The Lives We Lost

This is the second installment in a trilogy Fallen World by Megan Crewe. The story picks up after a deadly disease has wiped out an entire Canadian island. It is up to a small group of teens to try and save the island and he whole country. They face many challenges along the way in addition to avoiding the deadly disease. This trilogy is fast paced and great for reluctant readers. There's a bit of romance intertwined in the story, but for the most part the reader will be sitting on the edge of their seat flipping pages as fast as they can.

Shades of Earth: Book Review

Shades of Earth is the third book in the Across the Universe Trilogy by Beth Revis.  The trilogy is straight up Science Fiction-which is a genre I tend to steer clear of, but as soon as I picked up the first book I couldn't put it down.  I've been avoiding the last book because I just didn't want the story to end.  I will not say much about the story line of this third book, because I want to encourage you to read them all.  Shades of Earth is full of action and plot twists. It's full of science, mystery, suspense, and a bit of romance.  Teens-boys and girls alike, will zip through this trilogy and then crave more.  I'm always suggesting these books to teens who are tired of the paranormal or vampire stories.

Highlights of 2012

Here's a list of books that I thought were really great this year:

• Rapture (final book in the Fallen Series) by Lauren Kate
• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
• The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer Smith
• Life Happens Next by Terry Trueman
• The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
• Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle
• In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz
• Skinny by Donna Cooner

New YA Book Review

I just finished reading Skinny by Donna Cooner.  It was refreshing to read something different from all the dystopian and fantasy novels out there.  This story follows Ever who lost her mother to cancer and comforts herself with food.  Ever is in high school and weighs 302 pounds.  She is a very unhappy girl who has a voice in her head she calls Skinny who reminds her constantly that no one likes her and everyone is judging her based on her size.  Ever covers her pain with sarcasm and mean comments to fellow students.  She decides to have gastric bypass surgery to help her lose weight.  This book is about her weight loss journey and self discovery.  This is a great book that has believable characters and story that won't disappoint.  Skinny is a great read for all.

Another book review

Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle.
I read this one in a day.  Miranda, a young actress whose parents are Shakespearean actors, struggles in her school play of The Taming of the Shrew.  The first performance of the play does not go well for her and before she can escape the school and go home to sulk fellow classmate and actor, Stephen whisks her away to sixteenth century England.  There she must rescue the young William Shakespeare and save history.   This book offers a great blend of fact and incite into the time period, romance, and mystery.

Waiting by Carol Lynch Williams

I recently read Waiting by carol Lynch Williams.  This is a great YA novel for teens.  It's a story filled with sorrow and grief as told by London a teenage girl who loses her brother Zach.  London tells her story in short bursts as events unfold.  Her small missionary family is broken by the loss of her brother.  London's mother refuses to talk to her after Zach's death and blames her for his death.  London struggles through dealing with the pain of loss and the blame that is placed on her all while adjusting to the new normal.  This is a great story that leaves the readers with hope for a new beginning for London.

Fallen Series by Lauren Kate

I just finished reading Rapture by Lauren Kate.  This is the final book in the Fallen series.  I finished the book in a day, I just couldn't put it down.  This series follows a group of fallen angels who fight for love and save the world.  Great for teens who like books with supernatural themes.  The books provides harrowing  fight scenes and the love story that teen girls crave.  I suggest this series to teens who are looking for something different to read.

Rapture by Lauren Kate