Readers' Choice Nominations

Updated Nov. 9, 2011

Horror/Thriller

Bedford, Martyn. Flip. Random House. Wendy Lamb Books, 2011. $16.99. 978-0385739900.

A teenager wakes up inside another boy's body and faces a life-or-death quest to return to his true self or be trapped forever in the wrong existence.

Blake, Kendare. Anna Dressed in Blood. Tor Teen, 2011. $17.99. 978-0765328656.

17-year-old Cas, the son of a white witch & a ghost killer, travels from town to town with his mother to hunt the most evil of ghosts and to find the ghost that killed his father.

Gray, Claudia. Afterlife: An Evernight Novel. HarperTeen, 2011. $14.99. 978-0-06-128442-7,

When a shocking twist of fate turns Bianca into a wraith and Lucas into a vampire, the star-crosses lovers have no choice but to return to the sinister Evernight Academy to deal with the repercussions.

Kraus, Daniel. Rotters. Random House/Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2011. $16.99. 978-0385738576.

Joey has been sheltered all his 15 years by his beloved mother, but when she dies and he goes to live with a father he's never met - Joey is pitched into a bleak and ugly new existence - and that's BEFORE he meets his first corpse.

Maberry, Jonathan. Dust & Decay. Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 2011. $17.99. 978-1442402355.

The terrifying sequel to the equally terrifying “Rot & Ruin,” Dust & Decay follows Benny Imura through the land of zombies that lies outside their fenced-in town. Alongside his widely-respected brother, two best friends, and a strange girl, he encounters evil in the land of Rot and Ruin, but this time it's the living that are more scary than the dead.

Oppel, Kenneth. This Dark Endeavor. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. 2011. $17.99. 978-1-44240-315-4.

This book is a fast-paced adventure with just the right amount of scary added to the mix. When you know that all of what happens in this book is the basis for Victor Frankenstein making his monster in the future, it ramps up the creeps.

Purnhagen, Mara. One Hundred Candles, Harlequin Teen, 2011. $9.99. 978-0-373-21023-7.

Normal teenager Charolette Silver becomes involved in a paranormal game. The game seems harmless until unleashed spirits show up at school.

Sedgwick, Marcus. White Crow. Penguin Young Readers Group / Viking, 2011, $16.99. 9781596435940,

Rebecca meets Ferelith in Winterfold, a town being inexorably eaten by the sea. They explore a haunted mansion on the cliffs, where dastardly experiments on the afterlife were done years ago.

Yancey, Rick. The Isle of Blood. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2011. $18.99. 978-1416984528.

The third volume in Rick Yancey's Monstrumologist series finds haunted protagonist Will Henry and the titular monster hunter, Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, to still be the most unlikely of pairs. But then Warthrop lights out with a suspicious new assistant and leaves Will Henry behind. When word returns from abroad that Dr. Pellinore Warthrop is dead, Will Henry refuses to believe. Determined, our tragic narrator sets out to find his master on a journey fraught with betrayal, monsters, and the war of salvation and damnation.

Mystery and Crime

Blundell, Judy. Strings Attached. Scholastic, 2011. $17.99. 978-0545-22126-9.

This crime story complete with 1950's mobsters, family secrets, and romance, 17-year-old Kit Corrigan drops out of school and moves from Providence Rhode Island to New York to become a dancer on Broadway.

Haines, Kathryn. The Girl is Murder. Roaring Brook Press, 2011. $16.99. 978-1-59643-609-1.

In the Lower East Side of the 1940s, 15-year-old Iris helps her dad solve mysteries.

Hodkin, Michelle. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing Division / Simon and Schuster Books for Young Reader, 2011. $16.99. 978-1442421769.

After a tragic accident that killed her three friends, Mara Dyer tries to uncover the truth behind the disaster. With the help of a mysterious new guy, she learns that not everything she's been told about her accident.

Lane, Andrew. Death Cloud: Sherlock Holmes, the Legend Begins. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011. $16.99. 978-0374387679.

Family troubles disrupt young Sherlock's end of school and he is begrudgingly shipped off to live with with distant relatives. He manages to deal with the situation, makes two new friends and discovers a mystery, which may impact his life more than he can imagine and finds himself in situations, which most people would run away from given the opportunity. His curiosity, attention to detail, and his well- honed observational skills serve him well in his quest to solve the mystery of the death cloud.

Wynne-Jones, Tim. Blink & Caution. Candlewick Press, 2011. $16.99. 978-0-7636-3983-9.

Two teenagers who are living on the streets and barely getting by accidentally become involved in a complicated criminal/political plot and make an unexpected connection with each other.

Zevin, Gabrielle. All These Things I've Done. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011. $16.99. 978-0374302108.

In 2083, when chocolate and coffee are illegal substances, 16-year-old Anya Balanchine, the orphaned daughter of New York City's most notorious crime boss is accused of poisoning her ex-boyfriend.

Nonfiction

Blumenthal, Karen. Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition. Flash Point / Macmillan, 2011. $18.99. 978-1596434493.

Prohibition was an odd but interesting period in U.S. history, full of larger than life characters like Carrie Nation and Al Capone. The problems it caused are pertinent today. In addition to introducing readers to the major players like Morris Sheppard (the "father" of Prohibition), Blumenthal traces the roots of the temperance movement back to the pilgrims and also looks at the after effects.

Bridges, Shirin. Agrippina: Atrocious and Ferocious. Goosebottom Books, 2011. $18.95. 978-0983425618.

An illustrated nonfiction narrative of Agrippina's rise to power in the 1st century Roman Empire. Includes information about Roman society & beautiful illustrations.

Dowsett, Elizabeth. LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World. DK Publishing, 2011. $21.99. 978-0-7566-8257-6.

A guide to the LEGO Harry Potter series mini-figures, creatures, vehicles, buildings, and more, explaining how the LEGO Harry Potter sets get created, examining the details on Hogwarts Castle, Hagrid's Hut, the Burrow, and other sets, and providing an illustrated time line of the production of every LEGO Harry Potter set through the beginning of 2011. Includes a LEGO mini-figure of Harry Potter.

Halls, Kelly Milner. In Search of Sasquatch. Houghton Mifflin, 2011. $16.99. 978-0-547-25761-7.

An objective look, written with extensive research, at the existence (or not) of Sasquatch.

McLean, Michelle. Homework Helpers Essays and Term Papers. Career Press. 2011. $14.99. 978-1601631404.

This book takes the confusion out of writing essays and papers for students of all ages....from the basic essay all the way up to research/term papers.

Scieszka, Casey. To Timbuktu. Roaring Brook Press, 2011, $19.99. 978-1596435278.

This book documents the author & illustrators two-year international jaunt through nine countries teaching English in China; traveling through Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam; and, finally, living in Mali, where Scieszka studied the role of Islam in education on a Fulbright grant.

Sheinkin, Steve. Notorious Benedict Arnold. Roaring Brook Press, 2010. $19.99. 978-1-5964-3486-8.

Benedict Arnold is the most famous traitor in American history, but once he was one of Washington's most trusted generals. This fascinating book details his rise and fall, including the political slights and money woes that may have motivated him.


Realistic Fiction

Anderson, Jessica Lee. Calli. Milkweek Editions, 2011. $16.95. 978-1571317025.

15-year-old Calli has just about everything she could want in life: two loving moms, a boyfriend, and a best friend. Then her parents become foster pasters and being a foster sister to Cherish is not at all what Calli expected.

Booth, Coe. Bronxwood. Scholastic/Push, 2011. 978-0439925341.

Tyrell's father is just out of jail, and Tyrell doesn't know how to deal with that. It's bad enough that his brother Troy is in foster care and that his mother is no help whatsoever. Tyrell's father has plans of his own, and doesn't seem to care whether or not Tyrell wants to go along with them. Tyrell can see the crash that's coming -- with his dad, with the rest of his family, with the girls he's seeing -- but he's not sure he can stop it. Or if he even wants to.

