17 year old Bianca Piper could be your best friend; she could be your sister; she could be you.  She’s smart, loyal, cynical and sarcastic, and, as far as she’s concerned, pretty average looking.  She’s too smart to fall for the charms of Wesley Rush, her school’s gorgeous, wealthy playboy even if he has taken to flirting with her to score points with Bianca’s much prettier friends. When he nicknames her “the DUFF”, her dislike of him crosses over into all out hatred.  But Bianca’s home life is in turmoil right now and eager for an escape, she throws herself at Wesley and an intenselyRead More →

I only recently saw the award-winning movie, “Slum-dog Millionaire” and was haunted by it for weeks. My immediate reaction to Trash by Andy Mulligan was that it was going to be similar in a variety of ways – the children are orphans, they live in desperate conditions, and they (rightfully) mistrust the law.  I wasn’t sure I could experience another story of the horrors of youth in a third world country but the writing kept me captivated. Raphael lives in a metal box on the edge of the dump. He works every day in the dump looking for something edible, recyclable, salvageable or hopefully, valuable.One day he finds something very special. HeRead More →

Jennifer Donnelly’s newest book for young adults, Revolution, is a revelation (October 2010 from Delacourte Press).  It’s an enticing, enchanting blend of transformation story, historical fiction, mystery, and good, solid storytelling. Two smart, artistic, reckless young women are linked  across the centuries by their love for the young boys in their care: Andi, in 21st century Brooklyn is on a self-destructive bent after the tragic death of her younger brother Truman 2 years ago; and Alex, in Paris in 1795 during the French Revolution, is determined to save her young charge, the Dauphin of France, young Louis-Charles.   When Revolution opens, Andi’s self-loathing, grief, and hatred forRead More →

As demonstrated by books like “The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs” and “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales,” his collaborations with Jon Scieszka, author and illustrator Lane Smith has a wonderfully sardonic sense of humor that lends itself well to subversive children’s books. In his latest title, “It’s A Book,” Lane turns his humor to a pervasive cultural issue among the younger generation today: explaining the merits of a printed book — a property that can’t text or tweet. He explores the issues through two main characters: A monkey who’s trying to read, and a jackass who keeps interrupting himRead More →

Dead Connections’ author Charlie Price’s new novel, The Interrogation of Gabriel James, is an intriguing mystery from page one.  High school junior Gabriel is a material witness to two murders and in a combination of his interview with local police detectives and his memories of the events that lead up to the murders, we watch spellbound as he quickly gets in way over his head. What starts as a prairie fire outside his hometown of Billings, Montana, leads quickly to the disappearance of local pets.  Next, there’s increased drug pushing going on around town and the town’s homeless and mentally ill population is being harassed andRead More →

Dirt Road Home, the companion to Watt Key’s Alabama Moon centers on Hal Mitchell, the Moon’s friend fromthe Pinson Boys’ Home, and Hal’s time in the hard-core Hellenweiler Boys’ Home in Tuscaloosa. 14 year-old Hal’s one goal is to stay out of trouble so he can qualify for early release once his father is able to sober up and hold down a job. But on the first day in Hellenweiler, Hal learns that the boys are clearly divided into 2 rival gangs, The Ministers and The Hounds, and no one can exist without joining up. Hal is determined to stay out of the system, and his stoic non-commitance catches theRead More →

In the latest Haunted Mystery, The Smoky Corridor, Chris Grabenstein delivers another spooky mystery that deftly combines creepy ghost story with humor and a perfectly captured portrait of middle school life. Picking up not long after the ending of Zack Jenning’s chilling adventure in The Crossroads, Zack is about to start sixth grade at the Horace P. Pettimore Middle School in North Chester, Connecticut.  He’s got no friends, is already the target of the school bully, is on the bad side of the Assistant Principal, and he has a creepy feeling about the old school.  All too soon, Zack again starts seeing ghosts who warn him about danger everywhere: aRead More →

On a dark night when he was 12 years old, Jacob Reckless laid his hand on the gilded mirror in his missing father’s study as was instantly, magically transported into a strange world where fairy tales have come to life.  And from that first visit, Jacob becomes addicted to the escape, the freedom, and the forgetting that the Mirrorworld provides him.  Until the day, 12 years later, when his younger brother Will follows him through the mirror and is attacked by the stone-warriors and infected with their poison.  Now it becomes a race against time as Jacob and Will must search throughout Mirrorworld to findRead More →

Publisher’s Weeklyreports:  Last week, 21 YA authors debuted “The Contemps,” a web site dedicated to promoting realistic teen fiction to readers, librarians, and booksellers. “As much as we love other genres, the marketplace can feel dominated by paranormal, fantasy and dystopian novels,” said Contemps cofounder Lisa Schroeder in a statement. “We want to celebrate the unique way that contemporary stories help teens feel they’re not alone in this real world.” The site will feature posts by the participating authors (each of whom has a book being published within the coming year), contests, and other activities.Read More →