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12 and up | Page 484 | LitPick Book Reviews
12 and up
Storm
Storm
Donna Jo Napoli
A sixteen-year-old stowaway discovers her destiny on Noah’s ark in this riveting reimagining from award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli, available in time for the March 2014 major motion picture Noah.The rain starts suddenly, hard and fast. After days of downpour, her family lost, Sebah takes shelter in a tree, eating pine cones and the raw meat of animals that float by. With each passing day, her companion, a boy named Aban, grows weaker. When their tree is struck by lightning, Sebah is tempted just to die in the flames rather than succumb to a slow, watery death. Instead, she and Aban build a raft. What they find on the stormy seas is beyond imagining: a gigantic ark. But Sebah does not know what she’ll find on board, and Aban is too weak to leave their raft. Themes of family, loss, and ultimately, survival and love make for a timeless story. Donna Jo Napoli has imagined a new protagonist to tell the story of Noah and his ark. As rain batters the earth, Noah, his family, and hordes of animals wait out the storm, ready to carry out their duty of repopulating the earth. Hidden below deck…is Sebah.

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Noggin
Noggin
John Corey Whaley
2014 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALISTTravis Coates has a good head…on someone else’s shoulders. A touching, hilarious, and wholly original coming-of-age story from John Corey Whaley, author of the Printz and Morris Award–winning Where Things Come Back.Listen—Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t.Now he’s alive again.Simple as that. The in between part is still a little fuzzy, but Travis can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is. Despite all logic, he’s still sixteen, but everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she’s not his girlfriend anymore? That’s a bit fuzzy too. Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, there are going to be a few more scars. Oh well, you only live twice.

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Too Good to Be True (Mostly Miserable Life of April Sinclair)
Too Good to Be True-Mostly Miserable Life of April Sinclair
Laurie B. Friedman
"How can life be just fine one minute and a disaster the next? I don't know if anyone else's life is like that, but mine is. I can't believe what happened tonight. Eighth grade is off to a surprisingly promising start for April Sinclair—although it's not hard to improve on the way last year ended. With a great boyfriend, a best friend who's like a sister, and two boobs that are finally the same size, April has a newfound sense of positivity. Making the dance team is the icing on the cake. But with one unexpected move from her hot neighbor, Matt Parker, April's life starts to spin out of control. In the blink of an eye, her best friend is furious, her boyfriend dumps her, and the girls on the dance team don't want anything to do with her. How could things go so wrong so fast? Can April find a way to fix things with the people that matter most?"

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A Matter of Souls (Fiction - Young Adult)
A Matter of Souls (Fiction - Young Adult)
Denise Lewis Patrick
"From the shores of Africa to the bowels of a transatlantic ship to a voting booth in Mississippi to the jungles of Vietnam, all human connection is a matter of souls. In this stirring collection of short stories, Denise Lewis Patrick considers the souls of black men and women across centuries and continents. In each, she takes the measure of their dignity, describes their dreams, and catalogs their fears. Brutality, beauty, laughter, rage, and love all take their turns in each story, but the final impression is of indomitable, luminous, and connected souls."

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Enders
Enders
Lissa Price
The riveting conclusion to the international bestselling sci-fi thriller STARTERS! Would you rent out your body to the elderly so they could be young again?Someone is after Starters like Callie and Michael—teens with chips in their brains. They want to experiment on anyone left over from Prime Destinations—Starters who can be controlled and manipulated. With the body bank destroyed, Callie no longer has to rent herself out to creepy Enders. But Enders can still get inside her mind and make her do things she doesn't want to do. Like hurt someone she loves. Having the chip removed could save her life—but it could also silence the voice in her head that might belong to her father. Callie has flashes of her ex-renter Helena's memories, too . . . and the Old Man is back, filling her with fear. Who is real and who is masquerading in a teen body?No one is ever who they appear to be, not even the Old Man. Determined to find out who he really is and grasping at the hope of a normal life for herself and her younger brother, Callie is ready to fight for the truth. Even if it kills her.Praise for ENDERS:“Adrenaline-fueled . . .  Fans of Starters will gobble this up.”—Booklist “Delightfully disturbing.”—Kirkus Reviews"A thrilling post-apocalyptic story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish." --Children's Literature  