Cocks, Heather and Morgan, Jessica. Spoiled. Poppy, 2011. $17.99. 978-0316098250.

Brooke Berlin and Molly Dix's lives couldn't be further apart. Brooke spends her days shopping designer stores, planning a sweet 16 party and enjoying all the perks her movie star father's success can buy. Molly meanwhile spends time hanging with her friends and boyfriend in comfortable Indiana. That all changes when Molly's mother passes away and she finds out her biological father's identity, world-famous Brick Berlin, Brooke's father.

Dessen, Sarah. What Happened to Goodbye. Viking, 2011. $19.99. 978-0670012947.

McLean moves around so much she constantly renames herself and makes herself be a character. But this time she discovers her true self and makes awesome friends and peace with her mother (who left her and her dad).

Dominy, Amy Fellner. OyMG: Jewish Girl.Christian Camp. Holy Moly. Walker & Co., 2011. $16.99. 978-0802721778.

14-year-old Ellie Taylor attends the Christian Society Speech & Performing Arts camp because she wants to win a scholarship to the high school of her dreams. But there is a catch. The scholarship donor believes Ellie is a Christian and if she finds out that she is Jewish then Ellie could lose it all. Is it worth hiding her true identity for a shot at her dreams?

Forman, Gayle. Where She Went. Dutton Juvenile, 2011. $16.99. 978-0525422945.

In this companion to "If I Stay," the story picks up three years after Mia wakes up from her coma. Adam is a huge rock star, but Mia is not in his life and it is killing him. Mia is a virtuoso at Julliard, becoming a celebrity in the classical music world with her cello. One night Adam sneaks into her cert and the two are face to face after all these years.

Gelbwasser, Margie. Inconvenient. Flux, 2011. $9.95. 978-0738721484.

While 15-year-old Russian-Jewish immigrant Alyssa tries desperately to cope with her mother's increasingly out-of-control alcoholism by covering for her and pretending things are normal, her best friend Lana attempts to fit in with the popular crowd at their high school.

Hannah, Kristen. Night Road. St. Martin's Pres. 2011. $27.9. 97-80312364427.

After losing her family, a young, poor girl goes to live with her equally poor grandmother, outside a very affluent neighborhood. She befriends a wealthy girl, and falls in love with her twin brother. After a tragic accident following a party, the teens are involved in a drunken crash, killing one and forever changing the lives of all those left behind.

Herbach, Geoff. Stupid Fast. Sourcebooks, 2011. $9.99. 978-1402256301.

Previously small, unathletic, 15-year-old Felton Reinstein grows six plus inches, puts on 40 pounds, and discovers he's all of the sudden "stupid fast." In one rocky summer, he goes from zero to hero once he decides to work at it via football (when he's not escaping up a hill on his Schwinn Varsity or into the arms of the piano-prodigy-of-a-girl who has temporarily moved in down the street) -- all while things fall desperately apart at home.

Kirby, Jessi. Moonglass. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2011. $16.99. 978-1-4424-1694-9.

Anna Ryan is taken from her school in Central California and brought by her father to the beach resort of Crystal Cove. There she meets a young life guard who kindles a romantic flame. An underlying current of tension develops as Anna works to understand why her mother committed suicide many years ago. The answer may lie in the deserted cabins along the spectacular beach of Crystal Cove.

Marchetta, Melina. The Piper's Son. Candlewick Press. 2011. $17.99. 9780763647582.

This is a stand-alone companion to “Saving Francesca” (2004), set five years later in the same urban neighborhood. In this book, Thomas Finch Mackee's family is being torn apart. Two years ago when Tom's young uncle was killed by a suicide bomber in a London subway, Tom's alcoholic father lost control, causing his mother to leave town with his younger sister. Tom dropped out of the university, he turned his back on his music and everyone who mattered to him.

Martin, Alexa. Girl Wonder. Disney-Hyperion, 2011. $16.99. 978-142312135.

A young woman copes with the struggles of competing and fitting in to a new school, finding herself, parental divorce, drug culture, and the brutal lesson of loving some not worthy of being loved. Nice setting descriptions of the Pacific Northwest, witty, and humorous.

