maddie
Age: 18
Title: The Project
Author: Brian Falkner
Publisher: Random House
Pub Date: 9/13/11
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens Top 10: No
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This story is entwined with infinite details and facts that make the story all the more enthralling.
Compelling aspects of the book: The most compelling aspect of the book would be that there is hidden meaning and undertone to everything that has happened in WWII, Leonardo's drawings, and creations.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: No
Cover: Before I read this book I had no idea what the Vitruvian man was. This book gave me the determination and drive to actually pursue the meaning in depth on what the topic was about.
Age Range: 14-15
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal
Comments: What I found enthralling about this story was the history and undertone behind it. I found the werewolf part of the story a little random. But other then that the story was quite elaborately written and made me reluctant to put it down.

Big Girl Small

Reader: Elise
Age: 15
Title: Big Girl Small
Author: Rachel DeWoskin
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Pub Date: 04/11
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: Big Girl Small really tells a story, more than other books I've read. In a way that's hard to explain, this novel hinges on the character's reaction to everything that's happening, and her role in that. Which doesn't sound very unique, I know, but when the characters are so real, the story takes on another level.
Compelling aspects of the book: Note to all authors wishing to write about people wih disabilities: this is how you should do it. Judy is a developed character. In some ways it almost seems like there are two aspects of the story: that she's a dwarf, and that she was involved in the scandal at school. Of course the two are linked, but what caught my attention was that, with her drama, Judy responded as a person, and not as a little person.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: No
Cover: This cover is a great example of striking simplicity. The color change gives it enough movement, and puts the emphasis on the title, and on the girl. The image of the girl and the balloons represents Judy's situation, without trying to tell the whole story.
Age Range: 14-18+
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making

Reader: Elise
Age: 15
Title: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pub Date: N/A
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens Top10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This book is the perfect blend of old and new. The writing style has enough of a fairy tale-esque twist that the really unique world works. In a harder style of writing it would have felt like the writer was trying too hard, but, instead, it was cute, and quirky, and like your favorite bed time book that suddenly had deep insights into life, the universe, and everything.
Compelling aspects of the book: I honestly could not stop reading to find out what happened next. There was no way I could have predicted that ******. Even from sentence to sentence, the little things the author includes made me laugh out loud (herding wild velocipedes), made me cry (her shadow), and either way were insightful without sitting you down and telling you that this was a thought on life. I keep a little book next to my bed for when I'm reading, and I write down quotes that strike me. If I would have let myself, this book would have been written down verbatim in that notepad.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: No
Cover: This cover is the perfect mix of adorablity, charm, and intrigue. The more classic style of the outside, with framing and worn leathery stuff fits the style of writing. The illustration is the same way – it looks almost like a paper cut-out that came to life, Alice in Wonderland-y, with a touch of Tim Burton. The illustration style is carried through the book with amazing pictures that add a whole other dimension. And who doesn't love picture books?
Age Range: Under 12-18+
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

Comments: **ANNOTATION**

September is not entirely happy with her life of washing teacups, rude little dogs, and mothers who go to work, so when a Green Wind and his Leopard offer to take her to fairyland, off she flies. Upon arrival, however, she finds fairyland is not all it was, and it may just take a Wyverary, a djinn, and a very determined key to get to the bottom of the sudden appearance of taxes.

Legend

Reader: Guananí
Age: 15
Title: Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Penguin
Pub Date: 11/11
Galley: No
Nominate For Teen's Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This is an extremely well-executed dystopian action book with intrigue, believable world building, and characters that might as well breathe.
Compelling aspects of the book: Legend has excelled in a detail that an incredible amount of stories overlook; injured characters stay injured for a plausible amount of time. They care about things, they change, and you root for them all the way despite their flaws. This is the best YA book I've read in a long time, especially in the action genre.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I was not disappointed at all. I had high expectations from what I had heard before starting, and those expectations were exceeded. I was hooked from the first paragraph. The only things that even mildly bothered me were that the title isn't particularly relevant (doesn't really matter because the rest is so amazing) and the gold font for Day's perspective, which looked cool but was difficult to read under the covers with a flashlight.
Cover: The Republic symbol on the cover reflect the contents well, but what really got me interested in the book was other people raving about how awesome it was.
Age Range: 12-17
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

The Replacement

Reader: Guananí
Age: 15
Title: The Replacement
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Publisher: Razorbill
Pub Date: Sept. 2010
Galley: No
Nominate for Teen's Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This is a very refreshing and creative modern adaptation of the changeling myth, where fairies steal babies and replace them with one of their own. It's from the perspective of Mackie, the changeling, when he's a teenager, and explores all the difficulty he has fitting in and dealing with his adverse reactions to iron.
Compelling aspects of the book: The characters in this story are vivid and compelling. My favorite aspect was the descriptions of Mackie being sick from the iron and how his friends and family tried to help him. The plot was fast-paced and prose was clear and lucid.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I was not disappointed in the least. The book exceeded my expectations in so many ways that I was just dumbfounded, and the ending was conclusive without wrapping things up too much.
Cover: This cover is beautiful, haunting and relates to the book's content so well that it left me amazed. I had been thinking of reading it and then finally did when a friend recommended it with fervor.
Age Range: 12-17
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal