Please enable JavaScript
All Books | Page 45 | LitPick Book Reviews
All Books
Thimble Down
Pete Prown
Synopsis: THIMBLE DOWN is a country village where death and malice lurk the quiet lanes. When the vile, drunken Bing Rumple acquires a gem-laden treasure, violence begins to follow him everywhere. Where did Bing find such a precious jewel, and worse, is someone willing to kill to possess it? In this fast-paced adventure, the village bookmaster, Mr. Dorro, and his young companions Wyll Underfoot and Cheeryup Tunbridge are in a desperate race to find the answer—before death comes to Thimble Down.
Publication Date: 08/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Mystery
Jacked
Eric Stevens
Synopsis: Ever since James turned old enough to drive, he's wanted to enter his Ford Focus ST in the street races downtown. The first night he sneaks out, James finds trouble before he reaches the starting line. A gorgeous older girl has crossed some dangerous people—and she decides James is her ride out of harm's way. The situation is explosive, but James can't keep from investigating. Will he drive the girl to a new life—or crash and burn? Includes real tech specs and tuning details for the FORD FOCUS ST!
Publication Date: 08/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Drift
Patrick Jones
Synopsis: The great thing about drifting, thinks Kekoa, is that it's more about skill than expensive parts. That's good for him. Since his mom left him on the island with his grandma, his Nissan Skyline 350 is all he has to his name. Life is the opposite for Billy Cain, who can buy his way into or out of anything. But when Billy's antics threaten the few things Kekoa cares about, they'll put it to the test: does skill or money win out when it comes to wheels, winding mountain roads, honor, and love?
Publication Date: 08/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Canary
Rachele Alpine
Synopsis: In this debut novel, a high school girl faces the pain, shame, and uncertainty that come with sexual abuse. With the passing of her mother, Kate Franklin’s life unravels at the seams as she loses the only emotional mooring in her family. Her dad shuts down completely, and her brother enlists in the army. Things start looking better when her dad is hired to coach at Beacon Prep, home of one of the best basketball teams in the state. In a blog of prose and poetry, Kate chronicles her new world—dating a basketball player, being caught up in a world of idolatry and entitlement, and discovering the perks the inner circle enjoys. Then Kate’s fragile life shatters once again when one of her boyfriend’s teammates assaults her at a party. Although she knows she should speak out, her dad’s vehemently against it and so, like a canary sent into a mine to test toxicity levels and protect miners, Kate alone breathes the poisonous secrets to protect her dad and the team. The once welcoming community has betrayed Kate, her family is disintegrating, and she’s on her own to grapple with whether to stay quiet or speak out and expose a town’s hero and destroy her father’s career.
Publication Date: 08/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
All Our Pretty Songs
Sarah McCarry
Synopsis:

This is a story about love, but not the kind of love you think. You'll see…

In the lush and magical Pacific Northwest live two best friends who grew up like sisters: charismatic, mercurial, and beautiful Aurora, and the devoted, watchful narrator. Each of them is incomplete without the other. But their unbreakable bond is challenged when a mysterious and gifted musician named Jack comes between them.

His music is like nothing I have ever heard. It is like the ocean surging, the wind that blows across the open water, the far call of gulls.

Suddenly, each girl must decide what matters most: friendship, or love. What both girls don't know is that the stakes are even higher than either of them could have imagined. They're not the only ones who have noticed Jack's gift; his music has awakened an ancient evil―and a world both above and below which may not be mythical at all. We have paved over the ancient world but that does not mean we have erased it.
The real and the mystical; the romantic and the heartbreaking all begin to swirl together in All Our Pretty Songs, Sarah McCarry's brilliant debut, carrying the two on journey that is both enthralling and terrifying.
And it's up to the narrator to protect the people she loves―if she can.

Publication Date: 07/30/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Indelible
Dawn Metcalf
Synopsis:

Some things are permanent.
Indelible.
And they cannot be changed back.

Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye.

Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep and a life that will never be the same.

Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink's chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future…and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both.

Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.

Somewhere between reality and myth lies…

Publication Date: 07/30/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Midnight Frost
Jennifer Estep
Synopsis: Estep blends the perfect amount of action, romance and comedy. --RT Book Reviews

Here we go again. . .