Myracle, Lauren. Shine. Amulet, 2011, $16.95. 978-0-8109-8417-2.

When her best friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, 16-year-old Cat sets out to discover the culprits in her small North Carolina town.

Nelson, Blake. Recovery Road. Scholastic Press, 2011. $17.99. 978-0545107297.

At a drug treatment facility, Madeline meets Stewart. They fall for each other during a really crazy time in their lives. Madeline gets out and tries to get back on her feet, waiting for Stewart to join her. When he does, though, it's not the ideal recovery world Madeline dreamed of. They both have serious problems. And Stewart's are only getting worse.

Northrop, Michael. Trapped. Scholastic, 2011. $17.99. 9780545210126.

High school students are trapped in their school when a freak blizzard hits. They must work together and use their ingenuity if they hope to survive as the situation goes from bad to worse.

Polisner, Gae. The Pull of Gravity. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2011. $16.99. 978-0374371937.

While Nick Gardner’s family is falling apart, his best friend, Scooter, is dying from a freak disease. The Scoot’s final wish is that Nick and their quirky classmate, Jaycee Amato, deliver a prized first-edition copy of “Of Mice and Men.” to Scooter's father. There’s just one problem: his father walked out years ago and hasn’t been heard from since. So, guided by Steinbeck’s life lessons, and with only the vaguest of plans, Nick and Jaycee set off to find him.

Roy, Lena. Edges. Farrar Straus Giroux, December, 2010. $16.99. 0-374-35052-3.

Edges opens with 17-year-old Luke settling into a trailer outside the Moonflower Motel in Moab, Utah, his home since he fled New York City and his alcoholic father. He moved west alone and cobbled together a family headed by Clare and Jim, the Moonflower’s owners. The story shifts between Luke’s present, New York in the past when Frank and Luke cope with the death of Luke’s mother, and New York in the present when Jim and Clare’s daughter Ava, a shiny new college student, attends Alcoholics Anonymous and meets Frank. A journey of forgiveness and redemption brings the characters together.

Schroder, Monika. Saraswati's Way. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2010. $16.99. 978-0-374-36411-3.

Set in a rural Indian village as well as the bustling train station and streets of New Delhi, this novel provides young learners with a glimpse of what it could take for an orphaned and unwanted child to survive in the most challenging of circumstances. A relatively gentle tone helps to introduce middle grade readers to issues associated with child poverty and child labor that they may otherwise not read much about.



Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. Philomel, 2011. $17.99. 978-0-399-25412-3.

In the midst of World War II, 16-year-old Lina is forcibly relocated from her home in Lithuania, with her mother and younger brother, to Siberian labor camps by the invading Soviet army. Throughout her trials she endures, meets people both caring and hate-filled, and survives through her family and her art. It's a story often forgotten, and Sepetys' debut novel gives Lina--and history--a voice that shares the suffering and hope of the experience.

Summers, Courtney. Fall For Anything. St. Martin's Griffin, December 2010. $9.99. 978-0312656737.

Eddie's father committed suicide, but he left her clues about who he was and why he did what he did- or so Eddie thinks. She and one of her father's photography students become embroiled in a complicated relationship as Eddie searches for more clues, and ultimately discovers a betrayal and a secret and herself.

Tibensky, Arlaina. And Then Things Fall Apart. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2011. $9.99. 978-1442413238.

Amazing heartfelt novel about a teen with chicken pox, divorcing parents, and obsession with Sylvia Plath's “The Bell Jar.”

Violi, Jen. Putting Makeup on Dead People. Hyperion Books, 2011. $16.99. 9781423134817.

In this coming of age story, Donna decides that her calling is to become a mortician This is the story of her finding herself after a major loss - the death of her father. As Donna struggles to convince her mom that mortuary school is the right choice, she comes out of her shell, builds new relationships, and starts to come to terms with her father's death.

Romance

Bergren, Lisa T. Waterfall. David C. Cook, 2011. $14.99. 978-1-4347-6433-1.

The Bentarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives with their parents, famed Etruscan scholars. Stuck among the rubble of medieval castles in rural Tuscany on yet another hot, dusty archaeological site. When Gabi places her hand atop it, she finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. She's in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces. Gabi doesn't know if Lia came through the time travel but begins searching and finds far more than she ever imagined!

De la Cruz, Melissa. Bloody Valentine: A Blue Bloods Book. Hyperion, 2010. $12.79. 978-1-42313-449-7.

Presents three tales of love, passion, and heartbreak featuring various blue blood vampires and the Red Blood humans who keep them alive, including Oliver, Allegra, and Schuyler.

Han, Jenny. We'll Always Have Summer. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2011. $17.99. 978-1416995586.

The summer after her first year of college, Isobel "Belly" Conklin is faced with a choice between Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher, brothers she has always loved, when Jeremiah proposes marriage and Conrad confesses that he still loves her.

Hudson,Tara. Hereafter. HarperTeen, 2011. $10.24. 978-0062026774.

Amelia is dead and trapped in a strange world on a bridge. She rescues Joshua from drowning and they form a bond. He can see her and tries to discover the mystery of her death.

Kagawa, Julie. The Iron Queen. Harlequin Teen, 2011. $$9.9. 978-0373210183.

In a battle to save both the Summer and Winter fey courts, Megan learns she is the only fae who can go up against the Iron court in order to save her best friend, Puck, and her love, Ash. The battle leads to many losses, and Megan and Ash revealing the deep love they have for one another.

Perkins, Stephanie. Anna and the French Kiss. Dutton Juvenile, 2010. $16.99. 978-0525423270.

When Anna's romance-novelist father sends her to an elite American boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school, she reluctantly goes, and meets an amazing boy who becomes her best friend, in spite of the fact that they both want something more.

Schroeder, Lisa. The Day Before. Simon & Schuster / Simon Pulse, 2011. $16.99. 978-1442417434.

A girl who was accidentally switched at birth is about to meet her biological parents. She intends to spend the day before that meeting alone, one precious day before her life changes. But she meets a boy who is facing his own life-changing experience, and they decide to spend this day together, discovering themselves and each other, on the brink of the unknown.

Shecter. Vicky. Cleopatra's Moon. Scholastic/Arthur A Levine, 2011.$18.99. 978-0545221306. This is the story of the only daughter of Cleopatra, Ruler of Egypt. After her mother's suicide, she is shipped off to Rome to live with the very man responsible for her mother's death and dethronement. Her big question - who is she to become out of the shadow of her powerful mother?

Young, Suzanne. A Need So Beautiful. Balzer & Bray, 2011. $16.99. 978-0-06-2008244. Charlotte is a teen with a special gift; she calls it The Need. She is a member of the Forgotten, a group of supernatural beings that drift into people's lives to offer help and then drift out, never to be remembered. Charlotte has to decide if she will follow her destiny or fight against it to remain with her loved ones.


Science Fiction & Fantasy

Aguirre, Ann. Enclave. Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends, 2011. $16.99. 978-0312650087.

Fifteen-year old Deuce has been named a Huntress, and is tasked with providing food to her underground people and keeping them safe from the post-apocalyptic world above. When she is paired with another hunter Fade, who has lived Topside, she starts questioning everything she has been told about the world above ground.

Allan, Von. Stargazer Volume 2. Von Allan Studio, $14.95. 978-0978123741.

A sequel to Stargazer Volume 1, this second volume continues the tale of three girls trying to make their way back home from an alien planet.

Black, Holly. Red Glove. Simon & Shuster Children's Publishing/Margaret K. McElderry Books , 2011. $17.99. 978-1442403390 .

Cassel Sharpe is being pulled in too many directions – his best friend and love Lila has now been cursed to love him by his mother, his older brother’s killing has caused both the mob and the government to want him on their side, and Cassel is still trying to understand his powers as a transformation worker. Will Cassel be able to sort it all out and still keeps his wits about him?

