Please enable JavaScript
All Books | Page 118 | LitPick Book Reviews
All Books
The Fight
Elizabeth Karre
Synopsis: "Was he . . . you know?" Bella doesn't know if Dominic was gay or not, but she knows he was bullied. And she knows the adults who could have helped didn't because of some stupid policy. Now Dominic's dead. And he's not the only one in the district. Somebody should do something, right? It's never been Bella's thing to stand up for a cause, but for some reason, this fight has become her fight.
Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Overexposed
Susan J. Korman
Synopsis: "Send me a pic?" Daisy Garcia's not afraid of putting on a show. So when her boyfriend Simon asks Daisy for some sexy pictures, she sends him a couple. After all, he wouldn't show them to anyone, right? But when Daisy and Simon have a bad breakup, Simon forwards the pictures to the phones of everyone at Southside High. How will Daisy handle it when her private life goes public?
Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: For Reluctant Readers
In Too Deep
Norah McClintock
Synopsis:

Robyn should be having the time of her life. She has a great summer job, and it's just a boat ride away from her friend Morgan's lakeside house. But she misses her boyfriend, Nick. Suddenly Nick appears in town—on a dangerous mission. He promised a friend he'd investigate a local suicide. Did Alex Richmond drown himself? Or was he killed because he knew too much? Robyn intends to find out—whether or not Nick wants her help.

Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Mystery
The Alliance
Gabriel Goodman
Synopsis: "One Down . . . You're Next." Or so said the note Carmen Mendoza found in her locker. Carmen is out, loud, and proud, so the threat doesn't faze her . . . much. But she knows other GLBT students at Southside won't be so fearless. Maybe she needs to do something.

Jamie Ballard is the "one down." Jamie was Scott King's best friend. Jamie was also gay. Scott never imagined Jamie would kill himself. Now Scott has to do something, even if it costs him his reputation.

If Carmen and Scott can figure out how to get along, they'll be an unstoppable alliance.
Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: For Reluctant Readers
Full Impact
Suzanne Weyn
Synopsis: It's a full-contact sport. Norval and Arnie are two of the stars on the Southside High football team. They're best friends off the field, too, and they're both hoping to play college ball some day. But Arnie has been acting weird lately. And Norval isn't the only one who has noticed. When Coach Green asks Norval to watch Arnie for signs of a concussion, it sounds like spying. But is betraying Arnie the best way for Norval to help his friend?
Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Out of Sync
Amanda Humann
Synopsis: Since they were six-year-olds, Madison and Dayton have had soccer sync. Maddie doesn't have to see her best friend on the field to know where she'll be. Her passes to Dayton are perfect, as if the two of them can read each other's mind. Together, they're a scoring machine.

There's only one problem: lately, Dayton seems more interested in partying than playing soccer. And Dayton's change of heart couldn't have come at a worse time. Now that she and Maddie are sophomores, they have to really focus--or they'll have no chance of making it to a Division I college team. Can Maddie get through to her best friend? Or will the scoring machine break down?
Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: For Reluctant Readers
Under Pressure
Emma Carlson Berne
Synopsis: Elise comes from a long line of college athletes. More than anything else, she wants to wear the University of North Carolina uniform and play for the college where her parents went. It's a lot of pressure, but if she works hard, she just might make it. At least that's what Elise thinks before she notices that some of her teammates are outplaying her. And a UNC scout is visiting in a few weeks.

That's where the pills come in. Taking "performance supplements" makes Elise feel great, and soon she's playing like a powerhouse. But will it last? And can she keep her secret without getting caught?
Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: For Reluctant Readers
Off Side
M. G. Higgins
Synopsis: Between finishing late school projects and looking after her brothers and sister, Faith Patel barely has time to play soccer. And when she's at practice, surrounded by girls who can afford to play in club leagues, she doesn't even feel like part of the team. So when Coach Berg starts to give Faith extra attention, she feels...really special.

It might be crazy, but suddenly Faith has a crush on her coach. Can she keep her head in the game? The situation gets worse after Faith's frenemy Caitlyn decides that Faith's getting special treatment. Will Caitlyn tell the rest of the team and make Faith into a total outcast?
Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Men and Women of the Bible: Need-to-Know Scriptures
Synopsis:

Get more from your personal Bible time by understanding the meaning and story behind many of the 2,000 names (and some 3,400 individuals) in scripture! This paperback reference provides a wealth of information on biblical names, through easy-to-read biographies and shorthand facts. Every Bible name is included, and for each more prominent person, this book provides the number of references and the number of individuals (broken out by men and women) who had that name. In many cases, meanings are provided for names of Hebrew origin, as well as the first, last, and key references for further reading. Men and Women of the Bible is perfect for personal Bible study, Sunday school or small group preparation, pleasure reading. . .even as a baby book!

 

 

Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Faith-based
Quicksilver
R. J. Anderson
Synopsis: Back home Tori was the girl who had everything a sixteen-year-old could want--popularity, money, beauty. Everything. Including a secret. That secret made her very valuable.

