Monday, February 25, 2013

Books Out This Week: Feburary 25 - March 3, 2013

February 26th

Me, Him, Them, and It by Caela Carter
Publisher: Bloomsbury

From Goodreads:  E is Evelyn Jones, 16, a valedictorian hopeful who's been playing bad girl to piss off THEM, her cold, distant parents. HIM is Todd, Evelyn's secret un-boyfriend, who she thought she was just using for sex - until she accidentally fell in love with him. But before Evelyn gets a chance to tell Todd how she feels, something much more important comes up. IT. IT is a fetus. Evelyn is pregnant - and when Todd turns his back on her, Evelyn has no idea who to turn to. Can a cheating father, a stiff, cold mother, a pissed-off BFF, and a (thankfully!) loving aunt with adopted girls of her own help Evelyn make the heart-wrenching decisions that follow?

Killing Rachel (Murder Notebooks #2) by Anne Cassidy
Publisher:  Walker Children's

From Goodreads: When Rachel, a friend from Rose’s past, starts phoning her late at night, begging Rose to return to her old prep school to save her, Rose ignores her pleas until she receives word that Rachel has died. Though the police think it was a suicide-by-drowning, Rose is suspicious, and as she questions those who knew Rachel best, a sinister back story surfaces. At the same time, Rose is battling her romantic feelings for Josh, who continues to search for their missing parents and to try to uncover the truth behind the Butterfly Project. When Rose discovers a secret from Rachel’s past that could be a link to Rose and Josh’s parents, fi nding Rachel’s killer becomes personal. But will the people behind the Butterfly Project find her first?

Dualed (Dualed #1) by Elsie Chapman
Publisher:  Random House Books for Young Readers

From Goodreads:   You or your Alt? Only one will survive.

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.


Fragments (Partials #2 ) by Dan Wells
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

From Goodreads:  Kira Walker has found the cure for RM, but the battle for the survival of humans and Partials is just beginning. Kira has left East Meadow in a desperate search for clues to who she is. That the Partials themselves hold the cure for RM in their blood cannot be a coincidence--it must be part of a larger plan, a plan that involves Kira, a plan that could save both races. Her companions are Afa Demoux, an unhinged drifter and former employee of ParaGen, and Samm and Heron, the Partials who betrayed her and saved her life, the only ones who know her secret. But can she trust them?

Meanwhile, back on Long Island, what's left of humanity is gearing up for war with the Partials, and Marcus knows his only hope is to delay them until Kira returns. But Kira's journey will take her deep into the overgrown wasteland of postapocalyptic America, and Kira and Marcus both will discover that their greatest enemy may be one they didn't even know existed.


 Pulse (Pulse #1) by Patrick Carman
Publisher: The year is 2051, and the world is still recognizable. With the help of her mysterious classmate Dylan Gilmore, Faith Daniels discovers that she can move objects with her mind. This telekinetic ability is called a “pulse,” and Dylan has the talent, too.

In riveting action scenes, Faith demonstrates her ability to use her pulse against a group of telekinesis masters so powerful they will flatten their enemies by uprooting street lights, moving boulders, and changing the course of a hurtling hammer so that it becomes a deadly weapon. But even with great talent, the mind—and the heart—can be difficult to control. If Faith wants to join forces with Dylan and save the world, she’ll have to harness the power of both.
 


The Trouble with Flirting by Claire LaZebnik
Publisher: HarperTeen

From Goodreads:  Franny's supposed to be working this summer, not flirting. But you can't blame her when guys like Alex and Harry are around. . . .

Franny Pearson never dreamed she'd be attending the prestigious Mansfield Summer Theater Program. And she's not, exactly. She's working for her aunt, the resident costume designer. But sewing her fingers to the bone does give her an opportunity to spend time with her crush, Alex Braverman. If only he were as taken with the girl hemming his trousers as he is with his new leading lady.