Bray, Libba. Beauty Queens. Scholastic Press, 2011. $18.99. 978-0439895972.

The surviving contestants of the Miss Teen Dream beauty pageant are in shock when their plane crash lands and they find themselves on a supposedly deserted island. The first priority would appear to be getting rescued, but the contestants have no idea what might be in store for them as they try to survive long enough for the rescuers to find them.

Brosgol, Vera. Anya's Ghost. First Second, 2011. $15.99. 978-1596435520.

In this graphic novel, Anya doesn't think life could get any more awful than it already is - she can't stand her mother (or herself) and school is absolutely miserable. When she falls down a well and comes face to face with a ghost named Emily, Anya begins to hope that perhaps her luck is about to change.

Card, Orson Scott. Pathfinder. Simon & Shuster Children's Publishing/Simon Pulse, $18.99. 2010. 978-1-4169-9176-2.

Thirteen-year-old Rigg lives on a planet known only as Garden, and is a pathfinder. He can see the paths of all animals and people that have ever passed through a place. When his father unexpectedly dies, Rigg leaves his town on a journey to find the sister he never knew he had and discovers that he is not the only person with an extraordinary ability. He and his small band of friends discover how to bend and manipulate the flow of time, and discover a paradigm-shifting secret about the world in which they live.

Carlson, J.P. Rex Rider. Monstrosities Books, 2011. $16.95. 978-0-9825796-3-3.

What if explorers from another planet came to Earth during the age of the dinosaurs and brought transported specimens of the great beasts back to their world for study? Fast forward to nineteenth-century Texas, when a rancher discovers the transporter machinery, which is importing the alien dinosaurs, a few of which have escaped to terrorize the local ranchers.

Carson, Rae. The Girl of Fire and Thorns. HarperCollins/Greenwillow Books, 2011. $17.99. 978-0062026484.

Elisa is a plus-sized, dark-skinned heroine of this story. She is the current bearer of the "godstone" which is bestowed by god to one bearer every generation. Every godstone bearer knows they have a destiny to fulfill, but none know what their destiny will be. Elisa is very worried about her own destiny and doesn't see her worth as a person.

Clare, Cassandra. City of Fallen Angels. Simon & Shuster Children's Publishing/Margaret

K. McElderry Books, 2011. $19.99. 978-1442403543.

After battling the vicious Valentine, the Shadowhunters believe the worst of their problems are over. Soon, they learn others are ready to take on their organization. Simon, meanwhile, is learning his powers as a new vampire and that, by saving Jace, he is the only vampire who can walk in the sun, making him a target for the Underworld.

Condie, Ally. Matched. Penguin Group/Dutton, 2010. $17.99. 978-0-5254-2364-5.

A futuristic chilling story of life in a society where decisions about all aspects of life are made by officials in power. Freedom of choice is precious and may come only with sacrifice when one rebels from this perfect society.

Deebs, Tracy. Tempest Rising. Walker Publishing Company, Inc./Walker Books for Young Readers, 2011. $16.99. 978-0802722317.

Tempest loves the water and surfing. However, Tempest is half-human and half-mermaid. When she turns 17, she has to make a decision whether to be human or to be a mermaid.

Deedy, Carmen Agra and Wright, Randall. The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale. Peachtree Publishers, 2011. $16.95. 978-1561455959.

This clever story takes place in Victorian England. Scully, the cat, takes up residence in an inn that is frequented by the likes of Charles Dickens and Thackery. The shenanigans with the mice and cat are amusing. The vocabulary and historical references bring the period alive. The periodic illustrations by Barry Moser are wonderful.

Gow, Kailin. Midnight Frost. Sparklesoup Inc./THE EDGE, 2011. $10.99. 978-1597489027.

Breena has many life-changing choices in front of her. Will she stay in Feyland as Summer Queen and work for peace? Will she return home to the human world and the ties she still has there? Will she be able to choose between her two great loves? It all remains to be seen in Midnight Frost.

Hall, Teri. Away. Dial, 2011. $11.55. 978-0803735026.