Now she's left everything from her old life behind, including her real name and Alison, the only person who truly understood her. She can't lose the secret. But if she wants to have anything resembling a normal life, she has to blend in and hide her unique…talents.

Plans change when the enigmatic Sebastian Faraday reappears in Tori's life and delivers bad news: she hasn't escaped. In fact, she's attracted new interest in the form of an obsessed ex-detective now in the employ of a genetics lab.

She has only one shot at ditching her past for good and living like the normal human she wishes she could be. Tori must use every ounce of her considerable hacking and engineering skills--and even then, she might need to sacrifice more than she could possibly imagine if she wants to be free.

The riveting companion to R.J. Anderson's acclaimed Ultraviolet.
Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Science Fiction
Change of Heart
Norah McClintock
Synopsis: "Robbie," my dad said. "You told me yourself how Billy has been behaving. And you know the case against him he had a grudge against the victim, he was found with the weapon, he was at the scene. Motive, method, opportunity."

Robyn's best friend Billy has been a mess ever since her other best friend Morgan dumped him. To make matters worse, Morgan started dating hockey star Sean Sloane right afterward. Billy is a vegetarian and an animal rights activist--he wouldn't hurt a fly. But when Sean winds up dead on the ice, Billy becomes the prime suspect. Can Robyn prove her friend's innocence?
Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Mystery
William and the Lost Spirit
Matthieu Bonhomme, Gwen De Bonneval
Synopsis: William knows his father is dead. Everyone knows it . . . everyone except William's sister, who hears him calling to her. Despite William's warnings, she disappears in the night to find their father. To rescue his sister, William must travel through dangerous forests swarming with bandits. But human foes are the least of his problems. His quest will take him beyond the world he knows and into far-off lands--where monsters are real, the dead can speak, and lies become truths. With an enchanted goat as his guide, William follows a strange path that may lead to his sister . . . and perhaps his father as well.
Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Manga/Graphic Novel
The Portsmouth Alarm: December 1774
Synopsis: Young Andrew Beckett hopes to be a doctor. Jack Cochran plans to take over his father s position as militia captain of the fort. Then Paul Revere rides into town with urgent news that changes their lives forever. The Portsmouth Alarm: December 1774 is based on an actual event. On December 13 1774 just four months before the events in Lexington and Concord Massachusetts Paul Revere delivered a message to the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Committee of Correspondence. The message warned of General Gage s shocking plan for the Piscataqua Region sparking hundreds in New Hampshire and Massachusetts (now Maine) to take action.
Publication Date: 01/01/13
Age Level: Any Age
Genre: Historical Fiction
Black Helicopters
Blythe Woolston
Synopsis: A teenage girl. A survivalist childhood. And now a bomb strapped to her chest. See the world through her eyes in this harrowing and deeply affecting literary thriller.

I’m Valkyrie White. I’m fifteen. Your government killed my family.
Ever since Mabby died while picking beans in their garden — with the pock-a-pock of a helicopter overhead — four-year-old Valley knows what her job is: hide in the underground den with her brother, Bo, while Da is working, because Those People will kill them like coyotes. But now, with Da unexpectedly gone and no home to return to, a teenage Valley (now Valkyrie) and her big brother must bring their message to the outside world — a not-so-smart place where little boys wear their names on their backpacks and young men don’t pat down strangers before offering a lift. Blythe Woolston infuses her white-knuckle narrative, set in a day-after-tomorrow Montana, with a dark, trenchant humor and a keen psychological eye. Alternating past-present vignettes in prose as tightly wound as the springs of a clock and as masterfully plotted as a game of chess, she ratchets up the pacing right to the final, explosive end.
Publication Date: 05/09/25
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Adventure
The Sin Eater's Confession (Carolrhoda Ya)
Synopsis: People in Merit, Wisconsin, always said Jimmy was . . . you know. But people said all sorts of stupid stuff. Nobody really knew anything. Nobody really knew Jimmy.

I guess you could say I knew Jimmy as well as anyone (which was not very well). I knew what scared him. And I knew he had dreams even if I didn't understand them. Even if he nearly ruined my life to pursue them.

Jimmy's dead now, and I definitely know that better than anyone. I know about blood and bone and how bodies decompose. I know about shadows and stones and hatchets. I know what a last cry for help sounds like. I know what blood looks like on my own hands.

What I don't know is if I can trust my own eyes. I don't know who threw the stone. Who swung the hatchet? Who are the shadows? What do the living owe the dead?
Publication Date: 05/09/25
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
A Long, Long Sleep
Anna Sheehan
Synopsis: It should have been a short suspended-animation sleep. But this time Rose wakes up to find her past is long gone— and her future full of peril.

Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two years when she is woken by a kiss. Locked away in the chemically induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten subbasement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew. Now, her parents and her first love are long gone, and Rose— hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire— is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat. Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh. But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes— or be left without any future at all.
Publication Date: 05/09/25
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction

Pages



RECENT BOOK REVIEWS