When Harry Cartwright, a notorious flirt, shows more than a friendly interest in Franny, she figures it can't hurt to have a little fun. But as their breezy romance grows more complicated, can Franny keep pretending that Harry is just a carefree fling? And why is Alex suddenly giving her those deep, meaningful looks? In this charming tale of mixed messages and romantic near-misses, one thing is clear: Flirting might be more trouble than Franny ever expected.


Also Known As by Robin Benway
Publisher: Bloomsbury Juvenile US

From Goodreads:  eing a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad. Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time. Having parents with super cool jobs. Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend. But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations.

Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes. She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.


The Madness Underneath (Shades of London #2) by Maureen Johnson
Publisher:  Harper Collins Children's

From Goodreads:  After her near-fatal run-in with the Jack the Ripper copycat, Rory Devereaux has been living in Bristol under the close watch of her parents. So when her therapist suddenly suggests she return to Wexford, Rory jumps at the chance. But Rory's brush with the Ripper touched her more than she thought possible: she's become a human terminus, with the power to eliminate ghosts on contact. She soon finds out that the Shades—the city's secret ghost-fighting police—are responsible for her return. The Ripper may be gone, but now there is a string of new inexplicable deaths threatening London. Rory has evidence that the deaths are no coincidence. Something much more sinister is going on, and now she must convince the squad to listen to her before it's too late.

What We Become (Those That Wake #2) by Jesse Karp
Publisher: Harcourt Children's

From Goodreads:  Two years ago, teenagers Mal and Laura destroyed a corporate empire intent on controlling human thinking through technology. For a while, life was good. But now a new force has arisen: the Old Man. He’s hungry for power and he knows who holds the key to getting it: Mal. Mal needs his beloved Laura’s help to defeat the Old Man, but is he willing to risk her life in another battle to save humanity? What We Become combines mind-bending thrills with the hot immediacy of corporate greed. It will leave readers wondering who is really in control…

March 1st

 The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine

From Goodreads: he lush city of Palmares Tres shimmers with tech and tradition, with screaming gossip casters and practiced politicians. In the midst of this vibrant metropolis, June Costa creates art that’s sure to make her legendary. But her dreams of fame become something more when she meets Enki, the bold new Summer King. The whole city falls in love with him (including June’s best friend, Gil). But June sees more to Enki than amber eyes and a lethal samba. She sees a fellow artist.

Together, June and Enki will stage explosive, dramatic projects that Palmares Tres will never forget. They will add fuel to a growing rebellion against the government’s strict limits on new tech. And June will fall deeply, unfortunately in love with Enki. Because like all Summer Kings before him, Enki is destined to die.


Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg
Publisher: Point

From Goodreads: verybody loves Lexi. She's popular, smart, funny...but she's never been one of those girls, the pretty ones who get all the attention from guys. And on top of that, her seven-year-old sister, Mackenzie, is a terror in a tiara, and part of a pageant scene where she gets praised for her beauty (with the help of fake hair and tons of makeup).

Lexi's sick of it. She's sick of being the girl who hears about kisses instead of getting them. She's sick of being ignored by her longtime crush, Logan. She's sick of being taken for granted by her pageant-obsessed mom. And she's sick of having all her family's money wasted on a phony pursuit of perfection.

The time has come for Lexi to step out from the sidelines. Girls without great personalities aren't going to know what hit them. Because Lexi's going to play the beauty game - and she's in it to win it.


Being Henry David by Cal Armistead
Publisher: Albert Whitman Teen

From Goodreads:  Seventeen-year-old "Hank" has found himself at Penn Station in New York City with no memory of anything --who he is, where he came from, why he's running away. His only possession is a worn copy of Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. And so he becomes Henry David-or "Hank" and takes first to the streets, and then to the only destination he can think of--Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Cal Armistead's remarkable debut novel is about a teen in search of himself. Hank begins to piece together recollections from his past. The only way Hank can discover his present is to face up to the realities of his grievous memories. He must come to terms with the tragedy of his past, to stop running, and to find his way home.           

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Magick (The Coven #3) by Trish Milburn

Magick (The Coven #3) by Trish Milburn
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Publish Date:  September 27, 2012
Pages:  166
ISBN# 978-1611941784


I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.



Jax has been magically bound by the Bane after showing her dark powers.  She has to convince them that she can control her powers and be a White Witch. 

This book has a lot of waiting.  We have to wait for Jax to calm down, wait for her to prove herself to the Bane, wait for the evil witches to show up, wait for her friends to forgive her...so much waiting!

The characters are still just as good, it was just a little slow-paced.  Not bad at all, definitely a must-read if you're in the series already!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Books Out This Week: February 18-24, 2013

February 19

Mind Games (Mind Games #1) by Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen

From Goodreads:  Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways… or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.



Crash and Burn by Michael Hassan
Publisher:  Balzer + Bray

From Goodreads:  On April 21, 2008, Steven "Crash" Crashinsky saved more than a thousand people when he stopped his classmate David Burnett from taking their high school hostage armed with assault weapons and high-powered explosives. You likely already know what came after for Crash: the nationwide notoriety, the college recruitment, and, of course, the book deal. What you might not know is what came before: a story of two teens whose lives have been inextricably linked since grade school, who were destined, some say, to meet that day in the teachers' lounge of Meadows High. And what you definitely don't know are the words that Burn whispered to Crash right as the siege was ending, a secret that Crash has never revealed.

Until now.



Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler
Publisher:  Simon Pulse

From Goodreads:  Gabby Gardiner wakes up in a hospital bed looking like a cautionary ad for drunk driving—and without a single memory of the accident that landed her there. But what she can recall, in frank and sardonic detail, is the year leading up to the crash.

As Gabby describes her transformation from Invisible Girl to Trendy Girl Who Dates Billy Nash (aka Most Desirable Boy Ever), she is left wondering: Why is Billy suddenly distancing himself from her? What do her classmates know that Gabby does not? Who exactly was in the car that night? And why has Gabby been left to take the fall?

As she peels back the layers of her life, Gabby begins to realize that her climb up the status ladder has been as intoxicating as it has been morally complex...and that nothing about her life is what she has imagined it to be.


February 21st

 The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door by Karen Finneyfrock
Publisher:  Viking Children's

From Goodreads:  hat’s the day the trouble started.
The trouble that nearly ruined my life.
The trouble that turned me Dark.
The trouble that begs me for revenge.


Celia Door enters her freshman year of high school with giant boots, dark eyeliner, and a thirst for revenge against Sandy Firestone, the girl who did something unspeakable to Celia last year.

But then Celia meets Drake, the cool new kid from New York City who entrusts her with his deepest, darkest secret. When Celia’s quest for justice threatens her relationship with Drake, she’s forced to decide which is sweeter: revenge or friendship.


The 39 Deaths of Adam Strand by Gregory Galloway
Publisher:  Dutton Juvenile

From Goodreads:  Adam Strand isn't depressed. He's just bored. Disaffected. So he kills himself—39 times. No matter the method, Adam can't seem to stay dead; he wakes after each suicide alive and physically unharmed, more determined to succeed and undeterred by others' concerns. But when his self-contained, self-absorbed path is diverted, Adam is struck by the reality that life is an ever-expanding web of impact and forged connections, and that nothing—not even death—can sever those bonds.

How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller
Publisher:  Razorbill

From Goodreads:  A meth dealer. A prostitute. A serial killer.

Anywhere else, they’d be vermin. At the Mandel Academy, they’re called prodigies. The most exclusive school in New York City has been training young criminals for over a century. Only the most ruthless students are allowed to graduate. The rest disappear.

Flick, a teenage pickpocket, has risen to the top of his class. But then Mandel recruits a fierce new competitor who also happens to be Flick’s old flame. They’ve been told only one of them will make it out of the Mandel Academy. Will they find a way to save each other—or will the school destroy them both?
 
 

 The Different Girl by Gordon Dahlquist
Publisher:  Dutton Juvenile

From Goodreads: 
Four nearly identical girls on a desert island. An unexpected new arrival. A gently warped near future where nothing is quite as it seems.