Rachel has entered the area known as Away from the relative safety of her home behind the Line in a search for her father, previously believed to be dead. Life in Away is more different and difficult than Rachel could have imagined, and even if she wants to cross back over the Line, will she be able to?

Hand, Cynthia. Unearthly. HarperCollins/HarperTeen, 2011. $17.99. 978-0-0619-9616-0.

Clara discovered she was a quarter-angel when she was fourteen, but it isn't until two years later that she discovers what she must do with her powers. Her mother decides to move the family to Wyoming so that Clara can discover her destiny, and it is there that she encounters the boy from her revelation.

McCafferty, Megan. Bumped. Balzer + Bray, 2011. $16.99. 978-0061962745.

In a futuristic world everyone over the age of-eighteen is infertile and would-be parents pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.



McEntire, Myra. Hourglass. Egmont USA, 2011. $17.99. 978-1-6068-4144-0.

Seventeen year old Emerson carries a unique gene that allows her to time travel. She uses her power to manipulate time to help Michael, a consultant hired by her brother, to prevent a murder that happened six months ago. Together they can navigate their undeniable attraction to one another as they travel and right the wrongs of the past.

Mitchell, Saundra. The Vespertine. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Harcourt Children's Books, 2011. $16.99. 978-0547482477.

This is a gothic romance set in Baltimore,Maryland, in the 1880s. The heroine Amelia is sent to her cousin's for the summer to find a suitable husband. Instead, she discovers she can see the future at sunset which makes her and her cousin very popular. Séances and spiritualist shows are entertainment, and everyone has fun until the futures Amelia starts to tell turn negative. She also meets an impoverished painter who has the ability to come and go with the wind. Amelia is blamed for the tragedies she foretold, and is unable to prevent one last disaster.

Mullin, Mike. Ashfall. Tanglewood Publishing, 2011. $16.95. 978-1933718552.

Fifteen-year-old Alex is looking forward to spending a quiet weekend at home alone while his family visits his uncle. His life is turned upside down, however, when the “supervolcano” in Yellowstone National Park erupts and sets off a series of powerful explosions for hundreds of miles, destroying Alex’s house and most of the town. Alex embarks on a perilous journey to try to find his family.

Oliver, Lauren. Delirium. HarperCollins/HarperTeen, 2011. $17.99. 978-0-06-1726828.

This is a dystopian novel where, in the near future, a cure has been discovered for delirium nervosa, the disease of love. People must be eighteen before they can have the operation, and Lena is approaching her birthday when she finds herself afflicted. In Alex, someone posing as a guard who has already had his "treatment," she meets more than just a rebel. She learns of possibilities that she never knew existed. Will her love for him be enough to allow her to escape the fate that society has chosen for her?

O'Neal, Eilis. The False Princess. Egmont USA, 2011. $16.99. 978-1-6068-4144-0.

For sixteen years, Nalia has been raised as the princess of Thorvaldor, but one day she learns that her real name is Sinda and that she is part of a complicated plot that would change the future of her country forever.

Revis, Beth. Across the Universe. Penguin Group/Razorbill, 2011. $17.99. 978-1595143976.

Amy and Elder are two teenagers aboard the ship Godspeed, which is on a 300 year mission to colonize a new planet. There's just one problem: Amy has been cryogenically frozen for the trip, but is unfrozen 50 years early, encountering Elder and mystery on board the Ark. With her parents still frozen and very few allies, Amy has to rely on Elder to survive in this strange, new environment.

Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Quirk Books, 2011. $17.99. 978-1594744761.

Jacob Portman grew up with the stories his grandfather told him about the utopian world, filled with children with peculiar gifts, that his grandfather grew up in once he was sent away from his Nazi-filled world. When he finds his grandfather dead, and sees a monster at the scene, he feels he has lost his mind and slides into a reclusive world of his own. A note found in a book of poetry that was his grandfather’s starts Jacob on the path to learn of his grandfather's childhood reality, and he finds himself immersed in a battle of good vs. evil.

Roth, Veronica. Divergent. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books, 2011. $17.99. 978-0062024022.