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Flame: Book Three of the Sky Chasers
Flame - A Sky Chasers Novel
In the thrilling conclusion to Amy Kathleen Ryan's Sky Chasers series, Waverly, Kieran, and Seth struggle to survive on-board the New Horizon―and take down their enemies before it's too late Waverly and the other members of the Empyrean have been scattered, and their home ship destroyed. Their mission to rescue their parents didn't go as planned, and now they're at an even greater disadvantage: trapped with their enemies on the New Horizon, trying to find a way to survive. Kieran has been pulled under Anne Mather's wing, but is she really trying to make peace, or just using Kieran to build her own power? Meanwhile, Waverly is taken in by a mysterious old man who wants to help her bring Anne Mather down―but the more Waverly cooperates with him, the more dangerous her position is, and the more at odds with Kieran she becomes.Seth's situation is even worse. After setting out from the Empyrean on his own, with only a vague strategy to guide him, he is a fugitive aboard the New Horizon. He's doing what he can to challenge the power of Anne Mather, but he's badly hurt, and getting sicker. All the while, unknown to him, the terrorist Jacob is making plans of his own.Will Seth ever see Waverly again? Will his health hold out long enough to help her topple their enemies? And will Waverly find a way to unite with her friends before they all fall? Nothing is sure and every moment is a risk in Flame, the explosive finale of the Sky Chasers series.

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The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen
The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen
Nicholas Christopher
A richly detailed historical novel from master storyteller Nicholas Christopher that School Library Journal calls “[A] lush tale of music, magic, and intrigue”!   Nicolò Zen is all alone in 1700s Venice, save for his clarinet, which a mysterious magician had enchanted, allowing its first player to perform expertly. Soon Nicolò is a famous virtuoso, wealthy beyond his dreams, but he can’t stop wondering if he earned the success himself—or what might happen if the spell were removed. And throughout it all, he continues to think about the girl he met in Venice, what she might be doing and if she’s safe from harm.  With a guest appearance by composer Vivaldi, and brimming with fascinating period details, this is a compelling coming-of-age story full of universal themes and a love story that will conjure memories of Romeo and Juliet, perfect for teens who love stories set in other times, and a magician who dresses all in white and can be in two places at once. . . .

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The Brewster Boys and the Red Revenge (Volume 2)
The Brewster Boys and the Red Revenge
Stephen Dittmer
A week has passed since Jon, Pete, and Abby returned home from the attack on Pearl Harbor. Now all they want is to relax and enjoy the remainder of their summer. However, they soon realize that their time-travel adventure has just begun. After noticing minor changes in their neighborhood’s landscape, and receiving a cryptic phone message from an unknown source, the Brewster boys and Abby realize that something is missing from America - the states! The Mississippi River now divides the United States and the North American territory of the Soviet Union! Feeling responsible for these radical changes the Brewster boys and Abby have no other choice but to travel back and set things right. On their journey they’ll discover significant changes in the events of the Manhattan project, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of J.F.K. They will even visit Nikita Khrushchev’s Moscow!

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A Force of Will A Shakespearean Fantasy Adventure: Book I The Initiation (Volume 1)
A Force of Will A Shakespearean Fantasy Adventure
In the great land of Nebula, all boys reaching the age of eighteen must undertake a dangerous initiation into manhood. Will of Harken, a Prince of Noble blood, is no exception. On his eighteenth birthday, Will is sent alone to a desert isle where he must kill a vicious shape-shifting beast. The beast will test all of Will’s courage and resolve, but no more so than the evil men, who in his absence have murdered his father, and are now out to kill him. Will escapes the assassins, only to be kidnapped by sky pirates who pilot him thousands of miles from his home to be sold into slavery. Thus begins an epic journey that will take Will into the most savage and fantastical worlds ever imagined. Inspired by the works of Shakespeare, driven by the winds of Homer, and molded by the imagination of one of Hollywood’s greatest mythmakers, Mr. Wallace has invented an Elizabethan Fairy Tale and Sci-Fi Fantasy Adventure story of the grandest order. Written with a nod to the poetry and style of the Bard, those who love Shakespeare are assured of a fantastic read. And for those who love Fantasy and Adventure, be prepared for a ride on one of the most incredible literary roller coasters ever invented. Welcome to the strange and beautiful world of D.J. Wallace.

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Life II
Life II
Upon discovering a 1958 book titled "Account of Time Travel on Earth Using Wave Theory," 42-year-old Max Thorning's life is thrown into chaos. Seeking answers to the book's cryptic clues, he discovers Dr. Time, a seemingly benign alien who has control of the Time Weaver, a remarkable device that can command any scene from the Earth's past. Dr. Time offers him a choice to go back into Time, to any point in his lifespan that he can vividly recall. The catch: he can only bring his memories, and can only live the future one day at a time. Follow Max's dilemma as he goes back to his 16-year-old self and tries to forge his destiny into a new one called Life II.Similar books: "Replay" by Ken Grimwood, "11/22/63" by Stephen KingEnjoy the sequel, "Bridge Through Time," which offers parallel universes and even more time travel! 

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