Veronika. Caroline. Isobel. Eleanor. One blond, one brunette, one redhead, one with hair black as tar. Four otherwise identical girls who spend their days in sync, tasked to learn. But when May, a very different kind of girl—the lone survivor of a recent shipwreck—suddenly and mysteriously arrives on the island, an unsettling mirror is about to be held up to the life the girls have never before questioned.


Dark Eyes (Dark Eyes #1) by William Richter
Publisher: Razorbill

From Goodreads:  Wally was adopted from a Russian orphanage as a child and grew up in a wealthy New York City family. At fifteen, her obsessive need to rebel led her to life on the streets.

Now the sixteen-year-old is beautiful and hardened, and she's just stumbled across the possibility of discovering who she really is. She'll stop at nothing to find her birth mother before Klesko - her darkeyed father - finds her. Because Klesko will stop at nothing to reclaim the fortune Wally's mother stole from him long ago. Even if that means murdering his own blood. But Wally's had her own killer training, and she's hungry for justice.


  



 

Friday, February 15, 2013

Ghosting by Keith Gray

Ghosting by Keith Gray
Publisher:  Barrington Stoke
Publish Date:  January 20, 2008
Pages: 96
ISBN# 978-1842994900


I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A story about siblings that are fake mediums and how they get surprised by the ghost of a serial killer.  The premise sounds great.  This was written for reluctant readers and I can see where it's a good story for them.  It's simple enough and moves fast enough to keep their attention.  I think that just a little more character development would make it just that much better.  Overall, good book!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Alternity by Mari Mancusi

Alternity by Mari Mancusi
Publisher:  NLA Digital Liaison Platform
Publish Date:  October 19, 2012
Pages: 236
ISBN# 978-1620510131


I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.



Skye Brown is a college girl with a nice job, good friends and a hot boyfriend.

Then she starts having dreams about a place called Terra where she's mistaken for a girl named Mariah.  Mariah just might be a traitor, but Skye knows she's NOT Mariah.

At the very beginning I was a little lost, but quickly found my footing and moved on.  I did flip back and forth a couple times until I caught the rhythm of the story.

Skye - she's ok, a little whiny at times, but that's pretty normal for a college girl thrown into a different world, I think.  There wasn't any insta-love, thank goodness!

Dawn - Mariah's boyfriend. He wants to help Skye, but he believes that she might be Mariah.

Dusk - I do hate when the two guys have names like this.  The evil guy.

The story is action-packed and definitely something different.  I like Mari Mancusi, but this book just wasn't what I was expecting.  Not that it's bad, it's not at all.  I was being picky and just wanted a little more info at the start and a different name for the evil guy...

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Pale by Chris Wooding

Pale by Chris Wooding
Publisher:  Stoke Books
Publish Date:  September 10, 2012
Pages: 72
ISBN# 978-1781120910


I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review



I've really like Chris Wooding's writing, so I gave this short story a shot. 

In this story, a Lazarus Serum was developed.  Yep, you guessed it, it brings the dead back to life.  But once they are reanimated, they are completely white or 'pale'.  The regular people are generally very mean to the Pales.

There's bullying, bad behavior and a moral.  It's a little heavy-handed, even if i take it as a fable.  Good idea though, I'd like to see it as a full-length story.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Surrender (The Ferryman & the Flame #1) by Rhiannon Paille

Surrender (The Ferryman & the Flame #1) by Rhiannon Paille
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publish Date:  October 2, 2012
Pages: 402
ISBN# 978-1480029859


I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.



The world-building and description were really good.  I could hear the waterfalls and smell the forest.  But every time the two main characters showed up, it just went cold for me.  I think that perhaps there wasn't enough on them for me to feel like I 'knew' them.

Kaliel and Krishani are elves -he's a Ferryman and she's a Flame (a weapon of war). They are not supposed to be together.  In fact, they aren't supposed to marry.  The majority of their time is spent moping around about how they want to be together.

It also seemed to me that the merfolk were just tossed in.  I didn't think they really had a good enough reason to be there, aside from Krishani liking them.