Just when it seems life at Mythos Academy can't get any more dangerous, the Reapers of Chaos manage to prove me wrong. It was just a typical night at the Library of Antiquities--until a Reaper tried to poison me. The good news is I'm still alive and kicking. The bad news is the Reaper poisoned someone else instead.

As Nike's Champion, everyone expects me to lead the charge against the Reapers, even though I'm still hurting over what happened with Spartan warrior Logan Quinn. I've got to get my hands on the antidote fast--otherwise, an innocent person will die. But the only known cure is hidden in some creepy ruins--and the Reapers are sure to be waiting for me there . . .

Praise for the international bestselling Mythos Academy series

"Kiss of Frost has just as much ass-kicking as the first book in the series." --Good Choice Reading

"Lots of twists and turns and a surprise ending will leave the reader breathless!" --RT Book Reviews on Kiss of Frost, 4 Stars

"Ms. Estep's Mythos Academy is sure to appeal to all those who love a good character-driven YA that uses humor, snark, and seriousness to create a world you won't want to leave." --Heroes & Heartbreakers

"It has literally everything: mystery, romance, mythology, boarding schools. What could be better?" --Simply Nerdy Book Reviews on Touch of Frost
Publication Date: 07/30/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Mistry by Moonlight
Claire Merchant
Synopsis:
Publication Date: 07/25/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Shadows of Glass
Kassy Tayler
Synopsis:

Wren's world has changed. The thing that she fought for, escaping the dome has come to fruition, but it's not the paradise she thought it would be. Most of the shiners have died, and according to James, she is to blame for many of the deaths, a burden which sits heavy on her shoulders. Still some have survived and Wren is determined to keep them safe as they fight to establish a home outside while hiding from the rovers who have weapons that can kill from far away. But as long as she has Pace she knows everything will be fine. Still Wren wonders, as she sees the smoke that continually pours forth from the dome, how did her friends inside fare? Will they ever find out if Lucy, David, Jill and Harry, along with Pace's mother survive the explosions?

Meanwhile, someone else has also seen the smoke. A band of explorers from across the sea arrive in an airship, curious about the dome, and offering help to those who survive. When Wren meets the handsome Levi Addison, she suddenly questions her love for Pace as Levi offers to show her the world from his airship. Does she really love Pace? Or was it just the circumstances that made her think she did? Meanwhile, word arrives from inside via Pip, and Wren is forced to go back inside the dome, a thing that terrifies her more than anything else, to save her friends. Once she's back inside will she be able to escape again?

Kassy Tayler's Shadows of Glass is a whirlwind of adventure, romance, conspiracy and the struggle to stay alive in a dystopian world where nothing is as it seems.

Publication Date: 07/23/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction
How to Lose Everything
Philip Mattheis
Synopsis: Jonathan, Sam, Schulz, and Eric usually spend their summers hanging out at the park, skateboarding and dreaming about the time when they’ll finally move out of the suburbs. But in the summer of 1994, the four teenagers find a small fortune hidden inside an abandoned house. What starts out as a blessing soon turns into a curse, however, as stress, drugs, and dwindling funds raise some serious questions about the future. Eighteen years later Jonathan returns to that life-changing summer to tally up the cost of that discovery, exploring how a broken dream led to a totally renewed sense of purpose.
Publication Date: 07/23/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Make The Grade
Lesley Schwartz Martin
Synopsis: Tips, tricks, and advice for students looking to get organized, study better, and gain more control over their academic lives.
Publication Date: 07/09/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Educational
Butterfly
Sonya Hartnett
Synopsis: In masterful prose, the author of SURRENDER tells a quiet but powerful tale about the shifting bonds and psychological perils of adolescence. (Ages 14 and up)

Plum Coyle is on the edge of adolescence. Her fourteenth birthday is approaching, when her old life and her old body will fall away, and she will become graceful, powerful, and at ease. The strength of the objects she stores in a briefcase under her bed —a crystal lamb, a yoyo, an antique watch, a coin —will make sure of it. Over the next couple of weeks, Plum’s life will change. Her beautiful neighbor Maureen will begin to show Plum how she might fly. The older brothers she adores will court catastrophe in worlds that she barely knows exist. And her friends, her worst enemies, will tease and test, smelling weakness. They will try to lead her on and take her down. BUTTERFLY is a gripping, disquieting, beautifully observed coming-of-age novel by an acclaimed author at the top of her form.
Publication Date: 07/09/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Falcon in the Glass
Susan Fletcher
Synopsis: A boy risks his life to save some very special children in this fantasy adventure, set amidst the rich backdrop of Renaissance Venice.