Beatrice lives in a future Chicago in which the population is separated into five sections. Beatrice's family has always been part of Abnegation, but Beatrice chooses Dauntless, a decision that shocks everyone around her. What if they knew that Beatrice was actually a Divergent?

Schwab, Victoria. The Near Witch. Hyperion/Disney Book Group, 2011. $16.99. 978-142313787-0.

A fairy tale that follows the protagonist Lexi, as she tries to solve the mystery of missing children in the sleepy village of Near.

Scott, Michael. Warlock. Random House Children's Books/Delacorte Books For Young Readers, 2011. $18.99. 978-0385735339.

In this fifth book of Michael Scott's "The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" series, twins Sophie and Josh have separated, Sophie remaining with the Alchemyst Nicholas Flamel and Josh choosing to join forces with the diabolical Dr. John Dee. Will Sophie be able to track down Josh before it's too late?

Sheehan, Anna. A Long Long Sleep. Candlewick, 2011. $13.50. 978-0763652609.

A teen girl wakes from stasis to find that she has been asleep for over 80 years and all her family and friends are gone. She now must adapt to the future all while running from a robot organism that has been "hired" to kill her.

Smibert, Angie. Memento Nora. Marshall Cavendish/Marshall Cavendish Children, 2011. $16.99. 978-0761458296.

Terrible things are happening all around Nora, but luckily she doesn't have to remember any of them. In her dystopian world, bad memories are erased with pills at Therapeutic Forgetting Clinics. But one day Nora decides not to take the pill and she realizes that remembering may be the most important thing she could ever do.

Suma, Nova Ren. Imaginary Girls. Penguin Group/Dutton, 2011. $17.99. 978-0525423386.

Ruby is Chloe’s older sister, and almost an extension of Chloe herself - until the night Chloe finds the body of London Hayes while swimming out in the reservoir. Afterwards Chloe goes to live with her father, and then one day Ruby shows up and brings her back home, where Chloe learns London is still alive.

Taylor, Laini. Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Little, Brown and Company, 2011. $18.99. 978-0316134026.

Karou lives two lives – that of a high schooler in Prague and the life she lives with the chimaera Brimstone, a monster that collects animal and human teeth. When Karou meets the angel Akiva, she begins to realize there is much more to her life story than Brimstone ever told her.

Steampunk (2011 Wildcard)

Blackwood, Gary. Around the World in 100 Days. Dutton Children's Books, 2010. $16.99. 978-0525422952.

In 1891, Harry Fogg follows in his famous father's footsteps when he makes a bet with dad's old nemesis that he can circumnavigate the globe in one hundred days -- this time in a newfangled steam-powered motor car he calls The Flash.

Cross, Kady. The Girl in the Steel Corset: Steampunk Chronicles. Harlequin, 2011. $17.99. 978-0373210336.

Victorian meets machine age (automatrons). Bit of mystery with a bit of romance. Even one of the seedier characters helps out. Each of the main characters has a special ability due to exposure to organites. Descriptions really help you picture each character, setting.

Kittredge, Caitlin. The Iron Thorn. Random House Children’s Books / Delacorte Press, 2011. $17.99. 978-0-385-73829-3.

The first in the Iron Codex series is set in an alternate 1950s America with Victorian influences. 15-year -old Aoife, a student at Lovecraft's School of Engines, goes finds a clue and begins a search to save herself from following in the footsteps of her mother and brother by going mad on her 16th birthday.

Westerfeld, Scott. Goliath. Simon & Schuster / Simon Pulse, 2011. $19.99. 978-1416971771.

The third and last book in the Leviathan trilogy, Goliath is set during an alternate World War I in which the advanced machinery of Eastern Europe and the fabricated beasts of Western Europe take part. Aleksander, son of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, has found himself on board the Leviathan, the giant airship fabricated from a whale. Deryn, a Scottish commoner, also has ended up on the Leviathan, for she had disguised herself as a boy to join the air services. They must now work together to reclaim Alek's position as prince of Austria, end the war, and maybe even fall in love.