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Yesterday by author C.K. Kelly Martin is a dystopian book flavored with time travel, Orwellian, and other futuristic Brave New World elements like genetic and mind engineering. Although the novel features detailsreminiscent of Feed by M.T. Anderson and Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, it offers neither the plot sophistication nor the thematic richness. In fact, the novel’s lengthy exposition spans several chapters before it escalates into action that holds the reader’s attention. The plot revolves around two sixteen year old designer babies, Freya Kallas and Garren Lowe, who look like Greek statues with classical, sculptured beauty. When a Toxo outbreak threatens humanity’s mass extinction, the two teens—whose parents have powerful jobs inRead More →

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The Temptation by Alisa Valdes doesn’t feature the vampires or werewolves of a Maggie Stiefvater or Stephanie Meyer novel, but the character list does include shape shifters and a ridiculously handsome, courageous, and devoted male protagonist.  The plot also revolves around a paranormal romance with sequels to follow. This first installment of the trilogy—a magical and mystical romance set in Albuquerque, New Mexico—tracks the story of sixteen year old Shane Clark and her love interest, Travis Hartwell, a revenant who alternates between human and ghost forms.  Shane drives a fancy car, attends a fancy school, owns a fancy dog, and listens to fancy music untilRead More →

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Budget cuts at Julius P. Heil High in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, ignite a testosterone exodus as athletes seeking programs that will lead to scholarships leave in droves.  Flynn Meaney’s novel The Boy Recession takes up the story of how Julius students make the best of a bad ratio.  Although the story revolves around typical high school drama with its myriad of personalities, the spotlight falls on sixteen year old Hunter Fahrenbach, Kelly Robbins, and their immediate circle of friends. Fahrenbach, a slacker with ambitions for little besides sleep and music, eventually proves he has depth when he performs on Open-Mic Night.  His guitar/vocal solo landsRead More →

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First impression suggests that Robin Wasserman‘s Book of Blood and Shadow has a lot of similarities to Jennifer Donnelly’s fantastic Revolution:  a modern American teen girl whose brother has been tragically killed; a family torn apart by their overwhelming grief and inability to deal with the loss; finding solace in the letters (journal) of a seemingly inconsequential teen girl hundreds of years ago; and discovering clues to a long-forgotten mystery.   In The Book of Blood and Shadow, high school senior Nora thought she was signing up for an easy honors extra credit project – working with an eccentric Medieval Studies professor translating old LatinRead More →

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The latest from National Book Award Finalist Julie Anne Peters, It’s Our Prom (So Deal With It), is a sometimes comical and often insightful look at a high school rite of passage. Prom is, was, and always will be an event meant for the popular kids, the jocks, the socials and the kids with money –  the geeks, freaks, and uniques have never felt welcome.  Forget about attending if you don’t have a date, can’t afford the dress, tux, limo, or high ticket price.  And even if you do go, it’s just a boring dance where the school’s most popular kids elect each other asRead More →

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I don’t think it matters who you are or where you come from, no one wants to turn into their parents.  But for Jasper “Jazz” Dent, the 17 year old protagonist in Barry Lyga‘s I Hunt Killers, the stakes are a lot higher than for most of us: his dad, Billy Dent, is the nation’s most notorious serial killer.  And Billy took great care to “train” his son to follow in his footsteps, from meticiously describing his murders, to teaching Jazz the fine art of conning his prospects, and ultimately bringing him along on his killing sprees.  Jazz is haunted by nightmares of Billy’s trophies,Read More →

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Trying to figure out his own feelings, insecurities, and emotional roller coaster while striving to live up to everyone else’s image of him, 16 year old Luke is failing miserably. It doesn’t help that people’s expectations are unbelievably high, due in no small part to the best-selling book he wrote, Hallelujah, and its devout Christian message.  So when his brother Matt “volunteers” to drive Luke on his book tour from LA to St. Louis, Luke isn’t sure this is going to go very well.   Luke’s straight-laced, high strung, controlling personality is continually put to the test on the week-long tour, which ends up being aRead More →

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I’ll admit right away that I was really excited when I saw the ARC for this book and I had really high hopes for it. Keeping in mind that John Barnes‘   tales of the MADMAN underground is one of the best young adult books I’ve ever read, it was hard for me to wait until Losers in Space got to the top of the pile (I know, why wait, right? But sometimes the waiting builds up the anticipation and makes the reward so much better…) So, I was out of the office yesterday and I thought, it’s a perfect day to dive in. AndRead More →

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There’s a lot going on in debut author Lissa Price’s dystopian sci-fi action romance Starters.  Within the first 3 pages I wrote “Dollhouse?” at the top of the page, realizing the multiple plot, setting, and character similarities to Joss Whedon’s short-lived TV Series, Dollhouse.  Then there’s the subtle inspiration and re-envisioning of the Cinderella fairytale, with a sci-fi element added in, reminding me of Melissa Marr’s fantastic Cinder.  And of course the post-apocalyptic world, ravaged by the Spore Wars and the smart determined young heroine willing to risk herself to save her younger sibling will be a great “what do I read next?” after TheRead More →