In Venice in 1487, the secrets of glassblowing are guarded jealously. Renzo, a twelve-year-old laborer in a glassworks, has just a few months to prepare for a test of his abilities, and no one to teach him. If he passes, he will qualify as a skilled glassblower. If he fails, he will be expelled from the glassworks. Becoming a glassblower is his murdered father’s dying wish for him, and the means of supporting his mother and sister. But Renzo desperately needs another pair of hands to help him turn the glass as he practices at night.

One night he is disturbed by a bird—a small falcon—that seems to belong to a girl hiding in the glassworks. Soon Renzo learns about her and others like her—the bird people, who can communicate with birds and are condemned as witches. He tries to get her to help him and discovers that she comes with baggage: ten hungry bird-kenning children who desperately need his aid. Caught between devotion to his family and his art and protecting a group of outcast children, Renzo struggles for a solution that will keep everyone safe in this atmospheric adventure.
Publication Date: 07/09/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
Quarantine: The Saints (Book Two)
Synopsis: A cross between the Gone series and Lord of the Flies, Quarantine #2: The Saints continues this frenetically paced and scary young adult series that illustrates just how deadly high school can be.

Nothing was worse than being locked in--until they opened the door...
McKinley High has been a battle ground for eighteen months since a virus outbreak led to a military quarantine of the school. When the doors finally open, Will and Lucy will think their nightmare is finished. But they are gravely mistaken.

As a new group of teens enters the school and gains popularity, Will and Lucy join new gangs. An epic party on the quad full of real food and drinks, where kids hookup and actually interact with members of other gangs seemed to signal a new, easier existence. But soon after, the world inside McKinley takes a startling turn for the worse, and Will and Lucy will have to fight harder than ever to survive.
The Saints brings readers back to the dark and deadly halls of McKinley High and the QUARANTINE series.

Releases simultaneously in electronic book format (ISBN 978-1-60684-337-6)
Publication Date: 07/09/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Shutdown
Heather Anastasiu
Synopsis:

The battle is all but over, and all hope seems to be lost. Zoe and her fellow Resistance fighters are on the run, having lost their home, their protection, and their leader. They are outnumbered and outmatched by the powerful corporation that controls the world, and the cruel Chancellor is inches away from completing a scheme that would kill most of humanity. Zoe's only remaining option is to chase the impossible dream of upending the Link system, freeing the world from the hardware that controls their thoughts and emotions, and hope it will trigger a revolution.

The plot requires a nearly impossible mission to infiltrate the dangerous Community, and it is a task that Zoe must unfortunately complete alone. After horrific torture at the hands of the Chancellor, Adrien remains unresponsive, an empty shell of the boy Zoe loves. With challenges and surprises at every turn, nothing goes according to plan. Adrien's visions of the future now show two possible outcomes: one in which they succeed, and one in which humanity falls. It all lies in Zoe's hands.

Full of high-adrenaline action and shocking twists, Shutdown is a heart-pounding conclusion to an exciting sci-fi adventure trilogy for young adults.

The thrilling conclusion to Heather Anastasiu's action-packed sci-fi Glitch trilogy

Publication Date: 07/02/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction
Bloggrls: Book One
Cheryl Dellasega
Synopsis: Sadie, a.k.a. nugrl90, finds out one day that her semi-happy teen life is taking a serious turn toward disaster. Not only are her parents really, truly getting divorced (as they've threatened a hundred times), but now her family is moving! She has to share a room with WS (Wicked Sister) and start the school year as 'the new girl.' So Sadie creates a blog to sort out every W3TP (What's Wrong With This Picture?) that has suddenly entered her life. When Sadie meets BB (Buff Boy), she thinks that maybe her luck is changing. Could this be Sadie's chance to fit in at her new school? Or will a relationship with BB isolate her even more? Through it all, Sadie has her blog--where she vents to friends and where she discovers the inner strength to keep moving forward. Written entirely in blog style, complete with a unique 'clicktionary' explaining blogspeak and scattered hand-drawn artwork throughout, Sadie's story will pull in readers from the very first page.
Publication Date: 07/02/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

Pages



RECENT BOOK REVIEWS