Tankborn by
Karen Sandler
Teen Science Fiction
Best friends Kayla and Mishalla know they will be separated when the time comes for their Assignments. they are Genetically Engineered Non-humans: gestated in a tank, sequestered in slums, and sent to work as slaves as soon as they reach age fifteen. But when Kayla is Assigned to care for Zul Manel, the patriarch of a trueborn family, she forms an unexpected friendship with Zul's great-grandson. Meanwhile, the children that Mishalla is Assigned to care for are being stolen in the middle of the night, and she begins to suspect that something horrible is happening to them.
Kayla and Mishalla reunite to hatch a plan to save the children who are disappearing. Both girls must put their lives and hearts at risk to crack open a sinister conspiracy, one that may reveal secrets no one is ready to face.
Request it!
Under the Mesquite by
Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Teen Fiction
Lupita, a budding actor and poet in a close-knit Mexican American immigrant family, comes of age as she struggles with adult responsibilities during her mother's battle with cancer. Lupita must take on more responsibility for her house and seven younger siblings, and deal with the pressures of high school, while finding refuge in acting and writing poetry.
This Young Adult novel-in-verse includes a glossary of Spanish terms.
Request it!
The Apothecary by
Maile Meloy
Teen Historical Adventure
It's 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows - a fascinating boy who's not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies - Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons.
Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster.
Request it!
Everybody Sees the Ants by
A.S. King
Teen Fiction
Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He didn't ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War. He didn't ask for a fther who never got over it. He didn't ask for a mother who keeps pretending their dysfunctional family is fine. And he didn't ask to be the target of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.
But Lucky has a secret. In his dreams, Lucky escapes to the prison his grandfather couldn't escape, where Lucky can be a real man, an adventurer, and a hero. But how long can Lucky keep hiding in his dreams before reality forces its way inside?
Request it!
Flyaway by
Lucy Christopher
Teen Fiction
In a heartbeat, in a wingbeat, it happens. Isla's father falls. They're racing across the fields, following the swans flying to winter at the lake like they do every year, when something goes wrong. And before she can even catch her breath, they're in the back of an ambulance, she's holding his hand.
As Isla struggles with her father's frailty and the new feelings she has for Harry, a boy she meets at the hospital, she's determined to help the only way she knows how. Outside the hospital windows, Isla watches a lone whooper swan struggling to fly. If only she could save the lost bird, would that somehow heal her dad, and cure Harry, and make everything good again?
Request it!
Icefall by
Matthew J. Kirby
Teen Fantasy/Adventure
Trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen sea, Solveig, along with her brother the crown prince, their older sister, and an army of restless warriors, anxiously awaits news of her father's victory at battle. But as winter stretches on, and the unending ice refuses to break, terrible acts of treachery soon make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst. A malevolent air begins to seep through the fortress walls, and a smothering claustrophobia slowly turns these prisoners of winter against one another.
Can Solveig and her siblings survive the long winter months and expose the traitor before he succeeds in destroying a kingdom?
Request it!
The Lost Songs by
Caroline B. Cooney
Teen Southern Fiction
The day Lutie Painter takes the city bus north instead of the school bus west, cutting class for the first time ever, her aunt and uncle have no idea what she is up to. That same morning, Lutie's pastor, Miss Veola, whispers as always, "This is the day that the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." A block from Miss Veola and up a hill in Chalk, Train Greene, burning with anger, has a decision to make, and he's running out of time. A few miles away, among finer houses, Kelvin Hartley yawns and gets ready for another day at school, where he is a friend to all and makes an effort at nothing. And Doria Bell, who recently moved to the South from Connecticut, walks to the bus stop, hoping the high school kids who live nearby will say hello.
All of these lives intertwine and--in surprising ways--become connected to Lutie's ancestors, who are buried in the cemetery in Chalk.
Request it!
Palace of the Damned by
Darren Shan
Saga of Larten Crepsley series
Teen Horror
After failing his mentor and killing the entire crew of a ship in a bout of revenge for the death of his assistant, Larten in bereft with guilt. He no longer has the drive to live the vampiric life, and hides out in Paris, masquerading as a human. There, he finds some happiness, even falling in love with a girl. But the darkness inside him is too great for humanity, and he is forced to make a choice: hide in the shadows of the human world, or take his place among the vampire clan and protect those weaker than himself. But enemies are waiting, traps are laid, and Larten's path is bound to be strewn with bodies.
This is his story.
Request it!
